I think this has emerged as my 2nd favourite Shadows song after "Wonderful Land" - it has such a gorgeous soundscape.

 

9 The Shadows Atlantis Not their best remembered but I love it - title is fitting as the beautiful guitar and violin melody whisks you away to a lost island

8 Duane Eddy And The Rebelettes Lonely Boy, Lonely Guitar His 3rd hit with The Rebelettes and this wasn't very big but I don't understand why as it's excellent and the vocals are gorgeous

8 Buddy Holly Bo Diddley The original of this was by Bo himself but this is a great version - the rhythm is so iconic that it's known as the "Bo Diddley" beat

7 Roy Orbison Falling More severe angst from Roy as the instruments crescendo steadily throughout the record beneath his wailing vocals - lovely

7 The Shirelles Foolish Little Girl The last of their 3 hits here; this was bigger in America and I think it's really good - the vocals really have impact and it's soulful

7 The Hollies Just Like Me Their very first hit and a Coasters cover but to me has that slightly raw early Beatles sound - it's a fun energetic song anyway

6 Sam Cooke Another Saturday Night Think this is quite well remembered but I actually don't love it as much as Sam's 6 great previous hits - feels more ordinary to me

6 The Crickets Don't Try To Change Me A slightly country vibe to this but it's a very nice impassioned ballad with close harmonies and a twinkly piano accompaniment

5 Gerry And The Pacemakers I Like It 152nd #1: I don't not like it but it probably has the least to it of their chart toppers and just teeters on the brink of being irritating

5 Billie Davis He's The One Very similar style to "Tell Him" which was really good - like the deep voiced male "ba ba"s here but her vocals are a little scratchy

5 Bobby Rydell Forget Him We may well forget him as it's his last hit - quite sweet and gentle, nicely sung and a decent tune but has more of a 50s feel really

4 The Tornados Ice Cream Man Their last Top 40 - slightly less naff than the last one; quite a nice futuristic sounding tune and less irritating than an ice cream van

4 The Everly Brothers It's Been Nice This has a bit more to it than some of their recent ones and the tune is catchy - backing vocals are really quite annoying though

3 Mark Wynter Shy Girl This isn't too bad - the tune and the delivery are fine, but it all lacks a bit of oomph and the memory of it fades quite quickly

2 Benny Hill Harvest Of Love A farmyard song done with a West country accent complete with raucous sound effects - at least the tune itself is vaguely catchy

 

 

1963 Group 8:

 

#1873 15/06/1963 Jim Reeves Welcome To My World 6 41-26-15-9-{6}-12-11-9-15-13-13-18-21-29-47->15

#1874 15/06/1963 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Rondo 24 45-35-28-{24}-29-27-37-42->8

#1875 15/06/1963 Karl Denver Indian Love Call 32 46-36-34-{32}-34-33-49-48->8

#1876 22/06/1963 Lesley Gore It's My Party 9 34-24-14-{9}-9-9-10-12-19-22-35-41->12

#1877 22/06/1963 The Crystals Da Doo Ron Ron 5 37-17-16-12-{5}-6-5-5-8-8-14-16-20-34-41-44->16

#1878 22/06/1963 Bobby Vee Bobby Tomorrow 21 42-22-{21}-21-23-27-36-40-45-45->10

#1879 22/06/1963 Kenny Lynch You Can Never Stop Me Loving You 10 44-31-22-18-20-18-12-{10}-15-17-22-28-39-44->14

#1880 22/06/1963 The Swinging Blue Jeans It's Too Late Now 30 46-44-41-{30}-35-43-50R(2)-46-46->9

#1881 22/06/1963 Frankie Vaughan Hey Mama 21 47-30-31-26-{21}-21-25-25-38->9

#1882 22/06/1963 The Mike Cotton Jazzmen Swing That Hammer 36 49-39-{36}-48->4

#1883 29/06/1963 Frank Ifield I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 1 23-3-2-{1}-1-2-2-2-4-9-12-15-20-28-32-38->16

#1884 29/06/1963 Kyu Sakamoto Sukiyaki 6 43-35-25-17-12-8-{6}-9-14-16-19-25-39->13

#1885 29/06/1963 The Four Seasons Ain't That A Shame 38 46-{38}-44->3

#1886 29/06/1963 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers Nature's Time For Love 26 48-33-27-{26}-32-43->6

#1887 29/06/1963 The Searchers Sweets For My Sweet 1 49-39-17-7-3-3-{1}-1-2-3-6-12-17-24-33-47->16

 

 

There's a forgotten goodie from The Shadows - It sounds vaguely familiar and very very nice! Duane Eddy's I've never heard before - that was not on his Greatest Hits (one side of a vinyl album, so not that many anyway), sweet enough. Buddy & Bo, influential on both accounts there, and falling is fab.

 

The Shirelles' track is not one I recall but it's very good indeed, Hollies always likeable, and I agree about Another Saturday Night, never been fussed about it, nor the Cat Stevens cover. I Liked It very much at the time, but it's def the least of their hat-trick, and not worthy of later hits like Don't Let The Sun and Ferry. Of the rest I think Forget Him is reputed to have inspired She Loves You, I'm bound to like Billie davis when I play it, The Crickets were always decent, and I do know Harvest Of Love. Let's just say it's no Ernie. It's not even Fad Eyed Fal. Reference there for my brother, who got Ernie that Christmas.

Another strong bunch here. Anyone who doesn’t know “Sukiyaki” should absolutely give it a listen - such a magical and unique hit.

9 Kyu Sakamoto Sukiyaki The only ever Japanese US #1; an utterly beautiful and mesmerising song with xylophones, whistling and lovely orchestration

9 Lesley Gore It's My Party To me what's impressive is that this feels like a much later slice of classic pop; a great tune immaculately produced and sung

8 Jim Reeves Welcome To My World This is a childhood favourite for me and it was his first Top 10 - Jim gently coaxes you into his world with his gorgeous voice

8 The Crystals Da Doo Ron Ron Perhaps the best ever song about someone called Bill - second hit for them and another stonking fantastically produced one

7 Kenny Lynch You Can Never Stop Me Loving You I've enjoyed every hit of Kenny's so far - he is a great performer who gives it plenty of feeling with very clearly delivered vocals

7 Frank Ifield I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 153rd #1: my second favourite of Frank's quartet of chart toppers - a simple lovely mouth organ enhanced country pop song

6 The Swinging Blue Jeans It's Too Late Now First small hit for this Merseybeat band who have some big ones to come - very nice and could pass for an early Beatles song

6 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers Nature's Time For Love He stopped having big hits at this point, not that there's anything wrong with the song which is a sweet and tender little ditty

5 Frankie Vaughan Hey Mama Slightly raw sounding vocals and not the most sophisticated of songs but this is an ear worm and it suits Frankie's cheeky style

5 Bobby Vee Bobby Tomorrow Last of Bobby's 10 hits sadly and not one of his best but still has the usual elements of strong vocals, backing and production

4 The Searchers Sweets For My Sweet 155th #1: a well remembered record that has been covered of course, but I don't love the tune; my favourite part is the guitar riff

4 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Rondo A jazz version of the Mozart piano piece "Rondo Alla Turca" - it does work surprisingly well but I'd still rather listen to the Mozart

3 The Mike Cotton Jazzmen Swing That Hammer Quite an interesting instrumental with some nice drumming but can't get on with the heavy breaths being used as a drum beat

3 The Four Seasons Ain't That A Shame A different take on this record with a doo-wop style, but for me it takes all the drama out of the song which needs a big lead vocal

2 Karl Denver Indian Love Call A cover of a 50s Slim Whitman song which I didn't love in the first place and Karl's vocals manage to make it even more jarring

 

 

 

1963 Group 9:

 

#1888 06/07/1963 Elvis Presley (You're The) Devil In Disguise 1 27-10-3-2-{1}-3-5-11-15-20-30-43->12

#1889 06/07/1963 The Bachelors Faraway Places 36 45-{36}-38->3

#1890 06/07/1963 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Twist And Shout 4 48-19-11-5-{4}-4-4-7-13-15-17-25-31-40->14

#1891 13/07/1963 Adam Faith Walkin' Tall 23 37-25-{23}-28-32-41->6

#1892 13/07/1963 The Dakotas The Cruel Sea 18 43-32-26-22-19-22-21-20-{18}-19-27-34-37->13

#1893 13/07/1963 Chuck Berry Go Go Go 38 45-41-{38}-45-45-44->6

#1894 13/07/1963 The Big Three By The Way 22 47-36-35-27-{22}-23-23-24-30-40->10

#1895 13/07/1963 Jimmy Soul If You Wanna Be Happy 39 49-{39}->2

#1896 20/07/1963 Brenda Lee I Wonder 14 30-20-{14}-18-17-15-30-32-42->9

#1897 20/07/1963 Tony Bennett The Good Life 27 37-36-39-41-28-32-{27}-31-31-35-39-42-40->13

#1898 20/07/1963 The Chiffons One Fine Day 29 40-33-41-{29}-30-35->6

#1899 20/07/1963 Richard Chamberlain True Love 30 42-34-31-{30}-40-48->6

#1900 20/07/1963 Ken Thorne Theme From 'The Legion's Last Patrol' 4 43-25-15-14-7-6-{4}-11-10-11-19-24-34-43-45->15

#1901 20/07/1963 John Leyton I'll Cut Your Tail Off 36 50-47R(3)-{36}->3

#1902 27/07/1963 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates I'll Never Get Over You 4 28-21-16-12-9-6-5-{4}-5-6-10-20-23-36-48->15

Edited July 9, 20232 yr by JulianT

Yep those are the 2 top classics, playing Kyu's now on your link and still gives me goosebumps. Love it. It's My Party is such a stroppy assertive move forward for teen girl pop, and Leslie (who was gay) has more feminist anthems in the US (sadly not in the UK) like You Dont Own Me. Both of those faves of the time, esp Kyu. Party obv an 80's chart-topper in a very different version. Kyu's a hit in english language covers.

 

Lesser but known to me, Jim Reeves spanned from my grandma down to me, Welcome To My World is delicious and warm, and Da Do Ron Ron fab Wall Of Sound girlie pop, a hit again in 1974, but never a top fave, just one I liked. Frank's is pretty decent, and The Searchers' was well-known then, less so these days - their records by and large dont sound quite as good as they did at the time, oddly. Aint That A Shame not one of their greats and a bit pointless as they had no need to do covers with such a classic pop songwriter in the band - stand up and take a bow Bob Gaudio.

 

The rest aren't familiar to me, but Kenny's is pretty fine I must say. Swinging Blue Jeans very Beatles-esque!

 

 

Well there was bound to be a bit of a drop in standard at some point and indeed this is a rather weaker group. The Jimmy Soul track is joyous and delightfully un-PC so going with that.

 

8 Jimmy Soul If You Wanna Be Happy A US #1 but small hit here; such a fun song and love the message that you'll be happier with an ugly girl who cooks meals on time

8 The Dakotas The Cruel Sea Their only hit without Billy but it's a surprisingly great instrumental with loads of twangy character and marvellous frenetic playing

7 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates I'll Never Get Over You Their second biggest hit after their chart topper and it doesn't have the sultry brilliance of that but it's a great tune well performed

7 Elvis Presley (You're The) Devil In Disguise 154th #1 and already his 14th: a very good one here with the adept storytelling, tempo changes and slightly folky instrumentation

6 The Big Three By The Way 2nd and final hit for the Merseybeat outfit - shame they didn't go further as this is a very sweet and uplifting little rock ballad

6 The Chiffons One Fine Day A nice soulful song from this trio with rich production - lovely harmonies and backing vocals, plus a strong piano riff and a sax solo

5 Adam Faith Walkin' Tall Not a bad one here from Adam; like the swagger of it which he pulls off well and the breezy tune suits the oh so smug storyline

5 Brenda Lee I Wonder A slow jazz style piano ballad - would be a fairly boring 3 minutes but she turns it into something with her great vocal performance

4 Chuck Berry Go Go Go The lyrics are quite naff but once it gets going it's actually a decent rock 'n' roll song with good harmonies and instrumental solos

4 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Twist And Shout The first charting cover of this; it's OK but it has so much less character than the Beatles version that I can't really enjoy it

3 Tony Bennett The Good Life Originally a film song - I suppose I should give it some credit for being relatively well remembered but it's pretty dull to my ears

3 Ken Thorne Theme From 'The Legion's Last Patrol' A theme from a war film led by brass and violins - not so keen on the high pitched string sound on this and it's all quite moribund

2 The Bachelors Faraway Places A cover of a 1948 song done by the likes of Bing and Vera - I found it dreary in the first place and this does not improve it

2 Richard Chamberlain True Love Last hit for him and none have scored higher than 3; this cover is so stultifying that it's hard to concentrate for the full 2 minutes

1 John Leyton I'll Cut Your Tail Off Last hit for John Leyton and how far he's fallen - lyrics are comically bad and all about how many words can be rhymed with "tail"

 

 

1963 Group 10:

 

#1903 27/07/1963 The Surfaris Wipe Out 5 29-20-13-10-10-{5}-8-8-10-13-22-27-31-46->14

#1904 27/07/1963 The Springfields Come On Home 31 39-33-33-{31}-39-45->6

#1905 27/07/1963 Billy Fury In Summer 5 41-19-8-6-{5}-8-13-14-19-26-36->11

#1906 27/07/1963 The Tymes So Much In Love 21 44-26-24-{21}-26-33-37-43->8

#1907 27/07/1963 Bobby Darin Eighteen Yellow Roses 37 47-{37}-42-48->4

#1908 27/07/1963 The Rolling Stones Come On 21 50-32-28-25-24-23-24-22-{21}-22-26-30-29-42->14

#1909 03/08/1963 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Bad To Me 1 34-11-3-{1}-1-1-3-3-11-15-21-24-47-50->14

#1910 03/08/1963 Houston Wells Only The Heartaches 22 47-35-29-28-26-{22}-23-38-38-46->10

#1911 03/08/1963 Miss X Christine 37 49-44-{37}-40-42-45->6

#1912 03/08/1963 The Beach Boys Surfin' USA 34 50-43-{34}-34-38-36-38->7

#1913 10/08/1963 Freddie And The Dreamers I'm Telling You Now 2 34-14-3-{2}-2-5-6-14-19-31-45->11

#1914 10/08/1963 The Caravelles You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry 6 36-20-12-7-7-{6}-7-12-16-29-30-44-45->13

#1915 10/08/1963 Heinz Just Like Eddie 5 38-26-18-11-9-9-8-{5}-7-15-17-20-27-35-40->15

#1916 10/08/1963 The Bruisers Blue Girl 31 39-32-{31}-34-43-41-47R(2)->7

#1917 17/08/1963 Jan And Dean Surf City 26 39-30-28-{26}-26-29-30-38-46-49->10

Edited July 10, 20232 yr by JulianT

Jimmy Soul is great fun and yay for the more homely in the world :D It made my charts of a 90's reissue I think. The Cruel Sea I've known of for decades - but never heard. Playing it now, yes I like it too. Devil In Disguise is one of Elvis' best pop era tracks and my pick of the batch along with One Fine Day. The Chiffons have one more classic in 'em to come - in 3 years time.

 

I quite like The Good Life, The Trems version of Twist & Shout was just a cash-in on The Beatles version which is the one I remember everyone putting on - had they allowed EP's into the singles chart it would have been a substantial hit, along with all the other Beatles EP's. I still say they were robbed!

 

The rest I don't recall, but I expect to like Johnny Kidd and Brenda Lee's, and maybe Adam's.

A fairly clear winner from this one.

 

9 The Surfaris Wipe Out What a stonking and classic instrumental - the guitar theme is very well known of course but it's the frantic drumming I really love

8 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Bad To Me 156th #1: great record which combines an upbeat infectious sentimentality with an underlying insecurity conveyed very sincerely

8 The Rolling Stones Come On Debut hit for them which had a good run but only a #21 peak; love the whirling mouth organ and the song has a lovely innocence

7 The Tymes So Much In Love Debut hit for this US soul group and a classy simple number with great doo wop harmonies and an enchanting romance to it

7 The Caravelles You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry Only hit for this British duo and it's really lovely; the vocals are distant in a Chordettes sort of style and it has a lullaby quality

7 The Bruisers Blue Girl The only solo hit for this group after they had a couple with Tommy Bruce - not even on Spotify but I think it's a bit of a gem

6 Freddie And The Dreamers I'm Telling You Now This was their biggest single reaching #2 and it's a very catchy tune, but doesn't have the raw brilliance of their debut hit for me

6 The Beach Boys Surfin' USA A small first hit for them but a classic that showcases their talent - it's not one I love revisiting though, maybe due to overplay

5 The Springfields Come On Home Last of their 5 hits - you can see why Dusty was more successful on her own as its good but very stuck in its genre I think

5 Billy Fury In Summer Another big hit for him with a catchy but ever so slightly grating "dum dami dum" backing vocal riff - good tune but don't love it

4 Heinz Just Like Eddie A big hit and a decent rock 'n' roll song but I find the riff borders on irritating; overall it doesn't do as much for me as it should

4 Jan And Dean Surf City This duo were also pioneers of the California beach sound and this is remakably similar to "Surfin' Usa", but definitely not as good

3 Miss X Christine A nice piano led jazzy instrumental here but for me Christine ruins it with her incessant cutesy interruptions and giggling

2 Bobby Darin Eighteen Yellow Roses He's upset that she's found a man and the twist at the end is that he's actually her dad - quite a twee and dull song though

2 Houston Wells Only The Heartaches Only hit for this British country star and it's exactly the same melody as Vera's "The Homing Waltz", which I don't care for either

 

 

1963 Group 10:

 

#1918 17/08/1963 Kathy Kirby Dance On 11 42-27-17-14-{11}-14-16-21-23-22-32-39-37->13

#1919 24/08/1963 Cliff Richard It's All In The Game 2 25-10-4-{2}-2-2-4-8-16-19-33-32-44->13

#1920 24/08/1963 Karl Denver Still 13 33-25-17-{13}-15-18-14-19-20-17-20-20-33-25-26->15

#1921 24/08/1963 Steve And Eydie I Want To Stay Here 3 36-19-10-7-4-{3}-6-11-14-21-32-41-47->13

#1922 24/08/1963 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Acapulco 1922 27 38-32-{27}-28-45-44->6

#1923 24/08/1963 Del Shannon Two Silhouettes 23 44-37-33-27-{23}-32-41-39->8

#1924 24/08/1963 Miki And Griff I Wanna Stay Here 23 47-39-{23}-24-24-40-47->7

#1925 31/08/1963 The Beatles She Loves You 1 12-3-{1}-1-1-1-3-3-3-2-2-3-2-1-1-2-2-2-3-5-5-8-16-19-21-23-28-33-35-42-48-42R(2)-47->33

#1926 31/08/1963 The Bachelors Whispering 18 40-29-21-{18}-21-23-24-26-38-43->10

#1927 31/08/1963 The Hollies Searchin' 12 47-38-32-26-20-17-{12}-13-13-19-27-26-33-49->14

#1928 31/08/1963 Ken Dodd Still 35 50-40-37-37-43-43-{35}-36-39-37->10

#1929 07/09/1963 Buddy Holly Wishing 10 35-18-13-{10}-12-10-15-16-23-36-46->11

#1930 07/09/1963 Sam Cooke Frankie And Johnny 30 46-34-{30}-35-39-37->6

#1931 07/09/1963 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Applejack 4 49-16-9-{4}-11-9-12-15-22-31-38-40-48->13

#1932 14/09/1963 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Do You Love Me? 1 33-12-7-2-{1}-1-1-3-5-8-12-16-25-37->14

 

Finally catching up after falling way behind.

 

My first thought on seeing the title Tell Him was "Is that thye Hello hit?". Turns out it was. Thanks John. I've heard it now and it's rather good (as is the Hello version). Similarly, I didn't know that Can't Get Used To Losing You was a cover of an Andy Williams hit. The original is one of his better efforts but I prefer The Beat version.

 

Roy Orbison is nearly always fantastic and In Dreams is up there with his very best.

 

I didn't know Mr Bass Man but now appreciate it for its utter bonkersness. After all, I do like rather a lot of bonkers songs. We're still a decade away from Sparks.

 

Rhythm Of The Rain is lovely.

 

The early Beatles hits were, of course, outstanding. Little did people know just how much better they would get. Lennon and McCartney met 65 years ago last week. As they had a mutual friend, it is perfectly possible that they would still have met at a later date. Another "what if" is the fact that John Lennon reportedly hesitated over inviting someone who rivalled him for talent to join his band. Of course, it is also possible that Lennon and McCartney would have enjoyed success with different bands. While George Harrison could also potentially have achieved success by another route, Ringo Starr may have found it more difficult. That said, perhaps Ringo would have become the superstar while the others never got anywhere :lol:

 

The original version of It's My Party is great as is Da Doo Ron Ron. We'll gloss over the Spitting Image Da Do Run Ron song taking the piss out of the campaign encouraging Ronald Reagan to run for a second term as president.

 

Kenny Ball's Rondo is a fun version of a familiar tune.

 

Interesting to note that the 154th number one was Elvis's 14th. That's one in elven of the number ones so far.

 

I don't recognise the Jimmy Soul song but it's good fun.

 

And I'm up to date :D

Getting even more up to date Wipeout is a classic instrumental.

 

Surfin' USA is great but, as you say, they went on to do far better.

A second win for the fab four today - I guess this was when their success suddenly hit the stratosphere.

 

8 The Beatles She Loves You 157th #1 and biggest seller of the decade: just marvel at that Top 3 run - not a big favourite of mine but a great pop song for sure

8 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Do You Love Me? 158th #1: for once it's the chart toppers coming out on top today - a very well remembered British Invasion pop rock classic

7 Steve And Eydie I Want To Stay Here Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé have had big solo hits but his is both their highest peaker - a beautiful and characterful duet

7 Kathy Kirby Dance On First hit for this future Eurovision representative and it's a very strong vocal performance and a lovely band accompanied melody

6 Buddy Holly Wishing Last Top 10 for Buddy as his lenghy posthumous career finally nears the end- quite an understated one but love the guitar parts

6 Karl Denver Still I like Karl's records when his vocals aren't too off-putting as they aren't here - enjoy the percussive "still!" and the instrumentation

5 The Hollies Searchin' Was a hit for The Coasters in 1957 and also gave that a 5 - this version is more uptempo but retains the song's gritty character

5 Jet Harris And Tony Meehan Applejack Last hit and 3rd straight Top 5 for them - has an upbeat slightly Latin flavour and but lacks the brilliance of their earlier efforts

4 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Acapulco 1922 Another instrumental version of a song, apparently meant to be in a South of the border 20s style hence the name; quite pleasant

4 Sam Cooke Frankie And Johnny I don't tend to warm to songs about murder and though the storytelling's very good and Sam sings it well this is no exception

3 Del Shannon Two Silhouettes This didn't do so well after 3 straight Top 5s and has quite a nice interaction with the backing vocals but all in all it's quite average

3 Miki And Griff I Wanna Stay Here Last hit and another cover for this British country duo - done similarly to Steve and Eydie's but somehow with much less character

2 The Bachelors Whispering If you listen from the bottom upwards as I've just done this one seems not too bad, but really it's still pretty limp and saccharine

1 Cliff Richard It's All In The Game A cover of Tommy Edwards' chart topper, showing that when you take a slow song and don't do it justice it really becomes dire

1 Ken Dodd Still It took me a while to realise this was the same song as Karl's because this version is so utterly lifeless, even by Ken's standards

 

 

1963 Group 12:

 

#1933 14/09/1963 Trini Lopez If I Had A Hammer 4 36-16-8-5-{4}-6-7-6-10-13-15-15-22-29-47-46-43->17

#1934 14/09/1963 The Merseybeats It's Love That Really Counts 24 44-31-33-31-26-27-26-28-{24}-31-36-44->12

#1935 14/09/1963 Little Peggy March Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love 29 46-33-{29}-30-32-38-48->7

#1936 14/09/1963 Ray Charles No One 35 47-40-36-{35}-36-44-43->7

#1937 14/09/1963 Allan Sherman Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp) 14 49-28-23-20-17-18-{14}-14-26-29->10

#1938 14/09/1963 The Fourmost Hello Little Girl 9 50-36-27-18-14-11-{9}-12-13-20-23-34-45-45-44-48-48->17

#1939 21/09/1963 The Crystals Then He Kissed Me 2 22-9-3-{2}-2-4-5-9-10-14-17-32-40-50->14

#1940 21/09/1963 The Shadows Shindig 6 32-15-8-{6}-8-12-18-18-27-30-37-44->12

#1941 21/09/1963 Roy Orbison Blue Bayou/Mean Woman Blues 3 41-17-9-5-4-5-4-{3}-4-7-9-14-16-23-26-23-32-38-45->19

#1942 21/09/1963 Adam Faith The First Time 5 49-25-13-7-{5}-8-10-11-14-19-23-50-47->13

#1943 21/09/1963 Dave Berry And The Cruisers Memphis Tennessee 19 50-42-29-28-25-31-24-{19}-25-28-43-40-50->13

#1944 28/09/1963 Tommy Roe Everybody 9 37-25-16-{9}-11-15-17-23-26-27-42-49R(2)-50-50->14

#1945 28/09/1963 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers Sally Ann 28 45-34-33-{28}-35-40-44-45-49->9

#1946 28/09/1963 Shirley Bassey I (Who Have Nothing) 6 46-27-13-10-{6}-7-8-9-8-11-15-12-22-25-25-28-37-37-43-50->20

Edited July 14, 20232 yr by JulianT

Batch Wipeout:

 

Wipeout is still a surfer classic, Bad To Me is sweet - as is Freddie's one of my kiddie faves at the time, and another record dad bought - though neither are quite up with top faves from this bunch. I will wait for Rollo's weeklies to look up those I dont know but like the sound of - Tymes & caravelles. Oddly I should know the Tymes as they had a career revival in 74/75.

 

Come On is a decent debut, Surfin USA is also not one of my fave Beach Boys tracks but its not bad, In Summer is one I rate, an actual Billy Fury song I knew at the time, nice tune. Just Like Eddie was once highly regarded (it was voted Top 100 in 1974 on Radio 1) but seems to have dropped from favour these days. I like it though. Surf City is better than Surfin USA, which is OK to say as Brian Wilson was writer on both - so good he could afford to help surfer singer mates! Miss X was dancer Lionel Blair's sister Joyce and was a novelty political track about Christine Keeler, centre of a political scandal. Dusty (also here) had the next hit about it in 1989 - Nothing Has Been Proved, from the film about it all, Scandal, and courtesy of Pet Shop Boys.

 

Batch Beatles:

 

She Loves You was a total sensation at the time, it was so famous and well-known (and not always beloved by the older generation, see many a parody of the day). If you are going to sum up 1963, though, She Loves You has to be the cultural soundtrack. Not anywhere near my fave Beatles single though, but it's a total shake-up of pop music. Do You Love Me was also well-known to me at the time, think I prefer the original US version though these days. Steve and Eydie was easily my fave record, though, aged 5 and also 60 years later. Love that tune, woh,oh,oh,woh,ohhh.

 

Kathy Kirby was my new fave pop star at the time and Dance On was pretty good. Wishing is also good. The Hollies have a low profile for me back then, I didnt notice Searchin' but it's fine. Frankie & Johnny I knew from the Elvis version, but hey it's Sam so OK. Cliff's cover is still one I like. The song is pretty good in almost any version, but The Four Tops did it best.

Not an obvious choice today but I think The Crystals deserve to win 1 batch for their overall contribution.

 

8 The Crystals Then He Kissed Me Another great wall of sound style song with slightly maturer lyrics than "Da Doo Ron Ron" I think, if slightly less well remembered

8 Trini Lopez If I Had A Hammer Biggest hit for this US star - this isn't the original but it's a gorgeous wistful yet bouncy song with an "Imagine" style sentiment

8 Shirley Bassey I (Who Have Nothing) I've been quite harsh on Shirley but I love this - excellent storytelling with the dramatic strings and her very well controlled vocals

7 Roy Orbison Blue Bayou/Mean Woman Blues "Mean Woman Blues" could be an Elvis song - it's good but "Blue Bayou" is certainly the highlight with its warmth and longing

7 Tommy Roe Everybody An infectious number from Tommy here with a relentless beat - love the "oo-ooh" parts and the richness with the backing chorus

7 Adam Faith The First Time The last time more like as Adam won't grace the Top 10 again - this is a really strong song though with effective call and response

6 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers Sally Ann His last hit for four years and as ever it's really nice with a pretty guitar accompanied melody tenderly and sincerely delivered

6 The Merseybeats It's Love That Really Counts First hit for this group from you know where; a little soppy but sweet and not too far off the style of a romantic Beatles ballad

6 The Fourmost Hello Little Girl Another Merseybeat group with their first hit - similar sound to others but a well written song with interesting countermelodies

5 Dave Berry And The Cruisers Memphis Tennessee First hit for Dave who was a British teen idol and a cover of a Chuck Berry song which is about to chart - he sings it really well

5 Ray Charles No One He won't ever have any more Top 20 hits - this is soulful as ever from Ray and has a classy presence to it, but not a stand-out

5 The Shadows Shindig A more upbeat party style song from them and always it's a good tune but it doesn't leave a strong overall impression on me

4 Little Peggy March Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love Her only hit here as her biggest US song didn't chart; it's a decent song with nice strings but I find the vocals a little strident

1 Allan Sherman Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp) Only hit for this US satirist - one of those songs with canned laughter every few seconds whether or not there has been a joke

 

 

1963 Group 13:

 

#1947 05/10/1963 Billy Fury Somebody Else's Girl 18 28-{18}-19-24-31-38-50->7

#1948 05/10/1963 The Dave Clark Five Do You Love Me? 30 45-50-33-{30}-36-48->6

#1949 05/10/1963 Harry Secombe If I Ruled The World 18 49-44-39R(6)-35-31-22-{18}-21-22-21-25-30-28-26-28-34-41->17

#1950 12/10/1963 Gerry And The Pacemakers You'll Never Walk Alone 1 22-7-2-{1}-1-1-1-2-4-8-12-12-16-17-20-22-27-32-36->19

#1951 12/10/1963 Chuck Berry Let It Rock/Memphis Tennessee 6 25-21-10-9-7-{6}-10-12-18-32-43-43-44->13

#1952 12/10/1963 The Drifters I'll Take You Home 37 41-{37}-37-38-42->5

#1953 12/10/1963 Bo Diddley Pretty Thing 34 42-{34}-41-41-46-48->6

#1954 12/10/1963 Peter, Paul And Mary Blowing In The Wind 13 43-46-28-21-16-17-17-{13}-19-28-30-31-35-39-40-44->16

#1955 12/10/1963 Jimmy Young Miss You 15 45-35-22-17-{15}-19-18-22-30-36-40-47-47->13

#1956 19/10/1963 The Ronettes Be My Baby 4 32-18-11-6-5-{4}-8-11-21-29-38-41-47->13

#1957 19/10/1963 The Everly Brothers Girl Sang The Blues 25 39-27-{25}-25-30-34-38-49-48->9

#1958 19/10/1963 Rick Nelson Fools Rush In 12 40-23-16-{12}-15-16-18-29-33->9

#1959 19/10/1963 Frank Ifield Mule Train 22 42-25-26-{22}-36-37->6

#1960 19/10/1963 Jim Reeves Guilty 29 47-34-{29}-29-42-41-50->7

 

 

Just did a big catch-up, my top three since last posting are: 'Rhythm Of The Rain', 'Pipeline' and 'Sukiyaki', how silly that the latter title was altered to the name of a Japanese hot pot dish for the Anglosphere markets despite being completely irrelevant to the song :kink: I of course appreciate the rapid spread of Beatlemania too but we haven't quite got to any of my essential tracks of theirs yet. Great to have the likes of The Crystals and The Beach Boys in the charts now too.

Oh I also much prefer Then He Kissed Me to Da Do Ron Ron, it's a much better song, the wonderful Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry wrote it and they will feature on many a 60's pop classic. And of course later a hit for The Beach Boys with a slight title change, both versions are fab. Trini Lopez was a famous hit at the time, and I still like it a lot, and Shirley is best on a dramatic ballad, so I is right up her street, and covered by Tom Jones 2 Welsh singers who can really belt out the drama and volume.

 

Roy's is all about Blue Bayou, later not so well covered by Linda Ronstadt (who has done some classics herself), and Tommy Roe's Everybody is a catchy little tune - it was on the first CD album I ever bought (Tommy Roe Greatest Hits) and helped set his style to be perfected in the first record I ever bought, Dizzy, the song with the great rhythm section and strings used oddly. The rest I dont know bar Hello Little Girl, which is OK, and the fabulous Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, a huge Juniors Choice kiddie fave well into the 70's. Canned laughter doesnt grate quite so much on me as it was everywhere at the time - and he was a satirist, based this on a well-known opera piece Dance Of The Hours, and his son's letters moaning about being in summer camp, an American cultural experience that is still much alive as is the song in summer camps (it's in the Library Of Congress National Recording Registry for being culturally and historically significant). Oh and Lynyrd Sykynrd borrowed the name of the kid who got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner :lol: Still amuses me and second only to The Crystals in this batch, thought he 5-year-old in me might be a bit biased.... :D

It's very unpopular opinion, but Motown girl groups and their hits were awful.

It's very unpopular opinion, but Motown girl groups and their hits were awful.

 

I think it's prob the Phil Spector girl groups you arent keen on - I do know some music fans who also dont like the Wall Of Sound either so you aren't alone there :D

No difficulty in picking the winner today; one of the best songs of the year. :)

 

9 The Ronettes Be My Baby The structure; the beat; the vocals; the melody; the instrumentation; the lyrics - all fab; might bethe best song of its genre ever

8 Bo Diddley Pretty Thing A US hit for this incredibly talented American guitarist and singer in the 1950s but only released here now - love the folky flavour

8 Chuck Berry Let It Rock/Memphis Tennessee His first Top 10 here and both sides are great; "Let It Rock" is a frantic rocky number with lots of piano; the other more ballady

7 Gerry And The Pacemakers You'll Never Walk Alone 159th #1: I don't adore listening to this but it's an undoubted classic that means a lot to many people and a very well crafted song

7 The Drifters I'll Take You Home I really enjoy this one from them - not dissimilar to "Save The Last Dance For Me" and has a lovely melody and vulnerability to it

6 Rick Nelson Fools Rush In Interesting track with a frenetic banjo accompaniment under a very clear and smooth almost echoey vocal line with a nice melody

6 Billy Fury Somebody Else's Girl Another angst ridden one from Billy and he performs it well as ever but it's the smooth violins that really convey the emotion

5 The Everly Brothers Girl Sang The Blues A nice bluesy song with their usual close harmonies and a really well done piano accompaniment - nothing so memorable but good

5 Jimmy Young Miss You Last of his 11 Top 40s and a rather syrupy ballad but it's surprisingly tender with a pleasant melody and sweet instrumentation

4 Peter, Paul And Mary Blowing In The Wind Dylan's version wasn't a hit single here sadly but this cover isn't that bad actually - has some nice harmonies and light and shade

4 The Dave Clark Five Do You Love Me? Still a great song but I can't see what this cover does that the other versions don't, plus the tempo's a bit slow and it lacks oomph

3 Jim Reeves Guilty I feel guilty giving Jim this score but it's for the lifeless song rather than the performance and he has plenty of better ones to come

3 Harry Secombe If I Ruled The World 2nd of 3 hits for this Welsh actor; the song was done for a West End musical and his vocals are oh so operatic but it's not terrible

2 Frank Ifield Mule Train The song would be passable without the constant whipping noises which unfortunately render it all a chore to listen to for me

 

 

1963 Group 14:

 

#1961 19/10/1963 Cilla Black Love Of The Loved 35 50-40-{35}-50-39-50->6

#1962 26/10/1963 The Searchers Sugar And Spice 2 29-8-4-{2}-3-6-13-25-28-30-38-35-46->13

#1963 26/10/1963 Elvis Presley Bossa Nova Baby 13 33-{13}-14-18-20-28-43-44->8

#1964 26/10/1963 Del Shannon Sue's Gotta Be Mine 21 49-30-{21}-21-24-33-39-49->8

#1965 02/11/1963 Brenda Lee Sweet Impossible You 28 34-33-{28}-31-36-48->6

#1966 02/11/1963 Fats Domino Red Sails In The Sunset 34 42-43-{34}-35-39-41->6

#1967 02/11/1963 Los Indios Tabajaras Maria Elena 5 44-28-16-13-10-7-{5}-7-10-8-13-11-19-23-31-29-35->17

#1968 02/11/1963 Chubby Checker What Do Ya Say! 37 46-45-{37}-47->4

#1969 02/11/1963 Ray Charles Busted 21 49-40-24-{21}-24-26-35-36-40-45->10

#1970 09/11/1963 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Don't Talk To Him 2 23-7-5-3-{2}-6-10-8-10-14-21-26-32-50R(2)->14

#1971 09/11/1963 Kathy Kirby Secret Love 4 30-12-6-5-5-{4}-5-4-9-9-12-18-21-27-32-41-50-46->18

#1972 09/11/1963 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas I'll Keep You Satisfied 4 34-11-9-{4}-6-11-16-13-21-22-31-32-41->13

#1973 09/11/1963 Freddie And The Dreamers You Were Made For Me 3 39-22-11-7-{3}-3-3-3-4-7-9-20-25-30-44->15

#1974 09/11/1963 Nino Tempo And April Stevens Deep Purple 17 47-35-29-21-{17}-18-34-33-34-33-48->11

Edited July 17, 20232 yr by JulianT

'Be My Baby' and 'She Loves You' are both great!

Be My Baby is genius, and an inspiration for Brian Wilson. Dad bought it so my childhood was spent knowing and loving it, and even playing the B side too (which is not Ronettes). It's a perfect record and huge kudos to Dirty Dancing for helping to keep it famous. The only one of this batch that comes close is the equally timeless You'll Never Walk Alone, no-one did it better than Gerry and it remains inspirational - and not just for the footie. I still get goosebumps for both records when I'm listening with all my attention.

 

Memphis Tennessee I know, its OK, Fools Rush In is lovely, Rick had quite the list of pop tunes. Somebody's Else's Girl is nice, Blowing In The Wind was a famous one, I was aware of Peter, Paul & Mary long before I'd heard of Bob Dylan. Gotta be honest, I think the first time I knew of Dylan was Lay Lady Lay! Knew all his famous songs, and no doubt heard his name all the time, but as an artist he never really popped up on the telly!

 

Mule Train was well-known as a song in our house, and Frank's version a bit, but it was all about Frankie laine's original. Not that fussed these days, I must admit. If I Ruled The World is a great song, though nobody remembers the musical Pickwick these days. I like Harry's version, but the definitive is still waiting to be done - not even Tony Bennett (original), Stevie Wonder, Supremes and others have succeeded to date. I throw open that challenge to modern vocalists with a great range.... :D

Poor Cliff does get a hard time and so I think it’s important to give due credit for his good ones, of which this is most definitely one.

 

8 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Don't Talk To Him The Shadows definitely play a fair part here with some beautiful guitar parts but it's a great sincerely delivered ballad from Cliff

7 Freddie And The Dreamers You Were Made For Me 3 out of 3 Top 3 hits for them and another really good song with the distinctive tone of the lead vocals and sweet backing

7 Elvis Presley Bossa Nova Baby Only reached #13 but it's more interesting than many of his chart toppers with the funky rhythm and unusual instrumentation

7 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas I'll Keep You Satisfied A strong romantic ballad here very well sung with real feeling and with a nice simple twangy accompaniment from The Dakotas

6 Nino Tempo And April Stevens Deep Purple A brother and sister couple here and an intriguing country style song with mouth organ and really sweet vocals from both

6 The Searchers Sugar And Spice Another sweet themed hit for them - think this is less sickly and a bit better than "Sweets For My Sweet", and another catchy one

6 Chubby Checker What Do Ya Say! Last Top 40 for him excluding reissues - it's a catchy one with organ accompaniment and a bit different in style from his others

5 Brenda Lee Sweet Impossible You As usual strong crystal clear vocals and a nice song, though doesn't really stand out and can see why her hit run is faltering

5 Del Shannon Sue's Gotta Be Mine Del Shannon hits are starting to blend into 1 for me now, not that this is bad and he's still using falsetto well for the catchy hook

4 Fats Domino Red Sails In The Sunset I like the way the piano seems to represent the rippling water here - otherwise great vocals as ever but can take or leave the song

4 Ray Charles Busted Another soulful gentle tempo number from him - hard to criticise the composition or the delivery and yet it all falls slightly flat

3 Los Indios Tabajaras Maria Elena An instrumental version of a Spanish 1930s song that was a one off big hit for this group, but it doesn't do a whole lot for me

3 Cilla Black Love Of The Loved First hit for Cilla - I'll be saying this a lot but I really don't like her voice sadly - song's not bad with some nice brass touches

2 Kathy Kirby Secret Love Credit for doing something different with this Doris cover by upping the tempo and shifting the rhythm but just sounds a bit off

 

 

1963 Group 15:

 

#1975 16/11/1963 Mark Wynter It's Almost Tomorrow 12 32-22-14-{12}-14-20-22-30-30-45-49-50->12

#1976 16/11/1963 The Rolling Stones I Wanna Be Your Man 12 41-32-30-16-15-13-14-15-{12}-14-15-17-24-27-31-36->16

#1977 16/11/1963 Matt Monro From Russia With Love 20 43-27-{20}-21-26-31-36-29-36-36-36-44-45->13

#1978 23/11/1963 The Dave Clark Five Glad All Over 1 38-19-8-9-4-6-2-2-{1}-1-2-4-6-10-14-24-30-38-44->19

#1979 23/11/1963 The Hollies Stay 8 42-29-27-17-19-17-17-11-{8}-12-8-12-19-21-31-35->16

#1980 23/11/1963 Bern Elliott And The Fenmen Money 14 43-31-23-19-{14}-19-19-23-24-28-31-41-40->13

#1981 23/11/1963 John Barry From Russia With Love 39 44-46R(4)-{39}->3

#1982 23/11/1963 Big Dee Irwin With Little Eva Swinging On A Star 7 45-42-35-27-15-15-11-8-{7}-7-12-16-20-26-37-41-45->17

#1983 23/11/1963 Dusty Springfield I Only Want To Be With You 4 46-25-9-7-6-5-6-{4}-4-4-5-11-17-17-25-37-49-49->18

#1984 30/11/1963 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates Hungry For Love 20 32-{20}-23-24-24-31-24-28-50-48->10

#1985 30/11/1963 Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde Yesterday's Gone 37 40-47-39-42-{37}-39-48->7

#1986 30/11/1963 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes I Can Dance 31 41-36-{31}-33-34-33-34-50->8

#1987 30/11/1963 Heinz Country Boy 26 46-38-34-{26}-28-27-26-32-46->9

#1988 30/11/1963 Wilfred Brambell And Harry H Corbett At The Palace (Parts 1 And 2) 25 47-34-38-32-32-26-{25}-30-35-38-43-46->12

Edited July 18, 20231 yr by JulianT