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1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
1965 1966
1967 1968
1969 1970
1971 1972
1973 1974
1975 1976
1977
MIKE SMITH’S HOT HUNDRED UK HITS 1962
This year saw the continued success of Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, and Elvis Presley in the charts. However, 1962 was also the final year of hits for many performers who had begun their chart career in the 1950s, such as Lonnie Donegan, Paul Anka, Connie Francis, Marty Wilde and a few others. See the list at the foot of this page. 1962 also saw debut hits for several new acts including the Beatles no less, and Joe Brown from the UK, as well as the Four Seasons, the Crystals and Tommy Roe from the USA. American songwriters based in the famous Brill Building in New York City also had considerable success in the British charts, especially the husband and wife team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King who together wrote seven UK hits in 1962, plus others written with different partners. British writer Johnny Worth, masquerading as Les van Dyke, enjoyed four hits in this listing. The year also witnessed the arrival of The Twist, with several songs devoted to the new dance craze. Independent record producer Joe Meek had a very good year with another hit from John Leyton and a Number One courtesy of the Tornadoes with their massive "Telstar" which was at the top for five weeks, remaining on the charts for 25 weeks. It went to Number One in the USA as well, two years before the so-called British Invasion of the American charts. Only twelve recordings reached Number One in the UK this year, which included four from Elvis Presley and two from Frank Ifield. The score for Britain and America at the top of the charts was a very diplomatic six each. These are my personal favourite recordings from this particular year, listed in the order in which they entered the UK hit singles chart. You may not agree with my choices, but these were UK chart hits* that had plenty of air play on the music radio stations of the day, such as Radio Luxemburg. |
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1 Title: Son This Is She John Leyton was born on 17 Feb 1936 in Essex, England. After his National Service in the early 1950s, he went to drama school, and this enabled him to get a number of bit-parts in films and TV dramas. His big break-through came in 1961 when he landed a part in the television series "Harpers West One". Leyton played the part of a singer named Johnny Saint Cyr, and in one episode he performed the song "Johnny Remember Me". The song raced up to
Number One, and started his career as a singer, as well as an actor. He enjoyed a total of nine hits, although only two reached the Top 10. His recordings were produced by the legendary Joe Meek. His acting continued, with appearances in several major films during the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1990s and 2000s he toured in 1960s nostalgia shows. |
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2 Title: Let's Twist Again Chubby Checker was born on 3 Oct 1941 in South Carolina, USA, but he grew up in Philadelphia, USA. He began singing for customers in a street market, and came to the attention of a songwriter who worked for a record company. Checker's first release was a medium-sized hit in the USA, and then along came "The Twist", which topped the American charts twice, in 1960 and 1962. This was followed by more releases which were based on The Twist. He has continued performing in oldies revival shows for several decades, and even had an American chart entry in 2008. |
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3 Title: Walk On By Leroy Van Dyke was born on 4 Oct 1929 in Missouri, USA. He is a Country Music singer who had his first American hit in 1956. He has recorded more than 500 songs, dozens of which have appeared in the USA Country Music chart. He also had TV and radio shows during the 1960s. He only had one further small chart hit in the UK. He is still performing, travelling from his ranch in Missouri, USA. His son Ben plays lead guitar in all Van Dyke performances. |
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4 Title: The Language Of Love John D Loudermilk (31 Mar 1934 - 21 Sep 2016) was born in Durham, North Carolina, USA. He was a singer-songwriter, who achieved a few hits himself, but had most success writing songs for other artists. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he became a prolific songwriter. Most of his songs had a Country Music slant, but several crossed over to the pop charts, and a few of his songs entered the UK charts during the 1960s. |
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5 Title: The Young Ones Cliff Richard was born on 14 Oct 1940 in Lucknow, India, whilst his parents were working in that country. He returned to England with his family in 1948. He formed a band in 1957 and a year later he was chosen as a singer for the TV Rock 'n' Roll show "Oh Boy!". His first hit came in 1958, which started a career that continued into the 21st century, with more than 130 hit singles and over 50 original albums, spanning 50 years plus. In the early 1960s he also starred in several musical films, notably "The Young Ones" and "Summer Holiday". He also achieved a
Number One single in five different decades, and is the most successful British recording artist of all time. |
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6 Title: Crying In The Rain These two
brothers had roots in American Country Music, but soon became major
Rock 'n' Roll stars. They were Don Everly (1 Feb 1937 - 21 Aug
2021)
and Phil Everly (19 Jan 1939 - 3 Jan 2014). They moved to
Nashville in 1955 and made a couple of recordings, but they did not
enter the charts. However, in early 1957 they signed with
Cadence Records and recorded "Bye Bye Love" which it is
said had been turned down by 30 other acts. The recording
reached number two on the USA pop charts and sold a million copies.
"Bye Bye Love" became their first hit in the UK too,
peaking at number six. After three years with Cadence they
moved to Warner Brothers records and the hits continued. They
amassed 29 hit singles by 1968, after which the hits stopped.
They both went solo in the 1970s after a falling out, and they did
not speak for some years. However, they reunited in 1983 with
a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and they made
a number of concert tours into the 1990s. |
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7 Title: Forget Me Not Eden Kane was born on 29 Mar 1940 in New Delhi, India, where his British parents were working as civil servants. His father died in 1954, so his mother took the whole family back to England. Based in Croydon, on the southern border of London, he began entering talent contests during the late 1950s. He was given a contract with Decca Records in early 1961, and his debut release, "Well I Ask You" (see
year 1961, song 43) went all the way to Number One. He had a further four Top 10 hits, but then no more. Unusually, he had only a total of five hits, but all were Top 10 entries. After his chart success in Britain dried up, he moved to live in California, working as a record producer. He still lives in Los Angeles and is married to journalist Charlene Groman, the sister of actress Stefanie Powers. |
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8 Title: A Little Bitty Tear Burl Ives (14 Jun 1909 - 14 Apr 1995) was born in Illinois, USA. He was primarily a Folk music singer, although he acted in some major films during the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1930s he was a travelling singer, but he soon got into radio, and by the 1940s he had his own radio show where he popularised Folk songs. This led to a recording contract, and a few hit records followed. For the rest of his life he worked at singing and acting in both film and TV. He died from oral cancer at the age of 85. |
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9 Title: Can't Help Falling In Love The King of Rock
'n' Roll (8 Jan 1935 - 16 Aug 1977) was born in Tupelo, Mississippi,
USA. He and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was
13 years old. Soon afterwards he acquired his first guitar and
began playing and singing. He started his recording career at
Sun Records in Memphis, USA. It took several attempts to get
Sun owner Sam Phillips to let Presley record, but eventually a
session was arranged with guitarist Scotty Moore and upright bass
player Bill Black providing backing. The resultant track
"That's Alright" was soon on local radio in Memphis, and
it became a local hit. Public performances followed, including
numerous appearances on the "Louisiana Hayride" radio show
which was broadcast to half the USA. Eventually he became
famous enough for RCA records to buy out his Sun contract and take
him to Nashville, in 1956. He rose to be arguably the biggest
music star of the 20th century, with world-wide record sales of over
one billion. Also in 1956 Elvis made his movie debut in the
film "Love Me Tender". By the end of 1969 he had
completed 31 films. He made no more movies after that, instead
concentrating on live concert performances, including many in Las
Vegas. His home in Memphis, "Graceland", is now a
museum and major tourist attraction, and his recordings continue to
be heard throughout the world. |
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10 Title: Rock A Hula Baby This recording was a double A-side with song 9 above. Both tracks came from Presley's film "Blue Hawaii". Whilst these recordings were topping the charts, Presley's next film, "Follow That Dream", had been completed, and it hit the American cinemas in April 1962, just five months after "Blue Hawaii" had been released! |
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11 Title: Softly As I Leave You Matt Monro (1 Dec 1930 – 7 Feb 1985) was born in London, England. He began singing on talent shows while in the British Army in the early 1950s. He made some records in the mid-1950s, but none met with any success. In 1959 he was asked to record a demo record for EMI, and when producer, George Martin heard the track, he arranged for Monro to record a new song, "Portrait Of My Love". It reached number three on the UK charts and started his international career. He recorded several film themes including "From Russia With Love" for the James Bond movie. He spent some time in America during the mid-1960s, making albums of standards and new ballads, and was hailed as the new Frank Sinatra. He toured the world extensively, especially during the 1970s and early 1980s. He died from liver cancer at age 54. |
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12 Title: Tell Me What He Said Helen Shapiro was born on 28 Sep 1946 in east London, England. She became a singing sensation when this debut single was issued because of her deep voice and being only 14 years old. She took up singing at a young age and was part of a group at the age of ten. She had singing lessons when 13, and various connections
led her to an A&R man at EMI studios. Her first hit was "Don't Treat Me Like A Child" in the spring of 1961. The song was written for her, and so began a career as a major pop star, but only for a couple of years. She only had minor hits in 1963, and rapidly changing musical trends left her without hits after February 1964. She then went into cabaret and stage musicals. In the 1980s she moved into Jazz and toured with Humphrey Littleton's band, and she has also been prominent during recent decades on the Gospel music scene. |
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13 Title: The Wanderer Dion (surname DiMucci) was born on 18 Jul 1939 in New York City, USA. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of music. He was asked to make a record in 1957 and the record company teamed him up with an existing group, The Belmonts, to back him. As Dion and the Belmonts he had a few hits including "Teenager In Love" in 1959, which was only a minor hit in the UK, as it was covered by Marty Wilde. In the USA it reached number 5. He went solo in late 1960, and in 1961 had his first big solo hit "Runaround Sue", which he co-wrote. That recording went to
Number One in the USA. However, after this Top 10 entry, the hits dried up. He is still recording in the 21st century. |
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14 Title: I'll See You In My Dreams Pat Boone was born on 1 Jun 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, but he grew up in Nashville, Tennessee - his parents having moved there when Boone was only two years old. He began recording in 1955, mostly covering black R&B hits
by the likes of Fats Domino and Little Richard for the white American market, but he soon turned to original material - mostly love songs.
He cultivated a clean, wholesome image, which was appreciated by
parents who thought Elvis Presley was too sexual in
performance. His popularity earned him a TV series, "The
Pat Boone Chevy Showroom" (obviously sponsored by Chevrolet
cars), which ran from 1957 to 1960. Boone became something of a teenage heart-throb on both sides of the
Atlantic, and his good looks took him into the film industry.
He made numerous films in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, all
for family viewing. The hits dried up in the early 1960s, and
being
a committed Christian, Boone toured with his wife and four daughters as Gospel singers during the second half of the 1960s and
through the 1970s. |
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15 Title: March of The Siamese Children Kenny Ball (22 May 1930 - 7 Mar 2013) was born in Ilford, east London, England. He began learning to play trumpet when he was 14, turning professional in 1953. He played with a number of bands, before forming his own in 1958. Traditional Jazz (Trad-Jazz) became very popular in the early 1960s, with band leader Acker Bilk having scored a few hits in 1960. Ball was ready to take advantage of this popularity, and his first record release "Samantha" reached number 13 in the UK. He went on to have 14 hits in the singles charts, four of which made the Top 10. He continued performing into the 21st century, often together with Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, billed as Barber, Ball and Bilk. |
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16 Title: Tonight Shirley Bassey was born on 8 Jan 1937 in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales. She went on to become an international star with countless hit singles and albums throughout the world. She began singing professionally in 1953, and performed up and down the UK. She signed a recording contract in 1956, and had her first Top 10 hit in 1957 ("Banana Boat Song"). She enjoyed a string of hits during the 1960s, and recorded three James Bond movie themes. She had her own TV series during the 1970s, and continued performing into the 21st century. By 2015 she had scored 33 hit singles and 39 hit albums. She was honoured with a Damehood in 2000, and was back in the recording studios in 2014. |
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17 Title: Duke Of Earl Gene Chandler was born on 6 July 1937 in Chicago, USA. In 1957, Chandler joined a band called The Dukays, which included co-writer Earl Edwards, who inspired the song. After his draft into the US Army he returned to Chicago during 1960 and rejoined The Dukays. It was during this time that the song was written and recorded by the group. But their record company were not keen on issuing it. So Chandler took the record to another company who issued it under his solo name. They were rewarded for their decision with a USA chart topper. A few hits followed in America, and he remained a popular live performer. |
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18 Title: Wonderful Land The Shadows were Cliff Richard's backing band, who were at first called The Drifters. All of Cliff's hits from 1958 to mid-1959 were credited to Cliff Richard and The Drifters. However, there was an American vocal group called The Drifters, so the band's name was changed. The original members of The Shadows were Hank B Marvin (born 28 Oct 1941), lead guitar, Bruce Welch (born 2 Nov 1941), rhythm guitar, Jet Harris (6 July 1939 - 18 Mar 2011), bass guitar, and Tony Meehan (2 Mar 1943 - 28 Nov 2005), drums. A number of personnel changes occurred during the following years, but Hank and Bruce remained a constant. |
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19 Title: Twistin' The Night Away Sam Cooke (22 Jan 1931 - 11 Dec 1964) was born in Mississippi, USA. He started out as a Gospel singer, but in 1957 he signed a recording contract and began his career as a Soul singer. His first hit was "You Send Me" in early 1958. It was a
Number One hit in the USA, but only reached number 29 in the UK. His recording of "Only Sixteen", which he also wrote himself, was out-sold by the Craig Douglas cover version. His follow-up recording of "Wonderful World" was not up against any covers, but still only managed to just enter the Top 30. However, things changed in September 1960 when he began a run of three Top 10 hits through to 1962. He was shot dead at a motel in Los Angeles in December 1964. |
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20 Title: Dream Baby Roy Orbison (23 Apr 1936 - 6 Dec 1988) was born in Vernon, Texas, USA. He started playing guitar as a child, and formed a high school band, playing mostly Country Music. The band remained together and, called The Teen Kings", they began playing on local radio stations. At one of those broadcasts, Johnny Cash was in the radio station, and suggested the group approached Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. They duly went, and recorded a song called "Ooby Dooby" which reached number 59 in the USA charts. He struggled with hits after that, and concentrated on songwriting. In 1960 he signed for Monument Records, and very soon recorded his classic hit "Only The Lonely". More major hits followed during the 1960s, and he continued to tour during the 1970s and 1980s. He died from a heart attack in 1988, following which recordings made earlier in the 1980s began reaching the charts, including two Top 10 entries from 1989 to 1992. |
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21 Title: Hey Little Girl Del Shannon (30 Dec 1934 - 8 Feb 1990) was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. After army service in the mid-1950s he joined a band which played in local venues. The lead singer was sacked in 1958 and Shannon took over vocal duties. A record contract followed, and in early 1961 Shannon recorded "Runaway" which was a chart topper on both sides of the Atlantic. Shannon went on to have seven Top 10 hits in the UK by 1963, and after some smaller chart entries, he had one final Top 10 hit in 1965. His hits tailed off after that, so he moved into music production with Liberty Records. He made a few albums in the 1970s and 1980s but sales figures were not great. Suffering from depression, Shannon committed suicide on 8th February 1990. |
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22 Title: Love Me Warm And Tender Canadian Paul Anka was born on 30 Jul 1941, in
Ottawa, Canada. He went to New York at the age of 14 to audition for a record deal. His first release, the self-penned "Diana" was a world-wide smash, and his career grew from there, becoming one of the biggest recording stars of the Rock 'n' Roll era. He wrote most of his big hits himself, and he also wrote
songs recorded by other performers including Buddy Holly, Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra. He continued recording
(mostly albums) and performing throughout the remainder of the
20th century, often in Las Vegas, and was working well into the
2000s. In 2005 he issued an album, "Rock
Swings", featuring big band arrangements of rock hits.
A follow-up in similar style, "Classic Hits, My Way",
was issued in 2007. His most recent album was released in
2013. |
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23 Title: Hey! Baby Bruce Channel was born on 28 Nov 1940 in Jacksonville, Texas, USA. Channel began his career on the Louisiana Hayride radio show, and joined with harmonica player Delbert McClinton to sing Country Music. Channel wrote his debut hit "Hey! Baby" with Margaret Cobb during 1959, and performed the song for some two years before making a recording of it. It is Delbert McClinton's harmonica playing that is heard in the introduction of the recording and throughout the remainder of the track. The single rose to
Number One in the USA, and just missed out by one place in the UK. Further releases in America failed to reach the Top 50, and none made the UK charts until his number 12 hit, "Keep On", in 1968. Following his initial hit, he toured the USA and Europe, but he disliked touring, and eventually settled as a songwriter in Nashville, USA, where he wrote a number of hits during the 1970s and 1980s. He was recording again during 2002. |
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24 Title: Young World Ricky Nelson (8 May 1940 - 31 Dec 1985) was born in New Jersey, USA. After a one-off recording in 1956, he signed a deal with Imperial Records and the hits started. He also began TV appearances, and established himself as one of the top recording artists of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was immensely popular in the USA, but only managed four Top 10 hits in the UK out of a total of 17 chart entries. He died in a plane crash whilst on tour in the USA. |
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25 Title: When My Little Girl Is Smiling Jimmy Justice was born on 15th Dec 1939* in Carshalton, Surrey, England. He began singing in his late teens, and managed to get a contract with Pye Records. Early recordings, from 1960, failed to chart, but he covered this Goffin & King song, which was originally recorded by American vocal group The Drifters. It rose to the Top 10, even though there was competition from other versions (see below). Despite this success, he only managed to gain another two chart hits in the UK. Possibly this was due in part to his decision to live in Sweden, which reduced his exposure in Britain. He remained in Sweden for some years, but returned to live in south London, England in later life. |
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26 Title: Speak To Me Pretty Brenda Lee was born on 11 Dec 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She began singing at a very young age, and by the time she was 10 she was singing on local radio and TV, and at various events. In 1955 she made her first national TV appearance, and a recording contract followed in 1956. Her early recordings did not sell very well, but after some minor hits in the USA, her career took off in 1960 with the song "Sweet Nuthins" (her first UK hit), which was a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. She went on to have numerous hits - mostly in a Country-ballad style. After the pop hits dried up at the end of the 1960s, she successfully moved into mainstream Country Music, and had 33 entries on the USA Country charts. She is still occasionally recording and performing. |
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27 Title: Wonderful World of The Young Danny Williams (7 Jan 1942 - 6 Dec 2005) was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He won a talent contest at the age of 14 and joined a touring show that played throughout South Africa. In 1959, the show came to London where Williams impressed an EMI executive who signed the young singer to a recording contract. He went on to spend most of his life in the UK, where he made a few moderately successful singles, before scoring a chart topper with his version of "Moon River". This song was his final UK Top 10 entry, although he reached the American Top 10 in 1964 with a song called "White On White". He continued recording and performing in night clubs through the 1960s. After health and financial problems, he resumed his career in the mid-1970s, and had one final hit in 1977. He died in 2005 from lung cancer, at the age of 63. |
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28 Title: Nut Rocker B Bumble & The Stingers were a group of session musicians from Los Angeles, USA, who hit gold with this Rock 'n' Roll arrangement of a classical music melody (see below). Record producer Kim Fowley made arrangements for the recording, which used a grand piano for the rhythm part and a "tack piano", which was an upright piano with tacks attached to the hammers to create a tinny "honky tonk" sound. It was session pianist Al Hazan who played the tack piano. Following the hit, a touring group was put together, featuring Al Hazan and guitarist R. C. Gamble who took the part of "B. Bumble". Further recordings of pop arrangements of the classics were made but none reached the charts. The session musicians eventually resumed their normal work. |
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29 Title: Love Letters Ketty Lester was born on 16 Aug 1934 in Hope, Arkansas, USA. She sang in church and school choirs as a youngster, and studied music at San Francisco State College. In the early 1950s she began performing professionally in that city, and eventually signed a recording contract, leading the release of this hit single. Follow-up singles did not sell so well, and by the 1970s she had stopped singing, and had launched a career as an actress, appearing in several films, and long-running American TV dramas. |
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30 Title: Johnny Angel Shelley Fabares was born on 19 Jan 1944 in Santa Monica, California, USA. She is primarily an actress, and made her TV debut at age of just 10. She went on to play the role of Donna Reed's daughter on The Donna Reed Show (1958–1963) on American TV, and was Elvis Presley's co-star in three films. Because of her popularity she was given the chance to record an album in 1962, and this track is from that album. It soared to
Number One in the USA, but it failed to excite record buyers in the UK. Her follow-up singles did not fare so well, and she ceased her recording career in 1966 to concentrate on acting. She appeared in several films and numerous TV dramas (some long-running) until the end of the 1990s. |
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31 Title: It Would Take A Miracle Kenny Lynch (18 Mar 1938 - 18 Dec 2019) was born in the East-end of London, England. The youngest of 13 children, he first appeared on stage at the age of 12 with his sister, jazz singer Maxine Daniels (1930-2003). After army service in the mid-1950s, he began singing professionally and signed a recording contract with HMV records in 1960. He scored a modest hit in 1960, and recorded this American song (his sixth record) in early 1962. Despite a reasonable amount of radio play, it failed to enter the charts. However, he reached the Top 10 in late 1962 with a cover of an American hit (see song 97), and repeated the feat in summer 1963. His final hit single came in 1965. He also acted in several films and TV dramas over the years, and wrote songs for other performers. |
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32 Title: As You Like It Adam Faith (23 Jun 1940 - 8 Mar 2003) was born in west London, England. After various jobs behind the scenes in the film and TV industries, he cut his first record in 1958, but it made no impact on the charts. Despite this he made a number of TV appearances, and in late 1959 he was given the chance to record the song "What Do You Want?", written by Les Vandyke, arranged by John Barry and produced by John Burgess. This kicked off a career that saw him rise to be one of the top British musical stars of the early 1960s. His first two hits went to number 1, and he had a further nine Top 10 hits by 1963, with a tally of 21 hits in all from 1959 to 1966. After the hits dried up he moved into acting an became a popular actor in TV drama series ("Budgie" 1971-1972; "Love Hurts" 1992-1994), also in several films, and stage plays from the late 1960s to his death. He died in Stoke-on-Trent, England, whilst on tour with a stage play. |
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33 Title: Last Night Was Made For Love Billy Fury (17 Apr 1940 - 28 Jan 1983) was born in Liverpool, England. He bought his first guitar at age 14, entered talent contests, and by 1958 was writing his own songs. He was spotted by impresario Larry Parnes, who put him on tour, and arranged a recording contract with Decca. He also appeared on the TV pop show "Oh Boy!", and released his first record in 1959. He went on to considerable success, and had amassed 26 hit singles by the end of 1966, including eleven Top 10 entries. He never achieved a
Number One. Heart problems, which he suffered from childhood, led to surgery in the early 1970s. He did some touring and recording in the very early 1980s, but his heart problems worsened, and died in London in January 1983, aged just 42. On 19 April 2003 a bronze statue of Fury was unveiled at the National Museum of Liverpool Life. |
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34 Title: Let's Talk About Love Helen Shapiro was still pretty popular at this time, and was starring in the film mentioned below as well. However, having enjoyed four consecutive Top 10 hits, including two
Number Ones, this release was disappointing in only managing to reach number 23 in the charts. It's not as if it was a poor song; it stands well alongside her bigger hits, but did not grab the record-buying public. Nevertheless, later in the summer of 1962 she was back in the Top 10 for a final fling. After that her singles got no higher than number 33, as the new beat groups took over the charts. For more details, see song 12. |
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35 Title: Catarina Perry Como (18 May 1912 - 12 May 2001) was born in Pennsylvania, USA to Italian immigrants. In 1933 he took part in a dance band's talent spot, and was immediately offered a job. By 1943 he had his own radio show, and a recording contract with RCA. The 1950s and early 1960s saw him with hit records and his popular TV show that was broadcast in the UK as well. His first run of hits continued until 1962, but he returned in 1971 with another series of hit singles, when he was nearly 60 years of age! Como died in his sleep at his home in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida, USA, six days before his eighty-ninth birthday. |
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36 Title: Ginny Come Lately Brian Hyland was born on 12 Nov 1943 in New York City, USA. He learned to play guitar at a young age, and formed a group when he was 14. He signed a record deal as a solo artist in 1959, and although his first two releases didn't do so well, his third recording, "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" went all the way to
Number One in the USA, and number 8 in the UK during 1960. 1961 was fallow, but he scored two Top 10 hits in 1962. His popularity began to wane after that in the wake of the British beat groups of the mid-1960s, so he turned towards Country-flavoured songs, with some success in the USA. In the 1990s and 2000s, he toured the USA and UK in Sixties package shows. |
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37 Title: I'm Looking Out The Window This was Cliff's follow up to his earlier
Number One "The Young Ones". It was a double A-side with song 38, below. For only the second time on a hit single, this recording did not feature his backing group, The Shadows. Being a slow ballad, the backing was provided by the strings of the Norrie Paramor Orchestra. |
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38 Title: Do You Wanna Dance This was the flip side to song 37 above. Whilst the A-side was a slow ballad, this was all-out Rock 'n' Roll, and it did have The Shadows as backing. In some overseas countries, this was promoted as as the A-side, and it reached
Number One in The Netherlands, for example. |
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39 Title: Come Outside Mike Sarne was born on 6 Aug 1940 in London, England. He was an actor who appeared in numerous films and TV dramas. He began a brief recording career in 1962, and hit the top of the charts with this
novelty, comedy song. He followed the hit with three more novelty recordings which all reached the Top 30. However, his
singing career soon dried up - his final hit coming in March 1963. He continued acting during the following
decades however, and he even appeared in three films during the 21st century. |
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40 Title: Good Luck Charm This was Presley's third consecutive Number One single, and his eleventh chart topper in the UK. Unusually during this time, the song was not from one of his movies, and was recorded at RCA studios in Nashville, not Hollywood. However, his film "Follow That Dream" was showing at this time, and although no singles were issued from the soundtrack, an EP with four songs from the film was released. That EP went to Number One in the British EP chart, and remained on the chart for 51 weeks - just one week shy of a year! |
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41 Title: A Picture Of You Joe Brown was born on 13 May 1941 in Lincolnshire, England, but he grew up in east London, England. He formed a skiffle group in the mid-1950s, and was spotted by television producer Jack Good who hired him as lead guitarist for his new TV series, "Boy Meets Girls" in 1959. During the early 1960s he backed several American musicians such as Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran on their UK tours. He had three smallish hits from 1960, but in 1962 reached the Top 10 for the first time with this song. He enjoyed two further Top 10s, and a few more minor hits in the 1960s. However, he has never stopped performing, and regularly tours the UK up to the present time. |
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42 Title: The Green Leaves Of Summer This was Kenny's second Top 10 hit of the year (see song 15), and his second recording of a song from a film. Two more hits followed in 1962, and a final Top 10 entry came in early 1963. |
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43 Title: Besame Mucho Jet Harris (6 July 1939 - 18 Mar 2011) was born in north London, England. He found fame as the bass guitarist in Cliff Richard's band, The Shadows, who enjoyed considerable success in the their own right. However, Harris left the group in April 1962 after arguments with other band members about his excessive drinking. He was immediately signed by Decca records as a solo artist, and this debut recording was his first hit. He had one more solo hit, then teamed up with drummer Tony Meehan, who had also left The Shadows, and
together they enjoyed three Top 10 hits, including a Number One, until 1963. He remained a musician until 1967, when drinking got the better of him. However, he sought help in the 1980s, and returned to playing with various bands as a guest performer. In the 2000s he toured the UK with the Rapiers, who were a Shadows tribute band. He also toured with Marty Wilde in 2007, performing in Wilde's 50th anniversary shows. He died from cancer in 2011 at age 71. |
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44 Title: Jezebel Marty Wilde was born on 15 Apr 1939 in south London, England. Whilst performing live in 1957 he was spotted and signed up to Philips records. In 1958 he began appearing alongside Cliff Richard on the TV pop show "Oh Boy!", which brought him to the attention of a wider audience. His first hit came in 1958 (see 1958, song 65), and more hits followed during the next couple of years, nearly all covers of American hits. The hits dried up in the early 1960s, but he continued to perform on the oldies and nostalgia circuits into the 21st century. He toured the UK in 2007 to celebrate his fifty years in show
business, and was still touring in 2017. |
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45 Title: Sharing You Bobby Vee (30
Apr 1943 - 24 Oct 2016) was born in North Dakota, USA. His
father was a musician, as were his two older brothers. He was
in a high school band in 1959, and following the death of Buddy
Holly that year, Vee was asked to replace Holly on the remainder of
the tour. This obviously brought him to the attention of
record companies, and he signed a deal with Liberty Records later in
1959. He had a couple of USA-only hits in 1960, but it was his
recording of "Rubber Ball" that made him an international
star. He achieved a total of seven Top 10 hits and a further
three Top 30 chart entries in the UK by the end of 1963. He
continued recording and performing, and was touring the UK in the
1990s. In 2012 he retired from the music business due to
health problems, and died in 2016, aged 73. |
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46 Title: Ain't That Funny Jimmy Justice followed his Top 10 hit of March this year with a recording that reached number eight. This recording was not a cover of an American hit, but an original from the writer of hits for Adam Faith and Eden Kane. This was Justice's second of only three hit singles - his final entry being a cover of a Ben E King song that just reached the Top 20 (song 64). |
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47 Title: English Country Garden Jimmie Rodgers
(18 Sep 1933 - 18 Jan 2021) was born in Washington State, USA. After serving with the US Air Force in the early fifties, he entered talent contests, and eventually got a recording contract in 1957. His first hit record came in that year - the million-selling USA
Number One
"Honeycomb". That recording reached a lowly number 30 in the UK. His style was that of a Folk/Country singer, rather than the Rock 'n' Roll of the era. He enjoyed numerous hit records in the USA from 1957 to the end of the 1970s, but in the UK all his significant hits came only in the year 1958, until he had this surprise Top-5 hit in the UK in 1962. |
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48 Title: Here Comes That Feeling This was Lee's follow-up to her number three hit in April, "Speak To Me Pretty" (song 26). She was one of the top recording artists by this time, enjoying international popularity. Another two hits came her way later in the year. |
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49 Title: I Can't Stop Loving You Ray Charles was a R&B and Soul singer (23 Sep 1930 - 10 Jun 2004) who was born in Albany, Georgia, USA, but grew up in Florida. Charles started to lose his sight as a youngster, and was completely blind by the age of seven, apparently as a result of glaucoma. He attended a school for deaf and blind children and took an interest in music. He was taught to play piano, and became most interested in Blues and Jazz music which he heard on radio. He decided to become a professional piano player in the mid 1940s, but found work hard to come by in Florida, so moved to Seattle in Washington state, USA. By the early 1950s he was making a few records, and in 1952 signed with Atlantic Records. His first big hit was "I Got A Woman" which reached number two on the American R&B chart. His first pop hit came in 1959 when "What'd I Say" peaked at number six on the USA charts. This led to numerous hits on both sides of the Atlantic during the 1960s. He continued making albums into the 21st century, and remained a popular live performer almost until his death at age 73. |
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50 Title: Don't Ever Change The Crickets formed in Lubbock, Texas, USA, and included Buddy Holly on their early recordings. Although primarily Holly's backing band, they continued recording and performing with different lead singers after his death in 1959. They had several smallish hits in the UK during 1960, but this was their only post-Holly Top 10 hit. This recording features Jerry Naylor, who joined the band in 1961, as lead singer. The band, with several personnel changes, continued recording and performing on and off over the following decades, and well into the 21st century. |
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51 Title: Our Favourite Melodies Craig Douglas was born on 12 Aug 1941 on the Isle of Wight, England. He was a milk delivery man (milkman) before he became a professional singer. He had signed with the newly-launched Top Rank record company, and his first release was a cover of "Teenager in Love", but Marty Wilde had the bigger hit with that song. His cover of Sam Cooke's song "Only Sixteen" took him to the top of the charts, and gave him instant stardom. He enjoyed seven Top 10 chart entries from 1959 to 1962, with a tally of 11 hits overall - mostly covers of American originals. He has continued to perform in nostalgia shows and on cruise ships into the 21st century. |
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52 Title: I Remember You Frank Ifield was born on 30 Nov 1937 in Coventry, England. After the war, he and his parents went to live near Sydney, Australia. He enjoyed singing, and by his late teens he was a popular performer in Australia. He decided to return to the UK in 1959. His first hit came in 1960 (see year 1960, song 15), but 1961 was blank so far as hits were concerned. But in 1962 he made a real chart breakthrough with his million-selling
Number One hit, "I Remember You", which remained at
Number One for seven weeks. That record made him a star, and he became famous for his yodeling style of singing. He had three further chart-toppers and a Top 10 hit by 1964 - all revivals of old songs. After that the hits tailed off as musical trends changed in the mid-1960s. He continued as a popular performer, however for many years, and in 1991 he reached the charts again with a new recording of "She Taught Me How To Yodel", which peaked at number 40 in the UK. He was still occasionally performing into the 21st century. |
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53 Title: Cindy's Birthday Shane Fenton (27 Sep 1942 - 23 Oct 2014) was born in north London, England, but he grew up in Nottinghamshire, England. His real name was Bernard Jewry, and in the early 1960s he was working as a roadie for a band called Shane Fenton & The Fentones. Unfortunately, the lead singer (real name Johnny Theakstone) died just before the band was asked to audition for the BBC. With the blessing of the mother of the deceased singer, the band members asked Jewry to take on the role of lead singer so they could attend the audition. So Jewry became Shane Fenton. The audition was a success, and this led to a record deal with EMI. Several smallish hits followed, plus this Top 20 entry. There were no more hits after 1962, and Jewry turned to music management for a decade. However, in the early 1970s he took on another persona, as Alvin Stardust, and enjoyed considerable chart success from 1973 to 1985. Following that he went into stage musicals and TV presentation work. He died from prostate cancer at age 72. |
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54 Title: Little Miss Lonely This was Shapiro's final Top 10 hit, which came just 16 months after her sensational first hit recording, which was followed by two Number Ones in 1961. She had five hits after this, but none reached higher than number 33. Her last chart entry came in January 1964. Her time as a major recording star only covered the the years 1961 and 1962. She did enjoy a number two album in this year, and she featured in two films during 1962 - "It's Trad Dad" with Craig Douglas, and "Play It Cool" with Billy Fury. A great deal packed into a short period of time. For more info about her, see song 12. |
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55 Title: Speedy Gonzalez This novelty song was Boone's last entry in the UK Top 10. He had a number 12 hit in autumn 1962, and that was his final appearance in the UK singles chart. His first had been in November 1955, and he saw 27 of his records enter the charts by the end of 1962. See song 14 for more info. |
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56 Title: Once Upon A Dream Fury's recording career continued with his second Top 10 hit of the year. Fury was also starring in his first film, "Play It Cool", in this year, and this song is from the movie soundtrack. The film also featured Helen Shapiro, Bobby Vee, Shane Fenton and Danny Williams, as well as various British actors. |
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57 Title: Things Bobby Darin (14 May 1936 - 20 Dec 1973) was born in New York City,
USA. Darin began writing songs in 1955, and wrote a few numbers for Connie Francis. He also began arranging
music for artists on Atlantic Records, with whom Darin had been signed.
His first hit came in 1958, which started
a career that lasted through the 1960s, although he would change musical direction a few times.
He made a number of successful recordings for a couple of years
from 1959, featuring old songs with a big band backing. In
1962 he joined Capitol Records to replace Frank Sinatra who had
left to form his own record label. This resulted in a few
albums from Darin of standards and new ballads in a pseudo-Sinatra
style. However, in 1966 he returned to mainstream pop.
He had had a weak
heart for most of his life, and he died following heart surgery at the age of 37. |
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58 Title: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Neil Sedaka was born on 13 Mar 1939 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. When Sedaka was 13, a neighbour heard him playing piano and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, Howard Greenfield, an aspiring poet and lyricist. They became two of the legendary Brill Building's composers in New York City. Sedaka co-wrote several hit songs for Connie Francis as well as others, and began his own singing career in 1958. His first UK hit came in 1959, which led to a run of Top 20 hits in the early 1960s. After his Rock 'n' Roll style went out of fashion, he reinvented himself in the early 1970s with a series of ballads which charted between 1972 and 1975. He continues to perform in concert in the USA and overseas in the 21st century. |
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59 Title: Vacation Connie Francis was born on 12 Dec 1938 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. She entered talent contests as a young teenager, and even made some records, but did not score her first hit until 1958. She often recorded older ballads, but usually put a modern Rock 'n' Roll number on the B-side of the discs. Her record success continued into the early 1960s, but she has continued performing live, with some long breaks, into the 21st century. |
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60 Title: Guitar Tango The Shadows could do no wrong at this time. Their singles all went into the Top 10 despite the personnel changes that had taken place. Brian Bennett was now on drums, and Brian Locking was playing bass guitar, but Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch remained, and would remain until the band ceased playing in the 21st century. They were back for their fourth Number One later in 1962. |
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61 Title: Sealed
With A Kiss This was
Hyland's follow-up to his hit in May 1962 "Ginny Come
Lately" ( song 36 above). The song was originally
recorded by a group called the Four Voices which was released as a single in May 1960,
but it failed to become a hit. Hyland had enjoyed two previous
Top 10 hits, so his version was given the attention of radio
stations and the record-buying public. It also reached number
three on the USA charts. In 1975 the recording was reissued
and it went to number seven in the UK charts, remaining on the
charts for eleven weeks, giving Hyland two Top 10 entries with the
same recording. That reissue was his final appearance on the
UK charts. |
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62 Title: Pick A Bail Of Cotton Lonnie Donegan (29 Apr 1931 - 3 Nov 2002) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His first interest was jazz, and in 1952 he formed his own jazz band. He also performed with other jazz bands, notably Chris Barber's. He was interested also in Blues and created a jazz-blues hybrid called Skiffle. His first hit came in 1956 - "Rock Island Line" - a fast version of the Lead Belly blues number. He became a mainstream performer, with many TV appearances in the UK, and became known as The King of Skiffle. Between 1956 and 1962 he had 32 hit singles. |
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63 Title: So Do I Kenny Ball's Trad-jazz recordings were still popular, this being his third hit of the year, with another to come in the autumn. His main run of hit singles ended in 1963 however, although he did have a small hit in each of 1964 and 1967. See song 15 for more info. |
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64 Title: Spanish Harlem This was Justice's third and final chart entry, all of which came in this year. As mentioned with his first hit (song 25), his career was short-lived, possibly due to his decision to live in Sweden, which reduced his exposure in Britain. He remained in Sweden for some years, but returned to live in south London, England in later life. |
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65 Title: Ballad Of Paladin Guitarist, Duane Eddy was born on 26 Apr 1938 in Corning, New York, USA. His family moved to Arizona when he was a young teen, and he started playing guitar with a friend when he was 16. They got a few gigs on a local radio station, where Duane met Lee Hazlewood, who would help develop the "twangy" guitar sound that was Eddy's trademark. He began recording in 1957, and his recording of "Rebel Rouser" became an international hit in 1958. Eddy enjoyed numerous hit singles and albums during the early 1960s, and has continued making
some live appearances into the 21st century. |
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66 Title: She's Not You All of Presley's singles in 1962 went to Number One. So too did his "Follow That Dream" EP in the EP chart. So too did his "Pot Luck" album in the album chart. He also starred in three film releases in 1962. He could not have packed more into twelve months. |
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67 Title: Telstar The Tornados were an instrumental group put together by legendary record producer Joe Meek. They acted as a backing band for various vocalists being recorded by Joe Meek, and also acted as Billy Fury's backing group. They had a few hits of their own, including this
Number One hit which also reached the top of the American charts. The group featured Heinz on bass guitar, and he went on the have a few solo hits as a vocalist in 1963-4.
The 'organ' instrument was a Clavioline (an early form of synthesizer),
played by Roger LaVern (11 Nov 1938 - 15 Jun 2013). |
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68 Title: What Now My Love This was Bassey's only Top 10 hit of the year. There were three other hit singles and two hit albums in the charts in 1962, however. Hit singles were not especially important, as she was primarily a live show and television performer. More hits did come over the following years including her famous James Bond film themes. See song 16 for more info. |
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69 Title: Don't That Beat All Faith stuck with his usual songwriter for this hit, but he finally moved away from the pizzicato strings of the John Barry Orchestra. This marked a big departure, as the backing was by the Johnny Keating Orchestra, and it featured a prominent Country & Western-style fiddle. It seems that his fans were happy with the new sound however, as the recording comfortably reached the Top 10. |
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70 Title: It'll Be Me Although many other stars who began their recording careers in the 1950s were reaching the end of their run of hits in 1962, this did not apply to Cliff Richard. Although sales of his singles fell towards the end of the decade, he still hit the charts every year, and had
Number Ones in 1965 and 1968. Things were more difficult in the 1970s, but the 1980s saw him with a string of major hits and sell-out concerts. |
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71 Title: The Locomotion Little Eva (29 Jun 1945 - 10 Apr 2003) was born in North Carolina, USA, but moved to New York at a young age. As a teenager she began baby-sitting for songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King. They had written "The Locomotion" for singer Dee Dee Sharp but it is said that she turned it down. Various stories have circulated as to how and why Little Eva came to record the song, but record it she did and it became a world-wide hit, reaching
Number One in the USA and just one short in the UK. The dance that goes with the song was devised after the song was written and recorded. Follow-ups proved to be a problem, and she retired from making music in 1971. However, a new version of the song by Kylie Minogue in 1988 (see below) renewed interest in Little Eva, and she returned to live shows along with other hit-makers of the 1960s, including a tour of the UK. However, she was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and died 18 months later at the age of 59. |
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72 Title: Sheila Tommy Roe was born on 9 May 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was part of a band at high school, but he signed a recording deal as a solo artist in 1960. No recordings charted until 1962, when "Sheila" was released which hit Number One in the USA, Canada and Australia. He had a handful of hits in the UK in the 1960s, culminating in the British Number One "Dizzy" in 1969. The hits tailed off after that, but he continued recording and performing, and was appearing at various American venues in 2016. |
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73 Title: You Don't Know Me This was Ray's follow-up to his earlier
Number One hit "I Can't Stop Loving You" (song 49), taken from his album "Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music". This song came from the same album. Within a few months, he had issued a volume two of the album, and two singles from that reached the UK charts during 1963. |
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74 Title: It Started All Over Again Brenda Lee's recordings were still attracting the record buyers. This was her third Top 20 hit of the year, but later in 1962, her famous recording of "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" was released. It rose to number six in the UK charts and is still heard every December on radio and in shopping centres. She also toured the UK for the first time in 1962, and toured again in the following two years. 1963 saw her with two Top 10 singles and a Top 10 album. |
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75 Title: It Might As Well Rain Until September Carole King was born on 9 Feb 1942 in New York City, USA. Music was her passion and she formed a band in high school. She then attended college where she met Gerry Goffin who would become her songwriting partner. They married in 1959, but divorced in 1969. Together they wrote dozens of chart hits for many singers, especially for Bobby Vee, and many of the hits were covered by British singers such as Billy Fury. Whilst she was primarily a songwriter, she had made two or three records prior to this release, but this was her first appearance in the charts as a performer. Follow-up recordings did not do so well, and she concentrated on composing, until she recorded her acclaimed album "Tapestry" in 1971. Since that time she has continued recording and performing, appearing at a London, England outdoor concert in the summer of 2016. |
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76 Title: A Forever Kind Of Love Bobby Vee was still making good records, mostly courtesy of the Goffin/King/Keller songwriters. Things were easing back though. After five Top 10 hits in 1961, there was only one in 1962, with one more to come in 1963 followed by a Top 30 hit, then that was it as far as the UK singles charts were concerned. For more info see song 45. |
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77 Title: Ramblin' Rose Nat "King" Cole (17 Mar 1919 - 15 Feb 1965) was born in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. His family moved to Chicago when Cole was a youngster, and it was there that he learned to play piano and took an interest in Jazz. He began playing professionally in his teens, and arrived in Los Angeles during a tour where he stayed. He formed a Jazz trio which performed in local clubs, made a few records, and broadcast on radio as well in the late 1930s. After the war, the trio signed with Capital Records, and he began to record and perform more popular material, as opposed to Jazz, which expanded his popularity. Hit records soon followed, as well as TV appearances and performances at major venues. From 1952 he was hitting the Top 10 of the UK charts, with a string of romantic ballads, and although he never had a Number One single, his album "Love Is The Thing" went to Number One in the album chart during 1957. He was an international star by the time of this hit, which was a million-seller in the USA. This was his last major hit in his lifetime, but his compilation albums have been charting into the 21st century. He died from lung cancer in Los Angeles at age 45. |
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78 Title: Devil Woman Marty Robbins (26 Sep 1925 - 8 Dec 1982), was a Country Music singer and composer born in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He served in the US Navy during WWII, and in spare time, he taught himself to play the guitar. After the navy he began performing at local Phoenix venues, as well as on local radio and TV, and soon had a record deal. He enjoyed numerous hit records in the USA, but his material was mostly covered by British performers for the UK market, which limited his appearances in the British charts. This was his only Top 10 single in the UK. |
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79 Title: Sherry The Four Seasons is a vocal group, characterised by the falsetto voice of Frankie Valli (born 3 May 1934 in Newark, New Jersey, USA). The group started as the Four Lovers, but they failed to make a breakthrough in the pop charts. In 1960, they changed their name to the Four Seasons, and began working with record producer Bob Crewe, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer. The rest of the band was Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals (also their songwriter), Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on electric bass and bass vocals. Their first hit on both sides of the Atlantic was this song, which was an American chart-topper. Other similar recordings followed and they managed to hit the charts through to 1966 despite the prominence of the British beat groups. They also had hits during the 1970s, including some solo recordings by Frankie Valli. The band is still performing (as of 2016), but with Valli as the only original member. |
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80 Title: Let's Dance Chris Montez was born on 17 Jan 1943 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He enjoyed music from a young age, especially Latino-flavored music which was performed in his local community. He formed a band in high school and started writing his own songs. He had a local hit, then recorded this song which was a Top 10 hit in the UK and USA. Other hits followed, although later in the decade he went for a more mellow sound. He has continued to record and perform, and has recorded in Spanish for the Latin American market. He was touring the USA again in 2016 at age 73. |
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81 Title: Venus In Blue Jeans Mark Wynter was born on 29 Jan 1943 in Woking, Surrey, England. He was part of a group by 1959, and was spotted by an impresario who signed him and got him work in cabaret and TV. He got a deal with Decca Records and several singles were issued over 1960-61, the highest reaching number eleven. A move to Pye Records in 1962 resulted in this Top 10 entry, followed by another later the same year. 1963 brought a few hits but none climbed higher than number 12. He had appeared in a couple of pop music films such as "It's Trad Dad" by this time, and as his music career tailed off, he turned to acting. He has enjoyed considerable success, mostly as a stage actor in plays and musicals, and was still touring the UK in stage plays during the 21st century. |
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82 Title: Bobby's Girl Susan Maughan was born on 1 Jul 1938* in Consett, County Durham, England, but moved to Birmingham with her family when she was 15. After completing her schooling, she decided that she wanted a career as a singer, and so auditioned for a Birmingham band leader called Ronnie Hancock. Susan joined his band and sang with them for three years. She later moved to London, where she was able to sign a recording contract. This recording was her first hit, but despite the promise, only two minor hits followed. Nevertheless, she appeared in the 1963 Royal Variety Performance, and in the 1963 film "What a Crazy World" with Joe Brown and Marty Wilde, also in the film "Pop Gear" in 1965. In the 1970s she was making TV appearances and starring in a stage musical. |
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83 Title: The Swiss Maid He was still knocking out Top 10 hits at this time and continued doing so for another year. He was proving to be more popular overseas than in his American homeland. This recording stalled at number 64 in the USA, but hit Number One in Australia, and only missed that target by one in the UK. 1963 would see him with two Top 10 singles and a Top 10 album. See also song 21 for more info. |
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84 Title: Love Me Do The Beatles were a pop group from Liverpool, England who became the most popular and well-known music group in the world during the 1960s. They also conquered America, becoming the biggest band there. At the time of this first hit and for the remainder of their time, the members were John Lennon (9 Oct 1940 - 8 Dec 1980), Paul McCartney (born 18 Jun 1942), George Harrison (25 Feb 1943 - 29 Nov 2001), and Ringo Starr (born 7 Jul 1940). All four were born and raised in Liverpool, England. They began with live performances in Liverpool, then Hamburg in Germany. Brian Epstein saw them, and offered to be their manager. He arranged a record deal with EMI's Parlophone label, which had producer and arranger George Martin in charge. During the following seven years, The Beatles and Martin crafted a string of new and
innovative singles and albums that kept them at the top of the charts worldwide, and inspired countless other musicians. Although this debut single peaked at 17 at its initial release, they went on to have 21 consecutive Top 4 singles from 1963 to 1970, with 17 reaching
Number One - eleven of those consecutive. On the album front, they had eleven
Number One original studio albums, the biggest being the 1967 concept album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" which remained in the UK album chart for 149 weeks (nearly three years!). Their success led to more groups from Liverpool hitting the charts, and the phrases Merseybeat and Beatlemania came into everyday use. However, internal differences between band members led to the band's breakup in April 1970. All four members went on to have successful solo careers. |
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85 Title: Frank Ifield Ifield followed his summertime
Number One with another chart-topper. It was another old song, but given a fresh bouncy production. His next release would top the charts as well, in 1963. |
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86 Title: Because Of Love Fury was still enjoying considerable success at this time, and was one of the top music acts in the UK. He had two Top 10 hits earlier in the year, but this Elvis Presley movie song was did less well, peaking at number 18, despite remaining on the charts for 14 weeks. However, 1963 saw him with three Top 10 singles and a Top 10 album. |
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87 Title: No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile The Everly Brothers had enjoyed an enormous level of success at home and abroad. In the UK they amassed 29 hit singles from 1957 to 1965, of which 13 made the Top 10, four of those hitting Number One; plus three Top 10 albums in that period. However things were changing on the music scene, and along with many other 1950s hit-makers, their record sales dropped off after 1962. The brothers went their separate ways in the 1970s, but reunited in the 1980s and 90s for a series of sell-out concerts. Phil Everly died on 3rd January 2014, and Don died on 21 August 2021. See also song number 6. |
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88 Title: James Bond Theme Composer and arranger, John Barry (3 Nov 1933 - 30 Jan 2011) was born in York, England. After National Service, he formed a band in 1957 which he called the John Barry Seven. He appeared on TV with his band, and they gained a residency on the BBC TV music series "Drumbeat" (1959). Barry soon developed an interest in arranging music, and was employed by EMI to arrange music for Adam Faith amongst others. Also in 1959 he was asked to compose the theme music for the BBC TV's musical review panel show "Juke Box Jury", which resulted in his first hit record "Hit And Miss". He eventually became most famous for writing the scores for the James Bond series of films. He went on to write scores for many successful films and wrote numerous songs, frequently with lyricist Don Black. He continued to compose into the 21st century, but died from a heart attack at his home in New York, USA, at age 77. |
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89 Title: (Dance With The) Guitar Man This was Eddy's final Top 10 hit of the decade. He enjoyed 21 hit singles from 1958 to 1963, with nine hit albums in the album chart as well. He had three minor hits in 1963, but then disappeared from the UK charts until his surprise 1975 Top 10 entry. He continued playing, and was still making special appearances in the 21st century. He was featured as guest guitarist on the Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra remix album "If I Can Dream" in 2015. See also song 65. |
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90 Title: It Only Took A Minute 1962 was very much Joe Brown's year. His first two Top 10 hits (of three) came in this year. This was the second of those hits - his first having been in May (song 41). He was busy in 1962, touring the country with other stars of the day, such as Danny Williams and Susan Maughan. Late in the same year he started filming the movie "What A Crazy World" in which he starred alongside Marty Wilde and other musical acts. The film was released in 1963. |
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91 Title: He's A Rebel The Crystals were a girl group who were recorded and promoted by legendary record producer Phil Spector. Spector had a reputation for chopping and changing, and even substituting, the groups that were signed to his record label. That was very much the case with this recording. The Crystals, with lead singer Barbara Alston, had made a few records with Spector with moderate success. Spector became aware of this song after it was turned down by the Shirelles. He wanted to made a quick recording to beat other versions, but the Crystals were on tour. At that time, Spector was recording another girl group called the Blossoms, with Darlene Love as the lead singer. So he had the Blossoms record the song, but issued the recording as by the Crystals. This led to problems with the Crystals, and Barbara Alston stepped back from lead, being replaced by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks. The record was a number one hit in the USA. The re-arranged Crystals actually recorded their big hits of 1963, but left Spector at the end of 1964. Darlene Love remained with Spector for some time, and still records and performs. She had a new album released and toured the USA during 2016. |
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92 Title: Next Door To An Angel This was Sedaka's final Top 30 hit of the 1960s. Just one more hit came along, peaking at number 42. He had enjoyed many hits in his toe-tapping , happy-go-lucky style, but it seems that the novelty had worn off by the end of 1962. Had this recording been released in 1961, it would probably have reached the Top 10. It did rather better in America, where it peaked at number five, although it proved to be his last Top 10 of the 1960s even there. He reinvented himself in the early 1970s, and had another series of hit singles and albums. See also song 58 for more info. |
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93 Title: Like I Do Maureen Evans was born on 23 Mar 1940 in Cardiff, Wales. She began singing as a young teenager in Wales, but made trips to London to get her name known. In 1958 she was contracted by Embassy Records (a subsidiary of Oriole records), which produced budget-price cover versions of current hits exclusively for Woolworth stores. She recorded several of these cheap covers for a couple of years, but was eventually given the chance to record for the parent company. This resulted in her first hit, a cover of American singer Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt", which climbed four places higher than the original in 1960. Her only major hit was "Like I Do", with follow-ups performing disappointingly. She continued with live performance through the 1960s, and even made a few records in the 1970s. |
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94 Title: Return To Sender This was Presley's fourth hit single of the year, all of which climbed to
Number One in the UK charts. He even had a
Number One album ("Pot Luck") during the summer of 1962. The following year, however, would seem him achieve just one chart topper, as the British beat groups took their toll even on Elvis Presley. |
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95 Title: The Next Time Cliff was having a very successful year in 1962. This was his fourth Top 2 hit single, two of which were double A-sides. His luck would continue in 1963, despite the emergence of new acts. This was a double A-side with song 96, below. |
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96 Title: Bachelor Boy This was a part of a double A-side with song 95 above. It too was featured in Cliff's movie "Summer Holiday". The Shadows provided backing vocals as well as the backing instrumentation. |
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97 Title: Up On The Roof After the
disappointment of his previous release failing to chart ("It Would Take A Miracle", song 31), he was pleased to see this recording just make the Top 10. He had another in the summer of 1963, but subsequent recordings did not fare so well. See song 31 for more info. |
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98 Title: Island
Of Dreams The Springfields were a British pop-folk vocal trio which included lead singer Dusty Springfield (16 Apr 1939 - 2 Mar 1999), along with her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, and Tim Feild, later replaced by Mike Hurst. The siblings were both musical and both were members of separate folk groups in the late 1950s. They came together, along with Tim Feild who was in a folk duo with Tom, and signed with Philips Records in 1960. Their first modest hits hits came in 1961, but after Hurst replaced Feild in 1962, they became very popular, and had their own 15-minute TV show on BBC. Their first big hit was "Island Of Dreams", written by Tom Springfield. This was followed in 1963 by another Top 10 hit. However, Dusty decided to leave for a solo career in late summer 1963, and the group disbanded. Dusty went on to become a major star of the 1960s; Tom concentrated on songwriting and penned several hits for Australian band The Seekers; whilst Mike Hurst became a successful record producer, creating hits for Cat Stevens and Manfred Mann amongst many others. |
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99 Title: Go
Away Little Girl This
was Wynter's second and final Top 10 hit, following his earlier
success, "Venus In Blue Jeans" (song 81), again being a cover
of an American hit. He had three smaller chart entries during 1963/4,
the highest reaching number 12. After his chart career dried
up, he became a successful actor, but also performed in 60s revival
shows with other stars of that decade during the 21st century, most
recently in 2016. See song 81 for more info. |
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100 Title: Dance
On! The
Shadows completed a run of three Top 10 singles in 1962 with this
release, two of which reached Number
One. 1963 followed in a
similar manner with their next release hitting the top as well
("Foot Tapper"). They had been busy during 1962,
filming "Summer Holiday" with Cliff Richard. |
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EXTRA This extra song did not make it to my Top 100, but is still a favourite, so is listed here. X1 Title: Roses Are Red Ronnie Carroll (18 Aug 1934 - 13 Apr 2015) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was an easy-listening crooner, who began his entertainment career in the 1950s, and had his first hit in 1956. Hit records were never a major part of his success, but he did have two Top 10 hits in the 1960s. After his popularity
waned he took to singing on cruise ships. In the late 1990s he turned to politics, and was a candidate in two general elections. |
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Acts with most appearances in this list: Cliff Richard: 6 Composers with most appearances in this list: Gerry Goffin:
10 (7 with Carole King, 3 with Jack Keller) With the exception of British writer Johnny Worth, all the above writers worked for Aldon Music in the famous Brill Building in New York City. They often worked with different partners on their songs. New Names in 1962 Kenny Lynch Acts whose chart careers ended (or pretty much ended) in 1962. Paul Anka (first hit
1957 - had a one-off Top 10 hit in 1974) 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
1965 1966
1967 1968
1969 1970
1971 1972
1973 1974
1975 1976
1977
Comments and corrections to: mjs@onlineweb.com Compiled July
2016 TOP
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