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 1961 1961 saw a change in musical style from the raw Rock 'n' Roll of the 1950s to a mellower sound emanating from America. Often referred to as Rock 'n' Roll love songs, this slower music was spearheaded by American vocalist Bobby Vee. Several of his songs were written by the husband and wife team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, who worked out of the famous Brill Building in New York City, which included others such as Neil Sedaka and Jack Keller. The songs they pumped out were easy-on-the-ear love songs with orchestra backing. Even Elvis Presley slowed things down in this year. The change in the USA was reflected by the British singers such as Cliff Richard who had several mellower hits in 1961. Adam Faith and Billy Fury continued with their easier styles, and guitar group The Shadows had four instrumental Top 10 hits in 1961. Existing British stars were joined by newcomers Helen Shapiro, Eden Kane and John Leyton. Kenny Ball, along with Acker Bilk established the Trad Jazz scene in the UK which was very popular for a couple of years. As well as Bobby Vee, American Del Shannon began a string of hits in the UK, which worked out better than in his homeland. Elvis continued his run of chart entries with no less than four number ones. The Everly Bothers had two chart toppers, whilst 1960 newcomer, Brenda Lee had less success in this year, but would return strongly in 1962. Neil Sedaka became an established chart visitor, and Roy Orbison was building up to his major successes in 1963 and 1964. 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. |
1 Title: You're
Sixteen Johnny
Burnette (25 Mar 1934 - 14 Aug 1964) was born in Memphis,
Tennessee, USA. During the early 1950s, Burnette was living
in the same neighbourhood |
2 Title: Pepe 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 1960s, and
has continued making live appearances into the 21st century. |
3 Title: A Thousand
Stars 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. 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. |
4 Title: New
Orleans Gary
U S Bonds, was born on 6 Jun 1939 in Jacksonville, Florida
USA. However, he moved to Norfolk, Virginia, USA in the
1950s. His real name was Gary Anderson, but was given the
name U S Bonds by Frank Guida, the
producer and co-writer of his first record. This led to the
public thinking the name applied to a group, so his real first
name was added later to clarify that he was a solo artist.
Although he is best known for his hits in the 1960s, he has
continued composing, performing and recording. He issued two
albums in the 1980s in collaboration with Bruce Springsteen.
He also issued new albums in 2004 and 2009. |
5 Title: Are You
Lonesome Tonight 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. |
6 Title: Let's
Jump The Broomstick 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. |
7 Title: Rubber
Ball 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. |
8 Title: Sailor Petula Clark was born on 15 Nov 1932 in Surrey, England.
She became a child star at the age of nine when she broadcast on
radio for the first time. This led to numerous singing
opportunities on wartime radio. In 1944 she was given her
first film role, and she had appeared in 14 films by 1950.
In the early 1950s she began making records, and her first hit
came in the summer of 1954 when she was 21 years old. Clark went on to become a major international star with numerous world-wide hits,
particularly in the 1960s with songs written and produced by Tony
Hatch. In the 1990s and 2000s she went into stage musicals,
both in the UK and America. She was still recording and
performing in the 2010s, and issued a new album in 2016. |
9 Title: Calendar
Girl 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. |
10 Title: Will
You Love Me Tomorrow The Shirelles were an
African-American girl group from New Jersey, USA, who achieved popularity in the early 1960s.
They were four high school friends who got together for a school
talent contest in 1957, and were later signed by a local record
company. Their first single, "I Met Him on a Sunday", was released by Tiara
Records and licensed by Decca Records in 1958. After a few more
small hits they recorded this song which became a major hit on
both sides of the Atlantic, reaching Number One in the USA.
It was the first American Number One for a black girl group,
predating the Crystals by a year, and the Supremes by three
years. The Shirelles went on to have five more Top 10 hits
in the USA, one of which became their second chart topper.
In the UK they had two further Top 40 hits only. |
11 Title: This Is
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 One, 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. |
12 Title: Who Am
I This was a double A-side with song 11 above. Both tracks were by the same composer. Faith went on to have a further three Top 12 hits in 1961. |
13 Title: Walk
Right Back 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
to each other 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. |
14 Title: F.B.I. 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. At the time of this hit, 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. |
15 Title: Are You
Sure The
Allisons shot to fame when they represented the United Kingdom in
the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest. They came second in the
contest, and peaked at number 2 in the UK charts. They were
presented as brothers - John and Bob Allison, but were not
brothers. They were John Alford (born 31 Dec 1939), and Bob
Day (2 Feb 1941 - 25 Nov 2013). They wrote the song
themselves - very unusual at that time for British entries in the
contest. They had met as singers in a church choir, and
formed their duo, changing their names to Allison in the
process. They sang in local London coffee bars during 1959
and 1960, and then entered a national talent competition which
they won. This introduced them to Fontana Records, who liked
the song "Are You Sure", so the company submitted it to
the to the UK heats for Britain's entry to the Eurovision song
contest, and the song was selected as Britain's entry. |
16 Title: Samantha 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. |
17 Title: African
Waltz Johnny
Dankworth (20 Sep 1927 - 6 Feb 2010) was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and
clarinetist, and was the husband of jazz singer Cleo Laine.
He was born in Woodford, Essex, England. He learned to play
musical instruments as a youngster and studied at the Royal
Academy of Music. He began playing professionally in the
late 1940s, and formed a (small) band in 1950. He formed a
big band in 1953 and toured the UK and the USA. Cleo Laine
became the band's singer, and Dankworth married her in 1958.
They remained married and performing together until his
death. He was honoured with a knighthood in 2006, Cleo Laine
having been made a Dame in 1997. |
18 Title: Theme
For A Dream 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. |
19 Title: Wooden
Heart This
was his follow-up to "Are You Lonesome Tonight". "Wooden Heart",
composed by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert
Kaempfert, was based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher,
called "Muss i denn". There is a story that Presley
first heard the song whilst he was in the US Army in Germany, but
in any case, it was featured in his highly-successful film "G.I.
Blues". For some reason his record company decided not
to release the recording as a single in the USA, which enabled
unknown singer Joe Dowell to record it and reach Number One in
America. |
20 Title: Theme from Exodus Ferrante & Teicher were a duo of American piano players, known for their
arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes.
Arthur Ferranti (7 Sep 1921 - 19 Sep 2009) and Louis Teicher (24
Aug 1924 - 3 Aug 2008) met while studying music in New York,
USA. In 1947, they launched a full-time concert career, at first playing nightclubs, then quickly moving up to
playing classical music with orchestral backing.
Between 1950 and 1980, they were a major American easy listening act,
playing classics as well as tunes from the legendary popular music
composers such as George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter,
etc. |
21 Title: My Kind Of Girl 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. |
22 Title: Lazy River 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. |
23 Title:
Where The Boys Are 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. |
24 Title:
Don't Treat Me Like A Child 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 leaded her to an A&R man at EMI studios. This 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. |
25 Title:
You're Driving Me Crazy The Temperance Seven were formed
in 1955 by students at the Chelsea School of Art. The three founder members were Paul McDowell
(who sings the vocal refrain), Philip Harrison and Brian Innes.
They expanded to a nine-piece band and specialised in a 1920s and
1930s style of playing, which also fitted with the Traditional
Jazz boom in the early 1960s. They only had four hits,
however, and broke up in the mid-60s, but reformed later in the
decade with some personnel changes. The band has continued
performing, with a changing line up, around the world up to the
present time. |
26 Title:
Gee Whiz It's You This was an unusual chart entry
for Cliff. It was a track on his third album "Me And My
Shadows". There was no plan to issue any singles from
the album in the UK, but this song was issued as a single in
overseas markets. However, the recording started getting UK radio airplay and
British record shops began re-importing the singles (or buying direct from UK manufacturers) and it
eventually reached number four in the UK charts. Not bad for
a record not officially released in the UK. |
27 Title:
Asia Minor This instrumental recording was a
Rock 'n' Roll adaptation of Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A
Minor".
It was written and performed by Jazz pianist Jimmy Wisner under
the pseudonym of Kokomo. Although he had issued Jazz albums
previously, after this hit, he moved more into the pop market as a songwriter, producer, and composer for film and television.
Amongst other songs, he wrote "Don't Throw Your Love Away", a
Number One hit for the Searchers in 1964. |
28 Title:
Blue Moon The Marcels were an American doo-wop group
formed during 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. They
shot to fame in 1961 with this Rock 'n' Roll arrangement of the
standard song "Blue Moon", that began with the bass vocalist
singing, "bomp-baba-bomp-baba-bomp-bomp-bomp".
The record sold over one million copies, reaching Number One in
the UK and USA. Follow-ups proved to be a problem,
however. Their recording of another standard,
"Summertime", only got as far as number 46 on the UK
charts. They had no more hits in the UK and only a couple
more in the USA. |
29 Title:
More Than I Can Say This follow-up to his debut
single, "Rubber Ball" (song 7) established Vee as a
regular chart performer of Rock 'n' Roll love songs. A
further three Top 10 hits came his way in 1961. |
30 Title:
On The Rebound Floyd Cramer (27 Oct 1933 - 31
Dec 1997) was an American Country Music pianist who backed many of
RCA's artists at their studios in Nashville, Tennessee, USA,
including Elvis Presley, during the 1950s and 1960s. Cramer
was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, but grew up Arkansas, USA. He taught himself to play piano, and after he
completed his school education, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show.
He moved to Nashville in 1955 and became a busy pianist in the
recording studios. In 1960 he recorded his first single
which charted in the USA. This was followed by "On The
Rebound" which was a Top 5 hit on both sides of the
Atlantic. He developed a playing style called
"slip-note" where an out-of-key note slides into the correct note.
Throughout the following years he worked as a session musician,
recorded his own albums, and toured with other Country Music
instrumentalists. He died of lung cancer in 1997 at the age of 64. |
31 Title:
A Hundred Pounds Of Clay 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. |
32 Title:
Easy Going Me This was Faith's second hit of the year after his double A-side "This Is It"/"Who Am I" (songs 11 and 12) charted in February. He had a break from his usual songwriter, Les Van Dyke, by picking this song from prolific songwriter and show tune composer, Lionel Bart. Unfortunately it was his first release since his debut hit in 1959 to miss out on a Top 10 placing. |
33 Title:
Runaway 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. In 1959 the band was joined by keyboardist Max Crook (2 Nov 1936 - 1 Jul 2020), who played the Musitron (an early synthesizer). A record contract followed and in early 1961 Shannon and Crook recorded "Runaway" which they had written a couple of years earlier. There is little doubt that the wild Musitron sound from Max Crook played a big part in the recording's success. Shannon went on to have seven Top 10 hits in the UK by 1963, and after some smaller chart entries, 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. |
34 Title:
But I Do Clarence "Frogman"
Henry (19 Mar 1937 - 7 Apr 2024) was born in New Orleans, USA. His
nickname "Frogman" is said to come from his trademark croak,
first heard on his 1956 debut single "Ain't Got No
Home". That recording did not chart in the UK, but in
1961 he hit the British Top 10 with "But I Do".
This was actually a cover of the recording made a year earlier by
the co-composer and Country Music singer Bobby Charles.
Henry turned the song into a soul-sounding rendition which peaked
at number four in the USA. He opened concerts for the Beatles
in the USA and Canada during 1964. Subsequently he was a
regular live performer in New Orleans, and continued to perform at
special
events well into the 21st century. He had been scheduled to
appear at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz Festival, but died in April
2024 at the age of 87. |
35 Title:
Have A Drink On Me 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. |
36 Title:
Half Way To Paradise Sticking with American songs for
the time being, this recording gave Fury his first Top 10 hit in
more than a year. The song came from the American husband
and wife songwriting team who were having enormous success in the
USA with their catchy pop songs. Based in the famous Brill
Building in New York City, they were churning out masses of hits
and this was no exception. It had been recorded in the USA
by Tony Orlando, who would find success in the 1970s as lead
singer of the group Dawn. Orlando's version peaked at number
39 in America, and failed to chart in the UK. |
37 Title:
The Frightened City The Shadows enjoyed their fourth
Top 10 hit with this theme written by their record producer,
Norrie Paramor. Also in 1961 the band released their first
album, titled "The Shadows", which went to Number One in
the albums chart, and remained on the chart for 57 weeks. |
38 Title:
You'll Never Know 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. |
39 Title:
Little Devil The songwriting partnership worked again with another Top 10 hit for Neil Sedaka. The song was the title track of his 1961 album "Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits", which reached number 11 in the American album chart. In fact 1961 was a good year for him, achieving three Top 10 hits in the UK as well as success in the USA. |
40 Title:
I've Told Every Little Star Linda Scott was born on 1 Jun
1945 in New York City, USA. She auditioned for a place on a
CBS radio show in 1959 when she was 14. She became a regular
on the show, and in 1961 got the chance to record this song.
The recording reached number 3 in America, and sold a million
copies. She had two further Top 10 entries in the USA, but
in the UK only one minor hit followed. She joined another
American TV pop show in 1965 and issued more singles, but with no
success. She decided to quit the music business in the early
1970s. |
41 Title:
Running Scared 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. |
42 Title:
Surrender Presley followed his "Wooden
Heart" hit with this reworking of an Italian song written in
1902. It was recorded at the same session in late 1960 that
included the songs for his gospel album “His Hand in
Mine". The recording was a Number
One
in the USA as
well. |
43 Title:
Well I Ask You 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 this was his debut release for the
company. It rose to Number One after two months on the
charts. 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. However, he
still occasionally performs in sixties nostalgia shows in the UK. |
44 Title:
Hello Mary Lou 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 with Elvis Presley in the army from 1958 to 1960, Nelson had the opportunity to build a strong fan-base.
He was immensely popular in the USA, but only managed four Top 10
hits in the UK. He died in a plane crash whilst on tour in the USA. |
45 Title:
Pasadena This was the group's follow-up to
their debut Number One hit "You're Driving Me Crazy"
(song 25). Reaching number four for a follow-up is
impressive, but they only had two Top 30 hits after that.
For info about the Temperance Seven see song 25. |
46 Title:
Temptation This was the Everly Brothers'
fourth and final Number One hit in the UK. Strangely it
peaked at a lowly number 27 in the USA. They had several
more hits, but struggled to get high placings during the British
beat boom of the mid-1960s until they made it to number two in
1965 with "The Price Of Love". |
47 Title:
A Girl Like You 1961 was a very successful year
for Cliff Richard, having four Top 10 hits in the singles charts,
and two Top 2 LPs in the album charts. Also his hit film
"The Young Ones" was released in December 1961. |
48 Title:
Marcheta Karl Denver (16 Dec 1931 - 21 Dec 1998)
was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He worked at sea for some
years, then lived in Nashville, USA, where he sang on local radio. Returning to the UK he
began performing at venues in the north of England. This led to a contract
with Decca Records, and this debut hit came along in 1961.
He had a unique style involving much falsetto yodelling. He achieved
four Top 10 hits into 1962, and several smaller hits until
mid-1964. He performed in cabaret after that and made a few
albums right up to 1993. He died from a brain tumour in December 1998, at the age of 67. |
49 Title:
Stand By Me Ben E King (28 Sep 1938 - 30 Apr
2015)
was born in North Carolina, USA, but he moved to New York City
when he was nine. He sang at school and in church choirs,
and in 1958 became a member of the vocal group The Drifters.
He sang lead on several Drifters hits including "Save The
Last Dance For Me". He went solo in 1960 and enjoyed
several big hits in the USA. Things were quieter in the UK,
and even this hit which is now regarded as a major classic only
just breached the Top 30 until it was re-released (see below). He continued
performing into the 21st century and toured the UK in 2013.
He died in New Jersey, USA from heart-related problems. |
50 Title:
Wheels Cha Cha Joe Loss (22 Jun 1909 - 6 Jun 1990)
was born in the east end of London, England. He started
playing the violin as a child, and in his teens, attended the London College of Music.
In the 1920s he played violin at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool and
worked with the Oscar Rabin Band. When just 20, he formed
his own band which played at the Astoria Ballroom and he was soon breaking into variety at the Kit-Cat Club.
In 1934 he topped the bill at the Holborn Empire but in the same year moved back to the Astoria Ballroom where he led a twelve piece band.
With broadcasting, recording and annual tours in addition to the resident work, the band became highly popular
over several decades. In the 1950s and early 1960's, Loss was resident band leader at the Hammersmith Palais
in west London. He did not register any chart hits in the
1950s, but in the early 1960s he clocked up five hits, including
this one, his chart debut. He continued performing until the
late 1980s, when the leadership of the band was taken over by Todd
Miller. The band still tours in the 21st century as The Joe
Loss Orchestra. |
51 Title:
You Don't Know Shapiro's follow-up to her debut hit "Don't Treat Me Like A Child" (song 24) took her right to the top of the charts. This was the first of her two Number Ones. This hit was written by the same team that penned her first hit, and this time they gave her a ballad. She was back at the top in the autumn with an upbeat song from the same composers. |
52 Title:
Time This was his follow-up to his
recording "A Hundred Pounds Of Clay" (song 31), and was
his last hit of 1961. He was back in the Top 10, however, in
1962. During 1961 he was busy filming the movie "It's
Trad Dad" with Helen Shapiro. The film featured Pop and
Trad Jazz stars from the UK and USA. It was released in
March 1962, and was a box office success. |
53 Title:
Moody River 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, |
54 Title:
You Always Hurt The One You Love This was his follow-up to his hit "But I Do"
(song 34). He continued recording until 1964, and then
concentrated on live shows, mostly in his home town of New
Orleans, USA. See song 34 for more details. |
55 Title:
That's My Home Clarinetist
and jazz-band leader, Acker Bilk (28 Jan 1929 - 2 Nov 2014) was
born in Somerset, England. He learned to play the clarinet
in the army during his National Service. He formed his own
jazz band in 1951, playing around his native West Country of
England. Shortly after, he was booked for a six-month
residency in Germany, where he developed his famous image of goatee
beard, bowler hat and striped waistcoat. Billed as Mr Acker
Bilk and His Paramount Jazz Band, his first UK hits came in 1960,
culminating in the million-selling "Stranger on the
Shore" in 1961-62. His hit records started a trend for
traditional jazz in the UK charts during the early 1960s, with
other jazz bands, notably Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, scoring
many hits. Bilk continued performing to enthusiastic fans
until the early 2000s, when ill-health forced his retirement. |
56 Title:
Romeo In real terms, this was Petula's
follow up to her chart-topping hit "Sailor" in January
1961. (There had been a very minor hit in between). Strangely,
like "Sailor", "Romeo" was a German song to
which English lyrics had been added. It proved to be very
popular, and with another Top 10 hit later in 1961, it was a very
successful year for her. It was also the year she married
her husband Claude Wolff with whom she had three children. |
57 Title:
Don't You Know It For this record he was back with his usual songwriter, after recording a Lionel Bart song previously. It did no better, however. For the second time in a row, his recording peaked at number 12. No need for panic though - his follow-up in autumn 1961 took him back into the Top 5. The autumn of 1961 also saw the release of another film in which he starred. This one was called "What A Whopper", a comedy about the Loch Ness Monster, and which additionally featured Sid James and Clive Dunn. |
58 Title:
Cupid Sam Cooke (22 Jan 1931 - 11 Dec
1964) was born in Mississippi, USA, but he moved with his family
to Chicago when he was two.. He started singing with his
siblings at a young age, and by his late teens he was singing with
a local Gospel group called the Soul Stirrers who made a number of
Gospel records. In 1957 he signed a recording contract and
began his career as a Soul singer. His first hit was
"You Send Me", which topped the charts in the USA. It
was less successful in the UK, but later releases confirmed him as
an international star. 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. |
59 Title:
It Keeps Raining Fats Domino ( 26 Feb 1928 - 24
Oct 2017) was born in New Orleans, USA. His
father and uncle were musicians and Domino learned to play piano at a young age. He was seen by a band leader who
invited Domino to join the band, and a recording contract followed in 1950. Fats Domino (given the nickname Fats
after Fats Waller) soon had a number of hits in the US R&B chart. His records started appearing on the US pop
chart from about 1956, and hits continued into the mid 1960s. He continued performing and recording until the
early 1980s, when he chose to retire to New Orleans. His
house was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when he was
77, following which he performed at a few benefit concerts to raise
money for rebuilding the parts of New Orleans that were devastated
by the hurricane. He died of natural causes at age 89. |
60 Title:
Reach For The Stars This was Bassey's follow-up to her number six hit "You'll Never Know" (song 38). This was also her second and final Number One in the UK singles chart. The flip-side of the recording was "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from the 1959 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music". The record was promoted as a double A-side, and with two outstanding songs on one disc it easily sailed up to the top of the charts. With a third Top 10 hit coming later, 1961 was very successful for her. It was also in 1961 that Shirley Bassey was asked to sing at the Royal Variety Performance in London, for the very first time. |
61 Title:
Johnny Remember Me 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. |
62
Title: How Many Tears His third hit and his third Top
10 entry. This song was from the husband and wife hit-making
team. They must have been disappointed that the recording
peaked at a lowly 63 in the USA. However, they would write
his next release too, and that went to Number
One
in the USA;
number 3 in the UK.
|
63
Title: Who
Put The Bomp (In The Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)
|
64
Title: Lumbered This recording was a double
A-side with Donegan's cover of the American song "Michael
(Row The Boat Ashore)" by The Highwaymen (song 65). The
USA group made it to Number
One
in the UK, but Donegan had to be
content with a number six placing. This was his penultimate
year in the UK charts, with one more Top 10 hit to come in 1962. |
65
Title: Michael
(Row The Boat Ashore) The Highwaymen were five
American college friends who attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut,
USA. They came to prominence when their recording of the African-American work song
"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" reached Number
One
on
both sides of the Atlantic. After they graduated in 1964
they went their separate ways with most members going into
business and law. One member however, Dave Fisher, moved to Hollywood where he composed and arranged music for
films and television and worked as a studio singer and musician.
He wrote more than a thousand songs, many of which have been used in movie and television productions.
Fisher died on 7 May 2010 at the age of 69. |
66
Title: Jealousy This was the second in a run
of three Top 10 hits for Fury in 1961. This was also his
highest placing on the UK charts. Despite enjoying 26 hit singles in the UK between 1959 and 1966, he never managed
to have a Number One. |
67
Title: Kon-Tiki Back at the top again, and
they were continuing their run of consecutive Top 10 hits.
The band members at the time this was recorded remained as
before. However, by the time the record reached Number
One,
drummer Tony Meehan had left the Shadows, being replaced by the
drummer from Marty Wilde's Wildcats, Brian Bennett (born 9 Feb
1940 in north London, England). Brian would remain with the
band throughout the following years and well into the 21st
century. His son Warren Bennett joined the Shadows as
keyboardist in 2004. |
68
Title: Hurt Timi Yuro (4 Aug 1940 - 30 Mar
2004) was born in Chicago, USA, but moved with her family to Los
Angeles in 1952. She sang in her parents' Italian restaurant
as a teenager, and later in local
nightclubs. She was spotted by talent scout Sonny Knight,
and signed to Liberty Records in 1959. "Hurt" was
her breakthrough hit, and she continued with American chart
entries until 1964, although none reached the UK charts. She
remained a popular live performer, and in 1981 moved to the
Netherlands where she recorded and had several hits in the Dutch
record charts. She returned to the USA in the late 1980s but
ill health overtook her in the 1990s, causing her retirement from
singing. |
69
Title: Hats
Off To Larry This follow-up to Shannon's
debut hit has a similar structure and again features Max Crook's Musitron (an early synthesizer).
It was the second of a series of Top 10 hits for the American,
with the next one coming towards the end of 1961. |
70
Title: Get
Lost Eden Kane followed his debut Number
One
with this song written by the same composer - the man
who had also written several hits for Adam Faith. This
release only just scraped into the Top 10, but his next hit (in 1962)
hit the Top 3. |
71
Title: Cryin' This was his follow-up to
"Running Scared" (song 41) which had reached number nine
in mid summer. Although "Cryin'" is now regarded
as an Orbison classic, it clearly did not excite British record buyers at
the time. Things were different in the USA, where the fans
pushed the record up to number two in the American charts.
However, his next hit, in spring 1962, made it to number two in
the UK. |
72
Title: Walking
Back To Happiness This was her second and final Number
One, and her last hit of 1961. Nevertheless, it had
been a very successful year for her with three major hits and a
film ("It's Trad Dad") in production. 1962 would
be her second and final year as a star - she was eclipsed by the
Beatles and other beat groups in 1963. |
73
Title: Sucu
Sucu Laurie Johnson was born on 7 Feb 1927 in London, England.
He studied at the London College of Music, and after a stint in
the army, he made a career in composing and performing music for
film and TV. Over some 30 years he composed dozens of themes
for popular TV drama series including "The Avengers" and
"The Professionals". He toured with his band in
the late 1990s, and was awarded an MBE for services to music in
2014. |
74
Title: Wild
Wind Leyton's follow-up to "Johnny Remember Me" (song 61)
was from the same songwriting and production team. Whilst
the previous hit had gone all the way to Number
One, "Wild
Wind" stalled at number two. Leyton went on to have
several more hits, but with lower and lower peak positions. |
75
Title: Don't
Blame Me After their fourth Number One
in the summer of 1961, this
release had a disappointing performance on the UK charts. It
was promoted as a double A-side with "Muskrat", but
neither song really took off. They were back in the Top 10,
however, in early 1962. |
76
Title: Bless
You Tony Orlando was born on 3 Apr 1944 in New York City. He
started singing with a group when in his early teens. He
recorded this song when he was only 17. Despite Top 5 status
in the UK, the recording peaked at number 15 in the USA. He
continued recording through the 1960s, but with diminishing
returns. He hit the big time in the 1970s, however, when he
formed the group Dawn, comprising himself and two female
singers. Together they enjoyed two chart toppers in the UK,
namely "Knock Three Times" (1971) and "Tie A Yellow
Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" (1973). He continues
performing as a solo artist in Las Vegas, at corporate events, and
other venues. |
77
Title: You
Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby With this recording Darin finally moved away from his big band
arrangements to a small-combo backing on this revival of a
standard song. This represented his sixth Top 10 hit in the
UK, with three more to come by the end of 1966. |
78
Title: When
The Girl In Your Arms This sensitive ballad gave Cliff his tenth Top 10 hit, and was
featured in Cliff's film "The Young Ones".
For the first time on one of his hit singles, he was not backed by The
Shadows (formerly Drifters). There was an orchestral backing
provided by the Norrie Paramor Orchestra, with vocal support from the Mike Sammes Singers.
The Shadows were backing Cliff on the B-side of the disc however,
and they were present on most of his releases over the next two or
three years. His next hit came in early 1962 - one of his
best-loved songs, "The Young Ones". That was the
title track from his film of the same title, which premiered in
December 1961. |
79
Title: Hit
The Road Jack 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. |
80
Title: Big
Bad John Jimmy Dean was Country Music singer (10 Aug 1928 - 13 Jun 2010)
who was born in Texas USA. He dropped out of high school and became a professional entertainer after
serving in the United States Air Force in the late 1940s.
He had his first hit in the early 1950s and went on to present
radio and TV Country Music shows. This hit in 1961 went to Number
One
in the USA, and he was awarded a Grammy for best
Country Music record in 1962. He made a couple of follow-up
records which continued the story but they did not chart in the
UK. He remained very popular in America and in 1969 he
founded the Jimmy Dean sausage company which still operates, but
under a different ownership. Jimmy Dean food products are
still advertised on American TV. A Virginia resident since 1990, Dean was inducted into the Virginia
Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997.
He died in Virginia at age 81. |
81
Title: The
Time Has Come After the disappointment of missing the Top 10 on his previous
two releases, Faith reached number four with this song from his
regular songwriter. This song was featured in Faith's film
of 1961, "What A Whopper". The film was a comedy
about the Loch Ness Monster, and as well as Faith, the cast included many
comedy stars of the time. |
82
Title: Take
Good Care Of My Baby Back in the Top 10 with another hit from the husband and wife
songwriting team. This recording is Vee's joint highest
position in the UK charts (he never made it to Number
One), but
this release did make it all the way to the top of the charts in
the USA. Also in late 1961, Vee engaged on a concert tour of
Britain along with The Crickets. |
83
Title: Moon
River 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 this version of "Moon River". In the
following year he made the Top 10 for the last time, 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 1970s, and had one final hit in 1977. He died in
2005 from lung cancer at the age of 63. |
84
Title: Runaround
Sue 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. He enjoyed a Top 10 hit in the UK in 1962 ("The
Wanderer"), but the hits dried up after that. He is
still recording in the 21st century. |
85
Title: His
Latest Flame Another great song from the Pomus & Shuman team gave Elvis
a further chart topper in the UK - his ninth in total. This
was his last hit of the year, but he had four Number
Ones in
1962. Also in November 1961, his album "Something For
Everybody" entered the album chart, peaking at number two,
and remaining on the chart for 18 weeks. This was quickly
followed by the soundtrack album from Presley's film "Blue
Hawaii". That album first charted in December 1961,
although the film was not released in the UK until February
1962. The album went to Number
One
and spent no less than 65
weeks on the album chart. |
86
Title: Tower
Of Strength Frankie Vaughan (3 Feb 1928 - 17 Sep 1999) was born in
Liverpool, England. He attended art college after leaving
school, but prefered a career as a singer. He moved to
London in the late 1940s, and got work performing song and dance
routines in a 1930s style - complete with top hat, bow tie and
cane. He started making records in the mid 1950s, and in
1955 he recorded what was to become his trademark song, "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the
Girl". Like other artists in the 1950s, he mostly
recorded covers of American hits, and he had quite a bit of
success in the charts through to the late 1960s. But, he was
foremost a very popular live entertainer on stage and TV,
continuing as such into the 1980s. He died from heart failure
in 1999, aged 71. |
87
Title: Midnight
In Moscow After a couple of smaller hits since his debut chart entry in
February, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen reached the Top 10 with the
instrumental "Midnight In Moscow" - the track for which he is
probably best known. The recording also reached number two
in the USA; and that was a couple of years before the so-called
"British Invasion" of the American charts by the Beatles
etc. Ball enjoyed more hits through to 1967. |
88
Title: I
Love How You Love Me Jimmy Crawford was born on 18 Nov 1937 in Sheffield, South
Yorkshire, England. After army service he formed a band and
played in local venues around South Yorkshire. He signed a
recording contract as a solo artist, and had a minor hit in mid
1961. This recording was his only other chart entry.
He continued performing with various backing bands for several
years. |
89
Title: The
Savage This was their sixth hit and sixth Top 10 entry. It was
the follow-up to their Number One
hit "Kon-Tiki" (song
67), and was featured in Cliff Richard's film "The Young
Ones". Although this only just made the Top 10, they were back
at Number One
with their next hit in March 1962. Whilst this
recording was in the singles charts, their debut album, "The
Shadows", was riding high in the album chart. |
90
Title: My
Friend The Sea This was her second Top 10 entry of 1961. However, she
was not destined to have another Top 10 until November 1964 when
she began working with songwriter and producer Tony Hatch.
That song, "Downtown", led to a series of hits both in
the UK and in the USA where she enjoyed six Top 10 hits between
1965 and 1967. |
91
Title: I'll
Get By Shirley Bassey had enjoyed a successful 1961, and this Top 10
hit rounded it off nicely. More hits came along in 1962,
although only one made the Top 10. Nevertheless, she
remained an immensely popular live performer and album
artist. For info about Shirley Bassey, see song 38 in this
list. |
92
Title: Stranger
On The Shore This is Acker Bilk's big hit for which he is best
remembered. Although he was primarily a jazz performer, this
is a slow clarinet piece with an orchestral backing.
He had written the song for his daughter, and called the tune
"Jenny". However, it was later chosen as the theme
to a 1961 BBC TV series called "Stranger On The Shore",
so the music was renamed. The recording went all the way to Number
One
in the USA, although official statistics in the UK show
it as having peaked at number two (see below). Regardless of
chart position, it spent an amazing 55 weeks on the charts, and
became the best-selling record of 1962. The recording
continues to be aired on radio stations worldwide, and Acker once
described it as his pension - referring to the royalties income. |
93
Title: Johnny
Will This was Boone's last hit of 1961, and a Top 5 placing was
commendable for an artist who had their first UK hit in
1955. The following year, 1962, was to be his last year in
the British charts, however. Still, there were to be four
hits in that final year, with one getting as high as number
two. Pat Boone was also making films at this time, and his
movie of 1961 was "All Hands On Deck" - a musical
romantic comedy in which he starred. |
94
Title: So
Long Baby Del Shannon kept the hits coming with his third Top 10 entry of
the year. Once again, he had written the song himself, and
more hits came over the next couple of years. Interestingly,
Shannon was having greater success in the UK than in his
homeland. This hit only reached number 28 Stateside, and
whilst he had a total of eight Top 10 hits in Britain, he only
entered the American Top 10 three times. |
95
Title: Let
There Be Drums Sandy Nelson (1 Dec 1938 - 14 Feb 2022) was a drummer, born in Santa
Monica, California, USA. He began playing drums at high
school, and later joined a band called The Renegades who made a record
in 1957. It did not sell, and Nelson opted to become a
session drummer. He went on to perform on a number of hits for
numerous artists, mostly in California. He released his first solo
recording, "Teen Beat", in 1959, which was a hit in both
the USA and
UK. "Let There Be Drums" was his biggest hit in the UK, but
success was short lived. A couple of minor hits followed but
then he never reached the UK charts again. Despite the loss
of a foot in a motor cycle accident, he continued drumming, and issued
several albums in the 1960s and 1970s. As recently as
2008, he made a new album of original material. He moved to Boulder City,
Nevada, USA in 1988, where he died in 2022 at the age of 83. |
96
Title: I'd
Never Find Another You Billy's last hit and third Top 10 of the year. It was
also his tenth hit record - the first being in February
1959. He was now established as one of the top performers in
the UK, and that would continue until the beat groups got the
upper hand in the mid 1960s. He was also in the album chart
during the autumn of 1961 with his LP "Halfway To
Paradise", which reached number five. |
97
Title: Multiplication Darin's seventh Top 10 hit was one he wrote himself. He
had now waved goodbye to the big band arrangements and had
returned to straight forward pop music - at least as far as
singles were concerned. Although this recording was popular
in the UK, it only rose to a meager number 30 in his American
homeland. More info about Darin is with song 22. |
98
Title: Image (Parts 1 &
2) Hank Levine was an American orchestra leader and
arranger. He arranged music on the recordings of many
artists, but it seems that none were major hits. |
99
Title: Happy
Birthday Sweet Sixteen Neil Sedaka's third and final Top 10 hit released in
1961. It was another happy-go-lucky pop song written with
his usual lyricist, Howard Greenfield. The following year
would see him with just one Top 10 entry, before he was swept
aside by the British beat bands. He was destined to return
in the early 1970s with a new style that provided more single and
album hits. For more info on Neil Sedaka, see song 9. |
100
Title: Run
To Him This was Vee's fifth consecutive Top 10 hit of 1961 - his first
year in the UK charts, and his most successful year. The
next two years would be thinner chart-wise, his final UK hit
coming in the summer of 1963. For info about Bobby Vee, see
song number 7. |
Acts with most appearances in this list: Adam Faith: 5 Composers with most appearances in this list:
Johnny Worth (under pseudonym of
Les Vandyke): 6 New
Names in 1961 Bobby Vee 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 March 2016. |