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50 Song Hits
1961
In 1961 there was a wide variety of songs heard on radio, movies and television. Just consider these different categories:
Country: "Big Bad John" -- Jimmy Dean
Italian melody: "Surrender" -- Elvis Presley
African melody: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)" -- The Tokens
Afro-American folk song: "Michael (Row The Boat Ashore) --
The Highwayman
Movie song: "Moon River" -- Henry Mancini (Oscar winner for Best Song)
Vintage song with upbeat tempo: "Blue Moon" -- The Marcels
Rhythm & Blues: "Hit The Road, Jack" -- Ray Charles
Dance: "Let's Twist Again" -- Chubby Checker
On a personal side, 1961 marks the 50th anniversary of my first song, "Dream World," and first record, "The Soho Serenade," written while stationed in the U.S. Army and included in my multmedia memoir, "Free As The Breeze" -- Confessions of a Struggling Songwriter.
50 Song Hits From 1961
Look at this list and see how many of these songs you know
(arranged in alphabetical order not by record sales)
1. Apache (Jerry Lordan) -- Jordan Ingmann and His Guitar
2. Barbara Ann (Fred Fassert) -- The Regents/ The Beach Boys
3. +Big Bad John (Jimmy Dean) -- Jimmy Dean
4. +Blue Moon (Rodgers-Hart) -- The Marcels
5. +The Boll Weevil Song (Otis-Benton) -- Brook Benton
6. +Calcutta (Pockriss-Vance) -- Lawrence Welk & Orchestra
7. Calendar Girl (Greenfield-Sedaka) -- Neil Sedaka
8. Crazy (Willie Nelson) -- Patsy Cline
9. Crying (Orbison-Melson) -- Roy Orbison
10. Dedicated To The One I Love (Paulin-Bass) -- The Shirelles
11. Every Breath I Take (Goffin-King) -- Gene Pitney
12. Flaming Star (Wayne-Edwards) -- Elvis Presley
13. Hello Walls ((Willie Nelson) -- Faron Young
14. His Latest Flame (Doc Pomus-Mort Schuman) -- Elvis Presley
15. +Hit The Road, Jack ((Percy Mayfield) -- Ray Charles
16. A Hundred Pounds Of Clay (Elgin-Dixon-Rogers) -- Gene McDaniels
17. I Fall To Pieces (Cochran-Howard) -- Patsy Cline
18. +I Like It Like That (Kenner-Toussaint) -- Chris Kenner
19. I'll Be There (King-Leiber-Stoller) -- Damita Jo
20. Let's Twist Again (Mann-Appell) -- Chubby Checker
21. +The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) (Peretti-Creatore-Weiss-Stanton) -- The Tokens
22. +Michael (Row The Boat Ashore) (arr. D. Fisher) -- The Highwayman
23. +Moody River (Gary Bruce) -- Pat Boone
24. Moon River (Mancini-Mercer) -- Henry Mancini/ Andy Williams25. +Mother-in-Law (Alan Toussaint) -- Ernie K. Doe
26. Peppermint Twist (Dee-Glover) -- Joey Dee & The Starliters
27. +Please Mr. Postman (Holland-Bateman-Gorman) -- The Marvelettes
28. +Pony Time (Convay-Berry) -- Chubby Checker
29. Pretty Little Angel Eyes (Boyce-Lee) -- Curtis Lee
30. +Quarter To Three (Barge-Guida-Royster-Anderson) -- Gary U.S. Bonds
31. +Runaround Sue (DiMucci-Maresca) -- Dion
32. +Runaway (Shannon-Crook) -- Del Shannon
33. +Running Scared (Orbison-Melson) -- Roy Orbison
34. Run To Him (Goffin-Keller) -- Bobby Vee
35. Shop Around (Gordy-Robinson) -- The Miracles
36. Spanish Harlem (Leiber-Specter) -- Ben E. King
37. Stand By Me (King-Leiber-Stoller) -- Ben E. King
38. +Surrender (adapted by Pomus-Shuman) -- Elvis Presley
39. +Take Good Care Of My Baby (Goffin-King) -- Bobby Vee
40. Theme from THE MISFITS (Alex North) -- Don Costa
41. Those Oldies But Goodies (Politti-Curinga) -- Little Caesar & The Romans
42. +Tossin' And Turnin' (Ren-Adams) -- Bobby Lewis
43. Town Without Pity (Washington-Tiomkin) -- Gene Pitney
44. +Travelin' Man (Jerry Fuller) -- Ricky Nelson
45. Walk On By (Kendall Hayes) -- Leroy Van Dyke
46. Wild In The Country (Weiss-Peretti-Creatore) -- Elvis Presley
47. +Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (Goffin-King) -- The Shirelles
48. +Wonderland By Night (Chase-Neuman) -- Bert Kaempfert & Orchestra
49. +Wooden Heart (arr. by Kaempfert-Twomey-Weisman-Wise) --
Joe Dowell
50. You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)(Hampton-Burton) -- Ral Donner
+ = from Billboard Top 1000 Singles, 1955-1996, compiled by Joel Whitburn
Singers with most recordings listed:
Elvis Presley = 4
Patsy Cline = 2
Ben E. King = 2
Roy Orbison = 2
Gene Pitney = 2
The Shirelles =2
Bobby Vee = 2
No. 1 Songs from 1961
Arranged by number of weeks at No. 1 and alphaebtical titles for tied weeks (according to The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn)
Tossin' And Turnin' -- Bobby Lewis (7 weeks)
Big Bad John -- Jimmie Dean (5 weeks)
Runaway -- Del Shannon (4 weeks)
Wonderland By Night -- Bert Kaempfert (3 weeks)
Pony Time -- Chubby Checker (3 weeks)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (3 weeks)
Blue Moon -- The Marcels (3 weeks)
Take Good Care Of My Baby -- Bobby Vee (3 weeks)
Calcutta -- Lawrence Welk & His Orchestra (2 weeks)
Runaround Sue -- Dion (2 weeks0
Michael Row The Boat Ashore -- The Highwayman (2 weeks)
Travelin' Man -- Ricky Nelson (2 weeks)
Quarter To Three -- Gary U.S. Bonds (2 weeks)
Hit The Road Jack -- Ray Charles (2 weeks)
Surrender -- Elvis Presley (2 weeks)
Will You Love Me Tomorrow -- The Shirelles (2 weeks)
Mother-in-Law -- Ernie K. Doe (1 week)
Please Mr. Postman -- The Marvelettes (1 week)
Wooden Heart -- Joe Dowell (1 week)
Moody River -- Pat Boone (1 week)
Running Scared -- Roy Orbison (1 week)
The Boll Weevil Song -- Brook Benton (1 week)
I Like It Like That -- Chris Kenner (1 week)
Are you celebrsating an anniversary for 1961?
To inquire about ordering a personal CD of pop songs from 1961, write to:
Recommended Recordings
Billboard Top Movie Hits 1960s
Songwriter Memories
Read about songs from the 1950s and '60s, including a chapter about Elvis Presley from 1955-1956, in these this illustrated disc playable on any computer, with music files by songwriter Roger Hall:
"Dream World" - Songs, Poems and Stories
Click here to buy your music and other favorite posters!
AMP Song Links
A Century of American Songs (1861 - 1961)
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