Shown below is a top song from each year throughout the 1960’s — enjoy!
1960 — Hit the Road Jack — Ray Charles
The song was written by Percy Mayfield, who first recorded it in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to music executive Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles, with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix.
1961 — Stand By Me — Ben E. King
Originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called “Stand by Me Father”, recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
1962 — Lets Twist Again — Chubby Checker
“Let’s Twist Again” is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached №8 on the U.S. Billboard pop chart (№3 on Cash Box) in August of that year and subsequently reached №2 in the UK in the spring of 1962. The song refers to the Twist dance craze and Checker’s 1960 single “The Twist”, a two-time U.S. №1 single (in September 1960 and again in January 1962 on re-release).
1963 — I wanna hold your hand — The Beatles
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track recording equipment. With advance orders exceeding one million copies in the UK, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” would have gone straight to the top of the British record charts on its day of release had it not been blocked by the group’s first million-seller “She Loves You”, their previous UK single, which was having a resurgence of popularity following intense media coverage of the group.
Taking two weeks to dislodge its predecessor, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” stayed at number one for five weeks and remained in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks in total.
1964 — The House of the Rising Sun — The Animals
A traditional folk song, sometimes called “Rising Sun Blues”. It tells of a person’s life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock band The Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and in the US and Canada. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the “first folk rock hit”.
1965 — California Dreamin’ — The Mama’s and The Papa’s
“California Dreamin’” is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in December 1965. The lyrics express the narrator’s longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. The song became a signpost of the California sound, heralding the arrival of the nascent counterculture era. It was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in June 2023.
1966 — Paint it Black — The Rolling Stones
A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences and lyrics about grief and loss. London Records released the song as a single on 7 May 1966 in the United States, and Decca Records released it on 13 May in the United Kingdom.It was a major chart success for The Rolling Stones, remaining 11 weeks (including two at number one) on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 10 weeks (including one atop the chart) on the Record Retailer chart in the UK. Upon a reissue in 2007, it re-entered the UK Singles Chart for 11 weeks. It was the band’s third number-one single in the US and sixth in the UK.
1967 — What a Wonderful World — Louis Armstrong
Written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.
After it was heard in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, it was reissued as a single in 1988, and rose to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1968 — Happy Together — The Turtles
Written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon, It was released as a single, backed with “Like the Seasons”, in January 1967, and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s first and only chart-topper there. It also reached the top 20 in various countries, including number 2 in Canada and number 12 in the UK. It was later included on The Turtles’ third studio album of the same name.
1969 — I Want you Back — The Jackson 5
Was released by Motown in October 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band’s first television appearances, on October 18, 1969, on Diana Ross’s The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance on December 14, 1969, on The Ed Sullivan Show. I Want you Back has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
The song, along with a B-side remake of “Who’s Lovin’ You” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, was the only single to be released from The Jackson 5’s first album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5. It went to number one on the Soul singles chart for four weeks and held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending January 31, 1970.
