Your 60's Top Twenty Hits

[Telemarkman]

A lot of us agree that the 60's was a golden decade for pop/rock music, and listening to Radio Luxemburg was my way of learning about the new stuff. The highlight of the week was the Top Twenty list, but in addition I put together my own personal Top Twenty list based on all the songs they played during the week.

But what were actually The Best Songs of the 60's if you were to make up your own personal Top Twenty list for the whole decade?

And I mean the best songs, not neccessarily your favorite artists, though it can be hard to separate the singer from the song.

You're only allowed 20 songs (I found out I could easily have included a hundred), and personally I've limited myself to one song from each artist/group, so of course I've left out more than I have included ...

I've listed the songs in chronological order - everything else would be unfair I guess, at least hopelessly impossible to me.

Georgia on My Mind - Ray Charles (1960)
Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson (1961)
Silver Threads and Golden Needles - The Springfields (1962)
Sherry - The Four Seasons (1962)
Needles and Pins - The Searchers (1964)
Losing You - Dusty Springfield (1964)
Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds (1965)
California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas (1966)
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys (1966)
Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke (1966)
Make it Easy on Yourself - The Walker Brothers (1966)
You Didn't Have to Be so Nice - The Lovin' Spoonful (1966)
When Something is Wrong with My Baby - Sam & Dave (1967)
Never My Love - The Association (1967)
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum (1967)
Penny Lane - The Beatles (1967)
Hip Hug-Her - Booker T. & The MG's (1967)
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell (1968)
People Got to Be Free - The Rascals (1968)
The Weight - The Band (1968)

I will have to admit that the list is compiled with my "60's glasses" on, but so what ... ?

 

[brokenjoe]

What, no Beatles?!?

 

[Telemarkman]

What, no Beatles?!?

Yes, Penny Lane, my favorite Beatles song (only one song per artist, remember).

 

[brookdalebill]

Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
Love Is All Around - The Troggs
Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel
Baby Love - The Supremes
My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder
Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Younger Girl - The Lovin' Spoonful
Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds
The Last Time - The Rolling Stones
Gloria - Them
Walk Away Renee- The Left Banke
Crimson And Clover - Tommy James And The Shondells
Get Together - The Youngbloods
Rescue Me - Fontella Bass
Gonna Get Along Without You Now - Skeeter Davis
My Girl - The Temptations
I'm A Believer - The Monkees
Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
Bella Linda - The Grass Roots
Itchycoo Park - The Small Faces

I feel so fortunate to have been a kid with a radio during the 60's.
Spent all my lunch/allowance/grass cutting/pop bottle money on 45 RPM records.

 

[Telemarkman]

brookdalebill, I could have included most of your songs in my Top 100 list ...

 

[crowden]

Shapes of Things - Yardbirds
Good Lovin' - The Young Rascals
Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful
Try A Little Tenderness - Otis Redding
Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis
Heart Full Of Soul - Yardbirds
Lonely To Long - The Young Rascals
Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Ain't Too Proud To Beg - The Temptations
The Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson
Bus Stop - The Hollies
Stagger Lee - Wilson Pickett
When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
Feelin' Alright - Traffic
Little Black Egg - The Nightcrawlers

You might not have ever heard of "Little Black Egg" as the group was local to Florida (Daytona Beach), but it was a hit down here. It was also the first song I learned on the guitar by record copying.

 

[tcarp]

I feel so fortunate to have been a kid with a radio during the 60's.
Spent all my lunch/allowance/grass cutting/pop bottle money on 45 RPM records.

Great sentiment.

In the early 60's when I was 12 or so my little brother Bill and I got identical GE transistor radios for Christmas. I'd tuck that radio under my pillow late at night so my folks wouldn't hear it and rocked myself to sleep. In those days, AM radio was the only game in town, and living in NJ I listened to 77 WABC and the Good Guys on WMCA. Sometimes after midnight when AM went off-air, I could pick up stations in different time zones....WCAU (Chicago as I recall) and WOWO in Ft. Wayne Indiana come to mind. And if the air waves were real clean, I could pick up stations in the South and even Puerto Rico.

It seemed like every day there was a brand new group hitting the charts. Too young to realize the historical musical significance of the era, Bill and I grew up to surf rock, Motown, girl groups, one hit wonders, the British invasion, Memphis soul, and so many other influences. Like the OP, I too feel fortunate to have experienced all that great music. AM radio was an epiphany.

My brother and occasionally talk about this and we couldn't even begin to put together a Top 20 list....even a top 200 would be difficult. We just wouldn't know where to begin. There was so much great stuff back then in the days when the music drove the industry.

To this day, that transistor radio remains the most valuable and important piece of musical equipment I've ever owned.

Tom

 

[Telemarkman]

My brother and occasionally talk about this and we couldn't even begin to put together a Top 20 list....even a top 200 would be difficult. We just wouldn't know where to begin. There was so much great stuff back then in the days when the music drove the industry.

I absolutely see what you mean. I guess I could have put together at least 5 alternative lists and each of them would have been as good as the others.

 

[Larry F]

You might not have ever heard of "Little Black Egg" as the group was local to Florida (Daytona Beach), but it was a hit down here. It was also the first song I learned on the guitar by record copying.

It was a hit in the Northwest.

 

[mudbean]

Funny, I'm in a 60s band ... we do Walk Away Renee, complete with kickin three part harmony - we get more people coming up to us, nearly in tears, saying that they've never heard a band do that song, and it was their prom song, etc. Beautiful, beautiful tune. Every once in a while, I like to set it up, too - tell a story about, remember how you used to walk home with that cute little girl from down the street, carrying her books kinda stuff. Knocks 'em dead!

mud

 

[Larry F]

This is why there were so many garage bands at the time. Almost all of these songs were playable with a few chords, steady beat, and melodies that weren't too virtuosic. In my area of the northwest with around 50,000-60,000 people total (three towns), at the peak, there must have been 30 bands playing professionally. By 1970, maybe 10 that were playing with regularity.

 

[Jack S]

Geez, you guys are killing me. I love pretty much everything you guys have mentioned so far. I don't know how I could list only twenty, there are so many I love and think were great. I do notice there are no country artists listed so far and my list would have to include some of those.

 

[blue metalflake]

Its doing my heart good just to read through the titles!

 

[Jack S]

It was a hit in the Northwest.

It seems like every garage band in America in the 1960s played Little Black Egg.

 

[jumpnblues]

"My Girl" IMHO, a pop songwriting masterpiece expertly performed by the Temptations.


Tom

 

[Jack S]

Shapes of Things - Yardbirds
Good Lovin' - The Young Rascals
Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful
Try A Little Tenderness - Otis Redding
Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis
Heart Full Of Soul - Yardbirds
Lonely To Long - The Young Rascals
Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Ain't Too Proud To Beg - The Temptations
The Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson
Bus Stop - The Hollies
Stagger Lee - Wilson Pickett
When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
Feelin' Alright - Traffic
Little Black Egg - The Nightcrawlers

You might not have ever heard of "Little Black Egg" as the group was local to Florida (Daytona Beach), but it was a hit down here. It was also the first song I learned on the guitar by record copying.

Do you remember the song Time by the Tropics? I absolutely loved that song and it was on the radio in Florida all the time. I went to a rock & roll/surf/car show in Melbourne probably in 1965 (or maybe 66) where there were several great national and regional bands on the bill including the Tropics, the Safaris, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and several others whose names escape me now. It still resonates in my mind as one of the best shows I ever saw. Mitch Ryder was the highlight of the show for me. He was one of the most exciting live entertainers I had ever seen slinging the microphone around like Roger Daltrey at Woodstock, and tearing up the stage.

Obviously, this thread has triggered some great memories for me.

 

[mudbean]

Almost all of these songs were playable with a few chords, steady beat, and melodies that weren't too virtuosic.

Very true - although, Renee is surprisingly complex, with it's gorgeous descending chromatic lines. But, your point is well-made. That's why it's easy for us to have a ginormous repertoire list (about 150 songs, at last count).

mud

 

[eljayski]

great thread! mine, in no particular order

it's allright - j.j. jackson
mony, mony - tommy james
twist and shout - beatles
just like romeo and juliet - the reflections
dirty water - the standells
nobody but me - human beinz
do you believe in magic? - lovin' spoonful
there is a mountain - donovan
ya know what i mean? - the turtles
talk, talk - music machine
psychotic reaction - count five
along comes mary - the association
good vibrations - beach boys
dancin' in the streets - martha and the vandellas
i fought the law - bobby fuller four
rock 'n roll woman - buffalo springfield
light my fire - the doors
dawn - the four seasons
mercy, mercy, mercy - the buckinghams
little girl - the syndicate of sound

 

[Doug 54]

She's Not the Little Girl I Once Knew-- Beach Boys
I Fought the Law-- Bobby Fuller 4
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted-- Jimmy Ruffin
Friday On My Mind-- The Easybeats
FIve O'Clock the World--Vogues
Happy Together--Turtles
Going To the Chapel--Dixicups
Good Morning Girl--Neon Philharmonic
Never My Love--Association
California Sun--Riveras
Little Brown Bag--Geo Baker Selection
San Franscico Nights--Fever Tree
If I Fell-- Beatles
Shapes--Yardbirds
Chain of Fools--Aretha
Paralyzed--Legendary Stardust Cowboy
I Can See For Miles--Who
THe More I See You--Chris Montez
Little Bit of Soul--Music Explosion
Stand--Sly & the Family Stone

 

[tcarp]

Glad to see Walk Away Renee made it so many lists. I still get goosebumps when I hear it.

Who remembers these?

Pied Piper....Crispian St. Peters
Icicles Popsicles....The Murmaids
Where Do You Go To My Lovely....Peter Sarstadt
Whenever a Teenager Cries...Reparata and the Delrons


Tom