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50 Song Hits

1960

 

Compiled by Roger Lee Hall

 

In 1960 there was the growing popularity of a wide ranging types of songs on records, radio, movies and television.

Just consider these different categories:

Broadway: Title song from CAMELOT (a favorite of President John F. Kennedy)

Country & Western: "El Paso"

Easy Listening: "Beyond The Sea"

Novelty: "Mr. Custer"

Foreign: "Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)" (German song sung by Elvis)

Americana: "Ballad of the Alamo"

Movies: Theme From A SUMMER PLACE (One of the biggest-selling records of the '60s)

Nostalgia: "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (song originally written in 1927)

Rhythm & Blues: "Money (That's What I Want)"

Rock n' Roll: "The Twist" (New dance craze popularized by Chubby Checker)

On a personal side, 1960 marks the 50th anniversary of my first song lyrics, written in high school, and some of them are included in my book titled, "Dream World" -- Songs, Poems and Stories.



50 Song Hits From 1960

 


Look at this list and see how many of these songs you know...

+Alley-Oop (Dallas Frazier) -- Hollywood Argyles

Angel Baby (Rose Hamlin) -- Rose and The Originals

+Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Roy Turk-Lou Handman,1927) --
Elvis Presley

Beyond The Sea (Jack Lawrence-Charles Trenet, 1947) -- Bobby Darin

Burning Bridges(Melvin Miller) -- Jack Scott

Camelot (Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe) -- Richard Burton

+Cathy's Clown (Don & Phil Everly) -- The Everly Brothers

Corrine, Corrina (J. Mayo Williams-Bo Chatman) -- Ray Peterson

Devil or Angel (Blanche Carter, 1955) -- Bobby Vee

+El Paso (Marty Robbins) -- Marty Robbins

+Everybody's Somebody's Fool (Howard Greenfield-Jack Keller) --
Connie Francis

Fame And Fortune (Fred Wise-Ben Weisman) -- Elvis Presley

+Georgia On My Mind (Stuart Gorrell-Hoagy Carmichael) -- Ray Charles

+Greenfields ( Terry Gilkyson,Rich Dehr,Frank Miller) -- The Brothers Four

Green Leaves Of Summer (Paul Francis Webster-Dimitri Tiomkin) --
The Brothers Four

Harbor Lights (Jimmy Kennedy-Hugh Williams,1937) -- The Platters

+He'll Have To Go (Joe Allison-Audrey Allison) -- Jim Reeves

+I'm Sorry (Ronnie Self-Dub Allbritton) -- Brenda Lee

+It's Now Or Never (Aarob Schroeder-Wally Gold - tune: "O Sole Mio") -- Elvis Presley

+Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
(Paul Vance-Lee Pockriss) --Brian Hyland

+I Want To Be Wanted (Kim Gannon-Pino Spotti - tune: "Per Tutta la Vita") -- Brenda Lee

+Last Date (Floyd Cramer) -- Floyd Cramer

Lonely Weekends (Charlie Rich) -- Charlie Rich

Mama (Harold Barlow, Phil Brito-C.A. Bixio, 1946) --- Connie Francis

+Mister Custer (Fred Darian, AQl DeLory, Joseph Van Winkle) --
Larry Verne

Mr. Lucky (Henry Mancini) -- Henry Mancini

Money (That's What I Want)(Berry Gordy-Jamie Bradford) -- Barrett Strong

+My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own (Howard Greenfield-Jack Keller) -- Connie Francis

Nice N' Easy (Marilyn & Alan Bergman-Lew Spence)-- Frank Sinatra

North To Alaska (Mike Phillips) -- Johnny Horton

Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)(Roy Orbison-Joe Melson)--
Roy Orbison

Rubber Ball (Aaron Schroeder-Anne Orlowski) -- Bobby Vee

+Running Bear (J. P. Richardson) -- Johnny Preston

+Save The Last Dance For Me (Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman) -- The Drifters

So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) (Don Everly) -- The Everly Brothers

+Stay (Maurice Williams) -- Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs

+Stuck On You (Aaron Schoeder-J. Leslie McFarland) -- Elvis Presley

+Teen Angel ( Jean Surrey-Red Surrey) -- Mark Dinning

Tell Laura I Love Her(Jeff Barry-Ben Raleigh) -- Ray Peterson

+Theme From A SUMMER PLACE (Max Steiner) --
Percy Faith & His Orchestra

Theme From THE APARTMENT (Charles Williams) -- Ferrante and Teicher

Theme From THE UNFORGIVEN (Dimitri Tiomkin) -- Don Costa & His Orchestra

This Magic Moment (Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman) -- The Drifters

+The Twist (Hank Ballard) -- Hank Ballard and Chubby Checker

Walking To New Orleans (Antoine Domino) -- Fats Domino

(What A) Wonderful World (Barbara Campbell, Lou Adler, Herb Alpert) -- Sam Cooke

Where The Boys Are (Howard Greenfield-Neil Sedaka) -- Connie Francis

Wings Of A Dove (Bob Ferguson) -- Ferlin Husky

Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)(Bert Kaempfert, Kay Twomey, Ben Wiseman, Fred Wise) -- Elvis Presley (later hit by Joe Dowell, 1961)

You Talk Too Much (Joe Jones-Reginald Hall) -- Joe Jones

+ = from Billboard Top 1000 Singles, 1955-1996, compiled by Joel Whitburn


Singers with most recordings listed:


Elvis Presley = 5
Connie Francis =4
Brenda Lee = 2

The Drifters = 2
Bobby Vee = 2
The Everly Brothers = 2




No. 1 Songs from 1960

 

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)

Theme From A SUMMER PLACE -- Percy Faith & His Orchestra (9 weeks)
Are You Lonesome Tonight -- Elvis Presley (6 weeks)
It's Now Or Never -- Elvis Presley (5 weeks)
Cathy's Clown -- The Everly Brothers (5 weeks)
Stuck On You -- Elvis Presley (4 weeks)
Save The Last Dance For Me -- The Drifters (3 weeks)
Running Bear -- Johnny Preston (3 weeks)
El Paso -- Marty Robbins (2 weeks)
Everybody's Somebody's Fool -- Connie Francis (2 weeks)
My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own -- Connie Francis (2 weeks)
Teen Angel -- Mark Dinning (2 weeks)

Alley-Oop -- Hollywood Argyles (1 week)
Georgia On My Mind -- Ray Charles (1 week)
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini -- Brian Hyland (1 week)
I Want To Be Wanted -- Brenda Lee (1 week)
Mr. Custer -- Larry Verne (1 week)
Stay -- Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (1 week)
The Twist -- Chubby Checker (1 week)


 

Recommended Recordings

Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1960

Billboard Top Rock n' Roll Hits 1960

Billboard Top R&B Hits: 1960

Billboard Top R & B Hits 1960

Billboard Top Country Hits: 1960


Billboard Top Country Hits 1960



Billboard Top Movie Hits: 1960s (Soundtrack Anthology)

Billboard Top Movie Hits 1960s


Songwriter Memories

Read about songs from the 1950s and '60s on these two multimedia memoirs by songwriter Roger Lee Hall:

 

"Dream World"
Songs, Poems and Stories

"Free As The Breeze"
Confessions of a Struggling Songwriter

Both of these memoirs are available at the

Multimedia Music Series


 

 

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AMP Song Links

 

A Century of American Songs (1861 - 1961)

Cowboy Songs Corral

Early Elvis in Cleveland

National Carry A Tune Week

Popular Songwriters

50 Song Hits 1956

50 Song Hits 1957

50 Song Hits 1958

50 Song Hits 1959

Tune Lovers Society


Other links for popular songs and songwriters:


 

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