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50 Song Hits
1960
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 CramerLonely 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 n' Roll Hits 1960
Billboard Top Country Hits 1960
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
Click here to buy your music and other favorite posters!
AMP Song Links
A Century of American Songs (1861 - 1961)
Other links for popular songs and songwriters:
- American Popular Song
- Greatest Songwriters of 20th Century
- Popular Songwriters and Songs
- Sheet Music Magazine
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
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