Becky posted this Thursday, and here are the rules:
The rules:
A) Go to Music Outfitters
B) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline or italicize your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember or don’t care about (ed: that's me: I don't care about 'em. But I remember ALL of these, surprisingly).
OK… I did. I thought about cutting this down to only 50 songs, coz “The Top 100” takes up a lot of space. But I didn’t, mainly because a lot of my favorites from this pre-historic time (ahem) are in the lower ranks, popularity-wise. And the year? 1963, Gentle Reader. 1963. Gad!
You might note a trend in the list below, if you’re familiar with the music. OTOH, this stuff is SO old I don’t much expect many of you to recognize more than five or six of these songs… some of which are most definitely classics. But, to emphasize the obvious… I was a BIG rhythm and blues fan. Not so much on the white-bread stuff, like Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee, Lesley Gore, The Four Seasons (aiiieee! White Boys singing falsetto! aiiieee!), et al. What krep. And I have more than one favorite from this list, too, italicized and underlined.
1. Surfin'
2. Sugar Shack, Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs
3. The End Of The World, Skeeter Davis
4. Rhythm Of The Rain, Cascades
5. Hey Paula, Paul and Paula (This song had some small kitsch value to me much later in life, as TSMP's name is Paula. There were times when I'd break out in a "Hey...Hey.. PAULA... I wanna marry you!" Omigawd. Really. I'm embarrassed to reveal this, but...there ya go. Something I'm sure ya didn't know. I had to explain it to her the first time I did it, too, as she was only seven years old in 1963. Something else I'm sure ya didn't know, unless your name happens to be "Paula," aka TSMP.)
6. Blue Velvet, Bobby Vinton
7. He's So Fine, Chiffons
8. Fingertips II, Little Stevie Wonder
9.
10. So Much In Love, Tymes
11. Can't Get Used To Losing You, Andy Williams
12. My Boyfriend's Back, Angels
13. Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto
14. She's A Fool, Lesley Gore
15. It's All Right, Impressions
16. Puff (The Magic Dragon), Peter, Paul and Mary
17. Blowin' In The Wind, Peter, Paul and Mary
18. Wipe Out, The Surfaris
19. Deep Purple, Nino Tempo and April Stevens
20. I'm Leaving It Up To You, Dale and Grace
21. I Love You Because, Al Martino
22. Wild Weekend, Rebels (GREAT guitar… trend setting, it was)
23. You're The Reason I'm Living, Bobby Darin
24. Walk Like A Man, Four Seasons
25. Mockingbird, Inez Foxx
26. I Will Follow Him, Little Peggy March
27. Pipeline, Chantays
28.
29. It's My Party, Lesley Gore
30. Blame It On The Bossa Nova, Eydie Gorme
31. You Can't Sit Down, Dlovells
32. Heat Wave, Martha and The Vandellas
33. Denise, Randy and The Rainbows
34. Walk Right In, Rooftop Singers
35. If You Wanna Be Happy, Jimmy Soul
36. Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
37. If I Had A Hammer, Trini Lopez
38. Everybody, Tommy Roe
39. Easier Said Than Done,
40. Ruby Baby, Dion
41. Maria Elena, Los Indios Tabajaras
42. Our Day Will Come, Ruby and The Romantics
43. I Can't Stay Mad At You, Skeeter
44. Hello, Stranger, Barbara Lewis
45. Be My Baby, Ronettes
46. Mean Woman Blues, Roy Orbison
47.
48. Days Of Wine And Roses, Henry Mancini
49. The Monkey Time, Major Lance
50. Candy Girl, Four Seasons
51. Still, Bill Anderson
52. Blue On Blue, Bobby Vinton
53. Cry Baby, Garnet Mimms and The Enchanters
54. Two Faces Have I, Lou Christie
55. Busted, Ray Charles
56. Da Doo Ron Ron,
57. Foolish Little Girl, Shirelles
58.
59. In Dreams, Roy Orbison
60. More, Kal Winding
61. Fools Rush In, Rick Nelson
62. Losing You, Brenda Lee
63. Our Winter Love, Bill Pursell
64. I Wanna Be Around, Tony Bennett
65. You've Really Got A Hold On Me, Miracles (apropos of nothing: ANYTHING by Smokey Robinson.)
66. Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts
67. Little Red Rooster, Sam Cooke
68. Then He Kissed Me, w
69. (You're The) Devil In Disguise, Elvis Presley
70. Those Lazy-hazy-crazy Days On Summer, Nat King Cole
71. Baby Workout, Jackie Wilson
72. Pride And Joy, Marvin Gaye
73. Walking The Dog, Rufus Thomas
74. From A Jack To A King, Ned Miller
75. Up On The Roof, Drifters
76. What Will My Mary Say, Johnny Mathis
77. Mama Didn't Lie, Jan Bradley
78. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Bobby Vee
79. Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Baby, Little Eva
80. Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash
81. (Down At) Papa Joe's, Dixiebelles With Cornbread and Jerry
82. Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp), Allan Sherman
83. Judy's Turn To Cry, Lesley Gore
84. Just One Look, Doris Troy
85. Mickey's Monkey, Miracles
86. Donna, The Prima Donna, Dion
87. That Sunday, That Summer, Nat King Cole
88. Another Saturday Night, Sam Cooke
89. Painted, Tainted Rose, Al Martino
90. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Roll Harris
91. Go Away Little Girl, Steve Lawrence
92. Take These Chains From My Heart, Ray Charles
93. Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows
94. Come And Get These Memories, Martha and The Vandellas
95. Bossa Nova Baby, Elvis Presley
96. Do The Bird, Dee Dee Sharp
97. Shut Down, Beach Boys
98. One Fine Day, Chiffons
99. Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon
100. 500 Miles Away From Home, Bobby Bare
So… Do ya know any of those, Gentle Reader? Like Becky, I’d be interested in seeing your choices, if ya wanna play.
Well, I don't think I'm going to post the list, but that was kind of weird looking at the list and thinking how it would look if I did it. 1981. I was really big into heavy rock and older rock then, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Neil Young... I hated all the new stuff coming out. I look at that list for 1981 and can honestly say I don't even know about half those songs. I recognize some of the soft rock/pop tunes but don't especially like them. And none of the rock selections are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteCool meme Buck. I did mine - here.
ReplyDeleteLaurie - we graduated the same year and I agree. While I did find some faves and other songs I remember enjoying, my tastes definitely ran more to The Beatles, Led Zep, AC/DC, etc... Though I did, and still do, love Journey and The Police (specifically Sting).
Fun Buck - thank you!
This was fun. I knew a few of your songs, but only from oldie radio stations. Was not aware that Pipeline was from the Chantays, I always thought it was The Ventures (Jeff loves to play along with that song on his bass). Did you go see the Chiffons when they played in Clovis last weekend?
ReplyDeleteI did look it up for my year, but only found 18 songs that I knew, and of those, only 1 was country and a couple others were rock, which was all I listened to in the grand year of 1993.
Laurie and Kris say: 1981
ReplyDeleteOK... I recognize/remember about 90% of those. But 1981 was different for me, as I was in London for the entire year... slightly different playlist on The Beeb, LOL! But: just a few my faves from that year...
1. Bette Davis Eyes, Kim Carnes
43. You Make My Dreams, Daryl Hall and John Oates
57. De Do Do Do, De Da Da, Police
94. Whip It, Devo
97. Seven Year Ache, Rosanne Cash
Especially "Bette Davis Eyes!" But, as you might could imagine, The Police were really big in Ol' Blighty... '81 was GOOD for me!
Jenny sez: 1993
The Chantays did the original "Pipeline;" The Ventures covered it. It was interesting living in SoCal in 1961 - 1963... would you believe I saw The Beach Boys and The Chantays play in high school gyms and community centers, before they "made it?" S'true... As for 1993? I don't remember many of those! Maybe it's coz I was into my serious workaholic days then, or maybe it's all the hip-hop type stuff... dunno. Some of my 1993 faves (on that list, anyway):
22. Runaway Train, Soul Asylum
87. Fields Of Gold, Sting
95. Hey Jealousy, Gin Blossoms
96. If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Sting
1993 wasn't MY year for music... not the "hits," anyway. I was still buying lotsa music, but it wasn't stuff I see here!
Forgot to answer your Q, Jenny. I had NO idea the Chiffons were still around, let alone in Clovis. I'm SO out of it...
ReplyDeleteI played along too click here>
ReplyDeleteYa done good, ASW! You also had some pretty danged good material to work with, too. Nice touch with the vids!
ReplyDeleteAs I expected, I only recognized a few of the songs from your list, but what can I say? I hadn't even been born in 1963!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite from your list...Puff the Magic Dragon. Seriously.
You scratched through "Sugar Shack" by the Fireballs. Did you know that they are from Raton, NM. I've seen them in concert there. Since we housed teen-agers in our lodge in RR through the summers back in the 60's, I can remember listening to Peter, Paul and Mary'd "Bowin' in the Wind" and "If I Had a Hammer." But "Puff the Magic Dragon" still brings a tear to my eye :) I also remember learning to do "the Pony" to "Surf City" in the back of the Community House in RR. Thanks for the great memories.
ReplyDeleteYa know, you REALLY ought to read local papers every now and then. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try this one out...but I probably won't know most of the songs, since I was living in Berlin at the time!
ReplyDeleteI recognize quite a few songs on your list, from listening to music with my Dad when I was little...
*ducks for cover*
;)
Becky sez: As I expected, I only recognized a few of the songs from your list, but what can I say? I hadn't even been born in 1963!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite from your list...Puff the Magic Dragon. Seriously.
OK, Becky... about the age disconnect... rub it in! ;-)
re: PP&M. I can hardly stand to listen to them any longer... I've been over-exposed, to the MAX, to their work and am completely burned out on the whole concept.
Lou sez: You scratched through "Sugar Shack" by the Fireballs. Did you know that they are from Raton, NM.
I didn't know! I scratched "Sugar Shack" coz I think the song's lame, and it gets real irritating, real fast, for me. But... that's "taste," ain't it?
Perusing that list brought back a lot of memories for me, too (he said, somewhat obviously). I was surprised I remembered all of the tunes, too. That wasn't so on other folks' lists.
Jenny sez: Ya know, you REALLY ought to read local papers every now and then. LOL!
Yup. Point taken, LOL! But... will I change? I doubt it. ;-)
Christina sez: *ducks for cover*
You can RUN, but you can't HIDE, Christina... :-)
Pretty damn cool, Buck. I know about 95 of those songs, but I was a musician myself, so had to learn a lot of covers. Good choices. There are one or two you struck through that I like, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI might grab this for my next post. It will be 1974, if I do.
Ok, I know you're about 20 years my senior, but I was always behind the times in music.
ReplyDeleteTalk about a killer year to graduate as far as music goes. "Surf City" ... my favorite song for years even though it had been off the charts for 15-20 years.
Looks like you leaned toward surf music (me, too). My very first record albums I bought back around 1979 were Jan & Dean, Beach Boys, Chiffons, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly ... yeah, I was sooooo popular ;-)
My brother and I and a couple of friends played "Wipeout" and "Pipeline" at a talent show at school in ... 1982. GEEKS!!!! But we didn't care.
But hey, what's up with Dion? That's some classic stuff in my book. And ... Figertips Part II??? Indifferent? *tsk*.
Fun. I'll have to try this.
Jim sez: I might grab this for my next post. It will be 1974, if I do.
ReplyDeleteI happen to believe the early to mid-70s was rock 'n' roll's Golden Age. YMMV (in the "everyone" sense, not you specifically, Jim), and I expect that. Folks in the generation before me say "Chuck Berry! Bill Haley! ELVIS! Doo-Wop!" those after me yell "Journey! Styx! Heart!" and so on and so forth. And then there's the Hip-Hop crowd, but we won't go THERE. Still and even... Early 70s, with Cream, Santana, CSN&Y, The Stones, Zep, etc, etc. was as good as it ever got and much better than MOST.
OTOH... I just looked at 1974. Yow. I take it all BACK. ;-)
Phil sez: Looks like you leaned toward surf music (me, too).
I did. Most definitely. But that was part of the turf, as I lived in SoCal at the time. I deviated from the crowd with my love of the Girl Groups and other r&b things. As for "Fingertips," yeah: ambivalent. It was, as a single, more of a novelty that got real old, real fast. And Stevie couldn't hold a candle to James Brown... ever. Well, maybe that's a stretch, coz SW wrote some hella-good tunes. Many more than JB.
Dion? Meh. American Bandstand -slash- Philly (I repeat myself) -slash- Jersey -slash- Atlantic City stuff, no? ;-)