Pick Your Top 10 of 1963

[Dawn]

I'm borrowing this feature idea from a poster on another music board I belong to. Thought it was pretty cool!

Here are the top 100 songs from 1963, according to chart performance. Your task is to narrow it down to the 10 you like best.

1. Surfin' U.S.A., Beach Boys
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
6. Blue Velvet, Bobby Vinton
7. He's So Fine, Chiffons
8. Fingertips II, Little Stevie Wonder
9. Washington Square, Village Stompers
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
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. Surf City, Jan and Dean
29. It's My Party, Lesley Gore
30. Blame It On The Bossa Nova, Eydie Gorme
31. You Can't Sit Down, Dovells
32. Heat Wave, Martha and The Vandellas
33. Denise, Randy and The Rainbows
33. 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, Essex
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 Davis
44. Hello, Stranger, Barbara Lewis
45. Be My Baby, Ronettes
45. Mean Woman Blues, Roy Orbison
47. South Street, Orlons
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, Crystals
57. Foolish Little Girl, Shirelles
58. Memphis, Lonnie Mack
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
66. Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts
67. Little Red Rooster, Sam Cooke
68. Then He Kissed, w Crystals
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

These were my picks:

1. Surfin' U.S.A., Beach Boys
16. Puff (The Magic Dragon), Peter, Paul and Mary
27. Pipeline, Chantays
32. Heat Wave, Martha and The Vandellas
36. Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
44. Hello, Stranger, Barbara Lewis
49. The Monkey Time, Major Lance
61. Fools Rush In, Rick Nelson
66. Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts
85. Mickey's Monkey, Miracles

Considering I don't generally listen to early '60s music as often as from the late '60s and '70s, this was surprisingly hard for me to narrow down. Quite a few good ones on the list.

[H2IZCOOL]

Cool feature, Dawn!


Well, first of all, there's on;y one song from my top 250 in the '63 top 100, and that is:

You've Really Got a Hold On Me - Miracles

So I need nine more:

Rhythm Of The Rain, Cascades
Surf City, Jan and Dean
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
Mean Woman Blues, Roy Orbison
Cry Baby, Garnet Mimms and The Enchanters
In Dreams, Roy Orbison
Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows
Shut Down, Beach Boys
Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon

And here are five I couldn't stand:

Sugar Shack, Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs
Hey Paula, Paul and Paula
My Boyfriend's Back, Angels
If I Had A Hammer, Trini Lopez
Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts (sorry, Dawn, I always felt like they were singing underwater.)

BTW, at the risk of sounding Davish, I don't think Little Eva ever had a hit with Don't Say Nothin bad About My Baby. It was The Cookies.

[Dawn]

h2izcool said:

Cool feature, Dawn!


Well, first of all, there's on;y one song from my top 250 in the '63 top 100, and that is:

You've Really Got a Hold On Me - Miracles

So I need nine more:

Rhythm Of The Rain, Cascades
Surf City, Jan and Dean
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
Mean Woman Blues, Roy Orbison
Cry Baby, Garnet Mimms and The Enchanters
In Dreams, Roy Orbison
Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows
Shut Down, Beach Boys
Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon

And here are five I couldn't stand:

Sugar Shack, Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs
Hey Paula, Paul and Paula
My Boyfriend's Back, Angels
If I Had A Hammer, Trini Lopez
Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts (sorry, Dawn, I always felt like they were singing underwater.)

BTW, at the risk of sounding Davish, I don't think Little Eva ever had a hit with Don't Say Nothin bad About My Baby. It was The Cookies.

You're right about the Cookies. I copied and pasted the list from the other site - not sure where the original poster got it from - but missed that when I initially went through the songs.

That recording of Sally, Go 'Round the Roses is murky, I must admit.

You've Really Got a Hold on Me was one of the songs that very nearly made my top 10 cut.

[Ken]

Hi Dawn

Alright, here is my top 10:

1. Wild Weekend, Rebels
2.Surf City, Jan and Dean
3.Heat Wave, Martha and The Vandellas
4.You Can't Sit Down, Dovells
5.Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash
6.Shut Down, Beach Boys
7.One Fine Day, Chiffons
8.Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon
9.From A Jack To A King, Ned Miller
10.Da Doo Ron Ron, Crystals

[Pete70s]

This is cool, it's like my own personal tourney... Might be tough, though.. Here goes:

Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash (Mariachi horns meet country. Nothing short of brilliant!)
Surf City, Jan and Dean (I actually prefer this to "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfin' USA")
Denise, Randy and The Rainbows (SO catchy, great feel good tune!)
Ruby Baby, Dion (This ROCKS!)
Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts (Sorry, but I LOVE this!! It's dark, forboding, almost eerie.. From a GIRL GROUP!!))
Maria Elena, Los Indios Tabajaras (Nice little mellow guitar piece.)
Everybody, Tommy Roe (Great overlooked one!)
Up On The Roof, Drifters (One of their best!)
Fingertips II, Little Stevie Wonder (A strange record to go to #1, but it's great!!)
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys (HAD to include a Beach Boys tune, and this was their best that year!)


These didn't quite make the cut:

Washington Square, Village Stompers
Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto
She's A Fool, Lesley Gore (The "Shack-a-doo-la's" are what bumped it.)
Deep Purple, Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Wild Weekend, Rebels
Walk Like A Man, Four Seasons
Mama Didn't Lie, Jan Bradley (ALMOST made it...)
Easier Said Than Done, Essex
Our Day Will Come, Ruby and The Romantics (These last two were big faves of my sister. I like them too, but the assignment was to pick 10)...
Hello, Stranger, Barbara Lewis (Man, I'm really tempted to switch this with something.)
Be My Baby, Ronettes (Again, I love it... but...)
More, Kal Winding
(Down At) Papa Joe's, Dixiebelles With Cornbread and Jerry (I really don't care for this, I only acknowledged it because my grandfather's name was Joe and we used to call him "Papa Joe")
Another Saturday Night, Sam Cooke
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Roll Harris
Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows (I only know the Beach Boys remake. I'd like to hear the original but I don't think it's ever been available on CD).
One Fine Day, Chiffons
Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon


And not every big hit from '63 is even ON the list! No "Twenty-four Hours From Tulsa"? No "Louie Louie"?

Hey, "Dominique" isn't even on the list, and that was a #1 hit!! Just as well, only a sick mind would have THAT in their top 10...................

[Dawn]

kenfrank said:

Hi Dawn

Alright, here is my top 10:

1. Wild Weekend, Rebels
2.Surf City, Jan and Dean
3.Heat Wave, Martha and The Vandellas
4.You Can't Sit Down, Dovells
5.Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash
6.Shut Down, Beach Boys
7.One Fine Day, Chiffons
8.Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon
9.From A Jack To A King, Ned Miller
10.Da Doo Ron Ron, Crystals

Some great ones here, Ken. Shut Down was another one of the songs that very nearly made my list too. I was able to narrow the list down to about 20 songs fairly easily, but the last 10 were a lot tougher.

[Dawn]

pete70s said:

This is cool, it's like my own personal tourney... Might be tough, though.. Here goes:

Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash (Mariachi horns meet country. Nothing short of brilliant!)
Surf City, Jan and Dean (I actually prefer this to "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfin' USA")
Denise, Randy and The Rainbows (SO catchy, great feel good tune!)
Ruby Baby, Dion (This ROCKS!)
Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts (Sorry, but I LOVE this!! It's dark, forboding, almost eerie.. From a GIRL GROUP!!))
Maria Elena, Los Indios Tabajaras (Nice little mellow guitar piece.)
Everybody, Tommy Roe (Great overlooked one!)
Up On The Roof, Drifters (One of their best!)
Fingertips II, Little Stevie Wonder (A strange record to go to #1, but it's great!!)
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys (HAD to include a Beach Boys tune, and this was their best that year!)


These didn't quite make the cut:

Washington Square, Village Stompers
Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto
She's A Fool, Lesley Gore (The "Shack-a-doo-la's" are what bumped it.)
Deep Purple, Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Wild Weekend, Rebels
Walk Like A Man, Four Seasons
Mama Didn't Lie, Jan Bradley (ALMOST made it...)
Easier Said Than Done, Essex
Our Day Will Come, Ruby and The Romantics (These last two were big faves of my sister. I like them too, but the assignment was to pick 10)...
Hello, Stranger, Barbara Lewis (Man, I'm really tempted to switch this with something.)
Be My Baby, Ronettes (Again, I love it... but...)
More, Kal Winding
(Down At) Papa Joe's, Dixiebelles With Cornbread and Jerry (I really don't care for this, I only acknowledged it because my grandfather's name was Joe and we used to call him "Papa Joe")
Another Saturday Night, Sam Cooke
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Roll Harris
Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows (I only know the Beach Boys remake. I'd like to hear the original but I don't think it's ever been available on CD).
One Fine Day, Chiffons
Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon


And not every big hit from '63 is even ON the list! No "Twenty-four Hours From Tulsa"? No "Louie Louie"?

Hey, "Dominique" isn't even on the list, and that was a #1 hit!! Just as well, only a sick mind would have THAT in their top 10...................

Sally Go 'Round the Roses is one of my favorite girl group songs as well. My only complaint is that the sound quality could have been a bit better. I have a cover version of this song on one of my "Sunshine Pop" collections, but it's not as good as the original.

I don't think I'm familiar with Maria Elena, at least not by title. I'll see if I can find a clip of it.

LOL about Dominique! I agree, I can't imagine many people choosing that one, especially up against such solid competition. How it got to #1 back then is a mystery.

[H2IZCOOL]

pete70s said:

And not every big hit from '63 is even ON the list! No "Twenty-four Hours From Tulsa"? No "Louie Louie"?

Hey, "Dominique" isn't even on the list, and that was a #1 hit!! Just as well, only a sick mind would have THAT in their top 10...................

I may have the answer, Pete. Assuming that these rankings are really based on Billboard chart positions, thise songs fell victim to being on the charts the wrong time of year.

Billboard used to rank their top 100 songs of the year using a point system based on chart position and weeks on the chart for that year. If a song straddled two years, that was simply tough shit. It got some of its points for one year and some for the next. So a song that should have been top 10 for a particular year, might wind up no higher than in the 60s or 70s for two years.

In the case of Dominique, I recall that it shot up the charts very quickly and came down equally as fast. I know this happened to straddle 1963 and 1964. Maybe the split was enough to keep the song off the top 100 chart for both years. If so, it couldn't happen to a more deserving song.

In fact, all three of the songs you mentioned hit the top 40 in November 1963. So that is likely the explanation - although I'm betting that Louie Louie would appear on the 1964 chart.

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

'k let's see what we've got hea'

10. So Much In Love, Tymes
15. It's All Right, Impressions
39. Easier Said Than Done, Essex
49. The Monkey Time, Major Lance
66. Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts
72. Pride And Joy, Marvin Gaye
81. (Down At) Papa Joe's, Dixiebelles With Cornbread and Jerry
94. Come And Get These Memories, Martha and The Vandellas
98. One Fine Day, Chiffons
99. Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon

The title of #39 is a good description of what it's like trying to pick just 10 songs on a list like this.

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

h2izcool said:

BTW, at the risk of sounding Davish...

Sorry, Ed, but you do.

... I don't think Little Eva ever had a hit with Don't Say Nothin bad About My Baby. It was The Cookies.

I wondered about that! I took the list at face value and thought, "Well, I've never heard Little Eva's version of that song..."

[H2IZCOOL]

admin said:

h2izcool said:

Cool feature, Dawn!


Well, first of all, there's on;y one song from my top 250 in the '63 top 100, and that is:

You've Really Got a Hold On Me - Miracles

So I need nine more:

Rhythm Of The Rain, Cascades
Surf City, Jan and Dean
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
Mean Woman Blues, Roy Orbison
Cry Baby, Garnet Mimms and The Enchanters
In Dreams, Roy Orbison
Talk To Me, Sunny and The Sunglows
Shut Down, Beach Boys
Little Town Flirt, Del Shannon

And here are five I couldn't stand:

Sugar Shack, Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs
Hey Paula, Paul and Paula
My Boyfriend's Back, Angels
If I Had A Hammer, Trini Lopez
Sally Go 'Round The Roses, Jaynetts (sorry, Dawn, I always felt like they were singing underwater.)

BTW, at the risk of sounding Davish, I don't think Little Eva ever had a hit with Don't Say Nothin bad About My Baby. It was The Cookies.

You're right about the Cookies. I copied and pasted the list from the other site - not sure where the original poster got it from - but missed that when I initially went through the songs.

That recording of Sally, Go 'Round the Roses is murky, I must admit.

You've Really Got a Hold on Me was one of the songs that very nearly made my top 10 cut.

I was tryong to find copies of the yearly charts and came up with this website via Google.

clipmarks.com/clipmark/54E379C4-328D-4183-828C-8EDAB3B41FD4/

If you click on 1963 in the green window, you'll get a chart very similar to yours, Dawn, but with differences. (#1 and #2 are reversed, for instance). It also attributes Don't Say Nothin' .. to Little Eva, which is just plain wrong!

The guy claims that this chart is directly from Billboard. If you go to the Billboard site, you can only see the top 5 songs free, then you have to buy a subscription. - But their top five is the same as the clipmarks site.

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

admin said:

[Sally Go 'Round the Roses is one of my favorite girl group songs as well. My only complaint is that the sound quality could have been a bit better.

Yeah, I have that song on a Starbucks compilation called "Barbeque Beat", and I always have to adjust the sound a bit on that particular song! Despite that fact, I still love it and it's on my list for 1963 on this board.

(And BTW, "Barbeque Beat" is an EXCELLENT compilation!)

[55dodger]

1. Rhythm of the Rain - This is the real gem of 1963. Great song
2. Up on the Roof
3. Washington Square
4. Surfin' USA
5. Puff
6. Wipeout
7. Walk Like a Man
8. Mean Woman Blues
9. Easier Said Than Done
10. Da Doo Ron Ron

[happygirl]

This one was a little easier than 1982 because I must admit I'm not as familiar with as many of the songs...but here goes...

Surfin' U.S.A., Beach Boys
My Boyfriend's Back, Angels
Puff (The Magic Dragon), Peter, Paul and Mary
It's My Party, Lesley Gore
If You Wanna Be Happy, Jimmy Soul
Surfer Girl, Beach Boys
Be My Baby, Ronettes
Ring Of Fire, Johnny Cash
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Roll Harris
One Fine Day, Chiffons

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

Just for fun, I thought I'd figure out how many votes each song got (so far--feel free to vote if you haven't done so yet--don't let _me_ stop you!). Looks like "Surfer Girl" is the front-runner so far. I'll post 'em by # on the list and tell how many votes each got--but only the ones that have gotten at least 1 vote so far:

1. Surfin' USA 2
4. Rhythm of the Rain 2
8. Fingertips 1
9. Washington Square 1
10. So Much in Love 1
12. My Boyfriend's Back 1
15. It's All Right 1
16. Puff the Magic Dragon 3
18. Wipe Out 1
22. Wild Weekend 1
24. Walk like a Man 1
27. Pipeline 1
28. Surf City 3
29. It's My Party 1
31. You Can't Sit Down 1
32. Heat Wave 2
33. Denise 1
35. If You Wanna Be Happy 1
36. Surfer Girl 4
38. Everybody 1
39. Easier Said than Done 2
40. Ruby Baby 1
41. Maria Elena 1
44. Hello Stranger 1
45. Be My Baby 1
46. Mean Woman Blues 2
49. The Monkey Time 2
53. Cry Baby 1
56. Da Doo Ron Ron 2
59. In Dreams 1
61. Fools Rush In 1
65. You've Really Got a Hold on Me 1
66. Sally Go Round the Roses 3
72. Pride and Joy 1
74. From a Jack to a King 1
75. Up On the Roof 1
80. Ring of Fire 3
81. Down at Papa Joe's 1
85. Mickey's Monkey 1
90. Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport 1
93. Talk to Me 1
94. Come and Get These Memories 1
97. Shut Down 2
98. One Fine Day 2
99. Little Town Flirt 3

Wow, you guys really like those surfing tunes! (So do I, although there are none on my list. As I said, though, it was hard only picking 10 songs!)

I hate to admit this, but I don't believe I have ever heard "Wild Weekend", "Maria Elena", "Cry Baby", "From a Jack to a King", or "Talk to Me". (plus some of the songs that didn't get any votes). Then again, this WAS the year I was born, after all...

I THINK I've heard "Shut Down". Is that the one that goes, "It happened on the strip where the road is wide"? I remember the "Beach Boys Medley" from my college days and that was the only song in it that I didn't know before that!