This is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1964.[1]
1. Billboard (magazine) – Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
2. Billboard Hot 100 – The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play and online streaming, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday, when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming data, is available on a real-time basis. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays, as of the issue for the week ending on April 15,2017, the Hot 100 has had 1,061 different number one hits. The current number one song is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, prior to 1955, Billboard did not have a unified, all-encompassing popularity chart, instead measuring songs by individual metrics. At the start of the era in 1955, three such charts existed, Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1936. This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country, Most Played by Jockeys was Billboards original airplay chart. It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys, Most Played in Jukeboxes ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. On the week ending November 12,1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time, the Top 100 combined all aspects of a singles performance, based on a point system that typically gave sales more weight than radio airplay. The Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. The week ending July 28,1958 was the publication of the Most Played By Jockeys and Top 100 charts. On August 4,1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13,1958. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a songs popularity is measured in the United States, the Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to the calculation of the Hot 100. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data. Hot Singles Sales, the top selling singles compiled from a sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled. The chart is released weekly and measures sales of commercial singles. With the decline in sales of singles in the US
3. 1964 in music – This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1964. January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show. January 13 – Bob Dylans The Times They Are a-Changin is released on Columbia Records, January 15 – Vee Jay Records files a lawsuit against Capitol Records and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles albums. On April 9, Capitol Records is granted an injunction restraining Vee Jay Records from further manufacturing, distributing or advertising recordings by the Beatles, January 18 – The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time. January 25 - The late John F. Kennedy becomes the first President credited with a Top 10 album after Dickie Goodman released John F. Kennedy, The Presidential Years 1960-1963. The following week a second album, credited to the late President, February 1 – Indiana Governor Matthew E. Welsh declares the song Louie Louie by The Kingsmen pornographic. He requests that the Indiana Broadcasters Association ban the record, Governor Welsh claimed that hearing the song made his ears tingle. Publisher Max Firetag offers $1,000 to anyone that can find anything suggestive in the songs lyrics, February 7 – The Beatles arrive in the United States and are greeted by thousands of screaming fans at New Yorks Kennedy Airport. February 9 – The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 12 – Anna Moffo collapses onstage at Covent Garden in the first act of Rigoletto, and her part is taken over, after a delay of 45 minutes, by Welsh soprano Elizabeth Vaughan. February 16 – The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 22 – Plácido Domingo makes his international breakthrough at the première of Ginasteras Don Rodrigo in New York City. February 23 The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, march 6 – Elvis Presleys 14th motion picture, Kissin Cousins is released to theaters. March 14 – Billboard Magazine reports that sales of Beatles records make up 60% of the singles market. March 16 – Disc jockey Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion, march 21 – Italy wins the 9th Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, with the song Non ho letà, sung by 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti. March 24 – John Lennons first book, In His Own Write is published, march 27 – The Beatles occupy the top six spots on the Australian pop chart. March 28 – Wax likenesses of The Beatles are put on display in Londons Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, the Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum. April – Drummer Keith Moon joins The Who, April 4 – The Beatles occupy all five top positions on Billboards Hot 100 with their singles Cant Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. April 11 – The Beatles hold 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine by Elvis Presley, December 19,1956. April 16 – The Rolling Stones release their eponymous début album, may 2 – In the United States, The Beatles Second Album climbs to the #1 spot on the LP charts in only its second week of release
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand – I Want to Hold Your Hand is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, taking two weeks to dislodge its predecessor, I Want to Hold Your Hand stayed at number one for five weeks and remained in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks in total. It was also the groups first American number one, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 18 January 1964 at number 45 and starting the British invasion of the American music industry. By 1 February it held the spot, and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by She Loves You. It remained on the Billboard chart for 15 weeks, I Want to Hold Your Hand became the Beatles best-selling single worldwide. In 2013, Billboard magazine named it the 44th biggest hit of all-time on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Capitol Records rejection of the recordings in the USA was now Brian Epstein’s main concern and encouraged Lennon. This location briefly became Lennon and McCartneys new writing base, taking over from McCartney’s Forthlin Road home in Liverpool. Margaret Asher taught the oboe in the small, rather stuffy music room in the basement where Lennon and McCartney sat at the piano, in September 1980, Lennon told Playboy magazine, We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in I Want to Hold Your Hand, I remember when we got the chord that made the song and we were in Jane Ashers house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, Oh you-u-u/ got that something, and Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, Thats it. In those days, we used to absolutely write like that — both playing into each others noses. In 1994, McCartney agreed with Lennons description of the surrounding the composition of I Want to Hold Your Hand, saying. I Want to Hold Your Hand was very co-written and it was our big number one, the one that would eventually break us in America. The song is in the key of G major and opens on Ill tell you with a D-B, B-D melody note drop, controversy exists over the landmark chord that Lennon stated McCartney hit on the piano while they were composing the song. Marshall considers it is the vi chord. Everett is of the same opinion, pedler claims, however, that more surprising is the melody note drop from B to F# against a III7 chord on understand. Music theorists are divided over whether this chord is a iii, lyrically bland, random phrases were most likely called out and if they fitted the overall sound would stay
5. The Beatles – The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
6. She Loves You – She Loves You is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock group the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. It is their single and the best selling single of the 1960s in the United Kingdom. In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked She Loves You number 64 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Lennon and McCartney started composing She Loves You on 26 June 1963 after a concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne during their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. They began writing the song on the bus, and continued later that night at their hotel in Newcastle. Id planned an answering song where a couple of us would sing she loves you and we decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called She Loves You. So we sat in the bedroom for a few hours and wrote it—John and I. It was completed the day at McCartneys family home in Forthlin Road. Like many early Beatles songs, the title of She Loves You was framed around the use of personal pronouns and its you shes thinking of – And she told me what to say. This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney in 1980, It was Pauls idea, instead of singing I love you again and that kind of little detail is still in his work. He will write a story about someone, im more inclined to write about myself. As Lennon later said, We stuck it in everything, McCartney recalls them playing the finished song on acoustic guitars to his father Jim at home immediately after the song was completed, We went into the living room and said Dad, listen to this. And he said Thats very nice son, but theres enough of these Americanisms around, couldnt you sing She loves you, yes, yes, yes. At which point we collapsed in a heap and said No, Dad, I thought, Oh my God, what a lyric. This is going to be one that I do not like, but when they started to sing it—bang, wow, terrific, I was up at the mixer jogging around. The yeah, yeah, yeah refrain proved an immediate, effective, unusually, the song starts with the hook right away, instead of introducing it after a verse or two. She Loves You does not include a bridge, instead using the refrain to join the various verses, the chords tend to change every two measures, and the harmonic scheme is mostly static. The arrangement starts with a two-count of Ringo Starrs drums, the electric instruments are mixed higher than before, especially McCartneys bass, adding to the sense of musical power that the record provides
7. Hello, Dolly! (song) – Hello, Dolly. is the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. Louis Armstrongs version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001, the music and lyrics were written by Jerry Herman, who also wrote the scores for many other popular musicals including Mame and La Cage aux Folles. Hello, Dolly. was first sung by Carol Channing, who starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the original 1964 Broadway cast. In December 1963, at the behest of his manager, Louis Armstrong made a recording of Hello. Hello, Dolly. opened on January 16,1964 at the St. James Theatre in New York City, the same month, Kapp Records released Armstrongs publishing demo as a commercial single. His version reached number one on the U. S, the song also spent nine weeks atop the adult contemporary chart shortly after the opening of the musical. The song also made Armstrong the oldest artist ever to reach #1 on the Hot 100 since its introduction in 1958, billboard ranked the record as the No.3 song of 1964, behind the Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand and She Loves You. In 1965, Armstrong performed the song on a German variety show with musician, Hello, Dolly. won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong also performed the song in the popular 1969 film Hello, in 1984, Carol Channing had appeared on Sesame Street and sang a parody of the song called Hello, Sammy. A love song being sung by Carol to a known as Sammy the Snake. Carol, in this segment, serenades Sammy telling him just how much she loves and adores him while Sammy coils himself around Carols arms. They are soon joined by 4 giant swaying letter Ss wearing top hats, Carol ends the song by telling Sammy just how much shed miss him and the way he hisses if they ever parted. Carols song includes lyrics such as, So. turn on your charm, Sammy/Coil yourself around my arm, Sammy/Sammy the Snake, Ill stake a claim on you
8. Louis Armstrong – Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Satch, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s and he was also skilled at scat singing. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to cross over and he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were restricted for black men of his era. Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4,1900, although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date, August 4,1901, was discovered by the researcher Tad Jones through the examination of baptismal records. Armstrong was born into a family in New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent his youth in poverty, in a neighborhood known as the Battlefield. His father, William Armstrong, abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and his mother, Mary Mayann Albert, then left Louis and his younger sister, Beatrice Armstrong Collins, in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times his uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother, her relatives and he attended the Fisk School for Boys, where he most likely had early exposure to music. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille, after dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble, Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong to play by ear at Dago Tonys Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. It has given me something to live for and he also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk-hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him like family, knowing he lived without a father and he later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La. the Year of 1907. Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them, how to live—real life, professor Peter Davis instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader, the home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen-year-old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the home, living again with his father and new stepmother, Gertrude, Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponces, where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night, later, he played in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as going to the University, in 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Orys band, Armstrong replaced him
9. Oh, Pretty Woman – Oh, Pretty Woman is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and it was also Orbisons third single to top the UK Singles Chart. The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the point in Orbisons career. Within months of its release, in October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA, at the years end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964. The lyrics tell the story of a man who sees a pretty woman walking by and he yearns for her and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he is. At the last minute, she turns back and joins him, the title was inspired by Orbisons wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, Orbisons recording of the song, which used four guitars, was produced by Fred Foster. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #222 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, on May 14,2008, The Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry. There were four players on the session, Roy Orbison, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy. Billy Sanford, who played session for Elvis and Don Williams and many others. Williams introduced him as a kid who had just arrived Nashville, with a guitar, who heard Orbison was minus a guitar player. Other musicians on the record included Floyd Cramer on piano, Bob Moore on a bass, Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy on sax. In 1989, the rap group 2 Live Crew recorded a parody of the Orbison song, using the alternate title Pretty Woman for their album As Clean As They Wanna Be. Orbisons publisher, Acuff-Rose Music sued 2 Live Crew on the basis that the fair use doctrine did not permit reuse of their material for profit. The case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court decided in 2 Live Crews favor, greatly expanding the doctrine of fair use and extending its protections to parodies created for profit. It is considered a fair use decision. The song has been covered by a number of artists, In 1964, in 1965, a Finnish-language version by Eero ja Jussi & The Boys, on their album Numero 1
10. Roy Orbison – Roy Kelton Orbison, nicknamed the Big O, was an American singer-songwriter and musician, known for his distinctive, impassioned voice, complex compositions and dark emotional ballads. The combination led many critics to describe his music as operatic, between 1960 and 1964,22 of his songs placed on the Billboard Top 40, including Only the Lonely, Crying, and Oh, Pretty Woman. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly and country and he was signed by Sun Records in 1956, but his greatest success came with Monument Records in the early 1960s. His career stagnated in the 1970s, but was revived by several versions of his songs. In 1988, he was a member of the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, along with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and he recorded his last solo album, Mystery Girl, the same year but died of a heart attack shortly thereafter. While most male rock and roll performers in the 1950s and 1960s projected a defiant masculinity, many of Orbisons songs instead conveyed a quiet, almost desperate and his voice ranged from baritone to tenor, and music scholars have suggested that he had a three- or four-octave range. During performances, he was known for standing still and solitary, and for wearing black clothes and dark sunglasses, which lent an air of mystery to his persona. His honors include inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in the year. Rolling Stone placed him at number 37 on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time, in 2002, Billboard magazine listed Orbison at number 74 in the Top 600 recording artists. Roy Kelton Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas, the son of Orbie Lee Orbison, an oil well driller and car mechanic, and Nadine Vesta Shults. Both of his parents were unemployed during the Great Depression and, searching for work, moved the family to Fort Worth, Texas and he attended Denver Avenue Elementary School until a polio scare prompted the family to return to Vernon. Later, they moved to Wink, Texas, Orbison later described life in Wink as football, oil fields, oil, grease and sand and expressed relief that he was able to leave the desolate town. All the Orbison children were afflicted with poor eyesight, Roy used thick corrective lenses from an early age and he was not confident about his appearance and began dyeing his nearly-white hair black when he was still young. He was quiet and self-effacing, remarkably polite and obliging — a product, biographer Alan Clayson wrote and he was readily available to sing, however, and often became the focus of attention when he did. He considered his voice memorable, if not great, on Roys sixth birthday, his father gave him a guitar. He later recalled that by the age of seven, I was finished, you know, for anything else and his major musical influence as a youth was country music. He was particularly moved by Lefty Frizzells singing, with its slurred syllables and he also enjoyed Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers. One of the first musicians he heard in person was Ernest Tubb, in West Texas, he was exposed to many forms of music, sepia, Tex-Mex, the orchestral arrangements of Mantovani and cajun
11. I Get Around – I Get Around is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released as a single in May 1964 with Don’t Worry Baby as its B-side, in the United Kingdom, it charted at number seven and was the bands first top ten single there. It was included as the track on their studio album All Summer Long in July 1964. During its recording session, Wilsons father Murry was relieved of his duties as the groups manager, in 2016, I Get Around was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song was credited to Brian Wilson alone until Love v. Wilson. In an interview with Goldmine, published September 18,1992, Love insisted that he, the instrumental track for I Get Around was recorded on April 2,1964 at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, along with Little Honda. According to biographer Steven Gaines, manager Murry Wilson was in the control room criticizing the song, rambl on about what a loser Brian was, how poor the music was, and how only Murry had the real talent in the family. At one point he insisted that Brian end the session because something was wrong with the bass line, the confrontation ended with a physical altercation, and Brian dismissed him as manager. Brian would later say, We love the family thing – yknow, three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a beautiful way to have a group –. The vocals were recorded during an eight days later on April 10. Track details courtesy of session archivist Craig Slowinski, the single entered the Billboard chart on May 23 at #76. The song reached the #1 spot on the Billboard charts on July 4, replacing A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon, the song remained at #1 for two weeks before being replaced by Rag Doll by The Four Seasons. Billboard ranked the record as the No.5 song of 1964, the single also reached #1 on the United States Variety charts on July 1. Released in June 1964 in the United Kingdom the single peaked at #7 on the Record Retailer chart, according to some sources, Mick Jagger, when appearing on the UK television show Ready Steady Go. Stated that he thought the song was a great record and this most likely played a part in boosting the singles success, while also helping the band become more popular in the United Kingdom. In Germany the single peaked at #38 on the Hit Bilanz chart, the single was the bands first charting single in the Netherlands, charting at #38 on the Netherlands singles charts. The single reached the top 10 in both the Canadian and Swedish singles charts, peaking at #10 in both countries, weekly charts The song was first released on an album in 1964 on the bands All Summer Long album. In the following year, the band re-recorded the song as a medley along with Little Deuce Coupe for their 1965 Beach Boys Party, the medley was a send-up of the original recording
12. The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The groups original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The Beach Boys began as a band managed by the Wilsons father Murry. Emerging at the vanguard of the California Sound, they performed material that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars. After 1964, they abandoned the surfing aesthetic for more personal lyrics, in 1966, the Pet Sounds album and Good Vibrations single vaulted the group to the top level of rock innovators and established the band as symbols of the nascent counterculture era. Following Smiles dissolution, Brian gradually ceded production and songwriting duties to the rest of the band, reducing his input because of mental health and substance abuse issues. The continued success of their greatest hits albums during the mid 1970s precipitated the transition into an oldies act. Since the 1980s, much-publicized legal wrangling over royalties, songwriting credits, Dennis drowned in 1983 and Carl died of lung cancer in 1998. After Carls death, many live configurations of the band fronted by Mike Love, Even though Wilson and Jardine have not performed with Love and Johnstons band since their one-off 2012 reunion tour, they remain a part of the Beach Boys corporation, Brother Records Inc. The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed, commercially successful, the group had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them US Top 40 hits, four reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They received their only Grammy Award for The Smile Sessions, the core quintet of the three Wilsons, Love and Jardine were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. At the time of his birthday on June 20,1958, Brian Wilson shared a bedroom with his brothers, Dennis and Carl – aged thirteen and eleven. He had watched his father, Murry Wilson, play piano, after dissecting songs such as Ivory Tower and Good News, Brian would teach family members how to sing the background harmonies. For his birthday that year, Brian received a tape recorder. He learned how to overdub, using his vocals and those of Carl, Brian played piano with Carl and David Marks, an eleven-year-old longtime neighbor, playing guitars they had each received as Christmas presents. Soon Brian and Carl were avidly listening to Johnny Otis KFOX radio show, inspired by the simple structure and vocals of the rhythm and blues songs he heard, Brian changed his piano-playing style and started writing songs. His enthusiasm interfered with his studies at school. Family gatherings brought the Wilsons in contact with cousin Mike Love, Brian taught Loves sister Maureen and a friend harmonies
13. Dean Martin – Dean Martin was an Italian-American singer, actor, comedian, and film producer. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the century, Martin was nicknamed the King of Cool for his seemingly effortless charisma. He and Jerry Lewis were partners in the popular comedy team Martin. He was a member of the Rat Pack and a star in concert stages, nightclubs, recordings, motion pictures and he was the host of the television variety program The Dean Martin Show and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. Martin was born on June 7,1917, in Steubenville, Ohio, to an Italian father, Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti, and an Italian-American mother, Angela Crocetti. His father, who was a barber, was originally from Montesilvano, in Abruzzo, Martin had an older brother named William Alfonso Crocetti. Martins first language was an Abruzzese dialect of Italian, and he did not speak English until he started school at the age of five and he attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville where he was bullied for his broken English. He later took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager, Martin then dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought he was smarter than his teachers. He bootlegged liquor, served as a croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill. At 15 he was a boxer who billed himself as Kid Crochet and his prizefighting earned him a broken nose, a scarred lip, many broken knuckles, and a bruised body. Of his 12 bouts, he said, I won all but 11, for a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one was knocked out, Martin knocked out King in the first round of an amateur boxing match. Martin gave up boxing to work as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop, at the same time he sang with local bands, calling himself Dino Martini. He got his break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra and he sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills, among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, in October 1941 Martin married Elizabeth Betty Anne McDonald. They had four children before the marriage ended in 1949, Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin flopped at the Riobamba, a nightclub in New York, when he followed Frank Sinatra in 1943, Martin was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, serving a year in Akron, Ohio. He was reclassified as 4-F and discharged, possibly because of a double hernia, by 1946, Martin was doing well, but he was little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby
14. My Guy – My Guy is a 1964 hit single recorded by Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a dedication to the goodness of her man. Van Dyke would recall, We were doing anything to get the out of that studio. We knew that the producers didnt know nothing bout no Canadian Sunset or Begin the Beguine and we figured the song would wind up in the trash can anyway. My Guy became the biggest hit ever for Wells, Motowns first female star, the song led the Cashbox magazine R&B chart for seven weeks. My Guy also happened to be Wells last hit single for Motown, an option in her recording contract allowed Wells to terminate the contract at her discretion after she reached her twenty-first birthday on May 13,1964. Encouraged by her ex-husband, Wells broke her Motown contract and signed with 20th Century Fox in hopes of higher royalties, however, Wells career never again reached the heights it had at Motown, and she never again had a hit single as big as My Guy. Her version of the song was used in the film More American Graffiti In the United Kingdom, My Guy peaked at number five in June 1964. In 1980 Amii Stewart and Johnny Bristol recorded a medley of My Guy and another Motown classic, the track was re-issued in 1986 with Bristols vocal being replaced by Deon Estus, this version reached #63 UK. Sister Sledge remade My Guy for their 1982 album self-produced album The Sisters, Kathy Sledge, the usual lead singer, would recall - I had very little input. My Guy also afforded Sister Sledge a fifth and final Top 20 R&B hit its R&B chart peak being #14, the Sister Sledge version of My Guy had its strongest impact on the Easy Listening chart where it rose as high as #2. My Guy has twice reached the C&W chart in renderings by Lynda K Lance, the song has also been recorded by Lucia Altieri, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Holloway, Claudine Longet, Barbara McNair, Melba Moore, Dara Sedaka, and Helen Shapiro. Mary Wells herself re-recorded the song in a rendition for her 1984 album. In 1999, My Guy was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame, in 2008, the Los Angeles-based rock group Warpaint performed a version of the song on their EP Exquisite Corpse under the title Billie Holliday. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
15. Mary Wells – Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. She was one of Motowns first singing superstars, Mary Esther Wells was born near Detroits Wayne State University on May 13,1943, to a mother who worked as a domestic, and an absentee father. One of three children, she contracted spinal meningitis at the age of two and struggled with partial blindness, deafness in one ear and temporary paralysis, during her early years, Wells lived in a poor residential Detroit district. By age 12, she was helping her mother with house cleaning work and she described the ordeal years later, Daywork they called it, and it was damn cold on hallway linoleum. Misery is Detroit linoleum in January—with a half-froze bucket of Spic-and-Span, Wells used singing as her comfort from her pain and by age 10 had graduated from church choirs to performing at local nightclubs in the Detroit area. However, a tired Gordy insisted Wells sing the song in front of him, impressed, Gordy had Wells enter Detroits United Sound Systems to record the single, titled Bye Bye Baby. Wells early Motown recordings reflected a rougher R&B sound than the style of her biggest hits. Wells became the first Motown female artist to have a Top 40 pop single after the Mickey Stevenson-penned doo-wop song, I Dont Want to Take a Chance, hit No.33 in June,1961. In the fall of that year, Motown issued her first album and released a third single, when that record bombed, Gordy set Wells up with the Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson. Nevertheless, Wells early hits as one of the few female solo acts did make her the labels first female star. Wells teaming with Robinson led to a succession of hit singles over the two years. Their first collaboration, 1962s The One Who Really Loves You, was Wells first smash hit, peaking at No.2 on the R&B chart, the song featured a calypso-styled soul production that defined Wells early hits. Motown released the similar-sounding You Beat Me to the Punch a few months later, the song became her first R&B No.1 single and peaked at No.9 on the pop chart. The success of You Beat Me to the Punch helped to make Wells the first Motown star to be nominated for a Grammy Award when the received a nod in the Best Rhythm & Blues Recording category. In late 1962, Two Lovers became Wells third consecutive single to hit the Top 10 of Billboards Hot 100, peaking at No.7 and this helped to make Wells the first female solo artist to have three consecutive Top 10 singles on the pop chart. The track sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc, Wells success at the label was recognized when she became a headliner during the first string of Motortown Revue concerts, starting in the fall of 1962. The singer showcased a rawer stage presence that contrasted with her softer R&B recordings and you Lost the Sweetest Boy was one of the first hit singles composed by the successful Motown songwriting and producing trio of Holland–Dozier–Holland, though Robinson remained Wells primary producer. Wells and Robinson also recorded a duet titled I Want You Round, in 1964, Wells recorded My Guy
16. We'll Sing in the Sunshine – Well Sing in the Sunshine is a 1964 hit song written and recorded by Gale Garnett which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending 17 October 1964. The song also enjoyed success on easy listening and country radio stations, spending seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. The Cash Box Top 100 ranked Well Sing in the Sunshine at number one for the week of 31 October 1964, in Australia Well Sing in the Sunshine afforded Garnett a Top Ten hit with a #10 peak in October 1964. Garnetts sole Top 40 hit, Well Sing in the Sunshine won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1965. In the UK, Well Sing in the Sunshine was covered by The Lancastrians in a version produced by Shel Talmy and it charted at number 44 in the UK in December 1964. Mark Wynter had a non-charting UK single release of Well Sing in the Sunshine in 1966, alma Cogan recorded the song in German as Ich Liebe Die Sonne which was the B-side of her number 39 German hit Hillbilly Boy. A Danish rendering of Well Sing in the Sunshine entitled Vi skynder os langsomt was recorded by Gitte Hænning on October 22,1965, dick and Dee Dee released a version of the song in 1969 as the B-side to their single, In the Season of Our Love. Well Sing in the Sunshine was a minor C&W hit in 1970 for Lawanda Lindsey, reaching number 63, serving as the title cut for an album as it did in 1978 for Helen Reddy. Reddys version, produced by Kim Fowley, was issued as a single and reached #12 on the Easy Listening chart, nonetheless, the song took on new life when Reddy sang the song on The Muppets Show while singing and dancing with Sopwith the Camel. Trini Lopez also recorded Well Sing in the Sunshine his version appearing on the 1964 UK EP release Trinis Folk Mood, in addition the Mike Curb Congregation recorded Well Sing in the Sunshine, their version served as the B-side for some copies of their 1970 hit Burning Bridges. List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1964 Song lyrics
17. Gale Garnett – Gale Zoë Garnett is a New Zealand–born Canadian singer best known in the United States for her Grammy-winning folk hit Well Sing in the Sunshine. Garnett has since carved out a career as a writer and actress, Garnett was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and moved to Canada with her family when she was 11. She made her singing debut in 1960, while at the same time pursuing an acting career making guest appearances on television shows such as 77 Sunset Strip. She made her New York nightclub debut in 1963 and was signed by RCA Victor Records that same year. In the fall of 1964, Garnett scored a number four pop hit with her original composition Well Sing in the Sunshine and her follow-up to Well Sing in the Sunshine, Lovin Place, was her only other single to chart in America. Garnett appeared twice on ABCs Shindig. and The Lloyd Thaxton Show at the height of her fame in the mid-1960s. Garnett delivered a performance in the Rankin-Bass feature Mad Monster Party in the late 1960s, with the memorable tunes Our Time to Shine. At this period she had begun to be influenced by the counter-culture and had embraced psychedelic themes to some extent. In the late 1960s she recorded albums of psychedelic-inflected music with the Gentle Reign. Although Garnett had retired from the business by the 1980s, she continued appearing in feature films and on television shows. In subsequent years, she branched out into journalism, writing essays, columns. She also wrote and performed two one-person theater pieces, Gale Garnett & Company and Life After Latex, Garnett published her first novel, a romance titled Visible Amazement, in 1999. She followed with Transient Dancing in 2003, the novella Room Tone in 2007, james Infirmary Variety Is the Spice of Gale Garnett Track listing, Why Am I Standing At The Window / A Little Bit Of Rain / Has Anyone Here Seen Me. & Mrs.8 Suspense I, Lloyd Benson The Rat Patrol as Safti The Trial by Fire Raid Paul Bernard, Psychiatrist as Mrs. Sybil Oakwood The Tree of Life E. N. G
18. Last Kiss – Last Kiss is a song released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 on the Gala label. It failed to do well on the charts, Cochran subsequently re-recorded his song for the King label in 1963. It was later revived by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, Pearl Jam and several artists, including the Canadian group Wednesday. The song was one of teen tragedy songs from that period. The songs opening lyrics mirror the lyrics of Septimus Winners Der Deitchers Dog. The singer borrows his fathers car to take his beloved sweetheart out on a romantic date, coming upon a stalled car in the road, the singer swerves to the right to avoid it, losing control and crashing violently in the process. The crash renders both the singer and his girlfriend unconscious, the singer later regains consciousness and finds several people at the scene of the accident, but was still able to find his girlfriend, still lying unconscious. When the singer cradles his girlfriend lovingly in his arms, she regains consciousness, smiling and asking the singer to hold me, darling. The singer then gives his sweetheart what would be their last romantic kiss as she fades into death and enters the afterlife. In the songs chorus, the vows to be a good boy so that he may reunite with his dear sweetheart when his time comes. Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Bobby Rakestraw, and Jerry Reppert recorded the song for the Gala label, when the labels for the 45s, Gala #117, were printed, the names of co-writers Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal and Bobby McGlon were left off. Cochran evidently never asked Gala to change the label, to include the other names, Cochran would go on to rerecord the song for release on Aire Records, in a slightly different tempo, with some changes to the lyrics and for re-release on King Records in 1963. The Aire disc was easily the most different version of all, with heavy reverb, Aire Records, located in Dublin, Georgia, credited the song to Perry Music, as did the Gala recording. The Boblo disc credited Last Kiss to Macon Music, while the King record cited Boblo-BMI, the Boblo record featured Last Kiss II b/w Hey. Baby, produced by Bobby Smith, offering another take on the song, with different lyrics, a faster tempo, a fifth version of the song was cobbled from the Boblo recording, rechanneled for stereo, on Radical Musik Records, probably around 1973. Cochran loaded 45s in the trunk of his car, taking them along to gigs, to sell to fans, over the course of the four versions, Cochran expanded his concept of the song, seeking a wider audience. Cochran would later go on to Miami, where he found success playing nightclubs, with his band. Jackie Gleason had Cochran on his show several times
19. Where Did Our Love Go – Where Did Our Love Go is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label. It was also the first of five Supremes songs in a row to reach number one, the song also reached number one on the Cash Box R&B singles chart. According to Brian Holland, Where Did Our Love Go was written with The Supremes in mind, though Supremes member Mary Wilson would later write that the song had been originally given to The Marvelettes, Holland would deny this claim, as would the Marvelettes themselves. Marvelettes member Katherine Anderson-Schnaffer later said that the song didnt quite fit her groups repertoire, as the song was produced under a slower beat and their music was more uptempo. Although the group felt the song didnt have the hook to make it successful, they decided that really didnt have a choice. As a result, Ross was told to sing the song in a lower register, upon hearing the songs playback, an excited Ross rushed to Gordys office and told him to come to the studio to listen to the song. Upon hearing playback, a satisfied Gordy nodded saying to the producers, where Did Our Love Go was released as a single on June 17,1964, and entered the Hot 100 at number seventy-seven. The girls began the tour at the bottom of the bill, by the conclusion of the tour and they performed the song on the NBC variety program, Hullabaloo. The song became the point and title track of the groups second album, Where Did Our Love Go. A German language version of the song was recorded by the Supremes for German-speaking markets overseas, the song seemed to strike a chord in the United States, with a group which would become the most successful chart-topping American popular music group of the 1960s. Kennedy, racial tension, increased United States involvement in Vietnam, in 1965, labelmates the Four Tops released I Cant Help Myself, which reached number one. While not exactly a true cover, the melodic and chordal progressions of I Cant Help Myself are almost identical to those of Where Did Our Love Go, in 1968, this song was covered by The Clarendonians, titled Baby Baby. The Clarendonians were a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Jamaica, in 1971, this song was covered by Donnie Elbert. In 1976, The J. Geils Band covered the song on their live 1976 album Blow Your Face Out, in 1984, a cover was made for the cartoon Kidd Video by the eponymous band. In 1986, the Norwegian swing/pop duo Bobbysocks, covered it on their LP Waiting for the Morning. In 1993 Sinitta released The Supreme EP which featured the song along with two other Supremes hits and the 1970 Diana Ross single Remember Me and it charted at #49 in the UK. In 1998, a version was performed in the Spice Girls. The intro of this song was sampled in the 1998 Ace of Base song, electropop artists Gluebound covered the song for their 1998 album Essential Interpretations, Todays Great Artists Perform Yesterdays Classics
20. The Supremes – The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motowns main songwriting and production team, founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit, formed the Primettes as the sister act to the Primes. Barbara Martin replaced McGlown in 1960, and the signed with Motown the following year as the Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard, during the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer. In 1967, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, Ross left to pursue a solo career in 1970 and was replaced by Jean Terrell, at which point the groups name reverted to the Supremes. After 1972, the lineup changed frequently, Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne. The Supremes disbanded in 1977 after 18 years, since Ballard sang, as did Paul Williams girlfriend Betty McGlown, the Primess manager Milton Jenkins decided to create a sister group to the Primes called the Primettes. Ballard recruited her best friend Mary Wilson, who in turn recruited classmate Diane Ross, mentored and funded by Jenkins, the Primettes began by performing hit songs by artists such as Ray Charles and the Drifters at sock hops, social clubs and talent shows around the Detroit area. Receiving additional guidance from group friend and established songwriter Jesse Greer, after winning a prestigious local talent contest, the Primettes sights were set on making a record. Robinson liked the girls and agreed to help, but he liked their guitarist even more, with the Primettes permission he hired Tarplin, who became the guitarist for the Miracles. Undaunted, later that year the Primettes recorded a single for Lu Pine Records, a label created just for them, titled Tears of Sorrow, the single failed to find an audience, however. Shortly thereafter, McGlown became engaged and left the group, local girl Barbara Martin was McGlowns prompt replacement. Determined to leave an impression on Gordy and join the stable of rising Motown stars, eventually, they convinced Gordy to allow them to contribute hand claps and background vocals for the songs of other Motown artists including Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. In January 1961, Gordy finally relented and agreed to sign the girls to his label –, the Primes had by this time combined with Otis Williams & the Distants and would soon sign to Motown as the Temptations. Gordy gave Ballard a list of names to choose from that included such as the Darleens, the Sweet Ps, the Melodees, the Royaltones. Ballard chose the Supremes, a name that Ross initially disliked as she felt it too masculine, nevertheless, on January 15 the group signed with Motown as the Supremes. In the spring of 1962, Martin left the group to start a family, thus, the newly named Supremes continued as a trio. Between 1961 and 1963, the Supremes released six singles, none of which charted in the Top 40 positions of the Billboard Hot 100, jokingly referred to as the no-hit Supremes around Motowns Hitsville U. S. A
21. People (Barbra Streisand song) – People is a song composed by Jule Styne with lyrics by Bob Merrill for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song. In 1998, Streisands version was inducted in Grammy Hall of Fame, the song asserts that people who need people — that is, people who love others and are not emotionally cut off from them — are the luckiest people in the world. It was released as a single with I Am Woman, a version of You Are Woman, I Am Man. Andy Williams released a version of the song on his 1964 album, The Great Songs from My Fair Lady, Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song live on her CBS release Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival, Live at Carnegie Hall. The Tymes had a top 40 hit with the song in 1968, vic Damone recorded a version on his 1982 album Over the Rainbow. Rachel Berry performed the song in the 2014 Glee episode New New York, People was one of the first songs written for the musical score of Funny Girl. It is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedian Fanny Brice and her relationship with entrepreneur. Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill were hired to write the score and met each other for the first time in 1962 in Palm Beach. They wrote their songs by day and tested them by night on the Palm Beach socialites at cocktail parties, as they worked to develop the character of Fanny Brice, they needed to write a special love song depicting her feelings towards Nicky. According to the book, Jule, The Story of Composer Jule Styne by Theodore Taylor, Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, I think Ive got a helluva melody for it. Great, Merrill yelled. But now its not gonna be just a special person, then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again, People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world. The song wrote in thirty minutes. People nearly did not get included in Funny Girl during early try-outs as the producers did not like it, Bob fought to keep the song in and finally one night, Barbra was allowed to sing it on stage. It stopped the show and history was made, the single by Streisand was released in January 1964, and peaked at number five on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the singers first Top 40 hit. It also spent three weeks at one on the Pop-Standards chart in June/July 1964. The single version was recorded on 20 December 1963 and produced by Mike Berniker, Barbra Streisand included a revised version of the song on Partners, her 2014 album of duets. On the song she duets with soul singer Stevie Wonder, who had performed it at the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year gala event honoring Streisand and it has been said that People was originally written for Mister Magoos Christmas Carol, but Theodore Taylors biography of Styne disputes this. Some also find certain aspects of the song resemble Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. People People People / / People While the song is considered a signature tune for Streisand, during the mid-1960s, the Supremes recorded a studio version of People for the unreleased 1965 album, Theres A Place For Us, which was finally released via the Supremes Box Set
22. Barbra Streisand – Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She is among a group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Streisand is one of the music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award, with the release of Yentl in 1983, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first woman to win that award. The RIAA and Billboard recognize Streisand as holding the record for the most top 10 albums of any recording artist. According to Billboard, Streisand holds the record for the female with the most number one albums, Billboard also recognizes Streisand as the greatest female of all time on its Billboard 200 chart and one of the greatest artists of all time on its Hot 100 chart. Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York and her mother had been a soprano singer in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a school teacher at the same school. Streisands family was Jewish, her grandparents emigrated from Galicia and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire. Her father earned a degree from City College of New York in 1928 and was considered athletic. As a student, he spent his summers outdoors, once working as a lifeguard, hed try anything, his sister Molly said. He married Ida in 1930, two years after graduating, and became a respected educator with a focus on helping underprivileged. In August 1943, a few months after Streisands first birthday, her father died suddenly at age 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure, the family fell into near-poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper. As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an outcast, explaining and her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved, When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food, Streisand says. Streisand recalls that her mother had a voice and sang semi-professionally on occasion. During a visit to the Catskills when Streisand was thirteen, she told Rosie ODonnell, she and that session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her first moment of inspiration as an artist. She has a brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister
23. Al Hirt – Alois Maxwell Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his recordings of Java and the accompanying album Honey in the Horn. His nicknames included Jumbo and The Round Mound of Sound, Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in November 2009. Hirt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of a police officer, at the age of six, he was given his first trumpet, which had been purchased at a local pawnshop. He would play in the Junior Police Band with the children of Alcide Nunez, during this time, he was hired to play at the local horse racing track, beginning a six-decade connection to the sport. In 1940, Hirt went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to study at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with Dr. Frank Simon. After a stint as a bugler in the United States Army during World War II, Hirt performed with various swing big bands, including those of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, in 1950, Hirt became first trumpet and featured soloist with Horace Heidts Orchestra. After spending several years on the road with Heidt, Hirt returned to New Orleans working with various Dixieland groups, Hirts virtuoso dexterity and fine tone on his instrument soon attracted the attention of major record labels and he signed with RCA Victor. Hirt posted twenty-two albums on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s, both Honey in the Horn and Java sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. Hirt was chosen to record the theme for the 1960s TV show The Green Hornet. Thematically reminiscent of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakovs Flight of the Bumblebee, it showcased Hirts technical prowess, the recording again gained public attention in 2003 when it was used in the film Kill Bill. From the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Hirt and his band played nightly at Dans Pier 600 at the corner of St. Louis, the club was owned by his business manager, Dan Levy, Sr. In 1962 Hirt opened his own club on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter and he also became a minority owner in the NFL expansion New Orleans Saints in 1967. Covering an eclectic variety of popular, standard and show tunes, it featured a big-band supplemented by timpani, French horns and he also appeared opposite Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette in the 1962 motion picture, Rome Adventure. In 1965, he hosted the television variety series Fanfare, which aired on CBS as a summer replacement for Jackie Gleason. Hirt starred along with the University of Arizona marching band at the first Super Bowl halftime show in 1967, on February 8,1970, while performing in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Hirt was injured while riding on a float. It is popularly believed that he was struck in the mouth by a piece of concrete or brick. Factual documentation of the details of the incident is sparse, consisting primarily of claims made by Hirt after the incident, whatever the actual cause of his injuries, Hirt underwent surgery and made a return to the club scene
24. A Hard Day's Night (song) – A Hard Days Night is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released on the soundtrack of the same name in 1964. It was later released in the UK as a single, with Things We Said Today as its B-side, the song featured prominently on the soundtrack to the Beatles first feature film, A Hard Days Night, and was on their album of the same name. The song topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and United States when it was released as a single, the songs title originated from something said by Ringo Starr, the Beatles drummer. Starr described it this way in an interview with disc jockey Dave Hull in 1964, We went to do a job, and wed worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, Its been a hard day … and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, so we came to A Hard Days Night. Starrs statement was the inspiration for the title of the film, according to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, I was going home in the car and Dick Lester suggested the title, Hard Days Night from something Ringo had said. I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was a remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms, a Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny … just said it. So Dick Lester said, We are going to use that title, wed almost finished making the film, and this fun bit arrived that wed not known about before, which was naming the film. So we were sitting around at Twickenham studios having a little brain-storming session … and we said, Well, and he said after a concert, Phew, its been a hard days night. In 1996, yet another version of events cropped up, Shenson then told Lennon that he needed a theme song for the film. Regardless of who decided on the title, Lennon immediately made up his mind that he would compose the title track. He dashed off the song in one night, and brought it in for comments the following morning. As he described in his 1980 Playboy interview, the next morning I brought in the song … cuz there was a competition between Paul and I as to who got the A-side – who got the hits. On 16 April 1964, the Beatles gathered at Studio 2 of the EMI Studios and it took them less than three hours to polish the song for its final release, eventually selecting the ninth take as the one to be released. Evening Standard journalist Maureen Cleave described a memorable taxi ride the morning the song was recorded, One day I picked John up in a taxi and took him to Abbey Road for a recording session. OK, he said cheerfully and, borrowing my pen, instantly changed it to the slightly suggestive, the other Beatles were there in the studio and, of course, the wonderful George Martin
25. Love Me Do – Love Me Do was the Beatles first single, backed by P. S. When the single was released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962. 17, in 1982 it was re-promoted and reached No.4, in the United States the single was a No.1 hit in 1964. In 2013, recordings of the song that were published in 1962 entered the domain in Europe. The song was written years before it was recorded. The single features John Lennons prominent harmonica playing and duet vocals by him, three different recorded versions of the song by the Beatles have been released, each with a different drummer. Love Me Do was primarily written by Paul McCartney in 1958–1959 while playing truant from school at age 16 and later credited to Lennon–McCartney, Lennon, Paul wrote the main structure of this when he was 16, or even earlier. I think I had something to do with the middle, Love Me Do is Pauls song. He wrote it when he was a teenager, I might have helped on the middle eight, but I couldnt swear to it. I do know he had the song around, in Hamburg, even, McCartney, Love Me Do was completely co-written. It might have been my idea but some of them really were 50-50s. It was just Lennon and McCartney sitting down without either of us having an original idea. We loved doing it, it was an interesting thing to try and learn to do. I think why we eventually got so strong was we wrote so much through our formative period. S, I Love You, and in doing a deal somewhere along the way we were able to get them back. Their practice at the time was to songs in a school notebook, dreaming of stardom. Love Me Do is intrinsically a song based around two simple chords, G7 and C, before moving to D for its middle eight. Love Me Do was recorded by the Beatles on three different occasions with three different drummers at EMI Studios at 3 Abbey Road in London, EMI Artist Test on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums and this version is available on Anthology 1. First proper recording session 4 September 1962, in August, Best had been replaced with Ringo Starr
26. Manfred Mann – Manfred Mann were an English rock band of the 1960s, named after keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Manns Earth Band. The group had two different lead vocalists during their success, Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966, and Mike dAbo from 1966 to 1969, Manfred Mann were regularly in the charts in the 1960s. Three of the bands most successful singles, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Pretty Flamingo and Mighty Quinn and they were the first south-of-England-based group to top the US Billboard Hot 100 during the British invasion. The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers were formed in London by keyboard player Manfred Mann and drummer/vibes/piano player Mike Hugg, by this time they had changed their name to Manfred Mann & the Manfreds. Gigging throughout late 1962 and early 1963 the band attracted attention for their distinctive sound. Which they performed on their first appearance on television on a New Years Eve show and it failed to chart, as did its follow-up, Cock-a-Hoop. In 1964 the group was asked to provide a new tune for the ITV pop music television programme Ready Steady Go. They responded with 5-4-3-2-1 which, with the help of television exposure. Shortly after 5-4-3-2-1 was recorded, Richmond left the band, though he would record with them occasionally later and he was replaced by Jones friend Tom McGuinness—the first of many changes. After a further self-penned hit, Hubble Bubble, the band struck gold with Do Wah Diddy Diddy, the track reached the top of each of the UK, Canadian, and US charts. Meanwhile, B sides and four-song EPs showcased original material and instrumental solos, with a cover of Maxine Browns Oh No Not My Baby began a phase of new depth and sophistication in the arrangements of their singles. The EPs title track reached the British top ten singles, the last self-written song, the run climaxed with a second UK No.1 single, Pretty Flamingo produced by John Burgess. Jones intended to go once a replacement could be found but stayed with the band for another year. In his brief tenure before leaving to form Cream Bruce played on Pretty Flamingo and on the EP Instrumental Asylum, Jones was replaced by Mike dAbo in July 1966, and the group switched labels to Fontana Records, where they were produced by Shel Talmy. Their first Fontana single, Dylans Just Like a Woman, released in July, scraped in the UK top ten, reaching number one in Sweden. Their annual long-player, As Is, followed in October, with increased studio technique sidelining jazz, soul and blues roots, the next two singles Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr James and Ha Ha Said The Clown both reached the Top 5. In December another EP set of instrumentals, Instrumental Assassination, was released and this featured original member Dave Richmond on double bass, but not Mike dAbo, suggesting the sessions dated from a little earlier in 1966. Thus,1967 was largely an unsuccessful year in the charts and they had a resounding success with Mighty Quinn, their third UK No.1 and third hit Dylan song, which also peaked at No.3 in Canada and No.10 in the US
27. Please Please Me (song) – Please Please Me is a song and the second single released by English rock group the Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single. It was originally a John Lennon composition, although its form was significantly influenced by George Martin. John Lennon, Please Please Me is my song completely and it was my attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song, would you believe it. I wrote it in the bedroom in my house at Menlove Avenue, the single was released in the UK on 11 January 1963 and reached No.1 on the New Musical Express and Melody Maker charts. However, it only reached No.2 on the Record Retailer chart, because of this it was not included on the multi-million selling Beatles compilation,1. The Beatles had accomplished a modest debut success with Love Me Do, nonetheless, their producer, George Martin, felt it was a promising start and decided to go ahead with a second single. Please Please Me has a diverse history, George Martin has stated that the original version of this song was rather dreary, was too slow and consequently had little prospect of being the big hit the band were looking for. Martin said, I was still thinking that we should release their recording of How Do You Do It, a previously taped Mitch Murray composition that Martin insisted the Beatles record which he had seriously considered as an alternative debut single instead of Love Me Do. The group replied that they were interested in recording their own material. McCartney said, It was symptomatic of our group that we turned down How Do You Do It, ringo Starr commented, I remember us all being ready to stand up for the principle of, We have written these songs and we want to do them. George Martin was ultimately sympathetic to their appeals, but said later, Lennon first conceived Please Please Me as a bluesy, slow tempo song. Lennon recalled, I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing Only the Lonely, and I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, Please lend a little ear to my pleas. The double use of the word please, so it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby. Originally it was sparse, did not contain any harmonies or responses. George Martin claimed he first heard it at the Love Me Do re-make session on 11 September, ringo Starr in Anthology stated, On my first visit in September we just ran through some tracks for George Martin. We even did Please Please Me, I remember that, because while we were recording it I was playing the bass drum with a maraca in one hand and a tambourine in the other. John Lennon in Anthology stated, Wed had a top 30 entry with Love Me Do, then came Please Please Me — and wham
28. Dancing in the Street – Dancing in the Street is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. It first became popular in 1964 when recorded by Martha and the Vandellas whose version reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and it is one of Motowns signature songs and is the groups premier signature song. A1966 cover by the Mamas & the Papas was a hit on the Hot 100 reaching No.73. In 1982, the rock group Van Halen took their cover of Dancing in the Street to No.38 on the Hot 100 chart and No.15 in Canada on the RPM chart. A1985 duet cover by David Bowie and Mick Jagger charted at No.1 in the UK, the song was also covered by The Kinks, The Everly Brothers, Grateful Dead and Black Oak Arkansas. The original version of Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas was produced in 1964 by William Mickey Stevenson, the song was written by Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter, and Marvin Gaye. The song highlighted the concept of having a time in whatever city the listener lived. The idea for dancing came to Stevenson from watching people on the streets of Detroit cool off in the summer in water from opened fire hydrants and they appeared to be dancing in the water. The song was conceived by Stevenson who was showing a rough draft of the lyrics to Gaye disguised as a ballad, when Gaye read the original lyrics, however, he said the song sounded more danceable. With Gaye and Stevenson collaborating, the duo composed the single with Kim Weston in mind to record the song, Weston passed on the song and when Martha Reeves came to Motowns Hitsville USA studios, the duo presented the song to Reeves. Hearing Gayes demo of it, Reeves asked if she could arrange her own vocals to fit the songs message, Reeves recounted that she initially regarded the song as too repetitive. Gaye and Stevenson agreed and including new Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter adding in musical composition, the songs writers made sure to include Detroit as one of the cities mentioned with the lyric, Cant forget the Motor City. Rap Brown began playing the song while organizing demonstrations, Dancing in the Street had two meanings. The first is the one Martha Reeves asserted to reporters in England, the British press aggravated Reeves when someone put a microphone in her face and asked her if she was a militant leader. The British journalist wanted to know if Reeves agreed, as people had claimed. To Reeves, the query was patently absurd and my Lord, it was a party song, she remarked in retrospect. While Berry Gordy had created the Black Forum label to preserve black thought and creative writing, he kept the Motown record label, Berry Gordy Jr. was extremely wary about affiliating his business with any organization of movement that might negatively influence his companys commercial success. Motown records had a role to play in the citys black community, and that community—as diverse as it was—articulated and promoted its own social, cultural
29. Martha and the Vandellas – Martha and the Vandellas were an American vocal group who found fame in the 1960s with a string of hit singles on Motowns Gordy label. The group signed with and eventually recorded all of their singles for Motowns Gordy imprint. The groups string of hits included Come and Get These Memories, Heat Wave, Quicksand, Nowhere to Run, Jimmy Mack, Bless You and Dancing in the Street, the latter song becoming their signature single. During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha, Ten Vandellas songs reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart, including two R&B number ones, and six Top Ten Pop Hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Teenagers Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard first became acquainted after a music manager hired them to be members of a girl group he named The Del-Phis. Ashford & Beard, along with then-lead vocalist Gloria Williams, performed at clubs, private events, church benefits, YMCA events. They were also being coached by Maxine Powell at Detroits Ferris Center, One of the groups first professional engagements was singing background for singer Mike Hanks. The group originally had up to six members, shortened to four, in 1960, the group signed their first recording contract with Checker Records, releasing the Reeves-led Ill Let You Know. The group then recorded for Checkmate Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records and that record, featuring Williams on lead vocals, also flopped. Briefly separated, Reeves returned to a career performing under the name Martha LaVaille. After Motown staffer Mickey Stevenson noticed Reeves singing at a prominent Detroit club, Reeves showed up at Motown on a wrong date. Stevenson, initially upset, told Reeves to look out for clients, soon Reeves became Stevensons secretary and later was responsible for helping acts audition for the label. By 1961, the group, now known as The Vels, were recording background vocals for Motown acts, prior to her success as lead singer of The Elgins, Sandra Edwards recorded the song Camel Walk, in 1962, which featured the Vels in background vocals. Motown was so impressed by the groups vocals – and Marthas lead vocals in the song – that the label CEO Berry Gordy offered to give the group a contract, figuring that being in show business was too rigorous, Williams opted out of the group. With Williams out, the trio of Ashford, Beard. It became The Vandellas first Top 40 recording, reaching number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at number six on the R&B chart. Their second hit, Heat Wave, became a record for the group, reaching number four on the Hot 100. It became their first million-seller and eventually got the group their only Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, around that time, Annette, who was pregnant with her first child and set to get married, chose to leave her singing career behind by 1964
30. Billy J. Kramer – William Howard Ashton, better known by the stage name Billy J. Kramer is a pop singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles and he grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of England Secondary School, Bootle. He then took up an apprenticeship with British Railways and in his spare time played rhythm guitar in a group he had formed himself. The performing name Kramer was chosen at random from a telephone directory and it was John Lennons suggestion that the J be added to the name to further distinguish him by adding a tougher edge. Kramer soon came to the attention of Brian Epstein, ever on the look-out for new talent to add to his roster of local artists. Kramer turned professional but his then backing group, the Coasters, were keen, so Epstein sought out the services of a Manchester-based group, the Dakotas. Even then, the Dakotas would not join Kramer without a contract of their own. Once in place, the deal was set and both signed to Parlophone under George Martin. Collectively, they were named Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas to keep their own identities within the act, once the Beatles broke through, the way was paved for a tide of Merseybeat and Kramer was offered the chance to cover Do You Want to Know a Secret. First released by the Beatles on their own album, Please Please Me. The track had turned down by Shane Fenton who was looking for a career-reviving hit. After this impressive breakthrough another Lennon–McCartney pairing, Bad to Me c/w I Call Your Name and it sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Ill Keep You Satisfied ended the year with a number four placing. Kramer was given a series of songs written for him by John Lennon. Ill Keep You Satisfied, From a Window, I Call Your Name and Bad to Me earned him appearances on the television programmes, hullabaloo and The Ed Sullivan Show. This was followed by a George Martin creation, Magic Carpet, but it missed out altogether and it was a year before their next release. All four tracks appeared on an EP later that year, the three hits penned by Lennon and McCartney suggested that Kramer would always remain in the Beatles shadow, unless he tried something different. Despite being advised against it, he turned down the offer of another Lennon–McCartney song, One and One Is Two and it became his second chart topper and biggest hit
31. Ray Charles (musician, born 1918) – As a vocalist, Charles, along with Julia Rinker Miller, sang the theme song to the television series Threes Company. As a songwriter, Charles was best known for the choral anthem Fifty Nifty United States in which he set the names of the states to music in alphabetical order and it was originally written for The Perry Como Show. He is also known for Letters, We Get Letters, also written for Comos show. In his later years, he continued to serve as a consultant to television programs. Charles was acknowledged as an authority on American popular music, at the age of 13, Chuck Offenberg won a contest to sing on the radio in Chicago. At 16, while still at Hyde Park High School, he had his own 15 minute radio program on WENR, after graduation, he attended Central YMCA College, where he met fellow future choral director Norman Luboff, who was to become a lifelong friend. In 1936, Offenberg joined the Federal Theater show O Say Can You Sing, sharing a room with the young Buddy Rich. In 1942, Offenberg, with his wife, Bernice and son, Michael, came to New York City and he started getting work, singing on the radio for Lyn Murray, Ray Bloch, by 1944, he was doing 10 radio shows a week. In May 1944, Offenberg changed his name to Ray Charles and it would be 10 more years until the other Ray Charles changed his name from Ray Charles Robinson to Ray Charles. Close harmony was all the rage and Charles became the arranger and tenor for the Double Daters and he also conducted the band on their two CBS weekly shows. Discharged in 1946, Charles sang on New York radio and on record dates. In 1947, he was the conductor for the Broadway hit Finians Rainbow, Charles initially became associated with Perry Como in 1948 through his arrangements for the vocal group the Satisfiers. The group performed on Comos The Chesterfield Supper Club, from 1949 to 1951, he was choral arranger-conductor on The Big Show, the last big radio variety show with Tallulah Bankhead and Meredith Willson. Before it moved to Los Angeles, Charles did some singing on the Your Hit Parade radio show, lucky Strike and Chesterfield were competitors and Comos Chesterfield show aired three times a week on CBS. For the next 35 years the Ray Charles Singers became a fixture on the Perry Como television show and it was a busy time with televisions top variety shows, records and commercial jingles. Charles also worked with Nick Vanoff, Gary Smith, Dwight Hemion, Peter Matz, the talent that worked on The Perry Como Show at one time or another in its long history is remarkable. It was here where he met the other Ray Charles, the Screen Actors Guild normally does not allow two members to have the same name, but Charles the performer was registered as Ray Robinson though he performed as Ray Charles. Charles the composer also wrote material and did the choral work on Caesars Hour with Sid Caesar
32. Under the Boardwalk – Under the Boardwalk is a hit pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by The Drifters in 1964. It charted at four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts on August 22,1964. The song ranked #489 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyric describes a tryst between a man and his beloved in a town, who plan to privately meet out of the sun. The instrumentation includes güiro, triangle and violins, the songs chorus is unusual in that it switches from a major to minor key. The song was set to be recorded on May 21,1964, Lewis had sung lead on most of their hits since the 1960 departure of Ben E. King, including Up on the Roof. Rather than reschedule the session to find a new frontman. The personnel on that recording included Ernie Hayes on piano, Everett Barksdale, Bill Suyker and Bob Bushnell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, Gary Chester on drums, there are two versions of the song. The mono 45 USA released version contains the line Well be falling in love, beneath the line Well be falling in love on the stereo album version, the line Well be making love can be heard. These are two different recordings, not edits of one another, as the line on a blanket with my baby is where Ill be is sung differently in each version. The version appearing on the Drifters Golden Hits compilation is a composite of the two, using making love in the first two choruses and falling in love in the third. Because of the line making love several radio stations banned the song, under the Boardwalk has since been covered by many artists, including Bette Midler, and the Tom Tom Club. Versions by Billy Joe Royal, Bruce Willis, and Lynn Anderson all reached the Billboard charts. The song has been translated to Spanish and interpreted by the pioneer Argentine rock group Los Gatos Salvajes under the title of Bajo la rambla and it was also covered by the Argentine band Los Perros on their 1992 album Perfume y dolor. In Mexico it was covered by Los Apson Boys in 1966. It was also covered by Ana Gabriel in 1996 with a Spanish version called Fue en Un cafe using the music from Bette Midlers version of the song and she also sang the song in its original English version. Both versions are on her 1996 album Vivencias, a cover of this song by the Rolling Stones appeared on their albums. Their 1964 version was released as a single-only in Australia, South Africa and Rhodesia and it appeared on their albums 12 X5 and The Rolling Stones No.2
33. The Drifters – The Drifters are a long-lasting American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed to serve as a group for Clyde McPhatter in 1953. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the Drifters were the least stable of the vocal groups, as they were low-paid musicians hired by George Treadwell. There have been 60 vocalists in the history of the Treadwell Drifters line and these groups are usually identified with a possessive credit such as Bill Pinkneys Original Drifters, Charlie Thomas Drifters, etc. There were three Golden eras of the Drifters, the early 1950s, the 1960s, and the early 1970s, from these, the first Drifters, formed by Clyde McPhatter, was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as The Drifters. The second Drifters, featuring Ben E. King, was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as Ben E. King. In their induction, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame selected four members from the first Drifters, two from the second Drifters, and one from the post-Atlantic Drifters. According to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Through turmoil and changes, matching that feat, subsequent formations of the Drifters recorded 13 Billboard Hot 100 top 30 chart hits. To many fans and historians, The Drifters means Clyde McPhatter, McPhatter was lead tenor for Billy Ward and His Dominoes for three years, starting in 1950. It was McPhatters high-pitched tenor that was responsible for the Dominoes success. In 1953, Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records attended a Dominoes performance at Birdland and noticed Clyde wasnt present, as Jerry Wexler recalls, Ahmet exited Birdland like a shot and headed directly uptown. He raced from bar to bar looking for Clyde and finally found him in a furnished room and that very night, Ahmet reached an agreement with McPhatter under which Clyde would assemble a group of his own. They became known as the Drifters, wanting to blend gospel and secular sounds, Clydes first effort was to get members of his old church group, the Mount Lebanon Singers. They were William Chick Anderson, Charlie White, David Baldwin, James Wrinkle Johnson, after a single recording session of four songs on June 29,1953, Ertegün realized that this combination didnt work and had McPhatter recruit another lineup. McPhatter was barely known during his time with the Dominoes, and he was passed off as Clyde Ward. In other instances people assumed it was Billy Ward doing the singing, money Honey was a huge success and propelled the Drifters to immediate fame. More lineup changes followed, after Ferbee was involved in an accident and left the group, Adams was replaced by Jimmy Oliver. However, Ferbee was not replaced, instead, the parts were shifted around
34. The Dixie Cups – The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for a string of hits including their 1964 million-selling record Chapel of Love, People Say, and Iko Iko. The group hit the top of the charts in 1964 with Chapel of Love, a song that Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, the trio consisted of sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, plus their cousin Joan Marie Johnson, from New Orleans. They first sang together in grade school, originally, they were to be called Little Miss and the Muffets, but were named the Dixie Cups just prior to their first release. In 1963, the decided to pursue a professional career in music. Within a year Joe Jones, a singer in his own right with the Top Five 1960 single You Talk Too Much. After working with them for five months, Jones took them to New York, the Dixie Cups debut single was the release, Chapel of Love, which became their biggest hit reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in June 1964. Chapel of Love sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc, in 1987, the song Chapel of Love appeared on the Full Metal Jacket soundtrack and in the 1991 film, Father of the Bride. The hit single by The Dixie Cups was ranked #279 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The group also had other hits including, People Say, You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me, Little Bell. Iko Iko, a New Orleans traditional song, was recorded in 1964, Barbara Hawkins had heard her grandmother sing the song, first recorded in 1953 as Jock-a-Mo by James Sugar Boy Crawford. Barbara Hawkins, We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays and we didnt realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running. Leiber and Stoller overdubbed a bassline and percussion, and released it and it was The Dixie Cups fifth and last hit. In 1965, the Dixie Cups moved to the ABC-Paramount record label before a hiatus in 1966 temporarily halted their careers. In 1974 the Hawkins sisters moved from New York to New Orleans, the Hawkins also worked as make-up artists. The Dixie Cups continued to tour as a trio with another New Orleans singer, Beverly Brown, replacing Joan Johnson who became a Jehovahs Witness and left her music career. Brown who had recorded two discs in the early 1960s stayed as the third member until the early 80s when she became ill and was replaced by Dale Mickle. The Dixie Cups continue to perform and make personal appearances, the current line-up consists of the same Hawkins sisters along with Athelgra Neville, sister of the singing Neville Brothers
35. Terry Stafford – Terry LaVerne Stafford was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 U. S. Top 10 hit, Suspicion, and the 1973 country music hit, Stafford is also known for his Elvis Presley sound-alike voice. Stafford was the son of William Nathan Bill Stafford, a United States Navy veteran of World War II and a construction worker. He had two sisters, Linda Williams of Amarillo and Judy Snead of Hendersonville, Tennessee and he, like his mother, was born in rural Hollis in Harmon County in the southwestern corner of Oklahoma. Mrs. Stafford was a lens grinder for an optical company, Stafford was reared in Amarillo, Texas, and graduated there in 1960 from Palo Duro High School. He then moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a musical career. The song Suspicion, which was released on the Crusader record label and had previously recorded by Elvis Presley, made it to no.3 in the U. S. Suspicion had the distinction of being sixth on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4,1964, the following week, Suspicion peaked at no. 3, with the Beatles holding three of the top five spots, Staffords recording sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. The song was one of the first to have a synthesiser backing and his follow-up, I’ll Touch a Star, rose to number 25 in America. Both recordings were produced by Bob Summers, who played all the instruments on the tracks as well as engineering and recording them, Summers released his own version in the 1970s, as well as a remake with Ed Greenwald on vocals in 2008. In 1969, Buck Owens re-wrote Staffords Big in Dallas, recording it as Big in Vegas, Owens version peaked at no.5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. And reached No.1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada, Stafford himself continued to record, but had no more hits. His 1973 release/joint composition, Amarillo by Morning, was covered by George Strait on Straits 1982 album Strait from the Heart. The song was named #12 country song of all-time by Country Music Television, Stafford lived most of his life between Los Angeles, California, and Amarillo, Texas, and died in Amarillo of liver failure, at the age of 54. He is interred along with his parents at Llano Cemetery in Amarillo, story by Amarillo DJ and Stafford friend Dick Shuey Terry Stafford Suspicion Home Page Terry Stafford at Find a Grave
36. The Dave Clark Five – The Dave Clark Five was an English pop rock group. Their single Glad All Over knocked the Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand off the top of the UK Singles Chart in January 1964, over And Over was a number 1 single in the United States for the group in December 1965. They were the group of the British Invasion on The Ed Sullivan Show. For some time the Dave Clark Five was more popular in the US than in their native UK, the group disbanded in late 1970. On 10 March 2008, the band was inducted into the Rock, the band started out as the Dave Clark Quintet in 1957, with Clark on drums, Dave Sanford on lead guitar, Chris Walls on bass, Don Vale on piano. Mick Ryan replaced Johnson in 1958 and Jim Spencer joined on saxophone, Walls left in 1959 and Huxley became the bass player. Mike Smith joined on piano in 1960, and Lenny Davidson replaced Ryan in 1961, in 1962, the band changed its name to the Dave Clark Five when Saxon left. The group was Clark on drums, Huxley on bass, Smith on organ and lead vocals, originating in North London, the band was promoted as the vanguard of the Tottenham Sound, a response to the Mersey Beat stable managed by Brian Epstein. Songwriting credits went to Clark, Clark and Smith, Clark and Davidson and Clark, the Dave Clark Five had 17 records in the Top 40 of the US Billboard chart and 12 Top 40 hits in their native UK between 1964 and 1967. S. The Dave Clark Five was the first British band of the British Invasion to tour the US, after the success of the Beatles film A Hard Days Night in 1964, the band released their own film, Catch Us If You Can in 1965. It also starred Barbara Ferris, and was released in the United States as Having a Wild Weekend, the short film Hits in Action highlighted a series of Dave Clark Five hits. Other than the songs Inside and Out, Maze of Love and Live in the Sky, the DC5 disbanded in 1970, having placed three singles on the UK chart that year, two of which reached the Top Ten. In 1970, Davidson, Huxley and Payton left and Alan Parker and Eric Ford joined on lead guitar and this line-up, renamed Dave Clark & Friends, lasted until 1973. Between 1978 and 1993, none of their music was available to be purchased in any commercial format, in 1993, a single CD Glad All Over Again was produced by Dave himself and released by EMI in Britain. No DC5 material was legally available until 2008, when the Hits compilation was released by Universal Music in the UK. In 2009 selections from the catalogue were released on iTunes. Dave Clark was also the manager and producer of their recordings. Following the groups break-up, Clark set up a media company, in the process, he acquired the rights to the 1960s pop series Ready Steady Go
37. Rag Doll (The Four Seasons song) – Rag Doll is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded by The Four Seasons and released as a single in 1964 and it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 18,1964, and remained on top for two weeks. According to songwriter Bob Gaudio, the recording was inspired by a little girl, about 5 years old. When Gaudio reached into his wallet, all he had were notes and he gave the girl a twenty dollar bill. Her astonishment stayed in Gaudios mind as he approached the recording studio, Rag Doll, with a few tweaks by Bob Crewe, was the result. The song was also a one hit in Canada. The B-side was the version of Silence Is Golden. In 1967 the song was a one hit in the UK Singles Chart for the English band The Tremeloes. In 2010, radio station WCBS-FM in New York City ranked the Four Seasons Rag Doll as the song of all time. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
38. The Four Seasons (band) – The Four Seasons is an American rock and pop band that became internationally successful in the 1960s and 1970s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before the Beatles, since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio, while singers, producers, and musicians have come and gone, Gaudio and Valli remain the groups constant. Gaudio no longer live, leaving Valli the only member of the group from its inception who is touring as of 2017. The Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and they are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. Frankie Vallis first commercial release was My Mothers Eyes in 1953, the following year, he and guitarist Tommy DeVito formed The Variatones, which between 1954 and 1956 performed and recorded under a variety of names before settling on the name The Four Lovers. The same year, the released their first record, Youre the Apple of My Eye. Five additional Four Lovers singles were released over the year, with virtually no sales, airplay. In 1957, the seventh single had a similar lack of success. In 1958, Charles Calello replaced Nick Massi on bass in the lineup, in 1959, the group started working with producer/songwriter Bob Crewe, primarily for session work. In late 1959, Gaudio was added to the Four Lovers on keyboards and guitar, early the following year, Nick Massi returned to replace Calello, who remained the bands musical arranger. In 1960, despite the changes of personnel, the fortunes of the Four Lovers had not changed—they failed an audition for a lounge at a Union Township, Union County, according to Gaudio, We figured well come out of this with something. So we took the name of the bowling alley and it was called the Four Seasons. Despite the last few years of frustration of the Four Lovers, later, on a handshake agreement between keyboardist/composer Bob Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli, the Four Seasons Partnership was formed. The Four Seasons signed as artists to Crewes production company, the group continued working with producer Bob Crewe as background vocalists, and sometimes leads under different group names, for productions on Crewes own Topix label. As a follow-up, Bob Gaudio wrote a song that, after some discussion between Crewe and Gaudio, was titled Sherry, after the song was recorded, Crewe and the members of the group solicited record labels to release it. It was Frankie Valli who spoke with Randy Wood, West coast sales manager for Vee-Jay Records who, in turn, Sherry made enough of an impression that Crewe was able to sign a deal between his production company and Vee-Jay for its release. They were the first white artists to sign with Vee-Jay, in 1962, the group released their first album, featuring the single Sherry, which was not only their first charted hit but also their first number-one song