Early '60s music appreciation thread

Another.

Don't usually love Twist songs but this was good.

The Dovells.

Another one from The Dovells

early Aretha

The Ronettes.

Then He Kissed Me

Some Dusty I hadn't heard before. Thanks, YT.

I like how Flo and MARY! are flexing during this song.

Jeanette.....

Brook & Dinah - Rockin' Good Way

Roll up the rug, turn down the light, put this on the hi-fi, hug your honey and sway...

Dedicated to the anti-vaxxers, those assholes.

From 1962.

The Shangri-Las

Before I head out... I am a freak for this era. Blame my grandparents.

This will play through (one video after the next)

Sam Cooke at the Copa Live 1964

Shirley Ellis-- they were novelty songs, but seem to define that era well

and this

And this, with dancing

Ronnie Spector once kissed me (long story)

Under The Boardwalk

Dusty Springfield actually got this from Dionne Warwick

Temptation Eyes by the Grass Roots. Wait for it. ..the video of them kicks in after 20-30 seconds.

And all the early Beach Boys stuff. See you all tomorrow-- this is the full Greatest Hits album, most pre-65

[R8] Dusty was in love with Norma 'Walking My Cat Named Dog' Tanega. Lasted 2-3 years.

Great song R23, but I thought that was late 60s, someone will know who was alive then.

Ciao

Anything by Gene Pitney.

Raw R&B

r25, Wouldn't It Be Nice was released in 1966, mid-'60s to me.

Early '60s = 1960-1963

Mid '60s = 1964-1966

Late '60s = 1967-1969

My favorite early '60s Beach Boys songs were "In My Room" and "Surfin' USA."

I love the music of the Shirelles.

R18, I love that one. The dancing in the video is impressive!

Here is another one I like.

A classic.

Tall and tan and young and lovely...

R25/YMF, did you perhaps mean to refer to R22? Temptation Eyes is from 1970.

Iconic. Or a cliché. Anyway, so closely associated with the period, it turns up in just about every movie or TV show set in the early 60s. It's still a great song, though.

Late-night driving music.

This one.

Bend over

RIP sweetie

Paul and Paula

Solomon Burke, Cry to Me

Girl groups kicked ASS!

Thank you Carole King and Gerry Goffin-

So schmaltzy I could plotz!

Two years before Petula went Downtown

The Elvis Bossa Nova tune sung in German by a Bear

Another novelty song

My grandmother used to play this to teach me the months of the year lol

The movie was years later

Where Aretha got the song from

Been remade by everyone from Grand Funk RR to Kylie Minogue

B-roll of "night club patrons" worth watching this for

Pre-Beatles

Probably one of the most familiar songs no one knows the name of

No one's voice comes close

Folk protest songs started to become hits back then too. This is 1962

63 too. Lots of crossover -- Sam Cooke covered this too

Sam Cooke cover (singing starts at 00:40)

Otis Redding, These Arms of Mine

R64 was me and ORD's song.

Kenneth Anger’s ‘Scorpio Rising’ is famous for its early 60s soundtrack.

Great instrumentals WERE the early 60's

"My Boyfriend's Back and you're gonna be in trouble."

Another great instrumental, this one by Bill Pursell

Miss Marple probably Twisted to this instrumental. Anyway, it's schmaltzy fun :)

Top 100 Hits of 1963

Listening to this would almost make being stuck in an elevator fun

Timi could cut a bitch

Depends how long, r72. I'd go apeshit the first time it repeated itself.

Al Hirt must have had excellent lip control....

Another great one from Floyd Cramer

A much more up tempo instrumental

Rhythm of the Rain - the Cascades

You would cry, too.

Judy's Turn to Cry

It looks like George Maharis is ready to visit a lot of Men's Rooms along Route 66 :)

All that's missing is Edith Prickley in one of her leopard print ensembles

So Eldergays--given the number of styles that were in vogue at the time-- Surf music, British invasion, Soul/Girl Groups, Elevator Music, Elvis, Folk/Protest--were different sub-groups into different types of music, e.g., did the jocks all like surf rock and sorority girl types like the Beatles and the intellectual kids were into folk?

What was it like growing up at a time where so much great music from so many different styles was coming out?

Before Austin Powers took it over it was just a forgotten Quincy Jones instrumental

And we can't forget Eydie

Still more Eydie

And Peggy sends some frivolity

She's a Fool

More from Miss Lee

Still more from Peggy

Even more from Peggy

My dog died when I went to college. Broken heart, the vet said. "Puff the Magic Dragon" has always reminded me of that:

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys

Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys

One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more

And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain

Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane

Without his life-long friend, puff could not be brave

So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave

Wasn't Peggy Lee from the early '40?

Good to see other Shirelles fans on here. My favorite one: "Foolish Little Girl"

Another Miss Lee chimes in...

Always loved the intro to this song as a little kid in the Seventies. And then the chorus! I was in heaven.

A bit more up tempo from Brenda...

1966 is the mid-sixties.

Poor Brenda's a bit down again

My first 45, "I Will Follow Him"

Lighten up a bit, Brenda...jeez

Skeeter's penultimate getting 0ver-being-dumped song :)

Ironically, it seems poor Skeeter didn't listen to her own lyrics...

The Man I Love by Zebedy Colt. I only know of it because it was featured in HBOs 'Looking' series soundtrack. Shame Colt didn't do more cover songs he had such a great voice.

I had thought Grace Slick's later cover was an original for years, but this is the hit song. Extra points as it has long been considered as a same-sex tune ("another girl" meaning she's over you).

Herb Alpert won record of the year Grammy 1965 for this.

As it turns out, all of the 50s-style diners I have ever been to are actually playing almost all early '60s music. I will inform them that they are falsely advertising!

Plotz to THIS, R42!

R93, Peggy Lee had a long career. Yes, she started out in the early 40s with Benny Goodman, but she had hits all the way up through "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, which seemed awfully depressing when I first heard it, although now that I'm an eldergay, I get it. She kept performing into the '90s and died in 2002 at age 81.

R83/YMF, different cliques tended to prefer different styles of music, just as they do now. But everybody knew all the hits because you only had AM radio in your car, so you listened mostly to Top 40 stations. You were exposed to all types of popular music whether you liked them or not because, away from home and your record player, your choices were limited. There was also a whole world of music for grown-ups that you were constantly exposed to. As I commented in the Ed Sullivan thread, there was a unified national popular culture that everyone was familiar with along with their own subculture, if any.

R82, the original Match Game theme!

#2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of August 10, 1963.

77 WABC-AM's top ten on the Silver Dollar Survey, week of August 13, 1963. The week began at 2:00 PM every Tuesday on Dan Ingram's show. "Just One Look" was my favorite song that wasn't "My Boyfriend's Back."

1. My Boyfriend's Back - The Angels (Smash) *1 week #1* 6

2. Fingertips, Part 2 - Little Stevie Wonder (Tamla) 1

3. Candy Girl - The 4 Seasons (Vee Jay) 4

4. Blowin' In the Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary (Warner Brothers) 8

*5. Heat Wave - Martha & the Vandellas (Gordy) 18

6. Denise - Randy & the Rainbows (Rust) 2

*7. Hey, Girl - Freddie Scott (Colpix) 12

8. So Much In Love - The Tymes (Parkway) 3

9. Just One Look - Doris Troy (Atlantic) 5

10. Mockingbird - Inez & Charlie Foxx (Symbol) 17

77 WABC-AM's top ten on the Silver Dollar Survey, August 14, 1962. This was a bit before my time, though I would eventually buy "Locomotion," "Roses Are Red," and "You Belong to Me" on 45.

1. The Loco-Motion - Little Eva (Dimension) *3 weeks #1* 1

2. Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka (RCA) 3

3. Twist and Shout - The Isley Brothers (Wand) 5

4. Roses Are Red (My Love) - Bobby Vinton (Epic) 2

5. Sheila - Tommy Roe (ABC-Paramount) 9

6. You Belong to Me - The Duprees (Coed) 7

7. The Wah Watusi - The Orlons (Cameo) 4

8. Party Lights - Claudine Clark (Chancellor) 14

9. Speedy Gonzalez - Pat Boone (Dot) 12

10. You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles (ABC-Paramount) 16

77 WABC-AM's Swingin' Sound Survey, August 8, 1961. Definitely before my time. I never owned any of these records.

1. Pretty Little Angel Eyes - Curtis Lee (Dunes) *2 weeks #1* 1

2. I Like It Like That, Part 1 - Chris Kenner (Instant) 2

3. School Is Out - Gary "U.S." Bonds (Legrand) 6

4. Tossin' and Turnin' - Bobby Lewis (Beltone) 4

5. Let's Twist Again - Chubby Checker (Parkway) 5

6. Michael - The Highwaymen (United Artists) 16

7. Don't Bet Money Honey - Linda Scott (Canadian-American) 7

8. Wizard of Love - The Lydells (Master) 10

9. Last Night - The Mar-Keys (Satellite) 14

10. Quarter to Three - U.S. Bonds (Legrand) 3

77 WABC-AM's Winners, August 13, 1960:

1. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Brian Hyland (Leader) *3 weeks #1* 1

2. It's Now or Never - Elvis Presley (RCA Victor) 3

3. I'm Sorry - Brenda Lee (Decca) 4

4. Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison (Monument) 2

5. The Twist - Chubby Checker (Parkway) 6

6. Image of a Girl - The Safaris (Eldo) 9

7. Finger Poppin' Time - Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (King) 7

8. Volare - Bobby Rydell (Cameo) 11

9. Walk - Don't Run - The Ventures (Dolton) 17

10. Please Help Me I'm Falling - Hank Locklin (RCA Victor) 5

R14 Have you heard the Blondie cover?

Thank you R110 -- it would be wonderful if we had that today, I can't but think that the lack of a national popular culture, as you so aptly put it, is part of what's gotten us to where we are today

Wild screeching girl group

Obscure song with that thick Spector sound

Thanks, r120 r119. I hadn't heard either of those before.

r120 "He's My Dream Boy" is reminiscent of "Wait Till My Bobby Gets Home."

EVERYBODY knew this! Pretty racy for 1962!

It got played all summer long at our public swimming pool AND on AM radio.

I simply can't hear this song too many times. I thought this was what finding a boyfriend was going to be like, just as soon as I got out of my little town in North Jersey.

Hah-fucking-hah.

Also very popular in the early 60s, believe it or not -

Another AM fave -

I always thought "wimoweh" was "wing-a-whack."

Love the chick in the front with the beehive.

We did line dances like this all through high school! Every dance had its own song -

I see the lights!

Featuring an integrated dance crew!

R128 The Greasers of Philadelphia ruled American Bandstand.

"Baby, baby..."

And the tall blonde dancer in the back row in r131’s clip of the T.A.M.I. Show is....

“The Warmth of the Sun” was written by Brian Wilson, after he’d heard of Kennedy’s assassination.

The original version of “Denise”.

There's another version of "Denise," r134?

She was the best one, R132! Flipping that hair around -

R123, and then, a few years later, there was this.

The guys is pretty cute if you like dorky all-American types (I do!), although, as my father pointed out at the time, there is obviously no blade in that razor.

The song that later inspired Dusty’s style in her first solo hit (I Only Wanna Be With You):

*I KNOW!* something about love...

Noxema’s models (both male and female) needed some serious orthodontist and dental bleach intervention

Two from 1961.

"Gee Whiz", Carla Thomas. If you haven't experienced this dizzying feeling of the first moments of a crush ... well, you've missed out.

... and, when things don't turn out well:

"Hurt", Timi Yuro.

If this doesn't get you, you can't be got.

One thing most of the songs in this thread have in common is melody. Sometimes a lilting melody, like this familiar song from 1963, sometimes a melody, like "Green Onions", but there's always a tune in there somewhere. I miss that ...

^^ "sometimes a DRIVING melody, like 'Green Onions' ..."

I thought for sure this was a fifties song.

Sarah Huckabee's theme.

Even though their first 3 hits spent a total of 14 weeks at number 1, I always liked the later 60s songs of the Four Seasons, like Let's Hang On, C'Mon Marianne and Tell It To The Rain.

It's My Party must have been the first (and only?) record to have a hit sequel , where that bitch Judy gets what's coming to her.

145 replies and no Gary Lewis and the Playboys?

very early beatles on Swedish TV

[quote]145 replies and no Gary Lewis and the Playboys?

I liked their 45s, but their first one, "This Diamond Ring" (an Al Kooper composition, btw), did not come out until 1965, i.e., the [italic]mid[/italic]-'60s.