It’s 57 years and 3 months before Sadie is born and 13 years and 9 months before Thomas is… yep, we’re listening to the tunes of May, 1963 this week.
Songs of the month
[new] “Ain’t That A Shame” – Four Seasons
[new] “Another Saturday Night” – Sam Cooke
“Baby Workout” – Jackie Wilson
“Can’t Get Used To Losing You” – Andy Williams
“Charms” – Bobby Vee
[new] “Da Doo Ron Ron” – Crystals
[new] “Days Of Wine And Roses” – Andy Williams
“Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad” – Cookies
[new] “El Watusi” – Ray Barretto
“Foolish Little Girl” – Shirelles
“He’s So Fine” – Chiffons
[new] “Hot Pastrami” – Dartells
[new] “I Love You Because” – Al Martino
“I Will Follow Him” – Little Peggy March
“If You Wanna Be Happy” – Jimmy Soul
[new] “It’s My Party” – Lesley Gore
[new] “Killer Joe” – Rocky Fellers
[new] “Linda” – Jan And Dean
[new] “Little Band Of Gold” – James Gilreath
“Losing You” – Brenda Lee
“Mecca” – Gene Pitney
“On Broadway” – Drifters
“Over The Mountain” – Bobby Vinton
“Pipeline” – Chantays
[new] “Prisoner Of Love” – James Brown
“Puff The Magic Dragon” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
[new] “Pushover” – Etta James
“Reverend Mr. Black” – Kingston Trio
[new] “She’s So Fine” – Chiffons
“South Street” – Orlons
[new] “Still” – Bill Anderson
[new] “Sukiyaki” – Kyu Sakamoto
“Surfin’ Usa” – Beach Boys
“Take These Chains From My Heart” – Ray Charles
“The End Of The World” – Skeeter Davis
[new] “The Love Of My Man” – Theola Kilgore
[new] “This Little Girl” – Dion
[new] “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer” – Nat King Cole
“Tom Cat” – Rooftop Singers
[new] “Two Faces Have I” – Lou Christie
“Watermelon Man” – Mongo Santamaria
[new] “You Can’t Sit Down” – Dovells
“Young And In Love” – Dick And Deedee
“Young Lovers” – Paul And Paula
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On may 5th, after 18 years of denial, the Soviet Union confirmed that it had recovered and identified the burned remains of Adolf Hitler on April 30, 1945. Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky, the Chief of Operations during the Battle of Berlin, publicly disclosed the details to American researcher Cornelius Ryan and allowed him unprecedented access to classified documents, and allowed him and English historian John Erickson to interview fifty top-ranking officials. Previously, the official Soviet position had been that of the Soviet commander, Georgy Zhukov, who had said, “We have found no body definitely identified as Hitler’s. For all we know, he may be in Spain or Argentina.”
On the 10th author Maurice Sendak, working on his first book for children, made the decision to abandon his original title, “Where the Wild Horses Are”, after concluding that horses were too difficult to draw, and changed the characters in the book to friendly monsters. The book, “Where the Wild Things Are”, would become a Caldecott Medal winning bestseller and launch Sendak’s career…
Then on May 20th The Coca-Cola Company announced its first diet drink, “TaB cola”, with “one calorie per six-ounce serving” made with saccharin instead of sugar. I can’t find the launch advert for this but a Coke ad from 1963 below is gold…
What’d Sadie think?
Two weeks apiece for “I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March and then “If You Wanna Be Happy” by Jimmy Soul at the top of the charts.
Loved ’em
- “Da Doo Ron Ron” – Crystals
- “Ain’t That A Shame” – Four Seasons
- “Mecca” – Gene Pitney
- “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer” – Nat King Cole
Liked ’em
- “Days Of Wine And Roses” – Andy Williams
- “El Watusi” – Ray Barretto
- “Hot Pastrami” – Dartells
- “I Love You Because” – Al Martino
- “It’s My Party” – Lesley Gore
- “Killer Joe” – Rocky Fellers
- “Little Band Of Gold” – James Gilreath
- “Prisoner Of Love” – James Brown
- “Pushover” – Etta James
- “Sukiyaki” – Kyu Sakamoto
- “The Love Of My Man” – Theola Kilgore
- “This Little Girl” – Dion
- “Two Faces Have I” – Lou Christie
- “You Can’t Sit Down” – Dovells
Leave ’em
- “Still” – Bill Anderson
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.