It’s October, 1963

Let’s jump straight back to October, 1963…

Songs of the month

“A Walkin’ Miracle” – Essex
“Be My Baby” – Ronettes
[new] “Blue Bayou” – Roy Orbison
“Blue Velvet” – Bobby Vinton
“Bust Out” – Busters
“Busted” – Ray Charles
[new] “Cross Fire” – Orions
“Cry Baby” – Garnet Mimms
[new] “Cry Baby” – Garnet Mimms And The Enchanters
[new] “Deep Purple” – Nino Tempo And April Stevens
[new] “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
[new] “Don’t Think Twice” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
[new] “Donna The Prima Donna” – Dion Di Muci
[new] “Everybody” – Tommy Roe
[new] “Fools Rush In” – Rick Nelson
“Heat Wave” – Martha And The Vandellas
[new] “Hello Heartache Goodbye Love” – Little Peggy March
“Honolulu Lulu” – Jan And Dean
“I Can’t Stay Mad At You” – Skeeter Davis
[new] “I’ll Take You Home” – Drifters
[new] “I’m Leaving It Up To You” – Dale And Grace
“If I Had A Hammer” – Trini Lopez
[new] “It’s All Right” – Impressions
“Little Deuce Coupe” – Beach Boys
[new] “Maria Elena” – Los Indios Tabajaras
“Martian Hop” – Ran-Dells
[new] “Mean Woman Blues” – Roy Orbison
“Mickey’s Monkey” – Miracles
“My Boyfriend’s Back” – Angels
“Only In America” – Jay And The Americans
“Painted Tainted Rose” – Al Martino
[new] “Papa Joe’s” – Dixiebelles
“Part Time Love” – Little Johnny Taylor
“Sally Go Round The Roses” – Jaynetts
[new] “She’s A Fool” – Lesley Gore
“Sugar Shack” – Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs
“Surfer Girl” – Beach Boys
[new] “Talk To Me” – Sunny And The Sunglows
[new] “That Sunday That Summer” – Nat King Cole
[new] “The Grass Is Greener” – Brenda Lee
“The Kind Of Boy You Can’t Forget” – Raindrops
“The Monkey Time” – Major Lance
“Then He Kissed Me” – Crystals
[new] “Washington Square” – Village Stompers
“Wham” – Lonnie Mack
“Wonderful Wonderful” – Tymes
[new] “You Lost The Sweetest Boy” – Mary Wells

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 6th, “Surf music”, which has been featuring in various songs in the charts for the past few weeks, received its first nationwide American television exposure, when Dick Dale and the Del-Tones appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

That performance is here (one of those youtube videos that won’t embed.)

The next day the very first Learjet, the Learjet 23, took off from an airport in Wichita, Kansas, with test pilots Bob Hagan and Hank Beaird at the controls. The prototype jet, the product of the investment of William P. Lear, inaugurated an era of private jet airplanes.

Then on the 13th, four months before they came to the United States, The Beatles performed their latest hit single, “She Loves You” live on the British television variety show Sunday Night at the Palladium. Millions watched on ITV, and the enthusiasm of their fans outside the theater was so intense that the press later coined the term “Beatlemania”.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s a week at the top for Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet” before the great “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs takes the spot for the rest of the month.

Loved ’em
  • “Blue Bayou” – Roy Orbison
  • “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
  • “It’s All Right” – Impressions
  • “You Lost The Sweetest Boy” – Mary Wells
Liked ’em
  • “Cross Fire” – Orions
  • “Cry Baby” – Garnet Mimms And The Enchanters
  • “Deep Purple” – Nino Tempo And April Stevens
  • “Donna Prima Donna” – Dion Di Muci
  • “Everybody” – Tommy Roe
  • “Fools Rush In” – Rick Nelson
  • “Hello Heartache Goodbye Love” – Little Peggy March
  • “I’ll Take You Home” – Drifters
  • “I’m Leaving It Up To You” – Dale And Grace
  • “Mean Woman Blues” – Roy Orbison
  • “She’s A Fool” – Lesley Gore
  • “Talk To Me” – Sunny And The Sunglows
  • “That Sunday That Summer” – Nat King Cole
  • “Washington Square” – Village Stompers
Leave ’em
  • “Maria Elena” – Los Indios Tabajaras
  • “Papa Joe’s” – Dixiebelles

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.