Saturday, 19 September 2020

Top Of The Pops


Here's a couple of thousand words I knocked out first thing this morning for my soon to be published e-book SWINGING THROUGH THE SIXTIES. Please note how the geeks at Google Blogger are not clever enough to sort out the formatting from the original text typed using Microthick Word.  I hope you can figure the charts out.

Top Of The Pops
Next time you go to the supermarket stand still and listen to the music playing in the background. With a little from the 1970’s the majority of the music is from the swinging sixties. Brand new products on the supermarket shelves with customers encouraged to buy while listening to music up to sixty years years old.

At every home game Liverpool, Everton, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday have club anthems from the 1960’s.

No decade in history has been so dominated by popular music. The music was not only enjoyed by teenagers but by Mums and Dads, Granny and Granddads.

Where is music of the twenty-first century ?  An irrelevance way off to the side. It is listened to on the likes of Radio One the forgotten. In the year 2080 nobody is going to shop while listening to Justin Bieber or Ed Shearan, I wouldn’t mind betting they will still be shopping to the Beatles, Herman’s Hermits, The Drifters and even The Peter Pan of Pop, Cliff Richard.

For those of you who were around in the swinging sixties I have listed the Top Ten for 1st January in every year of the iconic decade. For those of you who consider the 1960’s to be history pick at random one track from each year, listen to it on YouTube then realise just how much you missed out on.

A sociologist would probably tell you the 1960’s were not the best years to have lived through. There were hardships, things we take for granted today would have been beyond the wildest imagination of everyone. But there were some fantastic achievements which science and political will in  the twenty-first century could not even dream of achieving.

It is aid that if you can remember the 1960’s then you probably were not there. On the face of it that is a ridiculous statement but the deeper meaning explains how the music from the swinging sixties lives on and daws people to think they know any given song from an earlier part of their life.
The Swinging Sixties, there has never been a decade like it since and there never will be.

Child of the sixties ? In a way we are all one of them.

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1960
1.    What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Mr For
Emile Ford And The Checkmates
2.    What Do You Want ?
Adam Faith
3.    Seven Little Girls Sitting In The back Seat
Avons
4.    Oh Carol
Neil Sedaka
5.    Travellin’ Light
Cliff Richard And The Shaddows
6.    Rawhide
Frankie Laine
7.    Jingle Bell Rock
Max Bygraves
8.    Snow Coach
Russ Conway
9.    Staccato’s Theme
Elmer Bernstein
10.  Little White Bull
Tommy Steele

Chubby Chequer starts a new dance craze with The Twist
The Beatles were formed
A loaf of bread cost 5p and an average house cost £2,530

UK Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan
President of USA – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Spartacus  The Magnificent Seven  Swiss Family Robinson

FA Cup Final – Blackburn Rovers 0  Wolverhampton Wanderers 3
FA League Champions – Wolverhampton Wanderers

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1961
1.    I Love You
Cliff Richard
2.    It ‘s Now Or Never
Elvis Presley
3.    Strawberry Fair
Anthony Newley
4.    Little Donkey
Nina And Frederick
5.    Save The Last Dance For Me
The Drifters
6.    Poetry In Motion
Johnny Tillotson
7.    Lonely Pup In A Christmas Shop
Adam Faith
8.    Rocking Goose
Johnny And The Hurricanes
9.    Man Of Mystery
The Shadows
10. My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own
Connie Francis

Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space
The UK applied for membership of The Common Market – European Union
The Berlin Wall was built

UK Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan
President of USA – John F Kennedy
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – The Guns Of Navarone  West Side Story  101 Dalmatians Blue Hawaii

FA Cup Final – Tottenham Hotspurs 2  Leicester City 0
FA League Champions – Tottenham Hotspur

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1962
1.    Moon River
Danny Williams
2.    Tower Of Strength
Frankie Vaughn
3.    Midnight In Moscow
Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen
4.    Let There be Drums
Sandy Nelson
5.    Johnny Will
Pat Boone
6.    Stranger On the Shore
Acker Bilk
7.    Toy Balloons
Russ Conway
8.    Take Good Care Of My Baby
Bobby Vee
9.    My Friend the Sea
Petula Clark
10. Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
Neil Sedaka

Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday for President Kennedy
The Cuban Missile Crisis

UK Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan
President of USA – John F Kennedy
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Lawrence of Arabia  The Longest Day  Mutiny On The Bounty

FA Cup Final – Tottenham Hotspurs 3  Burnley 1
FA League Champions – Tottenham Hotspur

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1963
1.    Return To Sender
Elvis Preesley
2.    Bachelor Boy
Cliff Richard
3.    Dance On
The Shadows
4.    Dance With The Guitar Man
Duane Eddy
5.    Lovesick Blues
Frank Ifield
6.    Rocking Around The Christmas Tree
Brenda Lee
7.    Sun Arise
Rolf Harris
8.    Telstar
The Tornados
9.    Bobby’s Girl
Susan Maughn
10. Let’s Dance
Chris Montez

President John F Kennedy is assassinated
Double agent Kim Philby disappears from Beirut having defected to the Soviet Union
Charles de Gaulle, President of France, vetoes Britain’s entry into the Common Market

President of USA – John F Kennedy – Lyndon B Johnson
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – The Great Escape  Cleopatra  Sword In The Stone  Cleopatra

FA Cup Final – Manchester United 3  Leicester City 1
FA League Champions – Manchester United

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1964
1.    I Want To Hold Your Hand
The Beatles
2.    She Loves You
The Beatles
3.    You Were Made For Me
Freddie And the Dreamers
4.    Secret Love
Kathy Kirby
5.    I Only Want To Be With You
Dusty Springfield
6.    Glad All Over
The Dave Clark Five
7.    Dominique
The Singing Nun
8.    Don’t Talk To Him
Cliff Richard
9.    Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa
Gene Pitney
10. Maria Elena
Los Indos Tabajaras

Casualties in Vietnam have risen to 1,387, including 399 dead and 17 missing in action
Great Britain competes at the Olympics in Tokyo and wins 4 gold, 12 silver and 2 bronze medals

President of USA – Lyndon B Johnson
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Mary Poppins  Goldfinger  My Fair Lady  Doctor Strangelove

FA Cup Final – West Ham United 3 Preston North End 2
FA League Champions – West Ham United

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1965
1.    I Feel Fine
The Beatles
2.    Downtown
Petula Clark
3.    Walk Tall
Val Doonican
4.    I’m Gonna Be Strong
Gene Pitney
5.    I Understand
Freddie And The Dreamers
6.    I Could Easily Fall
Cliff Richard
7.    Yeh Yeh
Georgie Fame
8.    No Arms Could Ever Hold You
The Bachelors
9.    Somewhere
P J Proby
10. Terry
Twinkle

Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 31, are arrested on suspicion of running a protection racket
Sir Winston Churchill dies aged ninety

President of USA – Lyndon B Johnson
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Doctor Zhivago  The Sound Of Music  Thunderball

FA Cup Final – Liverpool 2 Leeds United 1
FA League Champions – Liverpool

1.    Day Tripper
The Beatles
2.    Wind Me Up Let me Go
Cliff Richard
3.    The River
Ken Dodd
4.    The Carnival Is Over
The Seekers
5.    Tears
Ken Dodd
6.    My Ship Is Coming In
The Walker Brothers
7.    My Generation
The Who
8.    1 – 2 – 3
Len Barry
9.    A Lovers Concerto
Toys
10. Let’s hang On
The Four Seasons

England beat West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 World Cup
Demonstrations are held across the United States against the Vietnam War

President of USA – Lyndon B Johnson
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Cathy Come Home  Born Free  Batman

FA Cup Final – Everton 3 Sheffield Wednesday 2
FA League Champions – Everton

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1967
1.    Green Green Grass Of Home
Tom Jones
2.    Sunshine Superman
Donovan
3.    Save Me
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Titch
4.    Morningtown Ride
The Seekers
5.    Dead End Street
The Kinks
6.    What Would I Be
Val Doonican
7.    Friday on My  Mind
The Easybeats
8.    What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
Jimmy Ruffin
9.    If Every Day Was Like Christmas
Elvis Presley
10. You Keep Me Hanging On
The Supremes

The Beatles release Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Summer of Love San Francisco
Sandie Shaw wins the Eurovision Song Contest, the first time the UK wins

UK Prime Minister – Harold Wilson
President of USA – Lyndon B Johnson
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Doctor Dolittle  You Only Live Twice  The Jungle Book  The Graduate

FA Cup Final – Tottenham Hotspur 2 Chelsea 1
FA League Champions – Tottenham Hotspur

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1968
1.    Hello Goodbye
The Beatles
2.    Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
3.    I’M Coming Home
Tom Jones
4.    If the Whole World Stopped Loving
Val Doonican
5.    Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart
Gene Pitney
6.    All My Love
Cliff Richard
7.    Daydream Believer
The Monkees
8.    Let The Heartaches Begin
Long John Baldry
9.    Thank You Very Much
The Scaffold
10. Walk Away Renee
The Four Tops

Boeing introduce the 747
Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King are assassinated

President of USA – Richard Nixon
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang  Where Eagles Dare  2001 A Space Odyssey  

FA Cup Final – West Bromwich Albion 1 Everton 0
FA League Champions – West Bromwich Albion

UK TOP TEN 1ST JANUARY 1969
1.    Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
Marmalade
2.    Lilly the Pink
The Scaffold
3.    Build Me Up Buttercup
The Foundations
4.    Albatross
Fleetwood Mac
5.    I’m The Urban Spaceman
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
6.    Sabre Dance
Love Sculpture
7.    Aint Got No – I Got Life
Nina Simone
8.    1-2-3 O’Lery
Des O’Conor
9.    Son Of A Preacher Man
Dusty Springfield
10. Something’s Happening
Herman’s Hermits

Apollo 11 Man lands on the moon
Concorde makes its first test flight
Woodstock attracts more than half a million people
B & Q opens its first store

UK Prime Minister – Harold Wilson
President of USA – Richard Nixon
Leader of USSR – Nikita Khrushchev

Film releases – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service  The Italian Job  Hello Dolly

FA Cup Final – Manchester City 1 Leicester City 0
FA League Champions – Manchester City

UK TOP TEN 31st December 1969
1.    Two Little Boys
Rolf Harris
2.    Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town
Kenny Rogers And The First Edition
3.    Sugar Sugar
The Archies
4.    Suspicious Minds
Elvis Presley
5.    Melting Pot
Blue Mink
6.    Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
Stevie Wonder
7.    All I Have To Do Is Dream
Bobbie Gentry And Glen Campbell
8.    Winter World Of Love
Engelbert Humperdink
9.    Tracy
Cufflinks
10. Without Love
Tom Jones


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