Our Saturday Survey feature has proven to be very popular with our readers.
Each week, we run another edition of THE SUPER CHART, covering the most popular songs in America from exactly 60 YEARS AGO TODAY.
As stated numerous times in the past, we believe these charts to be the most accurate representation of popular music at the time, compiled by Randy Price using data collected from all three major music trade publications at the time: Billboard, Cash Box and Record World magazines. This cross representation helps eliminate some of the vast chart discrepancies between these publications we've seen over the years by taking into consideration the stats collected by all three, in order to better represent the TRUE popularity of this music at the time. (All three magazines used a variety of sources to calculate their data ... by combining the results of ALL of these resources, we are now able to present the best and most accurate representation of music popularity across the country.)
Sam Tallerico has been featuring music from these charts on his weekly LOST AND FOUND OLDIES program (LAFOS) every week as well ... and has recently started his own Forgotten Hits Super Chart program as well, typically an hour dedicated to playing nothing but chart hits from that week's publication.
You can listen to ALL of these programs via the link below:
https://www.mixcloud.com/LAFOS/
Sammy plays a wide selection of music from these charts, including some of the most popular records and biggest movers at the time ... along with obscurities that have fallen off the radar in the decades since. He couples all of that with a very entertaining mix of sound clips from old tv and radio programs, commercials and more. You just never know WHAT you're going to hear each week ... and this includes some songs that even I'VE never heard before!!!
Sign up to subscribe to the LAFOS Channel and you'll receive a link each week when a new program is posted.
Meanwhile, long-time Forgotten Hits Reader Clark Besch (quite the collector and musicologist himself!) recently sent out this flattering email to his list of regular readers ... and I wanted to share it with the group.
TOP 40 radio this week 60 years ago!
Hi all,
Just HAD to comment about the top 100 songs 60
years ago this week. (Don't read any further if you're not interested.)
IF you
would like to read the issue of Billboard from this week, you can go to the
below site. You will find that there is a big payola scandal hitting LA
radio as well as the untimely death of Top 40 legend, Todd Storz. You
can also see the Radio Ratings for Kansas City!
Our buddy Randy Price
has been a Cash Box aficionado for ages and has compiled the "Super
Charts," which is a combination of the three major trades, Billboard, Cash
Box, Record World, Top 100 weekly charts and I really enjoy seeing them
in the Forgotten Hits blog weekly.
With
our old radio tapes we recorded then, it's great to look back and think
about this week on the radio.
My thoughts on Randy's chart from April
25, 1964, are below as well as an east coast to west coast and Canada and
overseas chart for this week to show how much fun radio was in April,
1964. 16 charts in all!
The SUPER CHART BELOW features so many things that made Top 40 radio so great in '64:
Of
course, the fabs are in a "wave" of Beatlemania 45 releases. "Wave 1"
(#4, #20, #23, #29) is still hanging on while "Wave 2" (#1, #5, #37, #46, #47,
#85, #92, #95) is already making its mark ... and in another month, "Wave 3" will hit (with "Ain't She
Sweet and all the Hard Days Night 45s.)
Then you have lots of Brit Invasion or Brit/Beatles
influenced songs making inroads, such as TWO DC5 45s (#7, #8) in the Top 10 to
battle THREE Beatles 45s! Add the cash in at #110 from the DC5 as well.
Not
to be outdone, the SEARCHERS rank THREE songs in Top 100 as well: #14, #78,
#99! Then, there's #61, #92, #109. Another great newbie from the UK gets
their first US charter at #98 and, of course, the song we Besch boys were
sure WAS by the Beatles and shoulda been a #1 is at #39.
That's a lot of Brit Invasion music! YET, Top 40 radio
still was a wonderful hodgepodge, as usual. We had many old vets of Top
40 still getting airplay.
Elvis and a soundalike doing OK at #3, #54 and #101. Beatles influencer, Chuck Berry getting some justice at #34, #85, #89. The 4 Seasons are in a class of their own: #12, #32, #41, (as well as their upbeat hand-clapping enthusiasm heard in #45, #63, #108)
Other old vets: #2, #35, #50, #52, #66, #72, #73, #75, #83, #94
One hit wonders (mostly) included #3, #6
Varied Soul / RNB pop / ballads / Motown at #10, #16, #17, #24, #25, #30, #38, #44, #49, #51, #56, #57, #65, #67, #68, #74, #77, #79, #86, #87, #97
Girl group sounds: #9, #11, #33, #43, #69, #70, #80, #84, #91, #92, #100, #102, #107
Surf/car sounds: #13, #40, #42, #104
The big sounding pop ballads: #18, #26, #27, #28, #36, #58, #59, #60, #71, #93, #96, #100, #109
Grunge garage rock: #19. This sound was about to bust out, tho.
Twist craze: #21 (Believe me, this was not done yet. Twist contests and dances were still the rage)
Unique instrumentals: #15, #22, #31, #48, #53, #55, #76, #82, #88, #103, #105
Two songs that BOTH are re-charting after 5 years: #76, #90
Folk/country music: #62, #81, #102, #106
Novelty take offs: #64
The #1 Top 40 station in the US was WABC,
New York City. The WABC chart is pretty reflective of the Super Chart Top 10 above. All of that Top 10 is in the WABC Top 12 except the
Serendipity Singers, who are nowhere to be seen on 77's chart. No
surprise that "Hello Dolly" was #1 in NYC, as the Broadway play was huge
there at the time. The Beatles had 7 spots as one would expect, except
that "She Loves You" was still #8 and that the Capitol of Canada 45 of
"All My Loving" / "This Boy" were both listed, too. The local Jersey Boys
doing great as expected at #6 and #13. New Blue Jeans and DC5 songs can
be found here that were not on the above chart as well as the unknown
Bob Leaper, with the organ/brass driven "Sunday Morning"!! HOW did this
not chart nationally if it made WABC???
Despite being listed as the B-Sside on WLS, Do You Want To Know A Secret" tops the chart in Philly.
With a Top 99, this rivals the Hot 100, but quite different, due to their regional approach. Looks like the highest ranking below that is NOT on
the Super Chart is #36 by Brit Jackie Trent. Of course, Swan Records
was a Philly label and "She Loves You" was on it. Here, no "She Loves You is
listed, BUT "I'll Get You" pulls #39. Despite the fact that one would
think that the label would have pushed "S.L.Y." to #1 instantly on WIBG, it
took a month to reach #1 and started charting there no earlier than
nationally. Also, WIBG did not list "I'll Get You" together with "S.L.Y."
ever, only letting the B-Side flounder in the lower reaches starting in
late March.
The large amount chart allowed
for more obscure titles not seen usually: #68 is the B-Side of #109 on the
Super Chart, the RARELY seen on charts #71 followup to "My Bonnie," and also 72
"There's A Place." The Swan followup to the Sapphires' big one, months
earlier at #78. WIBG star DJ, Joe Niagara, is pictured too!
WHK in Cleveland followed WIBG's lead at #1. The great 'Party Girl" is spotted at #21, while Chicago's Ideals score with their "Mo-Gorilla" followup at #33. Meanwhile, there was no surf in Cleveland as pointed out in the '70s, but here, locals, the Chiefs, were getting chart action with their "Big Chief" surf instrumental at #39!
WKY in Oklahoma City was a station we listened to in Dodge City and was
#1 in the OKC market despite KOMA being the midwest giant 50,000
watter. You will find WKY's chart a little softer rocker type like
KLMS, with #2, #3, #4, #6 all more mellow hits of the day. Pete Seeger
giving the folk sound a big boost at #6! Altho the British sounds are
less prevalent, this is the ONLY one of these pictured charts to
list the Lennon-McCartney side "Bad To Me"!!! Local stars chart here,
too, with #33 and nearby Amarillo star, Ray Ruff in the extras.
In Tucson at KTKT, Terry Stafford was the golden ONE. The Kingsmen's hit was always near the top throughout the middle of the country. More odd Top 10s in Chris Montez and Kathy Young's #4, Santo & Johnny #7, and a local surf instrumental band at #8. Chicago's Radiants get a surprise placing at #27.
Portland's KISN was still pushing Beatles product heavily with a #1, #2 punch. The Real Don Steele was about ready to jump to BOSS RADIO KHJ in LA. Not many surprises here except the Raiders at #28.
In San Fran at KEWB, Satchmo was keeping the Brits at "bay." The
Northwest groups were polling well with the Wailers at #6 and the Raiders
jumping in at #36! The Beatles' Canadian import 45s were getting well
supplied at record stores here and future "Bend Me Shape Me" co-writer,
Scott English, was "High On A Hill" at #21!
Canada's top station, CHUM in Toronto, picked the DC5 as stars of the
chart at #1 and #3, not the fabs. BUT the Beatles DID score many more
chart hits (#4, #5, #11, #14, #39, #48), including the 100% non-US 45 released
#5 and #48 (that version, anyway). The Swinging Blue Jeans were doing much better in
Canada than the US, at #2, but "Bits & Pieces" and "Hippy Hippy
Shake" would hold those #1/#2 spots for four straight weeks before both would
drop down, keeping the Jeans out of #1 ever happening. Carly Simon
& her sister hold #22.
The UK chart matched the Beatles at #1 with Billboard's Hot 100. AMAZINGLY, there were ZERO other Beatles songs in their Top 30 (other than a Peter & Gordon song -- only released in the US this week!) Besides the many UK acts mentioned above, you also get these #8, #13, #14, #15, #18, #19, #20, #23, #25, #26, #29. Most of these became huge in the UK, but failed in the US. One big exception would be #29 by the Animals. This 45 would wait months before MGM in the US took a chance and scored big! You'd also find American Gene Pitney at #8 with a song written by the Stones!
Despite the Beatles being big in Germany before most other countries, this week in '64, found only "I Want to Hold Your Hand" finally zooming up from #11 to #2! Japan was also slow with that song, showing it only at #7. BUT, now in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, "there's a place where I can go" to find Beatle maniacs aplenty! How about those Trashmen crashing in at #12 in Australia and former "raised in Nebraskan," Robin Ward at #10 in Hong Kong!
Hope you enjoyed looking at this week's TOP 40 in 1964, 60 years ago!!!
Thanks to the ARSA site and Forgotten Hits, Billboard, Randy, and some of these from my personal collection, too.
IF you enjoy this, be sure to check out Carl Mann's new survey chart book which also covers this period of 1964 and more!
Being an admitted chartaholic, I have ALWAYS loved comparing the charts from across the country for the same week or time period to see what was hot where, what local gems other stations might be playing (that we might NEVER get to hear here in Chicago!) and then just comparing the trajectory against Billboard's or the other national charts ... who many times seemed to be a bit out of step with what was REALLY popular across the land.
I have discovered some real gems listening to Sammy's program, too. Literally, not a week goes by when I don't wind up downloading a track (or two or three) of songs I had never heard before ... but immediately grabbed my attention. (This past week's fave was "Slip-In Mules," a #48 national hit ... and a GREAT parody of "Hi-Heel Sneakers," which I have always liked (by the way, Elvis does a great version, too) ... I'd never heard it before ... but just had to have it!)
Anyway, we've heard from several other FH Readers, too, who are TOTALLY digging the weekly charts ... hope you'll all continue to check them out EVERY Saturday! (We'll keep posting them through 2026 as we look back 60 Years on all of the charts we've missed!) kk
