
After a month of Top Tens, where I recreated the Top Ten for 26 radio stations around the US, Canada, and other parts of the world, I got to today and thought "well, fat boy, what do you do for an encore?" I considered doing the Top Tens from the Billboard Hot 100 year-end lists, starting with 1960 and working the rest of the surveys going forward until, say, 1989 (which would take me the rest of the year), but, as I looked at the songs in the Top Ten, I realized I’ve played all of those, a lot. Looking at the next ten, on the other hand, looked more interesting. I made up my mind to look at the year-end Hot 100’s, but rather than doing #1-10, I’d do #11-20. The full year-end Hot 100 for 1960 is here; here are #11-20…
#20 – Roy Orbison, "Only The Lonely": Brenda Lee’s "I’m Sorry" kept it out of the top spot on the Hot 100, while the song did reach #1 in the UK. Roy and co-writer Joe Melson wrote it, intending to sell it to Elvis or the Everly Brothers, but when neither act was interested, Roy recorded it himself.
#19 – Brian Hyland, "Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini": Reached #1 on the Hot 100 and sold a million copies, earning a gold record.
#18 – Brenda Lee, "Sweet Nothin’s": Brenda’s first Top ten hit, it reached #4 on the Hot 100 and in the UK.
#17 – Connie Francis, "My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own": By Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller, it was the followup to "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool," but didn’t cross over to the country chart. It reached #1 on the Hot 100 and #4 in the UK.
#16 – The Hollywood Argyles, "Alley Oop": Reached #1 on the Hot 100 and was The Argyles’ only Top Ten hit.
#15 – Marty Robbins, "El Paso": I was surprised that this wasn’t a Top Ten single, but regardless, it was a #1 hit on the pop and country charts.
#14 – Jack Scott, "What In The World’s Come Over You": A Canadian-American singer and songwriterJack is a member of the Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and has been called "Canada’s greatest rock & roll singer of all time." The song peaked at #5 in the US and #2 in Canada.
#13 – The Brothers Four, "Greenfields": An American folk quartet from the Seattle area, "Greenfields" peaked at #2 in the US, #40 in the UK,and #1 in Norway.
#12 – Bobby Rydell, "Wild One": Reached #2 on the Hot 100, trapped there behind Percy Faith’s "Theme From A Summer Place." This was Rydell’s biggest hit.
#11 – Connie Francis, "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool": Executives at MGM had their doubts about this record, thinking Connie was committing career suicide in Europe, but the song reached #12 in the US and the B side, "Jealous of You (Tango Della Gelosia)," was a hit in Italy.
That’s Top Ten Tuesday for May 4, 2021. Let me know what you think of this.
These were fun to listen to especially Itsy, Bitsy and Alley Oop. I love the Marty Robbins song especially.
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Classics, all….
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Hi John – this is great … thanks for giving us more to listen to … cheers Hilary
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More to come!
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Excellent top ten! I love Roy Orbison and I had forgotten about The Brothers Four, “Greenfields” – beautiful song.
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That was part of the reason I went with the “11-20” concept. The top ten from any year are going to be played fairly regularly, the next ten, not so much…
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Itsy Bitsy was covered in the UK by a children’s TV presenter in the 80s, I think. Timmy Mallet, if you’re curious.
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I found it! It sounds like he took the original record and added some sound effects and a drum track to it. Pretty funny, actually…
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John,
I’m delighted you’re using your Tuesday slot to feature another top 10 playlist. I have a lot of catching up to do this month, so your music is gonna help to make the time fly by a little easier. “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka- Dot Bikini” always makes me smile. 😀 Have a terrific Tuesday!
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Now that everything is back to normal, Top Ten Tuesday is back! Glad you like it!
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I am with AJ Blythe I adore Roy Orbison, Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini” and of course Sweet Nothings.💜
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Miss Dynamite sure has a big voice for such a petite woman…
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Yes indeed 💜
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20, 19, 17, and 16 are awesome in my book.
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Those were good, yes… Glad you liked them!
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Oooh, so there are three I like in this list. Itsy bitsy because it’s a fun song, Wild One which has lasted teh years, but I’m a huge fan of anything Roy Orbison, so Only the Lonely would be my top pick.
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Roy was something special…
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