Last updated 5/4/2020

Songs 1-20 are located here.

Songs 21-34 are located here.

Songs 35-50 are located here.

Songs 51-64 are located here.

The Bonus Songs (lots of them) will be posted for the World Series and the All Star Series.
They will come from several different categories – Grammy winners, debut records, and some that I just like.

Song 66

The second Top 10 hit of the year by Whitney Houston’s cousin peaked at #6 on 6/13/64 and 6/20/64.
Dionne had 18 Top 20 hits in her career, ten of which were written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
This is the stereo version.

#66 – “Walk On By” by Dionne Warwick

Song 68

Betty Everett’s only Top 20 solo hit peaked at #6 on 4/11/64 and 4/18/64.
Although it’s a solo, this record has the classic girl-group sound and is included in various girl-group collections.
The song reached the Top 40 again in 1991 on a recording by Cher.
This is the stereo version.

#68 – “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)” by Betty Everett

Song 69

The first U.S. hit for The Dave Clark Five peaked at #6 on 4/25/64.
While it was only their fourth biggest hit of the year, it’s probably the most familiar DC5 record.
Another rare stereo version from the British “Best Of” LP.

#69 – “Glad All Over” by The Dave Clark Five

Song 71

The only national hit for the Golden World label peaked at #6 on 5/30/64.
The Reflections were a white doo-wop group from Detroit.
Golden World was a small Detroit label that was eventually acquired by Motown.
This is the rare stereo mix. The Reflections’ album, which was the only one ever released by Golden World, was in mono only.

#71 – “(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet” by The Reflections

Song 74

The first Kinks single peaked at #7 on 11/28/64, 12/5/64, and 12/12/64.
Though The Kinks continued to record for over 20 years, they only had seven Top 20 records, with only two of them after 1966.
This was a mono recording. This is a DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) mix.

#74 – “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks

Song 75

The first of Gene Pitney’s two Top 10 hits of the year peaked at #7 on 10/3/64 and 10/10/64.
Pitney had moderate success as both a singer and a songwriter. Songs that he wrote for others include “Hello Mary Lou,” “He’s A Rebel,” and “Rubber Ball.”
This was a mono recording. This is a DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) mix.

#75 – “It Hurts To Be In Love” by Gene Pitney

Song 76

The only Top 10 hit by Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde peaked at #7 on 10/17/64 and 10/24/64 (right after #75).
Chad and Jeremy were more popular in America than in their native England, so they relocated here and made frequent singing and acting appearances on American TV shows.
This is the stereo version.

#76 – “A Summer Song” by Chad And Jeremy

Song 77

Roger Miller’s first Top 10 hit peaked at #7 on 8/1/64.
While Miller had only five pop Top 10 hits, he had 42 Country hits over 25 years. He also wrote the songs for the 1985 Broadway musical “Big River.”
This record won 1964 Grammy Awards for Best Country & Western Vocal Performance – Male, Best Country & Western Song, and Best Country & Western Album.
This is the stereo version.

#77 – “Dang Me” by Roger Miller

Song 93

The second Top 10 hit for that other Liverpool group peaked at #9 on 9/5/64.
This song, written by Mitch Murray, was supposed to be The Beatles’ first single. However, they convinced producer George Martin that they should only release songs that they had written as singles.
Martin gave the song to another group managed by Brian Epstein, Gerry and the Pacemakers, who mostly used The Beatles’ arrangement for their recording. It went to #1 in England.
This is the stereo version.

#93 – “How Do You Do It?” by Gerry and the Pacemakers

What would The Beatles’ version have sounded like? Exactly like this.
A mono recording from September 1962, finally released in 1995. Curiously, The Beatles’ version doesn’t use the question mark in the title, while Gerry’s does.

“How Do You Do It” by The Beatles

Song 100

Another surf/car hit by a one-hit group peaked at #9 on 10/31/64.
Beach Boys collaborator Gary Usher produced this studio group, which had its only Top 40 hit with this Brian Wilson song from the Beach Boys’ “All Summer Long” album.
This is the stereo version.

#100 – “Little Honda” by The Hondells

What did The Beach Boys’ version sound like? Exactly like this.
Capitol Records, probably annoyed that somebody else had a Top 10 hit with a Beach Boys song, released the group’s only Extended Play 45, “Four By The Beach Boys,” on 9/21/64. “Little Honda” was the featured song on the EP and peaked at #65 on the Hot 100 (EP 45s were treated like regular singles on the charts).

#458 – “Little Honda” by The Beach Boys

The rest of the Bonus Songs didn’t make the Top 100, but include some new artists and some old ones as well.
But before we continue…

Top Album of 1964

The #1 album of 1964 was “A Hard Day’s Night, Original Motion Picture Sound Track” by The Beatles on United Artists Records. It was #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart for 14 weeks.
Strangely, you haven’t been able to buy that very popular album for years. It was the American version, with eight Beatles recordings in fake stereo and four instrumentals. The British version of the album, with thirteen songs in true stereo, is the standard version today. The 2014 CD release of the United Artists album uses true stereo recordings.
Three Beatles albums reached #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in 1964, and they occupied the top spot for a total of 30 weeks.

Back to the Bonus Songs:

Song 106

Chuck Berry’s next-to-last Top 10 record peaked at #10 on 7/11/64.
Recognizing the change that was taking place in the music business, the album containing this song was titled “St. Louis To Liverpool.”
This is the stereo version.

#106 – “No Particular Place To Go” by Chuck Berry

Song 111

The first chart single by Four Tops peaked at #11 on 10/3/64.
Yeah, it’s actually “Four Tops,” not “The Four Tops.”
They had 14 Top 20 hits before leaving Motown in 1972, but only four after that.
This is the stereo version, from a high-resolution digital download of the original album.

#111 – “Baby I Need Your Loving” by Four Tops

Song 113

The first chart single by The Temptations peaked at #11 on 4/11/64.
The Temps accumulated 24 Top 20 hits over 22 years, including four #1 records.
This is the stereo version.

#113 – “The Way You Do The Things You Do” by The Temptations

Song 125

Dusty Springfield’s first solo single peaked at #12 on 3/14/64.
Though not her biggest hit of the year, this one has been covered more often by other artists.
This is the best of several recent stereo mixes.

#125 – “I Only Want To Be With You” by Dusty Springfield

Song 128

The first of three Top 20 hits by The Searchers peaked at #13 on 4/11/64, 4/18/64, and 4/25/64.
It’s worth noting that this was the only British Invasion hit to be co-written by Sonny Bono.
This is the stereo version.

#128 – “Needles And Pins” by The Searchers

Song 129

The first chart hit by Peter Noone’s group peaked at #13 on 12/12/64 and 12/19/64.
The Hermits had eleven Top 10 hits in their first three years.
As was the case with other acts that were produced by Mickie Most, Hermits hits were originally released in mono. True stereo mixes, like this one, were finally released in recent years.

#129 – “I’m Into Something Good” by Herman’s Hermits

Song 134

The biggest pop hit by Jack Jones peaked at #14 on 1/11/64.
Another Bacharach/David song. You don’t hear this one much any more, because you can’t get away with these lyrics today.
1963 Grammy Award winner for Best Vocal Performance, Male. (The Grammys use year of release, not year of highest chart position. The #9 record of 1965 won a 1964 Grammy for Best Rock & Roll Recording.)
This is the stereo version.

#134 – “Wives And Lovers” by Jack Jones

Song 188

The last Top 40 hit for The Ronettes peaked at #23 on 12/5/64 and 12/12/64.
This was just about the end of the line for Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” records.
This is the rare stereo mix.

#188 – “Walking In The Rain” by The Ronettes

Song 235

This Elvis movie song peaked at #29 on 6/13/64.
Even though Elvis Presley had turned to movies by this time, he still had eight Top 40 records in 1964.
Though not his biggest hit of the year, this one has become more popular over time.
This is the stereo version.

#235 – “Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis Presley

Song 241

One of the most popular movie themes ever peaked at #31 on 5/9/64 and 5/16/64.
The famous tenor sax solo was played by Plas Johnson, one of the best-known studio and jazz players of the past 60 years.
1964 Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Performance – Non-Jazz, Best Instrumental Composition (Other Than Jazz), and Best Instrumental Arrangement.
This is the stereo version.

#241 – “The Pink Panther Theme” by Henry Mancini