Last updated 5/4/2020
Song 51
The Drifters’ last Top 10 record peaked at #4 on 8/22/64.
The Drifters had four different lead singers over the years. This one is Johnny Moore.
This is the stereo version.
#51 – “Under The Boardwalk” by The Drifters
Song 52
The third Top 10 hit by The Dave Clark Five peaked at #4 on 7/18/64.
The group had six Top 15 records in 1964.
More rare stereo from the British “Best Of” LP.
#52 – “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” by The Dave Clark Five
Song 53
The first chart hit by The Shangri-Las peaked at #5 on 9/26/64, 10/3/64, and 10/10/64.
The group had four Top 20 hits in 1964 and 1965.
This is a rare stereo mix.
#53 – “Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)” by The Shangri-Las
Song 54
The biggest hit by Major Lance peaked at #5 on 2/8/64 and 2/15/64.
Most of Lance’s records, including this one, were written by Curtis Mayfield of The Impressions.
This is the stereo version.
#54 – “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um” by Major Lance
Song 55
Barbra Streisand’s only Top 30 record of the 1960s peaked at #5 on 6/27/64 and 7/4/64.
This was the 1964 Grammy Award winner for Best Vocal Performance, Female.
At 3:39, it’s the only record on the entire list to exceed three minutes.
Babs is the only artist on the list who is still recording for a major label today, and it’s still the same label, Columbia.
This is the stereo version.
#55 – “People” by Barbra Streisand
Song 56
Bobby Freeman’s second and last Top 20 record peaked at #5 on 8/29/64 and 9/5/64.
Bobby’s other #5 hit, “Do You Want To Dance,” had charted six years earlier.
This record was written and produced by 21-year-old San Francisco disk jockey Sylvester Stewart, who would later become better known as Sly Stone.
This is a mono recording.
#56 – “C’mon And Swim” by Bobby Freeman
Song 57
The second Bossa Nova hit by Stan Getz peaked at #5 on 7/18/64 and 7/25/64.
Getz and Charlie Byrd had reached #15 with “Desafinado” in 1962. Both that song and this one were written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
The album from which this came, “Getz/Gilberto,” featured Getz on tenor saxophone, guitarist Joao Giberto, and pianist Jobim.
The singer, Astrud Gilberto, was then Joao’s wife, and she had never sung professionally prior to this recording. This was her only single hit, but she went on to record eight solo albums for Verve Records.
The single version was the 1964 Grammy Award winner for Record Of The Year. The album also won Grammys for Album Of The Year and Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual Or Group.
This is the stereo single version.
#57 – “The Girl From Ipanema” by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto
Song 58
A duet that was one of the biggest hits for either artist peaked at #5 on 11/7/64.
This was the bigger of Betty Everett’s two Top 20 records (the other one is coming next week).
Despite a long career, Jerry Butler only reached the Top 10 three times, and this was his second-biggest hit.
The Everly Brothers had the other Top 30 version of this song in 1960, peaking at #7.
(Everett – Everly? They’re one page apart in my Billboard book…)
This is the stereo version.
#58 – “Let It Be Me” by Betty Everett and Jerry Butler
Song 59
The Honeycombs’ only Top 40 record peaked at #5 on 11/14/64, the week after #58.
Strange but true: this British group’s drummer was a woman, the sister of the bass player.
This was a mono recording. This is a DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) mix.
#59 – “Have I The Right?” by The Honeycombs
Song 60
The first Beach Boys record of the year peaked at #5 on 3/21/64.
It was only their fourth Top 10 record, but they’d have nine more in the next three years, including three that went to #1.
This song and Song #10 are two of my favorite Beach Boys records.
This is the 2013 stereo remix, much better than the older stereo mix.
#60 – “Fun, Fun, Fun” by The Beach Boys
Song 61
Yet another one-hit beach group peaked at #5 on 2/29/64.
These guys were not exactly California – they were teenagers from South Bend, Indiana.
Their record label was also called Riviera, and they appear to have been the label’s only artist.
This was a mono recording. This is a DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) mix.
#61 – “California Sun” by The Rivieras
Song 62
The Rolling Stones’ first Top 20 hit peaked at #6 on 12/5/64, 12/12/64, and 12/19/64.
Just six months later, they would have the biggest hit of their career, and one of the biggest of 1965 (I’m not giving anything away yet).
By 1989, they would have 23 Top 10 records and eight #1 records. And three of them are still performing today!
This is the stereo version.
#62 – “Time Is On My Side” by The Rolling Stones
Song 63
The second-biggest hit by Anthony Gourdine and his group peaked at #6 on 12/26/64, 1/2/65, and 1/9/65.
Anthony isn’t that little – he’s 5 feet 9 inches – but Alan Freed gave him the name.
Though it wasn’t one of the biggest hits of the year, I think that it’s one of the ten best records of the 1960s.
This is the stereo version. It is a different vocal from the mono single, but it’s hard to tell the difference.
#63 – “Goin’ Out Of My Head” by Little Anthony and the Imperials
Song 64
Mary O’Brien’s first Top 10 record peaked at #6 on 8/1/64.
Mary and her brother Tom had formed a folk trio called The Springfields and took that as their stage last name. Mary apparently decided to switch to Dusty as her first name.
Dusty recorded a lot of Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs, but mostly for her albums. Only two of them (this one and “The Look Of Love”) charted on the Hot 100.
Dusty’s first solo hit will be a bonus song.
This is the stereo version.
#64 – “Wishin’ And Hopin'” by Dusty Springfield