600 Dee Dee Sharp (1945- ) “Mashed Potato Time” 1962

“While [Bobby] Rydell was matched with [Chubby] Checker in a pairing of white and black teen idols, the new twist king also interacted with a female dance song queen, North Philadelphian Dione LaRue, who was transformed from a church vocalist in a home where dancing was forbidden into Dee Dee Sharp…Dee Dee and Chubby quickly became the king and queen of dance songs” (Victor Brooks, Last Season of Innocence: The Teen Experience of the 1960s, 2012). 

Dee Dee Sharp “Mashed Potato Time”

599 Pete Seeger (1919-2014) “Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There Is A Season)” 1962

“ABC-TV launched a new series, Hootenanny, to showcase folk-revival artists such as the New Christy Minstrels and Judy Collins. Pete Seeger would’ve seemed an obvious choice for an appearance - he was the living embodiment of folk music in America - but ABC would not book him. In May 1963, Hootenanny producer Richard Lewine insisted the show's refusal had nothing to do with a blacklist. ‘Pete Seeger,’ Lewine said, ‘just can't hold an audience.’ … ABC later offered to reconsider booking Seeger if he would sign a loyalty oath. The embargo of Seeger did the show damage: Baez, Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary all refused to appear on Hootenanny as a result, and the show went off the air in 1964” (Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 2/27/2014). 

Pete Seeger “Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There Is A Season)”

598 Neil Sedaka (1939- ) “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” 1962

“during Sedaka's first flush of success, a controlling mother and her boyfriend squandered close to half a million dollars of the singer's fortune while giving him a pittance of an allowance, even when he was as old as 23” (Record Collector, Dec. 2013). 

Neil Sedaka “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”

597 David Rose (1910-1990) and his Orchestra “The Stripper” 1962

“In 1958, the British composer of light instrumental music David Rose had written ‘The Stripper’ as the theme song for the popular television show Burlesque. But ‘The Stripper’ did not become a hit until…Los Angeles DJ Robert Q. Lewis played and replayed ‘The Stripper’ on his show on WKHJ…’The Stripper’ was, you could say, a musical version of a striptease gimmick. It quickly became the new soundtrack for striptease, surpassing the Tin Pan Alley and blues standards that strippers had favored” (Rachel Shteir, Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show, 2004). 

David Rose and his Orchestra “The Stripper”

596 The Rooftop Singers “Walk Right In” 1962

“Cashing in on the folk music revival of the early 60s, the Rooftop Singers were a trio specifically assembled for the purpose of recording a single son, ‘Walk Right in’, originally recorded in 1930 by Gus Cannon And The Jugstompers.” Erik Darling (1933-2008), who formed the group, had “replaced Pete Seeger in the Weavers in 1958, remaining with them for four years” (The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 2006). 

The Rooftop Singers “Walk Right In”

595 Smokey Robinson (1940- ) and the Miracles “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” 1962

“We set out to…make music for people of all races and nationalities. Not to make black music—we just wanted to make good music that would be acceptable in all circles.… All we were doing, man, was just putting good songs on good tracks, songs that anybody could relate to.… We had good, solid songs that would fit your particular life situation if you were white or Oriental or Chicano or whatever you happened to be” (Smokey Robinson, qtd. in Contemporary Black Biography, 2005). 

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”

594 Cliff Richard (1940- ) and the Shadows “The Young Ones” 1962

The song is the title track to the film, “The Young Ones,” starring Cliff Richard. “Cliff, like his character in the film, Bongo Herbert, became a pioneer of melding rock ‘n’ roll with traditional popular music, allowing him an extended career as more than simply a rock ‘n’ roll singer” (K. J. Donnelly, Journal of Popular Film & Television, Winter 1998). 

Cliff Richard and the Shadows “The Young Ones”

593 Elvis Presley (1935-1977) “Good Luck Charm” 1962

“when he was doing the stuff with these Nashville pickers, the creativity wasn’t there. They would sit around and read music or do that crude numbers thing [a rough chord chart and musical shorthand known as the Nashville Numbers System], and that’s the way it would come out. And because there was no real creativity, after a while, Elvis just lost his fire in the studio” (Alanna Nash, Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia, 1995). 

Elvis Presley “Good Luck Charm”

592 Gene Pitney (1940-2006) “Only Love Can Break a Heart” 1962

“In 1961,...you had to know how to sing. You couldn't just caterwaul, mewl or look pretty and hope for the best from the recording engineer; you had to have a real voice. Nowhere was the competition fiercer than on street corners and subway platforms in the Northeast, where turf battles were fought daily with rhythm and pitch and harmony and the neighborhood referees had ears tougher than those of any ‘American Idol’ panel. The singers left standing, boy-kings like Dion, Frankie Valli and Lou Christie, had serious vocal chops, usually fermented in rampant hormones, two-pack-a-day habits and residual hot-dog brine. Gene Pitney was the David among these Goliaths. He grew up not in the city but in the Connecticut exurbs. His hair was always neatly combed. He went to college. He married his longtime sweetheart and stayed married to her. He looked as if he'd be more comfortable in a choir than on a rock-'n'-roll tour bus. But when he opened his mouth to sing, the playing field was leveled” (Rob Hoerburger, New York Times Magazine, 12/31/2006).

Gene Pitney “Only Love Can Break a Heart”

591 Bobby Pickett (1938-2007) and the Crypt-Kickers “Monster Mash” 1962

Novelty songwriter Gary Paxton (1939-2016) “produced Monster Mash for Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett, a Boris Karloff imitator…Paxton added such atmospheric sound effects as a creaking door, created by pulling a nail from a piece of wood, and bubbling laboratory noises. Within two months the record had sold a million and by Halloween 1962 it had reached No 1 in the US…it was reissued several times and—though it was initially banned by the BBC as ‘too morbid’—reached No 3 in Britain in 1973” (The Daily Telegraph (London), 7/30/2016). 

Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers “Monster Mash”

590 Peter, Paul and Mary “Lemon Tree” 1962

“by the time that [Manager Albert] Grossman “and Peter [Yarrow] (1938- ) went looking for Mary [Travers] (1936-2009), they found Paul [Stookey] (1937- )working as her accompanist. Eventually the three singers met in Mary’s apartment to see what they sounded like. ‘It was seven months before we came out in our first gig,’ says Mary. ‘Seven miserable, beautiful months! Rehearsal after rehearsal, wrong notes, bad tempers, oh, sure we fought, but everybody does, just like a family, but with this underlying love for each other. Then at the end, everything made sense”(Alfred Aronowitz, Marshall Blonsky, Saturday Evening Post, 5/30/1964).

Peter, Paul and Mary “Lemon Tree”

589 Peter Yarrow (1938- ), Paul Stookey (1937- ) and Mary Travers (1936-2009) “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” 1962

Peter Yarrow: “Sure, some critics call us commercial…It would be hypocritical for us to sing any other way than we do. We’ve got only three things to contribute: our musical taste, our regard for the folk tradition and our ability to communicate something in our singing. If they want to call us show biz, then let ‘em call us show biz. But if we’re show business, we’re something different, we’re show business with morals”  (Alfred Aronowitz, Marshall Blonsky, Saturday Evening Post, 5/30/1964). 

Peter, Paul and Mary “If I Had a Hammer”

588 Paul and Paula “Hey Paula” 1962

“The story is that Ray Hidebrand (1940- ) and Jill Jackson (1942- ), two young students at Howard Payne College, drove to Fort Worth from Brownsville and showed up at the studio on a day when the scheduled singer didn’t show. They played Major Bill Smith their song ‘Hey Paula’; Smith decided to record it on the spot, and issued it on Le Cam credited to ‘Jill and Ray.’ Mercury Records picked it up for national distribution on their Philips subsidiary but decided to change their names to ‘Paul and Paula’” (Martin Kohout, The Handbook of Texas Music, 2012). 

Paul and Paula “Hey Paula”

587 The Orlons “The Wah-Watusi” 1962

“The Orlons formed in 1960 in Philadelphia. Stephen Caldwell (1942- ) said he got his introduction to music at church, singing in choirs starting at an early age. He and original members Rosetta Hightower (1944-2014), Shirley Brickley (1944-1977) and Marlena Davis (1944-1993) all grew up in the same neighborhood. ‘We used to sing together during parties at each other’s houses,’ Caldwell said. The girls, along with Brickley’s sisters Audrey and Jane, had started an all-girl group called Little Audrey and the Teenettes in the early 1950s. However, the Brickley’s mother wouldn’t let Audrey sing in a club, so she and Jean left. Shirley Brickley, Davis and Hightower joined up with Caldwell and set out to make it big” (Kristen Gaydos, The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 10/30/2014). 

The Orlons “The Wah-Watusi”

586 Chris Montez (1943- ) “Let’s Dance” 1962

“One of my first regional hits was a ballad, and I really wanted to do that style; the ‘Let’s Dance’ situation didn’t feel right to me at first. There was a female bass player [Carol Kaye] and that made me uncomfortable. I’d never seen one before. So I said to her, ‘I want that bouncy bass sound like Ritchie Valens,’ and she said, ‘I just did his whole album.’ I said ‘You gotta be kidding,’ and I just fell into the groove. I’d never heard of a Mexican rocker before Ritchie Valens, and I want to emulate him to the fullest” (Brett Milano, Offbeat, Oct. 2013). 

Chris Montez “Let’s Dance”

585 Little Esther Phillips (1935-1984) “Release Me” 1962

“Born Esther Mae Washington in Galveston, Texas and raised in the Watts area of Los Angeles, she made her musical debut at 12 on an amateur night show at the Barrel House, an L. A. Club operated by rhythm ‘n’ blues promoter Johnny Otis. Her only singing experience had been in the sanctified church but her sister and friend wanted money to buy some white port and lemon juice, the drinking rage in Watts in 1948…Otis was so impressed he allowed her to tag along with his troupe when they were cutting a record. There was some space and time left over so Otis improvised a tune about lady bears in the forest which Esther sang on the spot. They made only one take and the song Double Crossing Blues, sold a million, launching the bright-eyed youngster on an unexpected career as an entertainer” (Phyl Garland, Ebony, Oct. 1972).  

Little Esther Phillips “Release Me”

584 Little Eva (1943-2003) “The Loco-Motion” 1962

“Perhaps the most famous babysitter in the history of rock’n’roll, Little Eva got her big break when her songwriting employers asked her to record one of their songs. Eva Narcissus Boyd was born in 1945 in Bellhaven, North Carolina, and had 15 brothers and sisters. She moved to New York to complete her education. Eva became the regular babysitter for Louise Goffin, daughter of songwriters team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin…Carole King was working out a song on the piano one day when Eva began a dance step, giving Gerry Goffin the idea for some lyrics. The result was a dance song, The Loco-Motion” (The Herald (Glasgow), 4/14,2003). 

Little Eva “The Loco-Motion”

583 The Limeliters “Those Were the Days” 1962

“Founded in 1959, the Limeliters—comprising Glenn Yarbrough on vocals and guitar, Alex Hassilev on vocals and Lou Gottlieb on vocals and bass—was a contemporary folk group in the tradition of the Kingston Trio. Known for their burnished tight harmonies, sophisticated if nontraditional arrangements and witty onstage banter, the Limeliters were wildly successful. Amid the folk revival of the 1960s, they appeared often on television and in live performance, sold records by the hundreds of thousands and became millionaires in the bargain…In 1963, Mr. Yarbrough, restless, left the Limeliters, and the group disbanded. An ardent sailor, he intended to spend the next decade at sea but was persuaded by his record label, RCA Victor, to record solo albums instead” (Margalit Fox, The New York Times, 8/13/2016). 

The Limeliters “Those Were the Days”

582 Janis Joplin (1943-1970) “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do” 1962

“Janis liked the excitement of life on the edge, living between the known and unknown. Where Port Arthur may have formed her impulses, only in Austin did she get to test her wings and practice her style. Austin tutored her in performing, gave her the necessary support and recognition, and shaped her Texas-style public satire. Janis’s life in Austin was the proper jumping-off point for her” (Laura Joplin, Love, Janis, 2005). 

Janis Joplin “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do”

581 The Isley Brothers “Twist and Shout” 1962

“The Isleys’ second hit, in 1962, was ‘Twist and Shout’ (later popularized by The Beatles); the next notable event in the band’s history was the addition, in 1964, of a hot young guitarist who went by the name of Jimmy James. This, of course, was Jimi Hendrix, who recorded his first sides with the Isleys” (Blair Jackon, Mix, 2003).

The Isley Brothers “Twist and Shout”