Top Hits of 1963

Ahh, 1963. End of junior year, beginning of senior year. Many of us began making adult decisions--about college, about love, about careers. We got our drivers' licenses. In Tom Brokaw's book, Boom!: Talking About the Sixties, he says that what we now think of as "The Sixties" really began with John Kennedy's assassination in November, 1963 and ended with Nixon's resignation in 1974. The social consciousness we associate with that decade was just getting under way. Not much social consciousness was reflected in the top songs of 1963. They were standard rock'n'roll songs about the usual teenage stuff.

1. The Ronettes, "Be My Baby"-- Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production is on full display. Ronnie Bennett, the lead singer, would later marry Spector. Wonder how that worked out?

2. The Kingsmen, "Louie, Louie"-- A frat-rock classic. Were the lyrics dirty? Who knows? Nobody could understand them.

3. The Crystals, "Da Doo Ron Ron"-- Session singer Dolores Brooks sings the lead after Crystal Darlene Love angered producer Phil Spector and was removed from the recording.

4. The Chiffons, "One Fine Day"-- Carole King had cut this as a demo of her songwriting. The Chiffons got the nod and created this irresistable summer single. King cut it two decades later and enjoyed a modest hit.

5. Stevie Wonder, "Fingertips Pt. 2"-- Everybody say YEAH! A few years ago, I won a trivia contest by knowing that this was Stevie Wonder's first hit. I was introduced to it by Jack Wallen, who played it for me when we walked home together from a summer Drivers' Ed. session.

6. Roy Orbison, "In Dreams"

7. The Drifters, "Up On The Roof"-- Another Goffin-King hit straight from the Brill Building.

8. The Surfaris, "Wipe Out"

9. The Four Seasons, "Walk Like A Man"-- Recorded in a building that was, at that time, on fire. (It's true; look it up.)

10. Lesley Gore, "It's My Party"-- The ubiquitous Phil Spector was about to record this with the Crystals, but Gore beat him to it.