Ultimate Hits of the 60s

Attention!!!

I welcome you all to the golden era of music. Some hate the 80s and some hate the 70s. Everyone hates the 2010s but no one really dislikes the 1960s. The 1960s is when the modern music revolution took place with the likes of The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Supremes and Aretha Franklin. The foundation for mainstream pop was established, rock and roll took on new forms and the Motown sound took charts by storm. Although my favourite decade is the 90s and thereafter the 2000s, I've always had a special place for the 1960s for making the music industry for what it is today. 

The bands were more or less named after some random collaboration like for the males: The Marcels, The Foundations, The Monkees, The Zombies etc. and for the females: The Chiffons, The Dixie Cups, The Crystals, The Shirelles etc. What is evident from this era is that bands had more to do with being established than solo artists and also mixed bands were quite rare other than those formed by families such as Sly & The Family Stone. The doo-wop style was extremely popular during this era along with Jazz, Blues and Soul music. 

This list is a compilation of the greatest hits released between 1960-1969 by different artists and bands with the exception of a very few artists having collaborated on songs. I have deliberately excluded other double entries for the sole purpose of providing space for one-hit wonders and to prevent artists or bands such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Chubby Checker, Tom Jones and The Everly Brothers from having double entries. Therefore, painstakingly I have had to research and find out the best song released by these artists and bands. Thus, these are the Ultimate Hits of the 60s based on chart performance as well as accolades received. 

1. The Beatles – Hey Jude
2. Chubby Checker – The twist
3. The Monkees – I’m a believer
4. The Supremes – Baby love
5. The Archies – Sugar, sugar
6. Elvis Presley – It’s now or never
7. The Beach Boys – Good vibrations
8. The Everly Brothers – Cathy’s clown
9. Aretha Franklin – Respect
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Proud Mary
11. Mary Hopkins – Those were the days
12. The Ronettes – Be my baby
13. Tom Jones – Green, green grass of home
14. Manfred Mann – Do wah diddy diddy
15. Roy Orbison – Oh pretty woman
16. Sonny & Cher – I got you babe
17. The Rolling Stones – Paint it, black
18. The Shirelles – Will you love me tomorrow
19. Cliff Richard – Congratulations
20. Engelbert Humperdinck – Release me
21. Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra – Somethin’ stupid
22. Marvin Gaye – I heard it through the grape vine
23. The Troggs – Wild thing  
24. Bob Dylan – Like a rolling stone
25. Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs.Robinson
26. Bobby Lewis – Tossin’ and turnin’
27. Kyu Sakamoto – Sukiyaki
28. Del Shannon – Runaway
29. Peter and Gordon – A world without love
30. The Four Seasons – Rag doll
31. Cilla Black – You’re my world
32. Little Eva – The loco-motion
33. Nancy Sinatra – These boots are made for walking
34. The Shadows – Apache
35. Ray Charles – I can’t stop loving you
36. Four Tops – Reach out, I’ll be there
37. Cliff Richard & The Shadows – The young ones
38. The Drifters – Save the last dance for me
39. Lesley Gore – It’s my party
40. Ben E. King – Stand by me
41. Dusty Springfield – You don’t have to say you love me
42. Righteous Brothers – Unchained melody
43. Louis Armstrong – What a wonderful world
44. The Mamas & the Papas – Monday, Monday
45. Young Rascals – Groovin’
46. Lulu – To sir, with love
47. The Byrds – Mr.Tambourine Man
48. Brenda Lee – I’m sorry
49. Connie Francis – Everybody’s somebody’s fool
50. Petula Clark – Downtown
51. The Animals – The house of the rising sun
52. The Marvelettes – Please Mr.Postman
53. The Dave Clark Five – Glad all over
54. The Chiffons – He’s so fine
55. The Kingsmen – Louie Louie
56. The Marcels – Blue moon
57. The Seekers – I’ll never find another you 
58. Roger Miller – King of the road
59. Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs – Sugar shack
60. Dean Martin – Everybody loves somebody
61. Bobby Vee – Take good care of my baby
62. The Cascades – The rhythm of the rain
63. Jim Reeves – He’ll have to go
64. Percy Faith – Theme from a Summer Place
65. Martha and the Vandellas – Dancing in the street
66. The Tornados – Telstar
67. Ken Dodd – Tears
68. The Kinks – You really got me   
69. Dionne Warwick – Walk on by
70. The Crystals – Da doo ron ron
71. The Temptations – My girl
72. Percy Sledge – When a man loves a woman
73. Jimmy Dean – Big bad John 
74. The 5^th Dimension – Aquarius/Let the sunshine in
75. Frank Ifield – I remember you
76. Jerry Butler & Betty Everett – Let it be me
77. The Tremeleos – Silence is golden
78. Bobby Vinton – Roses are red (my love)
79. Sandie Shaw – (There’s) always something there to remind me
80. The Moody Blues – Go now
81. The Searchers – Needles and pins
82. Lou Christie – Lightnin’ strikes
83. The Tokens – The lion sleeps tonight
84. Betty Everett – The shoop shoop song (It’s in his kiss)
85. The Hollies – Stop, stop, stop
86. The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the city
87. Joe South – Games people play
88. Acker Bilk – Stranger on the shore
89. The Doors – Light my fire
90. Sly & The Family Stone – Everyday people
91. The Foundations – Build me up buttercup
92. Peter, Paul and Mary – Leaving on a jet plane
93. The Dixie Cups – Chapel of love
94. Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders – Game of love
95. Bobby Goldsboro – Honey
96. Skeeter Davis – The end of the world
97. Gerry and the Pacemakers – You’ll never walk alone
98. The Turtles – Happy together
99. The Boxtops – The letter
100. The Shangri-las – Leader of the pack
101. Tommy Roe – Sheila
102. Herb Alpert – This guy’s in love with you
103. Danny Williams – Moon river
104. Dick and Dee Dee – The mountain’s high
105. Glen Campbell – Galveston
106. The Angels – My boyfriend’s back
107. Mary Wells – My guy
108. Barry Sadler – Ballad of the Green Berets
109. Bobbie Gentry – Ode to Billie Joe
110. Lonnie Donegan – My old man’s a dustman
111. Otis Redding – (Sittin’ on) the dock of the bay
112. Joe Cocker – With a little help from my friends
113. Gary Lewis & the Playboys – This diamond ring
114. Brian Hyland – Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini
115. Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas – Bad to me
116. The Association – Cherish
117. Paul Mauriat – Love is blue
118. Ike & Tina Turner – River deep - mountain high
119. Ricky Valance – Tell Laura I love her
120. James Brown – I got you (I feel good)
121. Rolf Harris – Tie me kangaroo down, sport
122. The Contours – Do you love me
123. Harry Nilsson – Everybody’s talkin’
124. Tammi Terrell & Marvin Gaye – Ain’t no mountain high enough
125. Big Brother and the Holding Company – Piece of my heart
126. The Who – I can see for miles
127. Chuck Berry – You never can tell
128. Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair)
129. The Zombies – She’s not there
130. Bobby Darin – Things
131. Sam Cooke – Chain gang
132. John Lennon – Give peace a chance
133. Pat Boone – Speedy Gonzales  
134. Jimmy Jones – Handy man
135. Gary Puckett & The Union Gap – Young girl
136. Eddie Cochran – Three steps to heaven
137. Frankie Vaughan – Tower of strength
138. John Leyton – Johnny remember me
139. Herman’s Hermits – I’m into something good
140. Paula and Paula – Hey Paula
141. Buddy Holly – Bo Diddley
142. Jewel Akens – The birds and the bees
143. Shirley Bassey – Goldfinger
144. Gene McDaniels – A hundred pounds of clay
145. Marmalade – Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
146. Helen Shapiro – Walkin’ back to happiness
147. Johnny Preston – Cradle of love
148. Johnny Rivers – Poor side of town
149. Patsy Cline – I fall to pieces
150. Peggy Lee – Is that all there is?

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Top 20 Songs About Being Young

Attention!!!

We may be growing old but all of us want to be young at heart. Maturity is a pretty subjective characteristic, as the most mature person can end up doing the most juvenile thing. There are songs about being young and the experiences one goes through when you were a kid. I have excluded those songs which reminisce the thought of how it felt to be young, because those are downright depressing. We have Fun. ft. Janelle Monae's We Are Young at the helm which although I am not crazy about actually sums up how the lives of today's youth are led. This is followed by the anthem, Young, Wild & Free by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars. 

These songs are more or less based in pop with several rock and R&B songs and two indie and one EDM. Kesha is the only artist with two entries. I placed Jay-Z ft. Mr.Hudson's Forever Young which is a sampled version of Alphaville's original of the same name on higher position as I believed Jay-Z's rap verses are more relevant to our times. Songs like I'm Just A Kid, Cool Kids and Teenagers are more about what you go through when you are young. So here are the best songs about being young:

1. Fun. ft. Janelle Monae – We are young
2. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars – Young, wild & free
3. Kesha – Die young
4. The Corrs – So young
5. Jay-Z ft. Mr.Hudson – Forever young
6. Tulisa Contostavlos – Young
7. Avril Lavigne – Here’s to never growing up
8. Rod Stewart – Forever young
9. Hardwell ft. Chris Jones – Young again
10. Simple Plan – I’m just a kid
11. Kesha ft. will.i.am – Crazy kids
12. Wheatus – Teenage dirtbag
13. My Chemical Romance – Teenagers
14. Echosmith – Cool kids
15. One Direction – Live while we’re young
16. Bob Dylan – Forever young
17. Katy Perry – Teenage dream
18. MGMT – Kids
19. The Undertones – Teenage kicks
20. Alphaville – Forever young 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Best Songs with a Social/Political Message

Attention!!!

There are some songs which are so bad that they end up on the worst songs lists like mine. Then there are those songs which are cheesy love songs and about petty breakups. However, certain artists and bands focus on something much more. They convey social messages and make political statements and when these songs enter the mainstream through popular artists and bands, they have a significant impact. The King of Pop is definitely the main contributor to this niche as he has three entries in this list and we all know that it was Michael Jackson who wrote We Are The World which claims the top spot. Whilst there are certain differences between the original and the cover by 25 for Haiti they both carry the same message. Other artists and bands with more than one entry are Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bob Marley, Pink, Kelly Clarkson and Bob Dylan.

1. USA for Africa/25 for Haiti – We are the world
2. Michael Jackson – Heal the world
3. Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the wind
4. Black Eyed Peas – Where is the love?
5. Pink – Fuckin’ perfect
6. Michael Jackson – Earth song
7. Lady Gaga – Born this way
8. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert – Same love
9. Michael Jackson – Black or white
10. Artists Stand Up to Cancer – Just stand up
11. Joni Mitchell – Big yellow taxi
12. TLC – Unpretty
13. Marvin Gaye – What’s going on
14. U2 ft. Mary J. Blige – One
15. Kelly Clarkson – People like us
16. Bob Marley – Redemption song
17. Avicii – Hey brother
18. Suzanne Vega – Luka
19. My Chemical Romance – Teenagers
20. The Cranberries – Zombie
21. Pink – Dear Mr. President
22. Dixie Chicks – Not ready to make nice
23. John Lennon – Imagine
24. Pink Floyd – Another brick in the wall Part II
25. Midnight Oil – Beds are burning
26. Phil Collins – Another day in paradise
27. Rise Against – Make it stop (September’s children)
28. Lily Allen – Fuck you
29. Shania Twain – Kaching
30. The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
31. Snoop Lion ft. Drake & Cori B. – No guns allowed
32. Beyonce – Pretty hurts
33. Green Day – American idiot
34. Lady Gaga ft. R.Kelly – Do what u want
35. Bob Dylan – Ballad of Hollis Brown
36. Christina Aguilera – Beautiful
37. Miguel – Candles in the sun
38. Kelly Clarkson – Dark side
39. Cyndi Lauper – True colours
40. Tracy Chapman – Talkin’ bout a revolution
41. Sarah Brightman – Shall be done
42. J.Cole ft. TLC – Crooked smile    
43. Dolly Parton – 9 to 5
44. Boyzone – A different beat
45. Jessie J ft. B.o.B – Price tag
46. Bob Marley – One love
47. Woody Guthrie – This land is your land
48. Madonna – Papa don’t preach
49. Pink – Stupid girls
50. Beyonce – I was here

Till the next composition…

At Ease!!!