1960s Hits

1968 – A Wonderful Music Year!

There were so many really good sounds and songs for me to lose myself in, in 1968 (I was 22 after all)!  It was very difficult deciding between Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross, Nina Simone’s “Ain’t Got no ….”, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Take My Hand For a While” and so many more. However, 1968 was the year that I was introduced to The Moody Blues … and I loved their sound (and still play various tracks regularly). So my choice for 1968:

A musical message from 1965

This was such an easy choice, and it was not because of the selection (lack of) available from my 1965 memories. In fact there were so many really good songs released in 1965, all of which made some impact on 19 year old Colin however, evidence of WWII was still prevalent in England which, coupled with the apparent “stand-off” between the USA and (then) USSR ….. made this a very hard hitting song for an impressionable teen!

1963

1963 was a prolific year of sounds for me. It was probably no different from previous years, but I was now 17 and more receptive to the popular songs. Special mention goes to Richard Anthony “Too Late To Worry”; Brenda Lee “All Alone Am I”; The Shadows – various!; Cliff Richard “Summer Holiday”; The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron”; Tornados “Telstar”, but the one that “hit me” more than the others was probably “Wipe Out”. 

And so to 1961!

I am now 15 but, at 15, I was still a young boy who loved trains. The opposite sex was of no interest. I tolerated my two sisters and the occasional female train-spotter (but they were a rarity anyway!), so most of the UK hits in 1961 did little for me … until I heard this one. I had not been exposed to traditional jazz at that point, but really liked the “foot-tapping” beat throughout. I now added traditional jazz to my likes, and so my music interests expanded beyond classical, comedy, skiffle and close harmonies!

“To Know Him is to Love Him”

If you can remember hearing this song, then you are not young anymore! I believe it was released in 1958 and reached “No.1” in the US, and “No.2” in the UK. According to Wikipedia, it had an interesting life after The Teddy Bears had recorded it, in that it was recorded (albeit with a few word changes) by:

Dodie Stevens in 1961; Nancy Sinatra in 1962; The Shirelles in 1964; Peter & Gordon in 1965; Bobby Vinton in 1969; Jody Miller in 1972; Gary Glitter in 1973; Steeleye Span in 1974; David Bromberg in 1978; Dolly Parton/Linda Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris in 1987 (as a trio); The Beatles recorded it a number times from 1962, until eventually released in 1994 and (believe it or not), quite a few others!

I think we can conclude that it was a very successful song!

“Streets of London”

I saw Ralph McTell sing “Streets of London” at the Peterborough Folk Club back in the late 1960s, and here he is singing it 50+ years later. Not only has the song stood the “test of time” but the audience remembered it, and joined in, which was really nice. Continue reading →