Acclaimed Music Top 20 Songs of 1961

Stand by Ben

This is a kind of "history of music" project, based on aggregated charts found on Acclaimed Music. It features Top 20 playlists for decades 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and yearly Top 20 playlists (both songs and albums) for each year from 1960 to 2010. It's a weekly project.

This week, our Delorean drives us back to 1961. It's the year of the classic Stand By Me, a title that I automatically associate with another King. Ben E. King wrote it and made it famous, but my Stand By Me is essentially Stephen King's story (and Rob Reiner 1986's movie adaptation). 1961 is the year of some other great tunes: from The Marvelettes' Please Mr.Postman to Ray Charles' Hit the Road, Jack, from Henry Mancini's Moon River to The Marcels' Blue Moon. A 60-minute jukebox that gently plays the soundtrack of exactly fifty years ago. Enjoy!

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TOP 20 SONGS OF 1961
Source: Acclaimed Music
(legenda: the number preceding the artist name is the ranking in Acclaimed Music Top 3000 chart)

1 (67) Ben E. King - Stand by Me
2 (77) Del Shannon - Runaway
3 (147) Patsy Cline - Crazy
4 (315) Dion - Runaround Sue
5 (320) Roy Orbison - Crying
6 (424) Patsy Cline - I Fall to Pieces
7 (479) The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman
8 (549) Henry Mancini - Moon River
9 (621) Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem
10 (873) Ray Charles - Hit the Road, Jack
11 (1073) Elvis Presley - Little Sister
12 (1122) Roy Orbison - Running Scared
13 (1137) The Marcels - Blue Moon
14 (1175) Gary "U.S." Bonds - Quarter to Three
15 (1366) The Showmen - It Will Stand
16 (1417) Dick Dale - Let's Go Tripping
17 (1435) Jimmy Reed - Big Boss Man
18 (1460) Dion - The Wanderer
19 (1597) John Coltrane - My Favourite Things
20 (1598) Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary Lou

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0620)

The Complete Acclaimed Music Series

SONGS:
- Top 20 Songs of 1920s
- Top 20 Songs of 1930s
- Top 20 Songs of 1940s
- Top 20 Songs of 1950s
- Top 20 Songs of 1960
- Top 20 Songs of 1961

ALBUMS:
- Top 20 Albums of 1950s
- Top 20 Albums of 1960
- Top 20 Albums of 1961