"Wonderland By Night" #1 1/14/1961

#1 in January of 1961. One of those instrumentals TV stations used to play when they had "technical difficulties." Bert Kaempfert was a German trumpeter and composer who may be best known as the guy who first hired the Beatles for a recording session. They were playing the rowdy dives of Hamburg in the fall of 1961 when Herr Kaempfert brought them into the studio to back up Tony Sheridan on a couple of songs. A few months later, a fellow walked into a Liverpool record store operated by Brian Epstein and his family and asked for one of those 45's. They didn't have it, but Brian was intrigued by a local band making a record and sought them out. The rest, as they say, is history.

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" #1 12/3/1960

Originally written in 1926, this was the favorite song of Col. Tom Parker's wife, so the Colonel personally asked Elvis to record it as soon as he got out of the Army in the spring of 1960. RCA didn't release the song right away, however, fearing it was out of character for the King. When they finally got around to doing so, it stayed at #1 for six weeks. There is a "laughing Elvis" version from a 1979 box set where he just loses it on stage. Happens to the best of them.

"Stay" #1 11/26/1960

Back to 1960 and the shortest #1 record ever on the rock charts, from Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. Maurice wrote it in 1953 at age 15 after trying to convince his date not to go home. The Hollies (in the UK) and the Four Seasons also had hits with this as did Jackson Browne, who put it on his 1978 live album "Running On Empty." This was also on the soundtrack of "Dirty Dancing."

"Love You So Much" #61 3/25/1967

New Colony Six had a number of local hits in their hometown of Chicago, but it took several years for them to break through on a national level. For instance, this was their highest charting Billboard record to date, but it had already reached #2 on the WLS survey a couple of months earlier back in the Windy City. They wouldn't crack the Billboard Top 40 for another year.

"Tiny Bubbles" #57 3/25/1967

Don Ho was perhaps the ultimate lounge singer, Hawaiian style. He also had a bachelors degree in sociology and was an Air Force veteran. His family owned a bar on Oahu where he regularly performed for the tourists. Don landed a deal with Frank Sinatra's Reprise label, but he made a decent living in the clubs on Waikiki. This record set a Hot 100 longevity mark for never getting above #50 (17 weeks).

"Morningtown Ride" #44 3/25/1967

The last US chart appearance for the Seekers was a lullaby that made the Top 10 in their homeland of Australia. Seekers member Keith Potger later formed the New Seekers, who had a few hits in the 70's, most notably the full-length version of a Coca-Cola jingle. Judith Durham has the voice of an angel, but she had a minor brain hemorrhage several years ago. :(

"Niki Hoeky" #23 3/25/1967

Texas-born James Marcus Smith tried to make it in the rock and roll biz in the late 50's with no real success. A female friend suggested he use her former boyfriend's name on stage, and the newly minted P.J. Proby moved to England. He had several Top 10 hits over there, overshadowed by a few instances where he split his trousers on stage. This was his only US Top 40 record. Hey, I can't decipher the lyrics, either.