Top Oldies Songs from 1959 to 1963: Pre-Beatles Pop, Girl Groups, Doo-Wop, Surf Rock, Soul, and Instrumentals The top oldies from 1959 to 1963 came from one of pop music’s most underrated transition eras. Rock and roll had survived its first explosion, doo-wop was still strong, girl groups were rising, teen idols were everywhere, surf […]
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1962 Music Hits: Twist Records, Surf Rock, Girl Groups, Soul, Teen Idols, and Early ’60s Pop1962 music hits caught pop music in motion. The Twist was still going strong, surf rock was starting to rise, girl groups were moving toward their golden age, country and folk crossed into pop, and instrumental records could still become
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1961 Music Hits: Soul, Doo-Wop, Teen Pop, Country Crossover, Dance Crazes, and Early Rock Classics1961 music hits captured pop music right before the British Invasion changed the whole conversation. American radio was packed with doo-wop groups, teen idols, early Motown, soul singers, country crossover hits, jazz instrumentals, novelty records, and dance songs that kept teenagers
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1960 Music Hits: Top Songs, Radio Favorites, and Pop Classics 1960 music sat right at the crossroads between the 1950s rock-and-roll era and the smoother pop, soul, dance, and teen-idol sounds of the early 1960s. Chubby Checker, Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Sam Cooke, The Drifters, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Bobby Rydell, Connie Francis, and The
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1959 Music Hits: Rock and Roll, Doo-Wop, R&B, Teen Idols, Instrumentals, and the Last Big Blast of the 1950s 1959 music hits closed out the 1950s with a jukebox full of rock and roll, doo-wop, R&B, teen idols, country crossover, jazz-pop, novelty songs, and instrumentals. The year had Bobby Darin’s stylish Mack the Knife, Ray
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Advice Songs from the 1890s to the 1950s: Life Lessons, Warnings, Wisdom, and Old-Fashioned Common SenseAdvice songs have been part of popular music for generations. Long before advice columns, podcasts, social media threads, and “let me tell you what you should do” relatives, singers were already giving listeners warnings, comfort, encouragement, romantic guidance, moral lessons,
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1958 Music Hits: Rock and Roll, Doo-Wop, Teen Pop, R&B, Instrumentals, and Sock Hop Chaos1958 music hits caught rock and roll in full swing, with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard’s influence, and a whole lot of teenage energy still shaking the walls. This was the year of
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Love Songs of the 1940s and 1950s: Classic Romance, Doo-Wop Ballads, Standards, and OldiesLove songs of the 1940s and 1950s had a special kind of romance. They were built for slow dances, moonlit radio, supper clubs, jukeboxes, movie scenes, high school gyms, wartime longing, doo-wop harmonies, and the kind of old-school atmosphere that can make
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1957 Music Hits: Elvis, Rock and Roll, Doo-Wop, R&B, Country-Pop, Calypso, and Teenage Radio Fever1957 music hits were loud, lively, romantic, and wonderfully overstuffed with early rock and roll energy. Elvis Presley was everywhere with Jailhouse Rock, All Shook Up, (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Treat Me Nice, Too Much, and Loving You, while
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1956 Music Hits: Top Songs, Radio Favorites, and Pop Classics Top 10 Songs of 1956 Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley Hound Dog – Elvis Presley My Prayer – The Platters Long Tall Sally – Little Richard Why Do Fools Fall in Love – Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers Mack the Knife – Louis Armstrong
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1955 Music Hits: The First Big Rock Era Year, Doo-Wop, R&B, Crooners, Standards, and Jukebox Culture 1955 music hits marked the first big year of the rock era, at least as most pop culture fans remember it. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream,
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1954 Music Hits: Doo-Wop, R&B, Mambo, Crooners, Movie Songs, and the Doorway to Rock and Roll 1954 music hits caught American pop right before the rock era fully kicked the door open. The year still belonged partly to crooners, vocal groups, movie themes, and polished radio pop, but the sound of change was already loud
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1953 Popular Music: Crooners, Movie Songs, R&B, Country Heartbreak, Novelty Records, and Early Rock Signals In 1953, popular music still lived mostly in the world of crooners, orchestras, vocal groups, movie themes, Broadway songs, and radio-friendly pop. This was the era of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Eddie Fisher, Patti Page, Frankie Laine, Kay
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1952 Popular Music: Crooners, Movie Musicals, Country Crossovers, R&B, Novelty Songs, and Early Rock Sparks 1952 popular music still belonged largely to crooners, orchestras, movie themes, country-pop ballads, and sentimental radio hits, but the future was already sneaking in through rhythm and blues, jump blues, and early rock and roll. This was the year of
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1951 Popular Music: Crooners, Pop Standards, R&B, Country Crossovers, Novelty Records, and Pre-Rock Sparks 1951 popular music still sat firmly in the early-1950s world of crooners, orchestras, vocal groups, movie songs, country crossovers, and radio-ready ballads. This was the year of Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable and Too Young, Mario Lanza’s Be My Love, Tony Bennett’s
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1950 Popular Music: Crooners, Movie Themes, Novelty Hits, Country Crossovers, R&B, and the Sound Before Rock Took Over 1950 popular music sat right at the edge of a major cultural shift. The mainstream still belonged to crooners, vocal groups, orchestras, movie themes, Broadway songs, and novelty records, but rhythm and blues, country, jump blues, mambo,
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1949 Popular Music: Broadway, Crooners, Western Songs, Country Heartbreak, Jump Blues, and Postwar Radio 1949 popular music was still shaped by radio crooners, orchestras, Broadway, Hollywood musicals, Western songs, country heartbreak, and vocal-group pop. The year belonged to songs like Some Enchanted Evening, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, Mule Train, That Lucky Old Sun, Dear Hearts
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1948 Popular Music: Big Band’s Last Glow, Crooners, Cartoon Songs, Country Crossovers, R&B, and Early Rock Sparks 1948 popular music sat in a fascinating postwar pocket. Big band music had not fully disappeared, crooners and vocal groups still ruled much of the mainstream, movie songs were everywhere, and novelty records could still become major hits.
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1947 Popular Music: Broadway Dreams, Crooners, Folk Standards, Jazz, Country Boogie, R&B, and Postwar Novelty Hits1947 popular music sat in the postwar world of crooners, Broadway songs, movie music, vocal groups, country boogie, jump blues, jazz, and novelty records. The year’s familiar songs included Some Enchanted Evening, Anniversary Song, Always, How Are Things in Glocca
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1946 Popular Music: Broadway Boom, Crooners, Big Bands, Gospel, Bebop, Country Boogie, and Postwar Optimism 1946 popular music sounded like America stepping out of World War II and trying to decide whether to dance, settle down, go to the movies, or buy a train ticket west. The year was full of crooners, big bands, Broadway
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1945 Popular Music: Victory Songs, Broadway Ballads, Big Bands, Jazz, Wartime Homecomings, and the Sound of a World Turning 1945 popular music carried the sound of a world moving from war toward peace. World War II ended in 1945, and the year’s biggest songs often reflected longing, reunion, optimism, exhaustion, romance, and homecoming. Songs like
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1944 Popular Music: Wartime Songs, Movie Musicals, Big Bands, Novelty Hits, Jazz, Country, and the Soundtrack Before Victory 1944 popular music was still deeply shaped by World War II. The songs of the year balanced wartime longing, home-front humor, movie-musical escape, big band swing, patriotic energy, romantic ballads, and novelty records that gave listeners a
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1943 Popular Music: Wartime Ballads, Movie Musicals, Big Bands, Jump Blues, Country Boogie, and the Songs America Remembered1943 popular music was shaped by World War II, Hollywood musicals, big band radio, crooners, vocal groups, jump blues, country crossover songs, and records that gave listeners a break from the headlines. Songs like Paper Doll, As Time
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1942 Popular Music: Wartime Songs, Big Bands, Hollywood Hits, Blues, Country, and the Sound of America After Pearl Harbor1942 popular music was shaped by World War II, big band radio, Hollywood musicals, patriotic songs, romantic ballads, blues, country crossover records, and novelty hits that helped Americans process a fast-changing world. Songs like Don’t Sit Under
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1941 Popular Music: Big Bands, Wartime Signals, Jazz Standards, Blues, Country, Movie Songs, and the Sound Before America Entered World War II1941 popular music sat at a turning point. Much of the year still sounded like the late swing era, filled with big bands, crooners, movie songs, novelty records, and romantic ballads. By December, after
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1940 Popular Music: Big Bands, Disney Magic, Jazz Standards, Country Classics, Latin Flavor, Blues, and the Soundtrack Before Wartime America1940 popular music still belonged largely to big bands, romantic vocal groups, movie songs, jazz standards, country and Western voices, novelty records, blues, and Latin-influenced dance music. Songs like When You Wish Upon a Star, I’ll
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1939 Popular Music: Movie Classics, Big Bands, Jazz, Patriotic Songs, Novelty Hits, Blues, Broadway, and the Sound Before the War Years1939 popular music was one of the richest cultural soundtracks of the late 1930s. Big bands were everywhere, movie songs had enormous staying power, jazz was expanding, Broadway still fed the popular songbook, novelty records
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1938 Popular Music: Swing, Disney Songs, Jazz Standards, Broadway, Novelty Hits, Blues, Latin Flavor, and Songs That Echoed for Decades 1938 popular music was packed with big bands, jazz standards, movie songs, Broadway wit, novelty records, blues, vocal-group favorites, and early signs of the pop-culture afterlife many songs would enjoy decades later. Songs like A-Tisket,
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1937 Popular Music: Swing, Movie Songs, Broadway Standards, Jazz Classics, Blues, Country, and Songs That Kept Coming Back1937 popular music was packed with swing, jazz standards, movie songs, Broadway favorites, romantic ballads, novelty themes, blues, country-Western sounds, and records that later found second lives in film, television, cartoons, jazz culture, and rock history. Songs like
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1936 Popular Music: Swing, Movie Songs, Broadway Standards, Blues, Gospel, Country, and the Great American Songbook1936 popular music brought together swing, movie musicals, Broadway standards, blues, gospel, country, romantic ballads, and early roots records that later became much more famous. Songs like Pennies from Heaven, The Way You Look Tonight, I’ve Got You Under My
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