Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #10 - 1

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... welcome to the final issue of our swingin' sixties countdown! Today we unveil the top 10 songs of the 1960s and they are pretty damn incredible (but my gosh don't you know it!). We've got a great mix of music and artists that defined the decade, forging legacies that have kept them respected for over fifty years. The greatest girl group of all-time, the most successful band of all-time, the Queen of Soul, the Lizard King, Ziggy Stardust... and that's only half the acts we're going to be hearing from. Let's get to it!

#10 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1964)

by Nina Simone (or The Animals, if you'd prefer)

If I seem edgy, I want you to know,

I never meant to take it out on you.

Well, I can get away with letting both Simone and The Animals get a nod here, can't I? Watch me. Two fantastic versions of the one song; Simone's slow, emotional R&B ballad and The Animals rock anthem. It's too hard to pick just one, so you get both. How. Lucky. Are. You?

#9 - Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1960)

by The Shirelles






So tell me now, and I won't ask again,
Will you still love me tomorrow?

'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' would mark the first time that an all-girl group took a song to the top of the charts in the United States of America. With that landmark achievement, the doors were opened for The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Crystals, Destiny's Child, Spice Girls, TLC and En Vogue. That's such a Halle Berry thing to say. The song holds up pretty well, no? It also scores points for inspiring delicious covers by artists such as Amy Winehouse, Roberta Flack and most recently, Lykke Li!

#8 - Crazy (1961)

by Patsy Cline

I knew, you'd love me as long as you wanted,
And then someday, you'd leave me for somebody new...

Urgh... you should know the go by now. Country music is the music of pain. Patsy Cline had a penchant for releasing songs that could almost literally tug at your heartstrings, with 'Crazy' being not only the best, but the song that has defined her as an artist since its release. Without question, the greatest country song of all time (and it was written by Willie Nelson!).

#7 - Space Oddity (1969)

by David Bowie

And the stars look very different today...

Oh, come on. How can you listen to this and not want to have been around to enjoy it as the 60s came to an end? Bowie? Love.

#6 - Eleanor Rigby (1966)

by The Beatles

All the lonely people, where do they all come from?
All the lonely people, where do they all belong?

The quintessential Beatles song that pushes what 'pop' music can be further than any song before it. I've previously posted that 'Eleanor Rigby is It's My Kind of Scene's favourite song by the fab four and nothing's changed. Amazing. Outstanding. Perfection. With eight songs, The Beatles place more on the countdown than any other act. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

#5 - God Only Knows (1966)

by The Beach Boys

I may not always love you,
But long as there are stars above you...

Finally, a Beach Boys song that wasn't simple, lame 60s pop-rock. While the title was controversial for its time, the song has nothing to do with the man in the sky, so it gets bonus points for that too! Pitchfork named it their greatest song of the decade and made an excellent case for it being #1. But there's four more songs that I believe deserve some more love...

#4 - Respect (1967)

by Aretha Franklin

What you want, baby, I got it,
What you need, Do you know I got it?

I've been trying really hard to better my maths skills lately. So let's try some simple equations. If Rolling Stone places 'Respect' at #5 on their list of the greatest songs of all time and then put Aretha at #1 on their greatest singers of all time countdown, where will It's My Kind of Scene put 'Respect' on their Top 100 Songs of the 1960? 5 - 1 = 4. The answer is 4. See, maths is easy. Now to study logic.

#3 - Light My Fire (1967)

by The Doors

Girl, we couldn't get much higher...

Yep, The Doors. No big deal, right? Except yes, yes it is. 'Light My Fire' deserves to be ranked higher on practically every 60s slash music list ever. Except it doesn't have to be ranked higher than #3. Because there are two songs that are better.

#2 - Stop! In The Name of Love (1965)

by The Supremes

But this time before you run to her,

Leaving me alone and hurt,

Think it over...

Speaking of songs that don't get the love they deserve, it's 'Stop! In The Name of Love!' Performed by, "good looking youngsters with long hair and on them it looks good because they're girls." Music may have been good in the 60s, but comedy... not so much.

#1 - Be My Baby (1963)

by The Ronettes

So won't you say you love me?

I'll make you so proud of me.

I believe this is the only decade countdown we've done in which a female fronted act has taken the top spot. No one deserves it more than the Ronettes for the groundbreaking 'Be My Baby,' but it should be pointed out that behind every great woman (or women), there's a great man. In this case, it's our favourite looney-tune, Phil Spector. His 'Wall of Sound' recording technique realised its full potential on 'Be My Baby,' instantly securing its respected place in music's history. Even Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys agrees that 'Be My Baby' is the greatest song ever. While I wouldn't go that far, I'd certainly say it's the best of the 60s!

And with that, we're done. Peace out, groovers! Oh, and Blogger... sort your s**t out. Using this old blog editor has been the most painful experience of my life.

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #20 - 11

Nancy Sinatra: She will walk all over you. And you will like it.

No. No I haven't forgotten that we're down to the two most important posts of our 60s countdown. Also, I'm not drawing it out, leaving you hanging to build suspense. It's just been a big week and I've been dealing with some business (pronounced bid-ness). All fears, concerns and general feelings of anxiousness can now disappear because the countdown is back! We're up to the penultimate edition, so you know it's going to be good... very good. Here are ten songs that narrowly missed out on making the top 10 song of the 1960s.

#20 - I Wanna Be Your Dog (1969)

by The Stooges


Much like the 80s ended by ushering in the era of 90s grunge, a reaction to overproduced 80s trash, the 60s ended with the birth of punk, rock music's defining sub-genre of the 1970s which itself could be viewed as a direct response to the sugary, sweet bubblegum pop of the 60s and it's delicious naivety. Leading music in this exciting new direction as the decade came to a close was the iconic Iggy Pop with The Stooges. Before imploding they were producing music that no one had dared to do. Music like 'I Wanna Be Your Dog.'

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #40 - 31

Grace Slick... Jefferson Airplane... love.

#40 - Suspicious Minds (1969)

by Elvis Presley

The King scored his 17th and final US #1 with the song that I regard as his greatest, 'Suspicious Minds.' You may remember that I've posted before about my lack of interest in Elvis' music, but respect for his legacy. This would be one of the few songs he recorded that I'll actually listen to... and enjoy. As you can tell from the video, this came out during Presley's sweatier years.

#39 - Where Did Our Love Go? (1964)

by The Supremes

From Elvis' final #1, to The Supremes first. 'Where Did Our Love Go?' was their first chart topping success, the first of five in a row and twelve in total. Not too shabby, right? What... you don't think so? How many #1 singles have you had? That's what I thought. Many reviewers attributed the track's success to it's ability to capture the American public's loss of optimism as the sixties went by.

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #50 - 41

Mary, can you handle this? Florence, can you handle this? Diana, can you handle this? I think they can handle this.

The top 50 songs of the 1960s kicks off today and we've got some of the biggest acts in the history of popular music on display! Rolling Stone's greatest singer of all-time and Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, takes on the highest selling solo performer the world has ever seen (in concert tickets people, in concert tickets) and Queen of Rock, Tina Turner! Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, two dominant male artists that inspired Academy Award winning films make an impact and yes The Beatles are here... ... ... again. Like you're surprised. Let's get to it!

#50 - Then He Kissed Me (1963)

by The Crystals

You know The Supremes, The Shirelles, The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las. One sixties girl group that's often forgotten and generally underappreciated is The Crystals, who gave us some amazing songs like 'Then He Kissed Me.' Sure they've got that ridiculous 'Da Doo Ron Ron' song that automatically makes me think of Ronald McDonald (I have a problem, I know), but some of their much, much better songs have slipped into obscurity. Shame. Shame, shame, shame. If you like 'Then He Kissed Me,' look for songs like 'There's No Other (Like My Baby)' and 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss).' No, that last one isn't the 60s own 'Hit Me Baby One More Time.' It's a harsh documentation of singer Little Eva's ('The Loco-Motion) abusive relationship with her boyfriend and her actual belief that he beat her out of love.

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #60 - 51

Van Morrison!

After this post we're halfway through our 60s countdown! Let's look at ten songs that just missed out on making the top 50 songs of the 1960s. You know they're going to be pretty gosh darn awesome. 'Gosh darn' was essentially the f-bomb in the 60s, right?

#60 - You Can't Hurry Love (1966)

by The Supremes

The Supremes 7th #1 song in America and their second single to make an impact on our countdown. 'You Can't Hurry Love' perfectly sums up the sound of Motown; powerful vocals and catchy hooks delivered by not acts that were more than just the best in rhythm and blues. They were the best in music... period.

#59 - Unchained Melody (1965)

by The Righteous Brothers

You're already thinking, "OMG, it's because of Ghost, right?" WRONG. So very, very wrong. Ghost sucked and you know it. 

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #70 - 61



The Doors!


The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, the King of rock and roll, the first lady of soul and double the Jim Morrison. Is that enough to get you excited for the next ten songs in our 60s countdown? Yeah, I thought so.

#70 - Can't Help Falling In Love (1961)

by Elvis Presley

Yes, I also like UB40's cover. What of it? 

#69 - Ruby Tuesday (1967)

by The Rolling Stones

Who do you prefer, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? That questions was to the 60s as 'Britney or Christina' was to the early 2000s and... um... 'Nicki Minaj or Lil' Kim' is to today. Of course, in each of these face-off's one of the acts is insanely popular while the other is their slightly less successful, trashier big sister. Try to guess who falls into each category. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, enjoy 'Ruby Tuesday.'

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #80 - 71



The Temptations: Music that makes you think of kids dying from bee stings.


Oh, hey groovers... totally didn't see you there. Far out. Before I get too spacey, let's check out the next ten songs on our 60s countdown!

#80 - People Get Ready (1965)

by The Impressions

Easy-listening music promoting positive social change. It should be enough to make you sick, but The Impressions deliver the lyrics with such sincerity you can't help but love it. 

#79 - Happy Together (1967)

by The Turtles

That video is just too much. Don't you feel like you're watching some ridiculous montage in a Will Ferrell movie?

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #90 - 81

James Brown!

#90 - Bad Moon Rising (1969)

by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Pub rock standard, road-trip necessity... classic rock and roll. I'm not a big Creedence fan, but how could you say no to a song this catchy?

#89 - Son of A Preacher Man (1968)

by Dusty Springfield

Springfield's silky smooth vocal stylings ensure that this definitive recording of 'Son of A Preacher Man' is actually a song you want to listen to. Unlike pretty much any other version of the song.

Top 100 Songs of the 1960s, #100 - 91



Frank and Nancy: Normal...


Dance crazes, country standards, rock and or roll, surfer pop and a duet that makes you a little uncomfortable. You've got all that (and more) to look forward to as we kick off the Top 100 Songs of the 1960s! Early top ten guesses can be submitted now. Who's going to make it to the top? We've got nine posts to get through before we hit the top ten, so let's get to it. The countdown starts now!

#100 - Somethin' Stupid (1967)

by Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra


As long as you don't think about Nancy being the Frank's daughter, 'Somethin' Stupid' is actually quite a lovely ballad. Of course, now you won't be able to think of anything other than the fact that Nancy is Frank's daughter. Try not to be too creeped out... it's just a song.