By Dale
Back on memory lane looking back at what was a very different time for a lot of things and very interesting in the record industry and music in general. This year saw some big stars were just getting their careers going. Join with me now and let’s take a look at 1962
Top Thirty singles of 1962
- Stranger On The Shore by Acker Bilk
- I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
- Mashed Potato Time by Dee Dee Sharp
- Roses Are Red (My Love) By Bobby Vinton
- The Stripper by David Rose and his Orchestra
- Johnny Angel by Shelley Fabares
- The Loco-Motion by Little Eva
- Let Me In by The Sensations
- The Twist by Chubby Checker
- Soldier Boy by The Shirelles
- Hey Baby by Bruce Channel
- The Wanderer by Dion
- Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler
- Palisades Park by Freddy Cannon
- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by Neil Sedaka
- Wolverton Mountain by Claude King
- Slow Twistin by Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp
- It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin by Johnny Tillitson
- The One Who Really Loves You by Mary Wells
- Good Luck Charm by Elvis Presley
- Rinky Dink by Dave “Baby” Cortez
- Green Onion by Booker T and the MG’s
- Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee and the Starlighters
- Sealed With a Kiss by Brian Hyland
- Young World by Ricky Nelson
- A Little Bitty Tear by Burl Ives
- Sherry by the Four Seasons
- Cindy’s Birthday by Johnny Crawford
- Venus In Blue Jeans by Jimmy Clanton
- Let’s Dance by Chris Montez
Top Ten Albums for 1962
- Blue Hawaii by Elvis Presley
- Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Henry Mancini
- West Side Story Soundtrack
- Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music by Ray Charles
- The First Family by Vaugn Meader
- Green Onions by Booker T and the MG’s
- Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
- Howlin’ Wolf by Howlin Wolf
- Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
- Tijuana Moods by Charlie Mingus
1962 in the music industry was interesting to say the least and here are a few highlights:
The Beatles auditioned at Decca Records in London as did Brian Poole and the Tremelos. Decca had the option of signing one group and you guessed it the Beatles were turned down mainly because the came from Liverpool and the others were Dagenham based, that of course was nearer London.
The first album on which The Beatles played, My Bonnie, was credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. That album was produced by Bert Kaempfert and released on Polydor.
In January The Beatles singed Brian Epstein as their manager.
During the early part of the year Bob Dylan released his debut album featuring mostly folk standards. Then a recording was made of his concert at the Town Hall in New York City by Columbia Records and they later released Tomorrow Is A Long Time as a single from that concert. Almost immediately following that Dylan began the task of recording The Freewheelin. It was about that time that Robert Allen Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan in the summer and then hired Albert Grossman as his manger. On September 22, 1962 Bob Dylan made is first appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of a Hootenanny. Back then a Hootenanny was primarily folk groups and singers.
On June 6th of 1962 The Beatles played their first session at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio in London. In August they fired their drummer, Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr. It was that same month they played their first live gig with John, Paul, George and Ringo, it was at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula. Later in the summer the Beatles recorded Love Me Do for Parlophone Records and the plan was to release it in October. October marked the Beatles first television appearance as a group, the show called People and Places.
Can you guess what the first song by a British group ever to reach the top spot on Billboards Top 100 list in the United States was? How about the group can you name them? Ok here is the answer the song was Telstar and the group was The Tornadoes. That song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list in the US, at the same time it climbed to number one on the Belgian Charts, UK Charts, Irish Charts and South African Singles Charts. Telstar remained on the UK charts for 25 weeks and Five of those at number One. It was on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US for 16 weeks. Shortly after the success of Telstar, Aker Bilk had a chart topper in the US with Stranger On The Shore. Bilk was also British. Ironically both songs were instrumentals.
Peter, Paul and Mary’s debut album reached #1 on Billboards 200 album chart. The name of that album was simply Peter, Paul and Mary.
1962 was a huge year for Joan Baez as her first three albums were on the Billboard charts during 1962 and rapidly going toward Gold status.
In July that year, The Rolling Stones performed their first formal gig at London’s Marquee Club. They were the opening act for Long John Baldry. It is hard to believe that after all these years they are still super stars in this music industry.
During the year The Kingston Trio recorded one of Pete Seegers songs, “Where Have All The Flowers Gone and it reached #21 on Billboards chart. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded “If I Had A Hammer”, another of Seegers songs and it went up the charts to #10.
The hot dance craze in 1962 was the Mashed Potato.
Outside the music industry 1962 was the year the Navy Seals were established. Prior to the Seals being established the Navy had a group of trained specialists known as Frogmen.
Actress Marilyn Monroe died of an accidental overdose but the cause of death never was confirmed as such. Conspiracy theories still surface from time to time. Even this long after her passing she still is a collectible icon that is known to all.
1963 was the year that Britain and France signed an agreement to develop the Concorde supersonic airliner greatly reducing flying time.
The epic movie film “Lawrence of Arabia” premiered in 1962 in London. The cast included Peter O’ Toole, Omar Shariff, Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins and Anthony Quinn.
US spacecraft Mariner II flew by Venus making it the first space probe to successfully transmit data from another planet.
Here are some stats about finances in 1962:
The average income was $5,556.00 per year
The average cost of a new house was $12,500.00
The average monthly rent was $110.00 per month
Eggs sold for $.32 per dozen
Gas per gallon was $.28
Average cost of a new car was $3,125.00
Tuition to Harvard University was $1,520.00
Post your memories of 1962 in the comments below!
Enjoy the memories-many more to come.