6 of th 60s: 3/20/13 (1961)...

Hey gang, it's time for another time-travel trip to the 60s, with a half-dozen more nuggets from 1961, the year "Barbie"'s date "Ken" was introduced by Mattel...

Ernie K-Doe - "Mother In Law"
from the album Mother In Law (1962)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1

Louisiana Music Hall-of-Famer Ernest Kador is now buried in one of New Orleans' famous cemetaries - with his second mother-in-law.

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Timi Yuro - "Hurt"
from the album Hurt (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4

One of the best of the blue-eyed soul singers of the 60s, Timi (from her real middle name Timothy) got noticed from this classic, but she should have been huge. She did enjoy a revival of sorts in Holland in the 80s, with a new version of this song reaching the top-5.

Kokomo - "Asia Minor"
from the album Asia Minor (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8

Philly pianist Jimmy Wisner had a top-10 pop hit in the time that orchestral pop still had a hold on the charts with this piece that would eventually find its way onto the "Hooked On Classics" medley...

The Regents - "Barbara Ann"
from the album Barbara-Ann (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13

Ernie Maresca's doo-wop group from the Bronx had the first hit with this song that would later be iconic to the Beach Boys' early sound.


The Belmonts - "Tell Me Why"
from the album Carnival Of Hits (1962)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18

After lead singer Dion left the group, the other big Bronx doo-wop kings continued as a trio, and scored this top-20 hit with bass Carlo Mastrangelo taking over lead vocals...

The Spinners - "That's What Girls Are Made For"
from the album The Original Spinners (1967)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27

The first hit single for the vocal group from Detroit had a young Marvin Gaye on drums...

That does it for this trip back to the golden age of music. I'll be back tomorrow with 7 more from 1971 and 8 from 1981.