6 of the 60s: 2/26/14 (1961)...

It's 60s flashback Hump Day, and this week I'm back to 1961, the year the US tests the Minuteman I ballistic missile....(I've included links to buy anything you see on CD or MP3 when available)...

Ferrante and Teicher - "Exodus"
from the album Golden Piano Hits (1962)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2
Songwriter: Ernest Gold

Four different covers of this theme from the epic Paul Newman/Eva-Marie Saint movie based on the early history of the modern state of Israel made the pop chart in 1961, but it was this double-piano version that did the best by far.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)



Marty Robbins - "Don't Worry"
from the album More Greatest Hits (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3
Songwriter: Marty Robbins

This ten-week #1 country hit was one of the first to have a distorted guitar sound, soon to cross over to rock music in no time.

Linda Scott - "Don't Bet Money Honey"
from the album Great Scott! Her Greatest Hits (1962)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #9
Songwriter: Linda Scott

A Brooklyn-born girl from Teaneck New Jersey, Linda, like many, got her big break on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Show as a child.

The Chordettes - "Never On Sunday"
from the album Never On Sunday (1962)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13
Songwriters: Manos Hadjidakis, Billy Towne

The pre-rock-era  female vocal group had a hit with their cover of this translated version of the Greek song that was the first from a foreign-language film to win a Best Original Song Academy Award in 1960.

The Marathons - "Peanut Butter"
from the album Peanut Butter (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20
Songwriters: H.B. Barnum, Marty Cooper, Cliff Goldsmith, Fred Smith

The soul vocal group the Jayhawks moonlighted as the Marathons on this hit from the pre-Brit Invasion era.

Dion - "The Majestic"
from the album Runaround Sue (1961)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36
Songwriters: Brenda Lee Jones, Walton Young

Dion went suave in this swaying ballroom number in the tradition of Bobby Darin...

That's all for now...I'll be back tomorrow with 7 more from 1971 and 8 from 1981...