Top ten list of favorite rock/pop songs from the 1960s

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Can you remember when you heard that one song that changed the way you listened to music?

I can recall my moment like it was yesterday. It was the summer of 1964, the Beatles (and their fans) were already in full throat, and my baseball-playing friends from the neighborhood and I were camping out one night in the backyard of a buddies’ home. It was around 2 o’clock in the morning and I was listening to my little transistor radio — the ones that required new batteries about every other day.

Then I heard it. The Beachboys’ seminal song “I Get Around” was a big hit at the time and the DJs on WAEB were playing it about every 10 minutes. But the overnight DJ at the time — I forget who it was, maybe Barry George or Super Lou — turned the record over and played the flip side, “Don’t Worry Baby.”

It was three minutes of pure bliss, enough to change the way I heard music. I never experienced any melody so beautiful. In my humble opinion, it still is the best rock/pop song ever composed and I still get goose bumps when I hear it.


AP photoBrian Wilson of the Beachboys penned the song "Don't Worry Baby."
With “Don’t Worry Baby” the zenith of my rock/pop charts, here’s the rest of what I consider the best 10 songs from the 1960s. Many of these songs were never really hits but I grade them high for presence, listenability, “goose bump” quality and just an inspiring feel-good sensibility about them.

What’s your top 10 list like? I’d really like to know. Doesn’t have to be exclusively from the 1960s, either. Lady Gaga, any heavy metal song, or a rap piece are all in play.

1. “Don’t Worry Baby” by the Beachboys. If this were the only song Brian Wilson wrote in his life, he’d still be considered a genius. Great drum lead-in. Three minutes of pure ecstacy.

2. “I Fought the Law” by Bobby Fuller Four. Too bad Bobby died in his mid-20s (it was ruled a suicide but many believe he was murdered) because he was a true talent and a phenomenal guitarist. Song was written by Sonny Curtis, one of the Crickets. Bobby’s clean guitar work is priceless.

3. “Ain’t that Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye. Greatest soul song ever recorded, in my opinion. Rolling piano part that kicks off the song is something you can’t get out of your head.

4. “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (if You Break My Heart)” by Dionne Warwick. Another Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition done for Dionne. Yeah, I know it’s a little sappy but I’ve always been a sucker for melodic love songs.

5. “You Gave Me Somebody to Love” by the Dreamlovers. Philly group which sang backup on a few Chubby Checker records. It’s strange that this song never charted but it’s still a great song with tremendous presence. I’ve heard other artists cover this and I’ve enjoyed every version.

6. “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing” by Lou Rawls. Inspirational song with great orchestra work. I would have loved to see Lou do this song live.

7. “Every Time That You Walk in the Room” by the Searchers. Written by Jackie DeShannon. Phenomenal guitar riff throughout this record. Very underrated British invasion group, by the way.

8. “And Then He Kissed Me” by the Crystals. Quintessential Wall-of-Sound record produced by Phil Spector.

9. “Little Lonely Summer Girl” by David Box. Great record that generated absolutely no fanfare. Box was briefly a member of the Crickets and, coincidentally, died in a plane crash in his early 20s. This kid, in my estimation, would have been a superstar had his life not ended so early.

10. “Things We Said Today” by the Beatles. Can’t be a 60’s top 10 list without at least one Beatles song. The tough thing, though, is to single out just one.

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