Plethora of Pop’s Rate-A-Record

Gee Whiz, Was 1961 Really Integrated?

I was only five, so please tell me…

Photo by Hao Rui on Unsplash

Actually, I know it wasn’t, or at least not in Bessemer/Birmingham, Alabama, and yet, when I look at Billboard’s Hot 100 for 1961, excuse me for wondering why, with such hit potential, our society wasn’t feeling the proper mix of love?

Now here’s a fun game. I will list the bottom ten songs of the year and the top ten songs of the year without telling you which is which, and you figure out some sort of reasoning for why America bought what it did, listened to what it could, and didn’t understand how nothing in this world could save us like our music.

Ready?

1. “Tossin and Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis.
2. “I Fall to Pieces” by Patsy Cline.
3. “Michael,” by The Highwaymen.
4. “Crying,” by Roy Orbison.
5. “Runaway,” by Del Shannon.
6. “My True Story,” by The Jive Five.
7. “Pony Time,” by Chubby Checker.
8. “Wheels,” by String-a-longs.
9. “Raindrops,” by Dee Clark.
10. “Wooden Heart,” by Joe Dowell.