Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 1962

Cafe Society
1

An even longer night at work than usual has kept me from posting this one at the time of morning that I prefer to, but better late than never - here’s 1962. There are 26 songs in the year-end Top 40 after we exclude this year’s number-ones, and this isn’t an issue yet, but there’s a few years coming up soon where the sheer volume of songs that made it to #1 means that they’re almost all that makes up the Top 40 for that year. As such, if there are no objections, I’m going to preemptively institute a house rule for when we get to those years in order to ensure that the polls remain fittingly populated; if more than 15 songs in the year-end Top 40 of any future year are excluded due to having reached #1, then songs that scored below #40 will be added to the poll as necessary until there are 25 songs on the list.

That being said, which of these songs is your fave?

Previous polls: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961

Best #1 single polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

2

I’ve always been fond of The Wanderer.

This series of polls is a great idea, btw.

3

Sam Cooke ftw.

4

A dance year! Loved those songs: Mashed Potatoes, Watusi, the Twist. But I’m going with Clyde McPhatter. Dude had style.

5

Sam Cooke. A voice like no other.

6

I may have to abstain this year. None of the songs I’ve heard of really tickles my fancy. I like the Beatles’ remake of “Twist and Shout” far better than the Isley Brothers’ version.

7

This was a tough year but I went with Sam Cooke too. I have found that I am a very good barometer for popularity in these secondary polls and even most of the #1 polls. I take them blind without looking at the results beforehand but I have voted for the top vote getter in all of the non #1 polls so far. It is a little difficult to pick from a long list of songs, many of which I am not that familiar with, but it looks like many Dopers are using the same type of judgement that I do.

“Twist’in the Night Away” was the only song on the list that instantly fired up my mental juke-box so I went with that one. The Wanderer was 2nd.

8

Claudine Clark - Party Lights!

9

Midnight in Moscow! I’m kinda surprised I’m not the only one who voted for it. But it will always remind me of when we brought the Firebug back from Russia. And thanks again to Lucretia for getting me to listen to it!

10

My first instinct was to vote for Twist and Shout, but then I listened to it…it’s not that there’s anything wrong with this version, but the Beatles’ version is just so much better that it makes the Isley Brothers sound flat by comparison.

In the end, I feel very comfortable voting for Sam Cooke here.