# Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 1963 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557 "2015-01-11T18:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/1 "2015-01-11T18:02:48Z")
Apologies for this one being up a day late - hectic work schedule. The year is now 1963, the year before the dam broke. In the #1s chart this was a pretty eclectic year, but looking at the rest of the Top 40 (our list goes to #42 today because of the number of eliminations) we see two big things - this was the year that surf music exploded, and the year that the folk revival of the early '60s broke into the mainstream in a big way. This one was an easy call for me as soon as I saw a certain song on the list - what’s your favorite? Previous polls: [1956](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744629) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744819) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744978) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745151) [1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745331) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745525) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745733) Best #1 single polls: [1955-56](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731649) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731871) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732021) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732199)[1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732526) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732691) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732872) [1963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733112) [1964](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733297) [1965](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733526) [1966](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733750) [1967](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733958) [1968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734168) [1969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734331) [1970](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734535) [1971](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734741) [1972](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735107) [1973](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735304) [1974](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735502) [1975](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735659) [1976](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735871) [1977](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736076) [1978](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736316) [1979](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736501) [1980](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736705) [1981](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736957) [1982](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737099) [1983](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737315) [1984](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737488) [1985](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737732) [1986](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737957) [1987](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738178) [1988](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738403) [1989](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738639) [1990](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738829) [1991](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739067) [1992](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739360) [1993](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739525) [1994](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739880) [1995](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740122) [1996](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740302) [1997](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740497) [1998](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740709) [1999](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740859) [2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741047) [2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741267) [2002](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741450) [2003](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741604) [2004](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741730) [2005](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741915) [2006](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742069) [2007](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742147) [2008](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742282) [2009](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742467) [2010](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742676) [2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742846) [2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675664) [2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710843) [2014](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743899) [1950s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743046) [1960s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743240) [1970s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743399) [1980s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743597) [1990s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743803) [2000s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743981) [2010s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744176) [All-time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744358) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/2 "2015-01-11T19:19:29Z")
“End of the World” gets the highest score in the world-famous\*\* Ponch8 Music Rating System\*\*, slightly ahead of “Our Day Will Come.” This is a much stronger set of choices than the 1962 NIT poll, where I didn’t vote at all. Is anyone else surprised that “Blowin’ in the Wind” came out this early? I always thought it was an anti-Vietnam War song. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/3 "2015-01-11T19:25:42Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > “End of the World” gets the highest score in the world-famous\*\* Ponch8 Music Rating System\*\*, slightly ahead of “Our Day Will Come.” This is a much stronger set of choices than the 1962 NIT poll, where I didn’t vote at all. > > Is anyone else surprised that “Blowin’ in the Wind” came out this early? I always thought it was an anti-Vietnam War song. The song itself was _already_ a year old by this time; Bob Dylan first performed it in April of 1962 and recorded it a few months later, though the PP&M version was the one that made it big. My choice for this poll was that particular trio’s other contributon to the charts this year, Puff the Magic Dragon. I’ve loved that song since I was little and it still makes me tear up listening to it today. In its absence, I could have easily gone for “Rhythm of the Rain”, “Heat Wave”, or “Wipeout”. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/4 "2015-01-11T19:34:58Z")
How could “Be My Baby”–#2 for three weeks–possibly not make this list? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/5 "2015-01-11T19:40:26Z")
What an awful, awful year for music. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/6 "2015-01-11T21:14:24Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > How could “Be My Baby”–#2 for three weeks–possibly not make this list? Presumably because it came out close to the end of the year and it had a rather short chart run overall. It landed at #45 in the year-end chart, just shy of our cutoff for this survey. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/7 "2015-01-12T00:07:32Z")
I’m going with \*Blowin’ in the Wind, \*just because 1963 was the last year before folk music was crushed under the juggernaut of Rock (not that there’s anything wrong with it). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/8 "2015-01-12T19:30:42Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’m going with \*Blowin’ in the Wind, \*just because 1963 was the last year before folk music was crushed under the juggernaut of Rock (not that there’s anything wrong with it). I went with PP&M too, because it’s probably the last chance I get to give them a legit vote. I’ve been struck by the much greater diversity in the ‘best of the rest’ hits during these pre-Invasion years, compared to the #1s. It’s made it a lot easier to think well of the music from this period. A few years back in this sequence, I would have voted for The Four Lads’ “Standing On The Corner” if I’d noticed it before I voted, because it was a favorite of my father’s. But this year - sorry Dad! - I’m still not voting for Trini Lopez. He actually did have some good songs, but IMNSHO, “If I Had A Hammer” wasn’t a song that was exactly crying out to be done in his style. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/9 "2015-01-12T20:17:32Z")
No “Louie Louie” by the Chessmen? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/10 "2015-01-12T20:35:38Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > No “Louie Louie” by the Chessmen? As far as I can tell, the only version of it to make a year-end chart is that by the Kingsmen, which just barely squeaked in at #99 in 1964. Which is a shame, since the version by [Paul Revere and the Raiders](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiDbB-Ur8c)was my favorite. ([Motörhead, of course, is a close second](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDP7_h4wkgw), especially since Lemmy doesn’t even bother to do the bad pidgin English.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/11 "2015-01-12T20:40:10Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > No “Louie Louie” by the Chessmen? I assume you mean the version by the Kingsmen, and I’m surprised, too. That’s pretty much THE song that summarizes rock music to me. I’m surprised, but it appears [not to have made the year-end Hot 100.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1963) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/12 "2015-01-12T20:43:26Z")
Too much good stuff. The surf music all cancels out (Sob! Sorry, Chantays!). The song I use as the ringtone for my wife gets dropped due to judge bias. That leave “Rhythm of the Rain” to get my vote. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/13 "2015-01-12T20:49:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > That leave “Rhythm of the Rain” to get my vote. _Rain, please tell me now, does that seem fair for her to take my heart away when she don’t care? I can’t love another when my heart’s somewhere far away._ Kinda corny, but a nice song regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/14 "2015-01-12T21:00:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I went with PP&M too, because it’s probably the last chance I get to give them a legit vote. Unfortunately, yes. The only other song of theirs that charted in the year-end Hot 100 is “I Dig Rock & Roll Music”, which made #91 in 1967 (and is just plain unusually mean-spirited coming from a band like PP&M). Somehow, “Leavin’ On A Jet Plane”, which made #1 in 1969, didn’t even appear on the year-end chart. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/15 "2015-01-12T21:33:20Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Is anyone else surprised that “Blowin’ in the Wind” came out this early? I always thought it was an anti-Vietnam War song. More about civil rights, but it could apply to a number of issues of the time. I’m going with Curtis Mayfield and _It’s All Right_. Nice harmony and some tight horns/guitar work. Second place to _Heatwave_ for the bounce. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/16 "2015-01-12T22:44:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I assume you mean the version by the Kingsmen, and I’m surprised, too. That’s pretty much THE song that summarizes rock music to me. I’m surprised, but it appears [not to have made the year-end Hot 100.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1963) Yes the Kingsmen:D ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/17 "2015-01-12T22:45:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > As far as I can tell, the only version of it to make a year-end chart is that by the Kingsmen, which just barely squeaked in at #99 in 1964. > > Which is a shame, since the version by [Paul Revere and the Raiders](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiDbB-Ur8c)was my favorite. > > ([Motörhead, of course, is a close second](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDP7_h4wkgw), especially since Lemmy doesn’t even bother to do the bad pidgin English.) I meant the Kingsmen, no such band known as the Chessmen. The song was #2 in 1963 so I was surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/18 "2015-01-12T23:13:25Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I meant the Kingsmen, no such band known as the Chessmen. Actually, there _was_ a band called “Jack Bedient and the Chessmen” that hailed from the Pacific Northwest and recorded a cover of Louie Louie in the early '60s (as did pretty much every rock band in the PNW at the time), though I’ve yet to find a recording of it online. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/19 "2015-01-14T13:41:14Z")
As soon as I saw the first entry on the list I knew I was going to vote for it, but I did read the rest before doing so. Amazed it didn’t make #1. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557/20 "2015-01-14T13:54:36Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > As soon as I saw the first entry on the list I knew I was going to vote for it, but I did read the rest before doing so. Amazed it didn’t make #1. This, pretty exactly. Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1963/709557.md?page=2)