'60s On 6 Playlist

I just discovered two more big hits that I neglected to include on the '60s Channel list. I don't know how I missed them. Why didn't anybody tell me?

Mama Said - Shirelles (4/1961)
The Mountain's High - Dick & Dee Dee (2/1961)

Dick & Dee Dee's real names are Richard Gosling and Mary Sperling. Richard used the stage name Dick St. John. Dick & Dee Dee split up in 1969. St. John died in 2003 of injuries he sustained after falling off a ladder at his home in Pacific Palisades. From 2008 to 2013, DeeDee performed with Michael Dunn as Dick & Dee Dee. She now occasionally performs with Jan "Deke" Detanna, former lead singer of the acappella doo-wop group Deke & The Blazers. Here is a live performance of The Mountain's High from 2009:

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I found another song that should be on the list: Dionne Warwick's first single, Don't Make Me Over, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It reached #5 on the R&B chart and #21 on the Hot 100 in January 1963. Don't Make Me Over is also the title of a new documentary film about Dionne Warwick. It was written and produced by Dave Wooley and co-directed by Wooley and David Heilbroner. It premiered September 11 at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. Burt Bacharach, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Chuck Jackson, Berry Gordy, Clive Davis, Cissy Houston and Gloria Estefan appear in the film.


 
Here is another song that should have been on the list – but wasn't. It was the tenth of the Everly Brothers' 15 top-ten hits:


 
Dang it, I found another song that should be on the list – but isn't: Mission Bell by Donnie Brooks (real name: John Abohosh). It reached #7 on the Hot 100 in September 1960.

 
From Wikipedia:

his March 1960 hit single, "Mission Bell" on Era Records demonstrated a quality voice in an upbeat song that peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] His follow-up, "Doll House"/"Round Robin" (a double-sided hit single with a color picture sleeve on Era Records) peaked at No. 31 in December 1960.

Although he continued to record through the 1970s, he never again achieved the same level of success.

Are those his only two top 40 hits? If so, let's add him to the "Are They A One-Hit Wonder" (subjectively) thread!
 
Yes, Donnie Brooks released 33 singles between 1957 and 1979 and had only two top-40 hits. His first two singles were released under the name Johnny Faire. On his third single, he was Dick Bush. Yes, really. In 1961 he released one single as Johnny Rivers. This was three years before John Ramistella began recording as Johnny Rivers.

I may have to repost this entire list. I just found another huge hit that was missing. After two years as The Primettes and seven years as The Supremes, the group became Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1967. This was their first single under that name. It reached #2 in September.

 
I found yet another top-ten hit that is missing from the list. I thought I included almost every song ever played on the '60s channel, including songs played only during countdown shows and on Peter Noone's Something Good program. The list has hundreds of low-charting songs and non-charting songs but somehow I managed to miss quite a few big hits, including one by the Orlons. South Street reached #3 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the R&B chart in April 1963. It was written by Kal Mann – real name: Kalman Cohen – and Dave Appell. They also wrote the Orlons' hits Cross Fire, Don't Hang Up, The Wah Watusi, Bon-Doo-Wah and Rules Of Love and several hits for Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker, Dee Dee Sharp, Jo-Ann Campbell and the Dovells.

Here is South Street – and yes, they were singing about hippies in 1963! Merriam-Webster defines "hippie" as "a usually young person who rejects the mores of established society (as by dressing unconventionally or favoring communal living) and advocates a nonviolent ethic; broadly, a long-haired, unconventionally dressed young person" and says the word dates from 1965. Somebody should share this song with Merriam-Webster:


 
Here is the label. This single was released in April 1958. The B-side was Ezactly. Both songs were co-written by Jesse Hodges, who also wrote Donnie Brooks' All I Can Give and co-wrote Donnie Brooks' L'il Sweetheart[/i[] – and who couldn't spell very well. "L'il"? "Ezactly"?


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Another song to add to the list: A Wonderful Dream by the Majors. It reached #22 on the Hot 100 in September 1962. The Majors formed in 1960 in Philadelphia. The group included four young men and one woman – but the high lead voice on this song is not the woman. It's Ricky Cordo, an unusually high tenor. The Majors released 11 singles, 1960-66, including one as The Versatiles and one as The Performers, and this was their only top-40 hit:


 
This is becoming embarrassing. I tried so hard to get all the low-charting songs and non-charting songs on the list and I managed to omit several top-ten hits. Here is another one, the first chart hit by the Fortunes, a quartet formed in 1961 in Birmingham, England. You've Got Your Troubles reached #7 on the Hot 100 in October 1965. The Fortunes would have two more top-40 hits, Here It Comes Again in 1965 and Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again in 1971. The Fortunes are still touring and recording in 2021 but the group has no original members. In fact, four of the five original members are deceased.


 
Sheesh! Another top-ten hit missing from the list! This one reached #6 on the Hot 100 and number one on the R&B chart in November 1960.

 
Channel98 said:
This is becoming embarrassing. I tried so hard to get all the low-charting songs and non-charting songs on the list and I managed to omit several top-ten hits. Here is another one, the first chart hit by the Fortunes, a quartet formed in 1961 in Birmingham, England. You've Got Your Troubles reached #7 on the Hot 100 in October 1965. The Fortunes would have two more top-40 hits, Here It Comes Again in 1965 and Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again in 1971. The Fortunes are still touring and recording in 2021 but the group has no original members. In fact, four of the five original members are deceased.


Click to expand...


I like that one.
 
This omission is mega-embarrassing. Elvis Presley had 18 number-one hits – and one of them is missing from the list. If I ever feel confident that I've finally found all the missing songs, I will re-post the list. That will be.....maybe.....in 2025. Meanwhile, we can stick Stuck On You to the list.


 
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you found another big hit missing from the list!" Yes, sadly, I did. The Clovers had a #3 R&B hit in March 1956 with Devil Or Angel, written by Blanche Carter. It was the only song she ever wrote – and she is not to be confused with the Blanche Carter who was a member of the 1980s disco group The Night People. Devil Or Angel was one of 18 top-ten R&B hits the Clovers had between 1951 and 1956 – and none of them made Billboard;s Top 100. The Clovers finally made the pop chart with Love Love Love in 1956 and Love Potion No. 9 in 1959. Bobby Vee's remake of Devil Or Angel became his first big hit, reaching #6 in October 1960 – and somehow I failed to include it on the list. Until now.


 
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