One of the key things about the first three years of the decade was they weren't too different from the 50s. We know the 60s as we know it would have to start sooner or later, but would 1963 be it?
Well the year began with Cliff Richard scoring his sixth number one with a double A side of "The Next Time/Bachelor Boy". This was then knocked off number one by his backing group The Shadows with "Dance On", their fourth number one (excluding those with Cliff Richard). Then this was knocked off number on by former Shadows members Jet Harris and Tony Meehan with "Diamonds". Then Frank Ifield scored his third number one in a row with "The Wayward Wind" before we see the return of Cliff Richard with his seventh number one with "Summer Holiday". Once again Cliff Richard was knocked off number one by The Shadows with "Foot Tapper", their fifth number one putting them third for most number ones behind Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. The Shadows were knocked off number one by Cliff Richard who returned to number one with "Summer Holiday". The Shadows would have no further number ones but Cliff Richard would.
By this point it was April. So not much has changed at the top of the charts so far.
Additionally we saw Elvis Presley have four more hits including one further number one with "(You're the) Devil in Disguise". This brought his total number of hits to 47 and his total number ones to 14 which at the time of writing, the only other act to beat that total is The Beatles.
We saw in 1962 The Beatles got up to number 17 with "Love Me Do". This wouldn't climb any further in the charts, but the start of the year saw them release their follow up, "Please Please Me" which would reach number 2. It was fellow Liverpudlians Gerry and the Pacemakers though who would score the first Mersey Beat number one with their debut "How Do You Do It" which knocked "Summer Holiday" off the top. Then the Beatles scored their first number one with their third single "From Me To You". Going with the trend so far in 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers knocked the Beatles off the top with their second single "I Like It". The next two number ones came from Frank Ifield and Elvis Presley, but after this all number one for the rest of the year would come from the Beat scene including Gerry and the Pacemakers with "You'll Never Walk Alone" which would make them the first act to reach number one with their first three singles.
As well as The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers, several other acts from Mersey Beat movement would make their chart debuts this year. The Big Three debuted in April with "Some Other Guy". Then in May, Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas debuted with a cover of The Beatles "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and also reaching number one in August with the Lennon/McCartney penned "Bad to Me". Appropriately this was then knocked off number one by The Beatles with "She Loves You". June saw The Swinging Blue Jeans debut with "It's Too Late Now" and The Searchers debut with "Sweets for My Sweet" which reached number one. Then September saw the debuts of The Fourmost with "Hello Little Girl" and The Merseybeats with "Its Love That Really Counts". Then October saw the debut of Cilla Black with the Lennon/McCartney penned "Love of the Loved".
Outside of Liverpool their were other notable chart debutants who are considered to be from the Beat movement. From London there was the Rolling Stones with "Come On" and following it up with the Lennon/McCartney penned "I Wanna Be Your Man". Also from London was Brian Poole and the Tremeloes with "Twist and Shout" which was followed up by the number one single "Do You Love Me" which was also the debut single for fellow Londoners Dave Clark Five. Then from Manchester came The Hollies with "(Ain't That) Just Like Me" and Freddie and the Dreamers with "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody".
In addition to Beat music, this was also the year of Surf music. The well known "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris charted at number 5 this year which would be their only hit. More notably though was the chart debut of The Beach Boys with "Surfin USA". Also worth a mention is the lesser known "Surf City" by Jan and Dean which reached number 26.
This was also the year we said goodbye to The Springfields and say hello to Dusty Springfield making her solo debut with "I Only Want to be With You".
From America we see the debut from The Ronettes with "Be My Baby". More surprisingly we see the chart debut of Bo Diddley with "Pretty Thing" which had been released in America in 1955.
We see three new nationalities on the charts this year. From Japan we have Kyu Sakamoto who had his only hit with "Sukiyaki". Then from Brazil we have Los Indios Tabajaras with their only hit "Maria Elena". Finally from Belgium we have The Singing Nun with her only hit "Dominique".
This would be the first year none of the acts from the first year of the charts in 1952 would feature. Of the 1953 debutants, we see the final hit from Jimmy Young with "Miss You". Then we see both Frank Sinatra and Frankie Vaughan continue their string of hits every year since 1954 whilst Petula Clark is still present in the charts.
So it does seem like 1963 is the year the sixties truly becomes the sixties. Will the Beat craze continue into 1964? and what other music will we see come about? we'll see in a couple of weeks.
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