Starting Dec 1, I will be posting five music videos every other day, counting down the top 100 songs for each year 1964-83, the classic era of pop, rock, and soul. I’m starting with 1964, as it is the year of The Beatles and the British invasion, and the first Motown hits of The Supremes, The Temptations, and Four Tops. The top 100 hits of 1963 are still dominated by the easy listening 50s style of Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole, and only a few rockers by America’s first great rock band, The Beach Boys, and others in their style. Soul is well represented by Motown’s Martha and The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, and The Miracles, and there’s also 1963 hits by Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson and Phil Spector’s girl groups The Crystals and The Ronettes.
By 1984, MTV had taken over music, making music more about a visual image, backed by cheap drum machines and other electronics, with real musical instruments costly and unnecessary. 1984 saw the first hits of Mudonna and Bon Jovee, acclaimed for their videos.
The hits of 1964 still reflect easy listening pop to some degree, but it becomes less pronounced as the decade advances, and every year has its share of annoying ear worms. I have started with the top 10 hits of 1963.
Howard Hawks Hollywood 