Old Playlist

" Love Me Do " is the Beatles' first single, backed by B-Side " P.S. I Love You" . When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at No. 17; in 1982 it was re-promoted (not re-issued, retaining the same catalogue number) and reached No. 4. In the United States the single was a No. 1 hit in 1964.  Read more about the song

" It's Not Unusual " is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Read more about the song

English singer Joe Cocker's version of " With a Little Help from My Friends " was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction (featuring drums by Procol Harum's B.J. Wilson, guitar lines from Jimmy Page, and organ by Tommy Eyre). Cocker performed the song at Woodstock in 1969 and that performance was included in the documentary film, Woodstock. Read more about the song

The Marvin Gaye version was placed on his 1968 album In the Groove, where it gained the attention of radio disc jockeys, and Gordy finally agreed to its release as a single in October 1968, when it went to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart for seven weeks from December 1968 to January 1969 and became for a time the biggest hit single on the Motown label (Tamla). Read more about the song

" Light My Fire" is a song by the Doors, which was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their self-titled debut album. Released as an edited single in May 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late July, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after its recording. Read more about the song

" Can't Take My Eyes Off You " is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, stuck behind " Windy " by The Association. It was Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit #1 in 1974 with " My Eyes Adored You ". " Can't Take My Eyes Off You " has had a major cultural impact, with hundreds of cover versions, many of which have been on the charts themselves in different countries. Read more about the song

" Viva Las Vegas " is a 1963 song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and recorded that same year by Elvis Presley for his Viva Las Vegas film vehicle, which along with the song was set for general release the year after. Although Presley never sang the song live, it has since become widely known and often performed by others. The RIAA, on their part, credits the song as having sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone, as per their Gold Award certification, issued on March 27, 1992. Read more about the song

" Wonderful World " (occasionally referred to as "(What A) Wonderful World") is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on April 14, 1960 by Keen Records, it had been recorded during an impromptu session the previous year, Cooke's last recording session at Keen Records. He signed with RCA Victor in 1960 and " Wonderful World, " then unreleased, was issued as a single in competition. The song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more. Read more about the song

" It's My Party " is a pop song recorded by multiple artists since the 1960s. In 1963, American singer Lesley Gore's version hit #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts in the United States. It was the first hit single for producer Quincy Jones. Read more about the song

" People Are Strange " is a single released by The Doors in September 1967 from their second album Strange Days which was also released in September 1967. The single peaked at the number 12 position of the U.S. Hot 100 chart and made it to the top ten in the Cash Box charts. It was written by Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison although credit was given to The Doors evenly. Read more about the song

In 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last! . Her rendition also served as the B-side to her hit of that name and became popular in the UK in 1996 after featuring in a Diet Coke advertising campaign. As a result, the song was released as a single there. The Etta James version contains lyrical changes that affect the meaning of the song. For example " I don't want you to make my bed " becomes " I just want to make your bed ". Instead of forgoing the traditionally female domestic chores eschewed in the original, the lyrics that Ms. James sings clearly state that she wants to perform all of those duties as well as " make love to you ", whereas in the original, the male singer is essentially saying that his lover need not perform any of the traditional domestic duties—love making is all he needs. Read more about the song

" Born to Be Wild " is a song first performed by the band Steppenwolf, written by Mars Bonfire. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric " heavy metal thunder " marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style). Read more about the song

" Stand by Me " is a song originally performed by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King. It was written by King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, inspired by the spiritual " Lord Stand by Me ", plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2–3. There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song. The song is featured on the soundtrack of the 1986 film Stand by Me . Read more about the song

" My Girl " is a 1964 standard recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label which became a number one hit in 1965. Written and produced by The Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, the song became the Temptations' first U.S. number-one single, and is today their signature song. Robinson's inspiration for writing this song was his wife, Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was featured on the Temptations album The Temptations Sing Smokey. Read more about the song

" Crying " is a ballad written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson that was a hit for Orbison. Dave Marsh calls the song a "rock-bolero" with "blaring strings, hammered tympani, a ghostly chorus, the gentle strum of a guitar, [and] a hint of marimba". Billboard observes an "expressive reading" on the "country-flavored ballad.". The personnel on the original recording included Orbison session regulars Bob Moore on bass, Floyd Cramer on piano, Buddy Harman on drums, and Boudleaux Bryant, Harold Bradley & Scotty Moore on guitar. Read more about the song

"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by rhythm and bluesman Percy Mayfield and first recorded in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendricks. The song, which has a strong beat, is a brief, rather comic duet between a fed-up woman and her good-for-nothing man. He tries to wheedle her into letting him stay, but she will have none of it, " Don't care if you do 'cause it's understood: you ain't got no money, you just ain't no good. " Read more about the song

The best-known version of " Unchained Melody " was recorded by The Righteous Brothers and produced by Phil Spector in 1965 as the 'B' side of the single featuring the song, " Hung On You" . Although the version was credited to The Righteous Brothers, it was actually performed as a solo by Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield, who later recorded other versions credited solely to him. This recording climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965 and reached #14 in the UK in 1965. Read more about the song

"Nights in White Satin " is a 1967 single by The Moody Blues, written by Justin Hayward and first featured on the album Days of Future Passed. Read more about the song

" Oh, Pretty Woman " is a song, released in August 1964, which was a worldwide success for Roy Orbison. Recorded on the Monument Records label in Nashville, Tennessee, it was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. " Pretty Woman " was also Orbison's third single to top the British singles chart (for a total of three weeks). The previous Orbison singles to reach No.1 in the UK were "Only the Lonely" in 1960 and " It's Over " earlier in 1964. There were three guitar players on the session, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy and Wayne Moss. Billy Sanford, who later played session for everybody from Elvis to Don Williams (and took to the road with Don in the 1990s) did the kick-off. Williams introduced him as a kid who had just arrived Nashville, with a borrowed guitar, who heard Orbison was minus a guitar player, who went over and got the gig. Read more about the song

"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks, becoming the last No. 1 hit of 1966 and the biggest-selling record for all of 1967. Because of 1,051,280 advance orders, it went gold within two days of release. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. Read more about the song