Throwback Thursday: 1964

Nobody would deny that 1964 was among the most pivotal years in rock and roll. Nobody except Lester, a guy I worked with decades ago. He was an idiot. The Beatles and the other artists who stormed the US pop charts during the first British Invasion made an indelible impact on contemporary music and culture. Motown was ascending and producing classic singles. Girl groups were still hanging around creating pop perfection. Bob Dylan was making himself known, messing with the vocals one expected on a hit record. And Dionne Warwick was already the queen of Twitter.

Here are thirty songs that partly defined 1964. Take note, Lester.

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A Carole King Playlist

Here’s a fun fact (or three): In the history of the Billboard Hot 100, nine songs have hit #1 performed by different artists. The first two songs to achieve this feat were “Go Away Little Girl” (Steve Lawrence in 1963 and Donny Osmond in 1971) and “The Loco-motion” (Little Eva in 1962 and Grand Funk in 1974). Both of those were written by Carole King (b. February 9, 1942) and the late Gerry Goffin, who she married. To date Carole King has a writing credit on 118 Hot 100 hits. 118. One hundred eighteen.

Here are 30 of those 118 songs Carole co-wrote.

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