I had such fun presenting my special 70’s show recently, I dug deeper into my CD collection and found some fabulous 60’s tracks to share with you.

The 1960’s
The British Invasion is a term used mainly in the United States to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the U.S.A. from 1964 to 1966. In 1964 CBS Evening News ran a story about The Beatles‘ United States arrival in which the correspondent said “The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania”

After the national success of the Beatles, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, and Cilla Black.

In the U.S The Detroit-based Motown label developed as a pop-influenced answer to soul music. The label would have numerous No. 1 Billboard hits throughout the decade. Motown acts included The Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas and Marvin Gaye

Cliff Richard was originally positioned as a rebellious rock and roll singer. With his backing group, The Shadows, he dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s and John Lennon once claimed that “before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music!

Elvis Presley was discharged from the army in March 1960 and went straight into films. Of Presley’s 27 films in the 1960s, 15 were accompanied by soundtrack albums and another 5 by soundtrack EPs. The music wasn’t great, but he still had 13 #1’s.

“Space Oddity” was David Bowie‘s first single to chart in the UK in July 1969. It reached the top five on its initial release and received the 1970 Ivor Novello Special Award for Originality. The song is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut, and was released during a period of great interest in space flight. The United States’ Apollo 11 mission would launch five days later and would become the first manned moon landing another five days after that.

SONGS PLAYED
Helen Shapiro – Walking Back to Happiness
The Four Tops – Reach Out, I’ll be There
Diana Ross and the Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love
The Beatles – Please Please Me, She Loves You
Cilla Black – Anyone Who Had A Heart
Shirley Bassey – Goldfinger
Nancy Sinatra – You Only Live Twice
Marvin Gaye – I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Cliff Richard and the Shadows – Please Don’t Tease
Jeff Beck– Hi Ho Silver Lining
Bobby Darin – Beyond the Sea
Stevie Wonder – Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday
Elvis Presley – Return to Sender, Good Luck Charm
David Bowie –Space Oddity
Rolling Stones – Get Off of my Cloud
Dusty Springfield – Son of a Preacher Man, Wishin’ & Hopin’