Author’s Note: I wrote the bulk of this summary in June 2021, as my second full-length project after my 2020 lists. I wrote the honorable mentions while still living in New York, then wrote the top ten while living at an Airbnb in Sylvania while waiting for my current apartment to be ready to live in. Admittedly when I wrote this, it was a hack job as I was getting impatient with starting my 1977 project afterwards. So I will be doing a bit more editing from the present with this list, in order to bring it up to higher standards.
When I initially wrote this list, the #9 song was ranked at #5. I have since knocked it down several slots in large part due to my enjoyment of the song as a guilty pleasure, rather than as one of the legitimate best songs of the year. Additionally, the #10 song was initially not on the best list. You’ll be shocked when you see what it is, trust me. Finally, my initial #9 song was moved to the honorable mentions.
Thanks and on with the show!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to 1963.
1963 may have been the beginning of the turbulent sixties, but you also have to take in the good with the bad. The March on Washington and John F. Kennedy’s support for new legislation indicated that the end of segregation was imminent. Elsewhere, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty banned the testing of nuclear weapons anywhere but underground. So now we could enjoy our music without fear of getting incinerated by a nuclear testing site.
And honestly, the music of the year was… not that bad.
While the early 1960’s gets a bad rep in the era of music, 1963 was a noticeable improvement over 1962, at least from what I have heard. The Beatles may have not been around, but existing artists had their highlights. In pop music, the girl group trend was in full swing as many of their songs that were released during this time became all-time classics, with most of them backed by Phil Spector’s “Wall Of Sound” production. In R&B, the doo-wop sound of the previous decade was morphing into the Motown sound, with groups like The Miracles and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas in particular standing out during this era. Out west, the success of a little band called The Beach Boys convinced numerous imitators to pick up a guitar and start making their own surf rock songs.
So 1963 was honestly a pretty good year. Not quite as great as 1966 or 1967 down the road, but still, not a year that deserves the hate. And today, I’m going to take a look at the best the year had to offer. This was a pretty tough list to rank, because there are some absolutely great songs from the year that everyone needs to hear, stacked next to lesser-known songs that I fell in love with. I’ll try my best. Can’t promise that everyone will be happy with these rankings though.
And for the second time, here are the house rules:
- The song must have made the Billboard Hot 100 Year End list for 1963. There were two lists released for 1963: One that was initially released in December 1963, and a corrected version released later. Because the corrected version uses more accurate methodologies for Billboard, I’ll be using the corrected list. So, apologies to “The Reverend Mr. Black” by The Kingston Trio, “Martian Hop” by The Ran-Dells, and the other 10 songs that were ineligible for this list.
- The song must not have appeared on a previous year-end chart. Fortunately, none of the songs on this list made the 1962 list, so all 100 songs are eligible.
With 100 songs eligible for this list, I narrowed it down to 31 songs when planning my best list before knocking the total down to 20 for the main list and honorable mentions.
Before we get into the main list, I’ll go over the sins of omission, the songs that failed to make the year-end list I felt deserved to be chart successes. Honorable mentions will be revealed before the number one slot.
And on that note, without further ado…
THE TOP TEN BEST SONGS OF 1963
Today’s Transition music: “Pride And Joy” – Marvin Gaye
You’re my (pride and joy) pride and joy (pride and joy)
I believe I’m your (baby boy) baby boy (baby boy)
But I know you’re my (pride and joy)
My pride and joy (pride and joy)
Yeah baby (baby boy) Yeah baby (baby boy)
#5: “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”
IMAGE SOURCES
“He’s So Fine” single cover from Genius
Photo of Jan and Dean from Spinditty
Dr. Nelson Winston 
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