1961 Top Thirteen

1. Del Shannon - Runaway - 05-61
2. Dion - Runaround Sue - 11-61
3. The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow - 02-61
4. Bobby Vee - Take Good Care Of My Baby - 11-61
5. Neil Sedaka - Calendar Girl - 02-61
6. Billy Fury - Jealousy - 09-61
7. Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart - 03-61
8. Mr. Acker Bilk - Stranger On The Shore - 12-61
9. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five - 11-61
10. Ray Charles - Hit The Road Jack - 10-61
11. John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me - 08-61
12. Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary Lou/Travellin' Man - 06-61
13. Helen Shapiro - Walkin' Back To Happiness - 10-61

And a couple bubbling under:
Danny Williams - Moon River - 11-61
Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight - 01-61

1960s Movies

1960

Psycho - A Phoenix secretary embezzles forty thousand dollars from her employer’s client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Spartacus - The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic.
The Magnificent Seven - Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.
The Apartment - A Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

1961

West Side Story - Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s - A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians - When a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella de Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
The Hustler - An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.

1962

To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice.
Lawrence of Arabia - The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Dr. No - A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.
Lolita - A middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a fourteen-year-old girl.

1963
The Pink Panther - The bumbling Inspector Clouseau travels to Rome to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he conducts his most daring heist yet: a princess' priceless diamond with one slight imperfection, known as "The Pink Panther".
The Great Escape - Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.


1964

A Fistful of Dollars - A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. Goldfinger - While investigating a gold magnate’s smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.
Dr Strangelove - An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a War Room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Mary Poppins - In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
A Hard Day's Night - Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.

1965
The Sound of Music - A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower.
Doctor Zhivago - The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist’s wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
The Ipcress File - In London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.

1966
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Batman: The Movie - The Dynamic Duo faces four supervillains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.

1967
The Jungle Book - Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.
Bonnie and Clyde - Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
In the Heat of the Night - A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
The Dirty Dozen - During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.
The Producers - A stage-play producer devises a plan to make money by producing a sure-fire flop.
The Graduate - A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.

1968
The Thomas Crown Affair - A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Once Upon a Time in the West - A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
2001: A Space Odyssey - After discovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, mankind sets off on a quest to find its origins with help from intelligent supercomputer H.A.L. 9000.
Planet of the Apes - An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.

1969
The Italian Job - Comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam.
The Wild Bunch - An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Wyoming, early 1900s. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid are the leaders of a band of outlaws. After a train robbery goes wrong they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. Their solution – escape to Bolivia.
Midnight Cowboy - A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Easy Rider - Through the open country and desert lands, two bikers head from L.A to New Orleans, and along the way, meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap they are unaware of.

1960 Top Thirteen

1. Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely - 09-60
2. Johnny Preston - Running Bear - 02-60
3. Anthony Newly - Do You Mind - 04-60
4. Shirley Bassey - As Long As He Needs Me - 08-60
5. The Drifters - Save The Last Dance For Me - 11-60
6. Bobby Darin - Beyond The Sea (La Mer) - 02-60
7. The Everly Brothers - Cathy's Clown - 04-60
8. Eddie Cochran - Three Steps To Heaven - 05-60
9. The Shadows - Apache - 08-60
10. Johnny Tillotson - Poetry In Motion - 12-60
11. Ricky Valance - Tell Laura I Love Her - 09-60
12. Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over - 07-60
13. Brian Hyland - Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - 07-60

And the ones that didn’t quite make the grade:
Elvis Presley - Girl Of My Best Friend - 08-60
Neil Sedaka - Stairway To Heaven - 05-60
Peter Sellers & Sophia Loren - Goodness Gracious Me - 11-60

Britain in the 1940s

During the years Britain was at war (1939–45), life was frequently hard and people lived with with fear, injury, death and destruction. Families were often separated due to evacuation and fathers going away to fight. The British had to endure the bombing of their towns and cities in the Blitz, as well as attacks from flying bombs and rockets. In all 60,595 civilians were killed and 86,182 seriously injured. Rationing of food began in January 1940 and clothes in June 1941. By 1943, virtually every household item was either in short supply and had to be queued for, or was unobtainable.

Despite the danger and deprivations, there was a great and genuine community spirit in wartime Britain which often transcended class and other barriers. But there was also an almost universal feeling, that after victory the country could not go back to pre-war social conditions. For starters, women had stepped up to the demands for them to take on 'men's work' in factories, offices and out in the fields. VE Day found Britain exhausted, drab and in poor shape, but justly proud of its unique role in gaining the Allied victory.

In 1948, three years after the war ended, the state of play looked like this:

• People often lived in the same town all their lives, near their families, and there were often more than three children in a family.
• One third of the British population went to the cinema at least once a week, other regular entertainment saw church halls and ballrooms packed with people dancing to swing music or attending concerts of classical, jazz and big band music.
• There were only 14,500 television sets in the whole country and there was only one channel (BBC). Hardly any homes had a television and most families listened to the wireless (radio) for their entertainment.
• A quarter of British homes had no electricity. Many homes did not have a washing machine, telephone or an indoor toilet. With no central heating, coal fires heated the main living rooms. Fitted carpets were rare, most houses having stone floors downstairs and wooden floors with rugs.
• Cooking was done from scratch using produce grown locally. You could only buy items that were in season and most of what you bought was made or grown in the UK.
• There were only just over a million cars on Britain's roads. Petrol rationing remained until 1954. For most people, this made the car an unaffordable luxury. Most people used public transport to get around. Air travel was mainly for the rich. To go abroad, most people traveled by ship.
• The average weekly wage was £3 18s (£3.90). Now it is about £500 (2023).
• The National Health Service was set up.