Personal top ten - August 1962 to February 1963

The latter part of 1962 featured the beginnings of the British beat era, the rise of the girl group sound and the emergence of Phil Spector as a major force. There were plenty of other good pop records around as well.
List 201 had Benny Spellman and Brian Hyland at joint number one, a re-entry by Connie Francis and a new entry by the Lafayettes. Number 202 had a re-entry by David Rose and list 203 had a stack of new entries - by Del Shannon, Little Eva, Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson, a Sam Cooke B side which was one of his best, James Darren and Duane Eddy. In 204 there were new entries for Dion, Buddy Knox, Paul Anka and Lonnie Donegan.

Tommy Roe's 'Sheila' was a new entry in list 205, along with ones by Freddie Cannon, Joe Brown and Gene Vincent. There was a new entry by Johnny Burnette in 206 on its way to number one and in 207 there were new entries by Buddy Holly, Brenda Lee and Jimmy Jones. List 208 had B sides by Buddy Holly and Brenda Lee.

In list 209 there were new ones from Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles and Hank Lochlin. List 210 had two big new entries by Chris Montez (a future number one) and Carole King and one by Dave (Baby) Cortez. List 211 had entries by the Shirelles, Gene McDaniels and Bobby Darin, and number 212 had new ones by Johnny Tillotson, Booker T and the MGs ('Green Onions') and a re-entry.

Number 213 had an entry at number one by Little Richard and one by Gene Pitney; 214 had new ones by Del Shannon and Joey Dee. List 215 had a new one by Sam Cooke which was the biggest scorer of the year ('Nothing Can Change This Love'), new ones by Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers and a future number one by the Crystals. List 216 saw the arrival of the Four Seasons.

List 217 saw new entries by Brian Hyland and a Chubby Checker B side. The A side ('Limbo Rock') entered in 218, as did records by Bobby Rydell, the Dovells and Johnny and the Hurricanes. There was also an entry at number 10 by the Beatles ('Love Me Do'). This was the first and only time that a British beat group record made it into my top ten. 219 had a re-entry by Chubby Checker and 220 had a new one by Fats Domino.

There were new entries by Neil Sedaka, Bobby Darin, the Sherrys and the Contours in list 221 and in 222 new ones by Duane Eddy and Gary (US) Bonds. There were new ones by the Drifters (a future number one), Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee in 223 and by the Shirelles, Freddie Cannon, Elvis, Chuck Jackson and Dee Dee Sharp in 224.

These ones are hard to read I'm afraid but the basic info is that Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney and Tommy Roe had new ones in 225; Johnny Burnette and the Belmonts in 226; Little Eva, a re-entry by Roy Orbison and the Routers in 227 and Dion, Gene McDaniels and Johnny Tillotson in 228.

Dion reached number one in 229 and there were new entries by the Orlons and the Tijuana Brass; the Cookies and the Tokens had new ones in 230; Lloyd Price, Ray Charles and Connie Francis had new entries in 231; and Johnny Crawford in 232.

Moving into 1963 there was a new entry by Bob B Soxx & the Blue Jeans in 233 and one by Brook Benton. In 234 there were new ones by Rick Nelson, Barry Mann and the Ventures; Del Shannon, Chris Montez, Brenda Lee and Gary (US) Bonds had new ones in 235 and in 236 there were new entries by Tony Orlando and Clarence Henry.

List 237 had a new entry by the Four Seasons; 238 new ones by the Rooftop Singers, Dion, the Exciters and Bobby Vinton; 239 new entries by the Shirelles, Gabriel and the Angels and Gene Pitney; and 240 a future number one by the Crystals.

Finally in this batch there was a new one by Sam Cooke in 241; by Bobby Vee and Floyd Cramer in 242; by Freddie Cannon and Joe Brown in 243, and by Johnny Horton, Neil Sedaka and Billy Fury in list 244.