1962 #1 Singles Albums
…and more
1962 #1 Singles Albums
January
December 18, 1961 – May 4, 1962 – Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii movie soundtrack continues as the Billboard #1 album.
In 1962 Ravi Shankar releasec his 4th album, Improvisations. His first was at age 17 in 1937.
In 1962 – Malvina Reynolds questions suburban homogeneity in her “Little Boxes” song.
In 1962 – Charles Mingus will release his Tijuana Moods album
January 6 – May 4: Elvis’s Blue Hawaii soundtrack album Billboard #1.
January 11, 1962: Howlin’ Wolf released Howlin’ Wolf album [“Wang Dang Doodle” written by Willie Dixon for Howlin’ Wolf at Chess Records in Chicago.]
January 13 – 26, 1962: “The Twist” by Chubby Checker #1 Billboard Hot 100 for the second time.(Sept 1960)
January 27 – Feb 16 – “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee & the Starlighters #1 Billboard Hot 100.
January 30, 1962: Sonny Rollins records “John S” at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood, NJ.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
February
February 10 – April 6, 1962: soundtrack from Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the Billboard #1 stereo album.
February 17 – March 9, 1962 – “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler #1 Billboard Hot 100.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
March
In March, 1962: John Coltrane released Coltrane “Live” at the Village Vanguard.
March 10 – 30, 1962: “Hey Baby” by Bruce Channel #1 Billboard Hot 100.
March 11, 1962, Bob Dylan plays tunes on NYC radio station WBAI-FM.
March 19, 1962: Jackie McLean recorded Let Freedom Ring album at Van Gelder Studios.
March 19, 1962, Bob Dylan (20 years old) released first album: Bob Dylan.
March 31 – April 6, 1962: “Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You” by Connie Francis #1 Billboard Hot 100.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
April
In April 1962: Ray Charles successfully melds country music with soul and crosses into the pop realm with the album “Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music” – the #1 album of 1962.
April 7, 1962: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones at The Ealing Club, a blues club in London.
April 7 – 20, 1962: “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares #1 Billboard Hot 100.
April 16, 1962, Bob Dylan debuted his song “Blowin’ in the Wind” at Gerde’s Folk City in New York.
April 20, 1962: Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd released Jazz Samba, the first major bossa-nova album on the American jazz scene.
April 21 – May 4, 1962: “Good Luck Charm” by Elvis Presley #1 Billboard Hot 100.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
May
May 5 – 25, 1962: “Soldier Boy” by The Shirelles #1 Billboard Hot 100.
May 5 – June 22, 1962: soundtrack to West Side Story is the Billboard #1 album.
May 26 – June 1, 1962: “Stranger on a Strange Shore” by Acker Bilk #1 Billboard Hot 100. Bilk became the first Briton ever to have reached the top of the American charts in the rock and roll era. Bilk joined other easy-listening instrumentalists and orchestra leaders like Bert Kaempfert, Percy Faith and Henry Mancini who thrived on the U.S. side of the Atlantic while American rock and blues was increasingly popular on the UK side.
May 28, 1962: Herbie Hancock recorded Takin’ Off album at Van Gelder Studios.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
June
June 2 – July 6: Ray Charles’s I Can’t Stop Loving You Billboard #1 single.
June 4, 1962, Brian Epstein and Beatles officially sign record deal with Parlophone/E.M.I.
June 4, 1962: Beach Boys released second single, “Surfin’ Safari.” Peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
June 21, 1962, as part of manager Brian Epstein’s plan to get The Beatles wider exposure by having them open for established acts, they opened for Bruce Channel of “Hey! Baby!” fame at the Tower Ballroom, in New Brighton, England, Backstage, Channel’s harmonica player, who would go on to fame as Delbert McClinton, offered John Lennon some tips on playing harmonica, which Lennon later put to use on the band’s first single, “Love Me Do.”
June 23 – September 28, 1962: Ray Charles’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is Billboard’s #1 album.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
July
July 7 – July 13: David Rose’s The Stripper Billboard #1 single.
July 14 – August 10: Bobby Vinton’s Roses Are Red (My Love) Billboard #1 single.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
August
August 2, 1962, Robert Zimmerman changed his name to Bob Dylan.
August 11 – 24, 1962: “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” by Neil Sedaka #1 Billboard Hot 100.
August 25 – 31, 1962: “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva #1 Billboard Hot 100. The Carole King and Gerry Goffin song was offered to Dee Dee Sharp (Mashed Potatoes), who turned it down. The writers had their babysitter record it who took it to No.1.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
September
September 1962: Bob Dylan wrote A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall in the basement of the Village Gate, in a small apartment occupied by Chip Monck, later to become one of the most sought-after lighting directors in rock music and a voice associated with the Woodstock Festival.
September 1 – 14, 1962: “Sheila” by Tommy Roe #1 Billboard Hot 100.
September 15 – October 19, 1962: “Sherry” by the Four Seasons #1 Billboard Hot 100.
September 29 – October 19, 1962: West Side Story soundtrack returns to Billboard’s #1 album.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
October
In October, 1962: Southern soul has its first major hit with the instrumental “Green Onions” by Booker T & the MG’s.
October 20 – November 2, 1962: “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers #1 Billboard Hot 100.
October 20 – November 30, 1962: Peter, Paul, and Mary’s Peter, Paul, and Mary is Billboard’s #1 album.
October 27, 1962, The Beatles “Love Me Do/PS I Love You” #48 on UK Melody Maker hit parade.
October 29, 1962, the Beach Boys’ debut album, “Surfin’ Safari,” was released.
1962 #1 Singles Albums
November
November 3 – 16, 1962: “He’s a Rebel” by The Crystals #1 Billboard Hot 100. The first of many Phil Spector produced hits.
November 17 – December 21, 1962 – “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by the Four Seasons #1 Billboard Hot 100.
November 23, 1962, The Beatles have a 10-minute lunchtime audition before a panel of BBC television producers to assess The Beatles’ talents as a group.
The BBC audition came about after a fan, David John Smith from Preston, wrote to the corporation asking for The Beatles to appear on a show. Falsely assuming that Smith was their manager, the BBC replied offering the group an audition.
Four days afterwards, Brian Epstein received a letter from Ronnie Lane, the BBC’s Light Entertainment Auditioner, declining the request to perform.
November 26, 1962, The Beatles record, “Please Please Me.”
1962 #1 Singles Albums
December
December 1 – 14, 1962: Allan Sherman’s My Son, the Folk Singer Billboard #1 album.
December 15 – March 8, 1963 : Vaughn Meader’s comedy album, The First Family Billboard #1 album.
December 22, 1962 – Jan 11, 1963: “Telstar” by the Tornados #1 Billboard Hot 100 the first #1 Billboard from a British band.
- Link to 1962 Billboard #1 singles list
- Link to 1962 Billboard #1 albums list
- Link to “1963 #1 Singles Albums” page