Chart Of All Time - 1962

by Tom Eames

1962 started with Cliff Richard having another No. 1, with "The Young Ones", which stayed at the top for six weeks and was the first single by a UK act to enter at No. 1. From one chart god to another, Elvis Presley took over with four weeks at the top with "Rock-A-Hula-Baby/Cant Help Falling In Love", and was then passed over to The Shadows' biggest hit, "Wonderful Land" which stayed there for eight weeks.

However, there was a song around this time which didn't make it to No. 1, but ended up being the best charting single of the year. Mr Acker Bilk's "Stranger On The Shore" reached No. 2 and spent 47 weeks in the top 40, as one of the longest runners ever. Novelty act B. Bumble & The Stingers got to No. 1 for a week with "Nut Rocker", and made chart history to have one instrumental take over another at the top spot. This was then overturned by Elvis yet again with "Good Luck Charm", his last translantic No. 1.

Mr Acker Bilk The second comedy No. 1 at the time went to Mike Sarne & Wendy Richard (later of Are You Being Served? & Eastenders), with "Come Outside" which was No. 1 for two weeks. Ray Charles, who was blind at 6, and orphaned at 14, hit the top with "I Cant Stop Loving You", his biggest worlwide hit. This was overtaken by the second best charter of the year, "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield. It was originally in the 1942 movie, "The Fleets In", and it was a British million seller. Elvis yet again returned to the top with "She's Not You" for three weeks. Another instrumental track hit the top then with The Tornadoes, who were Billy Fury's backing group, and were the first UK group to top the US charts, with "Telstar". Around this time, was a very succesful and famous song to date, Chubby Checker's "Lets Twist Again". It reached No. 2 and spent 23 weeks in the charts. And there was also "A Picture Of You" by Joe Brown & The Bruvvers which also got to No. 2 and spent 17 weeks in the chart.

Frank Ifield returned to the top with "Lovesick Blues" for five weeks, a song originally by Hank Williams that had topped the US country chart for 16 weeks. The year ended with Elvis Presley scoring his fourth No. 1 of the year with "Return To Sender", the Elvis chart-topper to feature a saxophone, and was also the year's Christmas No. 1. Other succesful and famous songs of the year included, "Speedy Gonzales" by Pat Boone, "Things" by Bobby Darin, "The Locomotion" by Little Eva, "Venus In Blue Jeans" by Mark Wynter, and the funny, "Right Said Fred" by Bernard Cribbins.

Here are the 20 best charting singles of the year:

No.	Artist	Single	Points
1	Mr Acker Bilk	Stranger On The Shore	28.33
2	Frank Ifield	I Remember You	23.52
3	Shadows	Wonderful Land	17.00
4	Tornadoes	Telstar	16.86
5	Cliff Richard	The Young Ones	15.83
6	Elvis Presley	Rock-A-Hula Baby/Cant Help Falling In Love	15.52
7	Elvis Presley	Good Luck Charm	14.78
8	Chubby Checker	Lets Twist Again	14.46
9	Mike Sarne & Wendy Richard	Come Outside	13.76
10	Ray Charles	I Can't Stop Loving You	13.48
11	Joe Brown & The Bruvvers	A Picture Of You	13.34
12	Pat Boone	Speedy Gonzalez	12.64
13	Little Eva	The Locomotion	12.30
14	Frank Ifield	Lovesick Blues	12.22
15	Bobby Darin	Things	11.80
16	Cliff Richard	I'm Looking Out The Window/Do You Wanna Dance	11.65
17	Elvis Presley	She's Not You	11.59
18	Chris Montez	Let's Dance	11.03
19	B. Bumble & The Stingers	Nut Rocker	10.83
20	Helen Shapiro	Tell Me What He Said	10.30

Here are the ten most successfully charting artists of 1962:

No.	Artist	Points
1	Elvis Presley	50.82
2	Cliff Richard	40.89
3	Mr Acker Bilk	38.22
4	Frank Ifield	35.74
5	Chubby Checker	30.12
6	Billy Fury	29.81
7	Shadows	29.50
8	Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen	28.47
9	Bobby Vee	24.93
10	Pat Boone	24.39

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