Billboard #1 Hits 1963
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In 1963, all but two acts (The Four Seasons and Bobby Vinton) achieved their first number-one singles, with a total of 19, which were Steve Lawrence, The Rooftop Singers, Paul & Paula, Ruby & the Romantice, The Chiffons, Little Peggy March, Jimmy Soul, Lesley Gore, Kyu Sakamoto, The Essex, Jan & Dean, The Tymes, Stevie Wonder (as 'Little Stevie Wonder'), The Angels, Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs, Nino Tempo, April Stevens, Dale & Grace and The Singing Nun. These artists only went to the top with these songs once (excluding Wonder, who would later go on to have ten songs hit number one). - From Wikipedia
No 1 - August 31 to September 14th - "My Boyfriend's Back"
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The song “My Boyfriend’s Back” by The Angels is a golden oldie from 1963. Songwriter Bob Feldman overheard a high school girl trying to get rid of a pesky boy, who looked tough and wore a leather jacket. The boy wouldn’t stop asking her out. Exasperated, she finally yelled, “My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble.” He loved the line and took it to his co-writers, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gotterher. They wrote the song and used The Angels to make a demo for The Shirelles . However, executives at Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records, fell in love with the demo (thanks to the sassy vocals and threatening hand-claps) and released the version by The Angels. The single spent 3 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became a classic of the era.
The Angels, a girl group, were originally from New Jersey. They changed membership over the years. At the time of this song, the group consisted of sisters Barbara and Phyllis Allbut and Peggy Santiglia.
Read more about My Boy Friends Back
No 1 - September 21 to October 5th - "Blue Velvet"
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Songwriter Bernie Wayne was inspired to begin writing "Blue Velvet" on a 1951 visit to Richmond, Virginia where he stayed at the Jefferson Hotel. At a party at the hotel Wayne continually caught sight of a female guest dressed in blue velvet with whom he would have a holiday romance.
Bobby Vinton on the Ed Sullivan Show
No 1 - October 12th to November 9th - "Sugar Shack"
"Sugar Shack" is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack. McCormack gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Beulah Faye Voss, after asking what are "those tight pants that girls wear" to which she replied "leotards". The song was recorded in 1963 by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico.[3] The unusual and distinctive instrument part was played by Norman Petty on a Hammond Solovox keyboard; to be precise it is a Model L, Series A.
Jimmy Gilmer & The FireBalls as seen on the Rock N Roll Graffiti show
No 1 - November 16th - "Deep Purple"
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Nino Tempo & April Stevens (Antonino and Carol Vincinette LoTempio) were a brother and sister singing act from Niagara Falls, New York. Formed in the early 1960s when Nino Tempo and April Stevens signed as a duo with Atco Records, they had a string of Billboardhits and earned a Grammy Award as "best rock & roll record of the year" for the single "Deep Purple".
Read more about Deep Purple (Why the whispering of the lyrics?)
Nino Tempo & April Stevens sing Deep Purple
No 1 - Nov. 23rd to Nov. 30th - "I'm Leaving It Up to You"
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In 1963, Robert Dale Houston was working in a bar in Ferriday, Louisiana, a town near Natchez, Mississippi. Montel approached Houston about teaming up with a female singer, Grace Broussard (born 1939) of Prairieville, Louisiana near Baton Rouge. Both had been singing in area bistros for several years - Grace with her brother, Van Broussard (who later released an album on the Bayou Boogie label).[5][6]
The two met and practiced on Montel's home piano for four hours.[4] When Houston began to play a song written and recorded in 1957 by African-American performers Don and Dewey--"I'm Leaving it Up to You"—Montel, asleep in the next room, woke up screaming: “Play it again! That's a hit!
The group, which also included Brian Hylan and Bobby Vee, was standing on a street corner on Main Street in Dallas waving at John F Kennedy on that fateful November day.
Read more about Dale and Grace
Dale & Grace sing I'm Leaving It Up to You
No 1 - December 7th to December 28th - "Dominique"
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"Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by Belgian singer Jeannine Decker, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-born priest and founder of the Domincan Order, of which she was a member (as Sister Luc-Gabrielle)
The Singing Nun sings Dominique on Ed Sullivan