Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

DEAR JERRY: My recollection is that there were many more instrumental hits in the 1960s before the British Invasion than after, when singing groups became hot.

How did the success of those bands affect the number of Top 10 instrumentals?
—Jody Gillman, Hammond, Ind.

DEAR JODY: The easy answer is, the effect was enormous.

But an exact comparison is best appreciated by recapping all the Top 10 instrumentals in the U.S., for the 520 weeks that were the 1960s.

Those numbers clearly support your belief.

Of the 65 Top 10 instrumentals overall, 40 are from 1960 through 1963.

From 1964, and the first wave of UK invaders, to the end of the decade, there were only 25 Top 10 instrumentals, and not one of those was in 1967.

From the most to the least, the line of demarcation is clear:
1961 (14)
1962 (11)
1963 (8)
1960 (7)
1968 (7)
1965 (6)
1969 (6)
1964 (4)
1966 (2)
1967 (0)

The best an instrumental could do in '67 was No. 11, and it was Cannonball Adderley's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."

Titles are grouped by their peak chart position, from 1 through 10 (based on the three top national charts of the '60s), then chronological within that group:

1. "The Theme From 'A Summer Place'" (1960) Percy Faith and His Orchestra
1. "Last Date" (1960) Floyd Cramer
1. "Wonderland By Night" (1961) Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
1. "Exodus" (1961) Ferrante & Teicher
1. "Calcutta" (1961) Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra
1. "Stranger on the Shore" (1962) Mr. Acker Bilk
1. "The Stripper" (1962) David Rose and His Orchestra
1. "Telstar" (1962) The Tornadoes
1. "A Taste of Honey" (1965) Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
1. "Love Is Blue (L'amour Est Bleu)" (1968) Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra
1. "Grazing in the Grass" (1968) Hugh Masekela
1. "Classical Gas" (1968) Mason Williams
1. "Soulful Strut" (1969) Young-Holt Unlimited
1. "Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet" (1969) Henry Mancini (Piano Soloist), With His Orchestra and Chorus
(RCA Victor originally designated "The Windmills of Your Mind" as the A-side, but it did not chart. The B-side became No. 1, and was Mancini's only chart topper.)

2. "Walk - Don't Run" (1960) The Ventures
2. "Apache" (1961) Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar
2. "Midnight in Moscow" (1962) Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen
2. "Washington Square" (1963) The Village Stompers
2. "Wipe Out" (1963) The Surfaris
2. "The Horse" (1968) Cliff Nobles & Co.
2. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1968) Hugo Montenegro, His Orchestra and Chorus

3. "Because They're Young" (1960) Duane Eddy and the Rebels
3. "Wheels" (1961) The String-A-Longs
3. "Last Night" (1961) The Mar-Keys
3. "Green Onions" (1962) Booker T. & The MG's
3. "Out of Limits" (1964) The Marketts
(First pressings were titled "Outer Limits.")
3. "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" (1966) The T-Bones
(Based on an Alka Seltzer TV commercial.)

4. "White Silver Sands" (1960) Bill Black's Combo
4. "On the Rebound" (1961) Floyd Cramer
4. "Yellow Bird" (1961) Arthur Lyman Group
4. "Pipeline" (1962) Chantays
4. "Java" (1964) Al Hirt
4. "The 'In' Crowd" (1965) Ramsey Lewis Trio
4. "Hawaii 5-O" (1969) The Ventures

5. "Mexico" (1961) Bob Moore & His Orchestra
5. "Memphis" (1963) Lonnie Mack

6. "Theme From 'The Apartment'" (1960) Ferrante & Teicher With Their Orch. & Chorus
6. "Tonight" (1961) Ferrante & Teicher
6. "The Lonely Bull" (1962) The Tijuana Brass Featuring Herb Alpert
6. "Alley Cat" (1962) Bent Fabric & His Piano
6. "Maria Elena" (1963) Los Indios Tabajaras
6. "Time Is Tight" (1969) Booker T. & The MG's
6. "Quentin's Theme" (1969) Charles Randolph Grean Sounde

7. "Don't Be Cruel" (1960) Bill Black's Combo
7. "Let There Be Drums" (1961) Sandy Nelson
7. "More (From Motion Picture 'Mondo Cane')" (1963) Kai Winding & Orchestra
7. "Our Winter Love" (1963) Bill Pursell
7. "Zorba the Greek" (1965) Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
7. "Born Free" (1966) Roger Williams

8. "One Mint Julep" (1961) Ray Charles
8. "Asia Minor" (1961) Kokomo
8. "San Antonio Rose" (1961) Floyd Cramer
8. "Wild Weekend" (1963) Rockin' Rebels
8. "Walk - Don't Run '64" (1964) The Ventures
(Newly-recorded version of their 1960 hit.)
8. "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" (1965) Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra

9. "Rinky Dink" (1962) Baby Cortez
9. "Watermelon Man" (1963) Mongo Santamaria
9. "Shangri-la" (1964) Robert Maxwell, His Harp & Orchestra
9. "A Walk in the Black Forest (Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt)" (1965) Horst Jankowski, His Orchestra & Chorus
9. "Soul Limbo" (1968) Booker T. & The MG's
9. "Hang 'Em High" (1968) Booker T. & The MG's

10. "Percolator (Twist)" (1962) Billy Joe & the Checkmates
10. "Desafinado" (1962) Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd
(Verve originally designated "Theme From Dr. Kildare [Three Stars Will Shine Tonight]" as the A-side, but it did not chart.)
10. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (1965) Sounds Orchestral
10. "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) Ferrante & Teicher

IZ ZAT SO? Only these seven artists had multiple Top 10 instrumentals during the '60s:

Ferrante & Teicher (4)
Booker T & the MG's (4)
Ventures (3)
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (3)
Floyd Cramer (3)
Bert Kaempfert (2)
Bill Black's Combo (2)


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