Out of the Bronx, New York…the group, The Chiffons, as they appeared in 1963.
A reader who likes our ‘story behind the songs’ series asked recently…what were your five favorite pop songs of the 1960s? Sounds like fun to look that far back. Hope you enjoy.
You never know when you start something what it’ll turn out to be. Like the old saying about planting a seed.
But many of you who are kind to share that you enjoy our series on old music and songs you grew up with…well, you might enjoy the challenge that a reader named Diane Dershon threw down recently.
“I’d like you to write about your five favorite songs of he 60s,” she said. “That way you have to write about more than one. Like to see how many were favorites of mine. Can’t wait to read, and hear.”
Well, it is January. It’s cold. And it’s still three weeks before college baseball and the high school basketball tournaments begin.
But picking five favorites an entire decade would be tremendously subjective. And while I’ve got some ideas, I consulted a friend in New Jersey, Matt Fairchild, because he knowledgeable, and there’s just too many for one mind to consider. Matt, an actor and musician, not only helped, he picked two (or three) that I would have picked myself.
And five are too many for one page, anyway, Donna, so here’s where I’m going to start. So…let the years melt away.
In 1962 a pair of song writers, Gerry Goffin and another one you’ll no doubt remember – Carole King – penned the lyrics and tune for a song that became a huge hit for a group named the Chiffons just a year later. One Fine Day not only reached the Top 5 of the Billboard list of hits, it became a world-wide sensation.
And the Chiffons, out of the Bronx, New York – lead singer Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett, Barbara Lee, and Sylvia Peterson – would soon be a world-wide sensation with other hits like He’s So Fine, Sweet Talking Guy, and Why Am I So Shy.
Ironically, like many other groups of the that era their grip on the market was relatively short. By 1972 Judy Craig had taken a job as a bank teller and one by one turnover in the group began to wear down their profile and popularity.
But not before One Fine Day stuck in the hearts and minds of pop music lovers for decades to come.
Enjoy, and here’s my challenge for you. Try to guess the next four.
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