1960s Music: Top Songs, Genres And Trends

The Beatles, the Stones, Motown and the decade the album became the main event.

Below: the albums worth owning from the 1960s, the artists who defined it, how people listened at the time, and the biggest song of every year from 1960 to 1969.

Good for building a party playlist, setting a quiz round or working out what someone grew up listening to.

Shop the cards that go with these

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1960 Look back to 1961 Look back to 1962

Song and lyric prints, drawn and printed by us

Music and milestone art prints and funny cards, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Cunt Rude A6 Postcard Cunt Rude A6 Postcard £3.00 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print £12.99

Shop prints and posters

Years covered in the 1960s

  • 1960 - Coronation Street began, national service ended and the sixties had not started yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1960
  • 1961 - The Beatles started playing the Cavern and Yuri Gagarin went into space. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1961
  • 1962 - Love Me Do, the first James Bond film and the Cuban missile crisis. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1962
  • 1963 - The big freeze, Beatlemania, Doctor Who and the assassination of President Kennedy. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1963
  • 1964 - Top of the Pops, pirate radio, mods and rockers, and BBC Two. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1964
  • 1965 - Churchill's funeral, the 70mph limit and the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1965
  • 1966 - England won the World Cup, and then Aberfan happened in October. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1966
  • 1967 - Sgt. Pepper, Radio 1, colour television and the summer of love. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1967
  • 1968 - Manchester United in Europe, Dad's Army and a year of protest. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1968
  • 1969 - The moon landing, the Beatles on the roof and the end of the decade. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1969
  • That is every 1960s year we have written up so far: 1960 to 1969.

Albums of the 1960s

  • The Beatles, Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
  • The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (1966).
  • The Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet (1968).
  • Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited (1965).
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced (1967).
  • Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis (1969).

Artists who defined the 1960s

  • The Beatles, from Love Me Do (1962) to Abbey Road (1969).
  • The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who.
  • Motown: The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder.
  • Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black and Sandie Shaw.
  • Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding on the soul side.

Genres of the 1960s

  • Beat and the British Invasion, led out of Liverpool and London.
  • Rhythm and blues and mod soul, played in clubs and on scooters.
  • Motown and Stax soul imported and adored.
  • Psychedelia from 1966-67.
  • Folk revival, protest song and the singer-songwriter.

Music trends of the 1960s

  • The album becomes an art form rather than a collection of singles.
  • Pirate radio, then Radio 1 from 1967, changes what gets played.
  • Multitrack studio recording turns the studio into an instrument.
  • Festivals begin, with the first Isle of Wight in 1968.

Biggest songs, year by year

  • 1960 - Cliff Richard and the Shadows were the biggest British act of the year; 'Apache' by the Shadows was one of the year's best sellers.
  • 1961 - Elvis Presley's 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' and 'Wooden Heart' were both number ones.
  • 1962 - The Beatles released 'Love Me Do' in October; it reached the top twenty rather than the top.
  • 1963 - The Beatles had three number ones in the year and two of the year's biggest sellers.
  • 1964 - The Beatles and the Rolling Stones both had number ones; 'Can't Buy Me Love' sold in enormous numbers.
  • 1965 - The Beatles' 'Help!' and 'Ticket to Ride' were both number ones.
  • 1966 - 'Green, Green Grass of Home' by Tom Jones was the year's best-selling single.
  • 1967 - Engelbert Humperdinck's 'Release Me' was the year's best-selling single and famously kept the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' off the top.
  • 1968 - The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' was the year's best-selling single.
  • 1969 - 'Sugar, Sugar' by the Archies was the year's best-selling single.

How people listened

  • Pirate radio - Radio Caroline from 1964 - until Radio 1 launches in September 1967.
  • Top of the Pops on BBC television from 1964.
  • Transistor radios and the first affordable stereo record players.

How to use this

  • Party: take the running order from the 1960s playlist and pull extra tracks from the artists above.
  • Quiz round: read the year and the song, and ask for the other one.
  • Reminiscence session: the songs people sang at eighteen get the most talking.
  • Present: a print of a song from 1960-1969 beats another mug.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1960 Look back to 1961 Look back to 1962

How to write it so it lands

  • Download the tracks rather than streaming them if the party is somewhere with bad signal.
  • One song from the year someone turned eighteen does more than a whole decade playlist.
  • Check for clean versions before a family party - some of these are ruder than people remember.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What are the best albums of the 1960s?

The Beatles, Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The full list above gives real records with their release years, not a ranking - pick by what the person actually listened to.

What music genres were popular in the 1960s?

Beat and the British Invasion, led out of Liverpool and London. Rhythm and blues and mod soul, played in clubs and on scooters. Motown and Stax soul imported and adored. The genres section above has the full list.

Who were the biggest artists of the 1960s?

The Beatles, from Love Me Do (1962) to Abbey Road (1969). The rest are listed above, including the British acts that mattered more here than anywhere else.

What was the biggest song of each year in the 1960s?

The year-by-year list above gives the chart facts for each year of the decade, taken from the same checked data as our year pages.

Do you sell records?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including song and lyric prints. For the records themselves, charity shops and independent record shops are the honest answer.

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