1960s Party Playlist: Songs And Running Order

Motown while people are still talking, Beatles and Stones in the middle, and soul to finish.

This is the decade for a 60th, 65th or 70th. Below is the playlist in four parts - what to open with, what fills the floor, what everyone sings and what to save for the people who know the decade properly.

One rule before you start: never play your three biggest songs in the first hour. Everything else is detail.

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.

The running order

• First hour, arrivals and talking: openers only, loud enough to fill the room and quiet enough to hear each other.
• Second hour, the room fills: start dropping floor-fillers, alternating one known song with one lesser-played track.
• Third hour, the peak: the biggest songs, back to back, no ballads.
• Last twenty minutes: the singalongs, finishing on one everybody knows every word to.
• Three hours of music is about 45 songs. Build 60 so you have room to skip.

1960s openers

• The Supremes - Baby Love
• The Temptations - My Girl
• Sam Cooke - Wonderful World
• Dusty Springfield - I Only Want To Be With You
• The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
• Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

1960s floor-fillers

• Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Dancing In The Street
• The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine
• Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright)
• The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
• Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again
• The Kinks - You Really Got Me

1960s singalongs to finish on

• The Beatles - Hey Jude
• The Beatles - Twist And Shout
• Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
• The Monkees - I'm A Believer
• Ben E. King - Stand By Me

1960s deep cuts

• Gladys Knight and the Pips - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
• The Small Faces - Tin Soldier
• Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher
• The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
• Dobie Gray - The In Crowd, if there are northern soul people in

What to be careful with

• Two Beatles songs is plenty unless the room keeps asking. Everyone has a different favourite era and you'll lose half of them.
• Psychedelia empties floors. Lovely on a record player, wrong at a party.
• Motown is the safest decade music there is - when in doubt, put another one on.

Practical bits people forget

• Download it. Venue wifi failing mid-party is the most common way a playlist goes wrong.
• Turn off shuffle and turn off the auto-playlist that kicks in at the end.
• Check clean versions if children or grandparents are in the room.
• Put one person in charge of the music and let them ignore requests after eleven.
• Print the track list and pin it up - people read it all night and it doubles as a quiz round.

Shop prints and posters

Music prints and lyric posters

A5, A4 and A3, ready to frame.

Decorations for a decade party

Banners, balloons, cake toppers and confetti, plain enough to take any era theme.

Milestone birthday cards

Blank inside, kraft envelope, printed in the UK.

How to write it so it lands

• Build the playlist around the years they were 15 to 25, not the year they were born.
• Hold your three biggest songs until the room is full.
• Download it rather than streaming it, and turn shuffle off.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1960
• Look back to 1961
• Look back to 1962
• Look back to 1963
• Look back to 1964
• Look back to 1965
• Look back to 1966
• Look back to 1967
• Look back to 1968
• Look back to 1969
• 1950s party playlist
• 1970s party playlist
• 1980s party playlist
• 1990s party playlist
• 2000s party playlist
• 2010s party playlist
• 2020s party playlist
• Playground games by region
• Look back to the 1960s
• 1960s retro gift guide
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Retro party playlist by decade
• Nostalgia birthday party by decade
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Milestone birthday cards
• Party supplies
• Posters and prints
• Shop birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Sympathy and bereavement cards
• Sympathy cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What is the best 60s song to fill a dance floor?

Dancing In The Street or Twist And Shout. Both are short, both are known by everyone in the room, and both work at any point in the night.

How many songs do you need for a 1960s party?

About 15 songs an hour, so roughly 45 for a three hour party. Build 60 so you can skip anything that isn't landing without a gap.

Should the playlist be all one decade?

No. Keep the middle of the night in the decade and let the last hour drift either side of it. A single decade for four hours starts to feel like a theme night rather than a party.

Do you sell music?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and stickers, and we stock party decorations - all printed in the UK. The playlist is free to copy.