The song that would be Billboard's #1 for 1961 climbed to the top spot on July 8th. Bobby Lewis was a former circus performer, had appeared with Soupy Sales, and was "discovered" by Jackie Wilson when he happened to audition for Beltone records that had a song they wanted him to try. He said he never thought it would be a hit, but "Tossin' and Turnin'" ended up spending 17 weeks in the top forty and was number one for 7 weeks. Lewis only had one other top forty song, "One Track Mind" later in 1961. By the time "Tossin' and Turnin'" was replaced as number one by Joe Dowell's "Wooden Heart" on September 26th, only "I Like It Like That," "Dum Dum," and "Together" would still be in the top twenty. "I Like it Like That" would rank second to "Tossin' and Turnin'" for four of the seven week while "The Boll Weevil Song" was held out of the top spot fo the other three weeks..
Three other songs from the July 8th top twenty were number ones. "Quarter to Three" and "Moody River" had both been chart toppers in June, while "Travelin' Man" had been a number one in May.
"The Writing on the Wall," "Every Beat of My Heart," "Dance on Little Girl," "Tell Me Why," and "I'm Comin' On Back To You" all hit their highest ranking on July 8th. |
