For each year I've selected 30 songs that I would want on my playlist for that year. They aren't necessarily the most popular songs of the year, or the ones I might have liked most at the time, but looking back fifty plus years, these are the ones I would want to listen to most. Some selections will not be surprising ("Don't Be Cruel," 1956) but others probably wouldn't appear on a lot of top thirty lists ("Step by Step," 1960). The songs are presented in a chart and as a jukebox (so you can listen) in order from my favorite song of the year to #30.

To view the playlist for a particular year, click on the appropriate button below. These buttons also appear on each page, so you can jump around if you like.