Top Albums:

Original Cast - Camelot
Original Cast - Carnival
Soundtrack - Exodus
Various Artists - Stars For a Summer Night
Soundtrack - Never On Sunday

Billboard Top 40, 7/8/1961
Rank..Previous .. # Weeks .. Title .. Artist

#1 .. 2 / 12 Tossin' and Turnin'---------------------Bobby Lewis
#2 .. 3 / 9 The Boll Weevil Song--------------------Brook Benton
#3 .. 1 / 8 Quarter to Three------------------------Gary U.S. Bonds
#4 .. 4 / 11 Raindrops-------------------------------Dee Clark
#5 .. 5 / 9 The Writing On The Wall-----------------Adam Wade
#6 .. 8 / 9 Every Beat of My Heart------------------The Pips
#7 .. 6 / 11 Moody River-----------------------------Pat Boone
#8 .. 10 / 7 Yellow Bird-----------------------------Arthur Lyman
#9 .. 13 / 6 Hats Off to Larry-----------------------Del Shannon
#10 .. 12 / 7 Dance On Little Girl--------------------Paul Anka
#11 .. 16 / 6 San Antonio Rose------------------------Floyd Cramer
#12 .. 7 / 12 Travelin' Man---------------------------Ricky Nelson
#13 .. 20 / 4 Dum Dum---------------------------------Brenda Lee
#14 .. 25 / 7 I Like It Like That---------------------Chris Kenner
#15 .. 9 / 11 Those Oldies But Goodies-------Little Caesar & the Romans
#16 .. 11 / 10 Stand by Me-----------------------------Ben E. King
#17 .. 21 / 6 Please Stay-----------------------------The Drifters
#18 .. 19 / 8 Tell Me Why-----------------------------The Belmonts
#19 .. 19 / 5 I'm Comin' On Back To You---------------Jackie Wilson
#20 .. 33 / 3 Together--------------------------------Connie Francis
#21 .. 15 / 11 Hello Mary Lou--------------------------Ricky Nelson
#22 .. 14 / 14 Running Scared--------------------------Roy Orbison
#23 .. 24 / 9 It Keeps Rainin'------------------------Fats Domino
#24 .. 36 / 4 Never On Sunday-------------------------The Chordettes
#25 .. 26 / 6 Ole Buttermilk Sky----------------------Bill Black Combo
#26 .. 28 / 7 Tonight Could Be The Night--------------The Velvets
#27 .. 39 / 4 Let's Twist Again-----------------------Chubby Checker
#28 .. 34 / 6 Cupid-----------------------------------Sam Cooke
#29 .. 29 / 4 You Can't Sit Down-----------The Philip Upchurch Combo
#30 .. 22 / 8 Heart And Soul--------------------------The Cleftones
#31 .. 38 / 7 Sacred----------------------------------The Castells
#32 .. 32 / 7 My Kind Of Girl-------------------------Matt Monro
#33 .. 48 / 3 Heart And Soul--------------------------Jan & Dean
#34 .. 43 / 3 The Graduation Song---------------------Adrian Kimberly
#35 .. 17 / 9 You Always Hurt The One You Love--------Clarence Henry
#36 .. 59 / 6 Rainin' In My Heart---------------------Slim Harpo
#37 .. 60 / 2 The Fish--------------------------------Bobby Rydell
#38 .. 58 / 4 Sea Of Heartbreak-----------------------Don Gibson
#39 .. 27 / 14 Hello Walls-----------------------------Faron Young
#40 .. 47 / 5 Nature Boy------------------------------Bobby Darin

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.