1. Elvis Presley

In November 1960, Elvis the Pelvis crooned and swivelled his way to the very top of the UK charts with his ballad, ‘It’s Now or Never’.

It stayed at the number one spot for 8 weeks (more than any other artist in that year), and spent a total of 19 weeks in the charts, selling over 1 million copies in the UK and 20 million worldwide.

He would go on to achieve the longest-run at the top spot again the following year with ‘Wooden Heart’.

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2. The Beatles

Four iconic Liverpudians who turned the world into a salt shaker and shook the hell out of it with the sheer amount of amazing songs they kept on pumping out. They wrote their own songs, their videos and albums were very creative and their hair cuts and fashion sense were not lost on the thousands of young men who mimicked their style.

Perforated ear drums and rivers of salty tears were the gifts screaming hoards of young girls gave Paul, John, Ringo and George – not to mention the bucket-load of records sold during and after their reign (approximately 1 billion).

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3. Cliff Richard

Cliff was quite a catch back in those days, you know? – in the 60s, he was a very very mild version of Elvis (in terms of visual style) with his quiff, singing out of the corner of his lips and doing the odd swivel now and again.

Then part of a band called ‘The Shadows’, they sent the charts spinning with The Young Ones, Summer Holiday and The Next Time/Bachelor Boy.

Not only did good-ole Cliffy appear in the singles’ chart every year in the 60s, but he’s also been in the charts in every decade over the past 6 decades.

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4. Dusty Springfield

With her slightly-husky and soulful voice, Dusty released her first solo in 1963 (I Only Want To Be With You). It reached no.4 in the UK charts and no.12 across the pond, making her the very first female British singer to score a hit in the American charts. She went on to achieve further (and bigger) chart success in 1966 with the song, ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’, reaching no.1 in the UK and no.5 in the US.

Other songs in the 60s which gained her more popularity and admiration were ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ and the beautiful ‘Look of Love’ which received an Oscar nomination.

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5. The Rolling Stones

The Stones were like the British equivalent of the Elvis parents didn’t want their children to listen to (let alone see). With Mick Jagger thrusting his hips around on stage like he was working on Duracell batteries and a series of deliberate goings-on by the band in general (pissing where they shouldn’t have, for instance), they more than lived up to the ‘bad boy’ image decades before P Diddy came along to claim the title.

When they weren’t busy snorting drugs and getting up to what-not, they actually released some great No.1 singles including ‘It’s All Over Now’, ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ and ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’.

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6. The Monkees

The concept of ‘manufactured boy bands’ started with The Monkees. Introducing Micky, Michael, Davy and Peter who were originally formed to compete with The Beatles. The idea was for them to act in a TV series about a fictitious rock n roll group called The Monkees (similar to how S Club 7 and Hannah Montana was set up).

The Monkees proved they were more than just the sum of their parts when their single ‘I’m A Believer’ (written by Neil Diamond) climbed to the top of the US and UK charts in Dec ‘66/Jan ‘67 and stayed there for 7 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. It would be followed by the hit single, ‘Daydream Believer’.

Remember, the ‘Stones and The Beatles were insanely popular back then? Well, in ‘67, The Monkees apparently sold more records than both groups…combined.

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7. The Kinks

Formed in ‘63, The Kinks were initially called The Ravens (‘The Kinks’ does sound better, though – has more oomph).
Pete, Ray, Dave and Mick made their mark with No.1 songs such as ‘You Really Got Me’ in 1964, ‘Tired of Waiting For You’ the following year, and ‘Sunny Afternoon’ the year after that as well as other Top 10 hits. They didn’t do too badly in the US either, scoring five Top-20 hits in the 60s.

Their music and song writing style has influenced scores of artists down the line – some of which include The Jam, Oasis, Supergrass, Blur and Franz Ferdinand.

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8. Jimi Hendrix

It’s sometimes hard to believe that Hendrix died so young – the amazing guitarist made such a musical impact in his short life. Who knows what he would have shown us had he lived longer.

Oddly enough, in the 60s, he had better EP success in the UK than the US – maybe the US just weren’t ready for the kind of funk he had and the UK was a lot more open minded (though some of his albums did fair better in the US).

Admittedly, towards the end of his life, one or two of his performances (particularly Woodstock) were a bit shitty, but Elvis had far more c*ck-ups on stage when he was going downhill and that didn’t seem to do The King’s legendary status that much harm.

Hendrix was an experimentalist, a genius, an icon who eventually, albeit posthumously, got the world recognition he deserved.

(p.s.: If I had a fairy godfather, it would definitely be Jimi.)

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