By popular demand, I have added 1964 (originally the rankings started with 1965).
There weren’t as many songs to review so I was able to do it much quicker.
The House of the Rising Sun was probably the best song of the entire decade, so including the year 1964 when it was released seems only right. And with the Beatles putting out their first two albums in 1963, reviewing that year is a must. So my journey through years of music backtracks two more years and will now begin for 1963.
Unlike most rankings, I haven’t been simply tossing these up in a numerical order. Because we can all agree that on some days, certain songs kick more ass than other songs – yet other days they do not. It all depends on mood and situation. A song that is ranked 14th today could very well rank 1st tomorrow – if it suddenly comes on the radio during the perfect moment and I start singing along. So I group them instead of presenting a hard-and-fast order:
Awesome
Great
Solid
Not Bad
…with some inter-group splitting.
At the bottom you will find the full list in a chart. But here were the best from that year…
7 Great Songs from 1964
Gloria – Them
Time Is On My Side – The Rolling Stones
And I Love Her – The Beatles
Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles
The Truly Awesome Song from 1964
The House Of The Rising Sun – The Animals
This one ended up getting ranked as my No.1 favorite from the entire 60s decade…
I put together a YouTube playlist for my favorites from 1963 and 1964 here
Here is the complete list:
| Awesome – 1 | The House Of The Rising Sun | – | The Animals |
| Great – 2 | A Hard Day’s Night | – | The Beatles |
| Great – 2 | Louie Louie | – | The Kingsmen |
| Great – 2 | You Really Got Me | – | The Kinks |
| Great – 5 | Do Wah Diddy Diddy | – | Manfred Mann |
| Great – 5 | And I Love Her | – | The Beatles |
| Great – 5 | Time Is On My Side | – | The Rolling Stones |
| Great – 5 | Gloria | – | Them |
| Solid – 9 | It Ain’t Me Babe | – | Bob Dylan |
| Solid – 9 | The Times They Are A-Changin’ | – | Bob Dylan |
| Solid – 9 | I Get Around | – | The Beach Boys |
| Solid – 9 | Can’t Buy Me Love | – | The Beatles |
| Solid – 9 | I Should Have Known Better | – | The Beatles |
| Solid – 14 | You Never Can Tell | – | Chuck Berry |
| Solid – 14 | (Oh) Pretty Woman | – | Roy Orbison |
| Solid – 14 | No Reply | – | The Beatles |
| Solid – 14 | California Sun | – | The Rivieras |
| Solid – 14 | It’s All Over Now | – | The Rolling Stones |
| Not Bad – 19 | The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) | – | Betty Everett |
| Not Bad – 19 | All I Really Want To Do | – | Bob Dylan |
| Not Bad – 19 | No Particular Place To Go | – | Chuck Berry |
| Not Bad – 19 | I Only Want to Be With You | – | Dusty Springfield |
| Not Bad – 19 | I’m Into Something Good | – | Herman’s Hermits |
| Not Bad – 19 | Last Kiss | – | J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers |
| Not Bad – 19 | I Got You (I Feel Good) | – | James Brown |
| Not Bad – 19 | Dancing in the Street | – | Martha & the Vandellas |
| Not Bad – 19 | My Guy | – | Mary Wells |
| Not Bad – 19 | My Boy Lollipop | – | Millie Small |
| Not Bad – 19 | Downtown | – | Petula Clark |
| Not Bad – 19 | Fun, Fun, Fun | – | The Beach Boys |
| Not Bad – 19 | Under The Boardwalk | – | The Drifters |
| Not Bad – 19 | Baby, I Love You | – | The Ronettes |
| Not Bad – 19 | Baby Love | – | The Supremes |
| Not Bad – 19 | Where Did Our Love Go | – | The Supremes |
Dobber's Take 
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