This Infectious Love Song Held The No. 1 Spot The Longest In 1961

No song spent more time at No. 1 in 1961 than did "Tossin' and Turnin'," a charming and engaging love song by likable R&B crooner Bobby Lewis. Undeniably catchy and full of jaunty and frenetic elements, it's a '60s song that will take boomers back to childhood, a true cut loose, get down and party song, despite its subject matter: "Tossin' and Turnin'" is about the discomfort of stress-related insomnia. Lewis' character is unable to get any sleep whatsoever, but it's for a sweet and romantic reason: He can't get some lady he's sweet on out of his thoughts long enough for his brain to calm down and rest.

Decidedly not one of the worst No. 1 hits of the 1960s, "Tossin' and Turnin'" claimed the No. 1 spot for seven weeks in 1961, enough to make it Billboard's most successful single of the year. Don't sleep on the story of Bobby Lewis's biggest hit.

"Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis, which spent most of the summer of 1961 entrenched in the No. 1 position on the Hot 100, is one of the most significant hits ever by a solo male artist in the 20th century, with a rarely-replicated total of seven weeks at the peak. It's a triumph for which Lewis worked and fought. Lewis couldn't get any traction with a series of small record labels until he happened upon Beltone Records. He was granted an audition, and the studio pianist was Ritchie Adams of the Fireflies, whom Lewis had met when they had both performed at the famed Apollo Theater.

Adams was so impressed by Lewis' performance of his audition material that he asked Lewis to sing an unrecorded song he'd written. "Tossin' and Turnin'" was a kicking, hot and bothered rave-up about sleeplessness caused by having a crush, comparing the disjointed mental states of love and a sleep-starved brain. Lewis' booming and insistent opening line, "I couldn't sleep at all last night," along with a highly energetic backing band and a wailing saxophone solo, all helped bring "Tossin' and Turnin'" to the top of the pop chart. One symptom of the dark 1960s music industry was that Lewis would only ever have one more hit before he disappeared into chart obscurity, leaving behind one of the zippiest, most earnest, and catchiest love songs of the era.