5 No. 1 Hits That Prove 1964 Was The Decade's Best Year For Love Songs

Looking back at the songs that hit No. 1 in the U.S. in 1964, it's hard to believe singers and songwriters were thinking about anything other than love. America's love affair with rock music was well underway with help from the British Invasion, though classic crooners and Motown girl groups made a strong showing as well.

There was so much love in the air — and on the airwaves — that the year stands out as the love song pinnacle of the entire decade. If groups weren't harmonizing about searching for it or celebrating having found it, they were wailing about losing it and wondering how it got away. It was a love fest, and the tunes that rose to the top of the charts celebrate the undeniable highs and unmistakable lows.

We think the five No. 1 songs from 1964 that show off the year's gold-medal love song status offer something for every taste. Vintage acts like the Beatles dominated with multiple chart-topping love songs, as did the Supremes; we narrowed down the options to the most exemplary titles. We couldn't leave out the ill-fated teen romance vibe, so we grabbed the Shangri-Las' girl-group biker version of "Romeo and Juliet." And we rounded out the jukebox of love with a timeless Dean Martin track and a swoony folk-style song from Peter and Gordon, a love song sad enough to have boomers crying in their coffee.

The sugar-sweet tones of Diana Ross leading the Supremes in a charming song about being in love with someone who isn't equally in love back — what's not to adore here? Delivered by one of the chicest and sleekest girl groups to ever step onstage, "Baby Love" is a song that pleads for love to live on. Even with its desperate take on a romance that might be better discontinued, it manages to hit all the right notes and fools you into thinking it's rejoicing instead of begging. Kudos to the major-key melody and sweet harmonies for spinning such a clever spell.

The trio notched the second No. 1 of their shared and storied career with this bop, coming on the heels of "Where Did Our Love Go?" — another 1964 bullseye that covered the more tragic side of love. With "Baby Love," Ross and friends were putting in a final appeal for the wandering sweetheart in the song to stay true. The most cheerfully delivered line in the whole song ends up being "Don't throw our love away," though it's hard to tell if the ladies are being optimistic or singing through their tears. Either way, there's no reason not to sing along and root for this fractured love to make it against all odds.

In the category of Something for Everybody is swoon-worthy crooner Dean Martin and his classic "Everybody Loves Somebody," a throwback tune with Rat Pack swagger to spare. In a pop chart being subsumed by more and more rock and pop tunes aimed at younger listeners, this vintage shuffle tore a page right out of the Great American Songbook and gave the grown-ups in the room an ode to love they could call their own.

Led in by a sweeping cascade of strings descending like an aural waterfall and backed by the most Disney-esque of backing choirs, Dino tears it up, laying on the charm in that wibbly-wobbly way that only a mid-20th century warbler can. His laid-back confidence and unhurried delivery make even the shyest of wallflowers believe that love is inevitable. That's the kind of moxie that helped this swinging love song reach No. 1 in August of 1964, knocking the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the spot and giving Martin his first Top 40 single since 1958.

There may be plenty of forgotten No. 1 songs by the Beatles, but "She Loves You" isn't among them. 1964 was the year Beatlemania showed up in the U.S., with the band racking up multiple chart-toppers and taking the music world by storm. In fact, their tunes were so popular, they monopolized the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 solid weeks, from February through the beginning of May. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had a seven-week run, while "Can't Buy Me Love" spent five weeks in lead position; "She Loves You" snuck in for a two-week stay right in the middle.

This bouncy little tune of reassurance twisted the usual songwriting mode by taking on a third-person narrative. John Lennon and Paul McCartney sing to a friend who believes his love has come to end. But the Liverpool lads have seen the young woman, and she gave them a message to pass on to her beau: "She says she loves you / And you know that can't be bad." They share the news and tell him there's good reason to take hope — way to be bros, John and Paul! If you can't find love yourself, at least you help your buddy get his love life sorted.

The Beatles' domination of the No. 1 spot in 1964 didn't stop with the band's own hits; Paul McCartney also wrote the syrupy ode to amour "A World Without Love." However, it was British duo Peter and Gordon who took it to No. 1, giving the tune a more somber tone than the singles released by the Fab Four themselves. It's more a rumination on the loneliness of not having your love nearby than a casual tune about how sweet love can be. Some love songs are just that serious.

The two vocalists harmonize on lyrics that explain the dire straits one can find themselves in when keeping a candle in the window to guide true love home: "Birds sing out of tune / And rain clouds hide the moon / I'm okay / Here I'll stay / With my loneliness." These two really revel in the weepy emo imagery, piling on the sorrow as they commit to holding out for the right ones instead of settling for less.

This song about the flip side of love made its way to the pinnacle in summer 1964, giving Peter and Gordon a No. 1 hit and clinching the idea that McCartney was a songwriting force to be reckoned with. The song was even covered that year by the Supremes and Bobby Rydell, but only Peter and Gordon took it to the top.

Motorcycle-gang love is still love, even if it comes with rough edges and revving engines. "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las is like a number from a stage musical, with cutesy dialogue and lovestruck characters begging their friend to spill the tea on her new beau and how they made a love connection. The campy tone makes this rumbling melodrama feel like pre-"Grease" theater, with thrills and chills and motorcycle spills that got hearts racing.

The song tells the tale of heartbreak between star-crossed teens Betty and Jimmy, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. After Betty's friends see her wearing Jimmy's ring, they grill her for the deets on how the romance unfolded. Despite Betty falling instantly in love with Jimmy during a candy shop meet-cute, Betty's parents disapprove of the romance and force her to ditch him. As he flees the rainy scene of his ultimate heartbreak, he crashes his motorcycle and ... well, there's a reason the song ends, "I'll never forget him / The leader of the pack."

The tune was a holiday season hit, reaching peak position at the end of November. Though its success came closer to Thanksgiving, there was an Easter egg hidden in the mix: Piano on the track was reportedly played by a teenage Billy Joel, though this isn't bound to be a song fans consider among Joel's best.