The Top 10 Hits That Took Over Summer 1964

The summer of 1964 unfolded with some of the most foundational smash hits ever recorded. That year, many classic acts broke out in a big way, and when the weather warmed and school let out for a few months, young listeners sent them to the top of the charts. 

So many bands and movements competed for airplay and record-store shelf space, from the British Invasion and surf rock to Motown, soul, throwback ballads, old-fashioned pop, and rockabilly. It was a peak era for acts like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, the Animals, the Four Seasons, and the Drifters.

According to Billboard data and the Hot 100 charts of the era, these are the Top 10 hits that made the summer of '64 so memorable.

Behind the Beatles and their 20 No. 1 hits was Motown's signature and premier vocal trio, the Supremes, the second-most successful act of the 1960s. Led by superstar Diana Ross, the Supremes topped the charts 12 times in the '60s. That string of hits began in the summer of 1964 with "Where Did Our Love Go." The snappy song about breakups and heartbreak spent two weeks at the top in late August.

Closely associated with songs about cruising in cars, surfing, and hanging out on the beach, it's fitting that the Beach Boys' first number one single on the Hot 100 was "I Get Around" in July 1964. Written and produced by Beach Boys creative leader Brian Wilson, the song showcases the band's layered, fraternal, and ethereal harmonies. While the lyrics may sound suggestive and boastful, they're actually about cars and driving. The tune spent two weeks at the top in 1964, starting on the biggest summer holiday of all, Independence Day.

The most unlikely hit of the summer of 1964 was a cover of a 1940s standard performed in an orchestral-heavy arrangement by an aging, pre-rock crooner who hadn't enjoyed a hit in many years. Bolstered by a new recording contract and hating the rock bands his son liked, particularly the Beatles, Dean Martin aimed to dethrone the Fab Four from their routine chart-topping the year Beatlemania broke. And he did just that: In August 1964, "Everybody Loves Somebody" displaced the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" as the No. 1 song in the U.S.

The Beatles dominated the musical landscape of 1964, to the point where "A Hard Day's Night" was their fifth of six singles to go to No. 1 during the calendar year. The song was the theme to the Beatles' first movie, a reality-blurring comedy about what it was like to be a Beatle when the world was in the throes of Beatlemania. John Lennon and Paul McCartney co-wrote the song and sang on it, while drummer Ringo Starr came up with the title during a tough filming session.

The affecting "Rag Doll" was the No. 1 song for two weeks in July 1964, despite being a bleak, melancholy song that doesn't exactly scream summer fun. The song was the fourth chart-topper for The Four Seasons, a combo multi-part vocal group and pop-rock band. 

Bob Gaudio wrote the song after a child in ragged clothes washed his car windows during a traffic stop. Turning the story into a song about an ill-fated cross-class romance is what made it undeniable for listeners in the summer of '64.

It's one of folk-rock's most-covered songs, and yet it has no known author. Animals leader Eric Burdon was enchanted by "House of the Rising Sun," the spooky, old, and anonymously composed song about a New Orleans house of sin and trouble, when he was 10 years old, and his Newcastle, UK-based group often played a raucous and charged version in its early setlists. "House of the Rising Sun" was The Animals' first and biggest hit, and it spent three weeks at No. 1 during the summer of '64.

A versatile and likable pop star with rock 'n' roll credibility, Johnny Rivers got his career going with party-starting bangers delivered with a drawl and country undertones. Rivers secured his first Top 40 hit with "Memphis," recorded live at the historic Whisky A Go Go nightclub in Los Angeles. When the summer of 1964 kicked off, "Memphis" was already one of the biggest songs of the season, and it spent two weeks at No. 2.

Already one of the most prolific and charming vocal groups of the early 1960s, the Drifters hit No. 4 in the summer of 1964 with the dreamy and laid-back "Under the Boardwalk." 

Simple and relatable, the lyrics evoke a searing-hot day at the beach, where the only refuge is under the boardwalk with one's "baby." Johnny Moore's commanding vocals combine with light, easygoing percussion, adding a touch of calypso to this enduring, breezy summer track.

Duo Jan & Dean made surf pop songs that whisk boomers back to the perfect beach day, just like their collaborators and friends in the Beach Boys. They also recorded songs about cars and California, such as "The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)," a harmony-powered, rapid-fire pop song about a grandmotherly figure who's also a menace behind the wheel. The track reached No. 3 on the pop chart in the middle of the summer of 1964.