The Beatles' Chart Takeover and 10 More Iconic Songs of 1964

Coming up, we're telling the story of 11 songs that truly defined one of the most pivotal years in the Rock Era, starting with The Beatles, a band so big they controlled the top 5 spots on the charts, a record that no one has ever come close to. Plus, there was the songwriter Wayne Cochran who told an epic and sad story behind what inspired his massive hit Last Kiss that moved everyone who heard it. Then, decades later, everyone found it was a total lie. Then there was the Do Wah Diddy Diddy that the lead singer of Manfred Mann thought was downright silly... with made-up words, he refused to sing it until his manager forced him to, and even then he sang it as a total joke… It became one of the biggest songs ever, and the silly words became part of the pop vernacular. There was The Animals' House of the Rising Sun that has made tens of millions in royalties but remains unpaid because no one knows who the hell wrote the song. Plus, there’s Marvin Gaye who wrote Dancing in the Street, a song he knew was a smash, but he gave it to his secretary Martha Reeves, who made it an all-time smash. Our countdown of the Top 11 Songs of a special year is NEXT on Professor of Rock!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.