The List

3 Top 40 Hits From 1964 That Every 60s Kid Still Knows by Heart Today

The year 1964 had a lengthy list of great songs released. Among the many Top 40 hits that came out in 1964 are these three songs. They are so good, itโ€™s likely that every 60s kid still knows them by heart today.

โ€œThe Door Is Still Open To My Heartโ€ by Dean Martin

Dean Martinโ€™s “The Door Is Still Openโ€ is the title track of a record Martin also released in 1964. Chuck Willis is the sole writer of the song.

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A sad song about being heartbroken over the end of a relationship, โ€œThe Door Is Still Open To My Heartโ€ begins with, โ€œThe door is still open to my heart / I must confess that I cry from loneliness / And the door is still open to my heart.”

โ€œThe Door Is Still Open To My Heartโ€ follows โ€œEverybody Loves Somebodyโ€. That song became Martinโ€™s first No. 1 hit in six years, since โ€œVolareโ€ came out in 1958. Before Martin released โ€œThe Door Is Still Open To My Heartโ€, it was released by The Cardinals, Don Cornell, and The Hilltoppers. Martinโ€™s version remains the most successful.

โ€œBaby I Need Your Lovingโ€ by The Four Tops

โ€œBaby I Need Your Lovingโ€ is The Four Topsโ€™ first single. A Top 20 hit, โ€œBaby I Need Your Lovingโ€ is on their eponymous freshman debut.

Written by the songwriting trio Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland, the chorus of โ€œBaby I Need Your Lovingโ€ says, โ€œBaby, I need your lovin’ / Got to have all your lovin’/ Baby, I need your lovin’ / Got to have all your lovin’.”

One year after releasing โ€œBaby I Need Your Lovingโ€, The Four Tops had their first No. 1 single, with “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)โ€. This song later at least partly inspired “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers. Four Tops also includes “Ask The Lonely”, their first R&B Top 10 single.

โ€œSuspicionโ€ by Terry Stafford

โ€œSuspicionโ€ is Terry Staffordโ€™s first single. The song is on Suspicion!, his debut album. Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman are the writers of โ€œSuspicionโ€, Staffordโ€™s biggest hit.

A song about questioning someoneโ€™s faithfulness in a relationship, the chorus says, โ€œSuspicion / Torments my heart / Suspicion / Keeps us apart / Suspicion / Why torture me?“

Before Stafford recorded “Suspicion”, it was recorded by Elvis Presley. In 1988, country singer Ronnie McDowell had a Top 30 hit with this song.

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