Golden Anniversary Song of the Week: "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" by Ray Charles

Only 8 new songs -- and one "accounting" error -- on Billboard's Hot 100 for the week ending February 14, 1960. None of them made an impact.


The same title, though not the same song, as Gerry and the Pacemakers' first big U.S. hit record. This tender, beautifully rendered Ray Charles song is the "B" side of "Let the Good Times Roll", which entered the Hot 100 during the first week of 1960. Just one listen tells you that it was much too sophisticated for AM radio 50 years ago. No surprise then that it spent only 2 weeks on the chart, entering at #95 and "setting" at #93.

Other songs making their first appearance this week.

"Eternally" by Sarah Vaughan. (61, 41, 8)
This cover of a Charlie Chaplin tune, complete with lush strings, probably did much better with an easy-listening audience. Retiring Guy's favorite Vaughan song, "Broken Hearted Melody" was a big hit in the later summer/early fall of 1959.

"Delaware" by Perry Como. (71, 22, 11)
Without a doubt, the lamest song that Como every recorded. Ay-yi-yi!

"I Was Such a Fool" by the Flamingoes. (94, --, 72, 71, 76, 74, 100)
This single entered the Hot 100 at #94 two weeks earlier, a fact not indicated on this week's chart.

"Bad Boy" by Marty Wilde. (90, 45, 8)
Wilde's only appearance on the Hot 100.

"Closer Walk" by Pete Fountain. (94, 93, 3)
One of two singles by the New Orleans clarinetist that reached the Hot 100.

"I Know What God Is" by Perry Como. (95, 81, 2)
The "B" side of "Delaware".

"Honey Love" by Narvel Felts. (99, 90, 2)
A most unnecessary remake of the 1954 R&B hit by the Drifters.

"Clementine" by Jan & Dean. (100, 65, 6)
1960 was an arid year for this duo. They somehow lost their way and drove their woody to the desert. It's the same oh-my-darling-oh-my-darling-oh-my-darling folk ballad you remember from grade school -- done up surf style. Definitely not one of their greatest hits.