20 Biggest Songs of the Summer: The 1960s
Motown and moptops provide the enduring summer jams of a thrilling, turbulent decade


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From the Summer of Love to the summer of Woodstock, the winds of change that blew through America in the Sixties always seemed to pick up speed between June and September. Whether it was the British Invasion arriving on our shores or the Beach Boys hitting the waves, the decade was dominated by sizzling platters that could be as cartoonish at the Archies or as as poignant as “People Got to Be Free.” Here are the biggest hits of the era’s summer months, ordered by length of chart peaks. Also we’ve went ahead and excluded all the ballads and more unseasonably mild hits — so our apologies to Bobby Vinton, Dean Martin, and others.