1963 in music

Events

January 1 - The Beatles start a 5 day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do".

January 4 - At Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, Dalida receives a Juke Box Global Oscar for the year's most-played artist on juke boxes.

January 7 - Gary U.S. Bonds files a $100,000 lawsuit against Chubby Checker, claiming that Checker stole "Quarter to Three" and turned it into "Dancin' Party." The lawsuit is later settled out of court.

January 11 - Please Please Me is released in the United Kingdom by The Beatles, with Ask Me Why as the B-side. It would be the first Beatles' single to reach #1 (on most record charts) in the UK.

January 11 - The Whisky a Go Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, opens.

January 12 - Bob Dylan portrays a folk singer in The Madhouse of Castle Street, a radio play for the BBC in London.

February 16

The Beatles receive their first #1 hit single, when "Please Please Me" tops the charts in the UK
Paul Anka marries Marie-Ann DeZogheb

February 22 - The Beatles form Northern Songs Publishing Company.

March 5 - Patsy Cline is killed in small plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, while on her way to Nashville, Tennessee from Kansas City, Missouri at the height of her career.

April 29 - 19 year old Andrew Loog Oldham signs a contract with The Rolling Stones, becoming their manager. Oldham had seen the band in concert the previous day at the Crawdaddy Club in London.

The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me

Dalida is rejected by Decca in the UK. Again.

The Righteous Brothers begin performing together;

The Kinks form

The Rolling Stones first single "Come on" is released in the UK and reaches #21

The Animals form

Herman's Hermits form

Philips introduce the Musicassette at the Berlin Funkaustellung

Coxsone Dodd opens the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica, named Studio One

Lord Shorty's "Clock and Dagger" is widely considered the first soca recording

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1963.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Chart Entries
1	The Beatles	She Loves You	1963	UK 1 - Aug 1963, US BB 1 - Feb 1964, Canada 1 - Dec 1963, Norway 1 - Oct 1963, Australia 1 of 1963, US CashBox 2 of 1964, South Africa 2 of 1963, TOTP 2, DDD 2 of 1963, RYM 4 of 1963, Germany 7 - Mar 1964, Scrobulate 18 of oldies, US BB 20 of 1964, POP 20 of 1964, Italy 29 of 1964, Global 33 (5 M sold) - 1963, Rolling Stone 64, Acclaimed 119, Germany 332 of the 1960s, WXPN 335, OzNet 913
2	Kingsmen	Louie Louie	1963	Canada 1 - Nov 1963, DDD 1 of 1963, POP 1 of 1963, US BB 2 - Nov 1963, US BB 3 of 1963, Peel list 3 of 1964, RYM 5 of 1963, US CashBox 6 of 1964, Acclaimed 10, 19 in 2FM list, UK 26 - Jan 1964, Rolling Stone 55, RIAA 57, Party 139 of 1999
3	Paul & Paula	Hey Paula	1963	US BB 1 - Jan 1963, Canada 1 - Dec 1962, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Sep 1962, Norway 2 - Mar 1963, Italy 4 of 1963, UK 8 - Feb 1963, Australia 9 of 1963, US CashBox 14 of 1963, Germany 16 - May 1963, South Africa 16 of 1963, US BB 33 of 1963, POP 33 of 1963, RYM 123 of 1962
4	Leslie Gore	It's My Party	1963	US BB 1 - May 1963, US BB 1 of 1963, Canada 1 - May 1963, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Dec 1962, POP 3 of 1963, UK 9 - Jun 1963, RYM 22 of 1963, US CashBox 30 of 1963, DDD 30 of 1963, RIAA 229, Acclaimed 1286
5	The Ronettes	Be My Baby	1963	US BB 2 - Sep 1963, Canada 2 - Sep 1963, RYM 2 of 1963, UK 4 - Oct 1963, DDD 5 of 1963, Norway 9 - Dec 1963, Acclaimed 15, Rolling Stone 22, Scrobulate 22 of oldies, US BB 30 of 1963, POP 30 of 1963, US CashBox 44 of 1963, 99 in 2FM list, RIAA 253, WXPN 412

Published popular songs

1963 in music

Contents

Events

Albums released

Biggest hit singles

Selected American and/or British Hit Singles

Published popular songs

Classical music

Opera

Musical theater

Musical films

Births

Deaths

Awards

Grammy Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

Leeds International Piano Competition

See also

External Charts