Pop and Rock Chart Archive
and Music Encyclopedia

All Instrumental Top 20 Songs

December 1959 through June 1962
Dec 1959
through
Jun 1962
Sep 1962
through
Oct 1966
Oct 1966
through
Jun 1973
Nov 1973
through
Jun 2015
Hit Rock
Instrumentals

Tune Timeline chronological list
Related features and top pop hits below

blue # = weekly pop chart

1 In The Mood 5   Dec 1959  
  Ernie Field's Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

2 Smokie - Part 2 19   Jan 1960  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

3 The Theme From A Summer Place 1   Feb 1960  
  Percy Faith And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

4 Tracy's Theme 12   Feb 1960  
  Spencer Ross  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

5 Beatnik Fly 16   Mar 1960  
  Johnny And The Hurricanes  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

6 White Silver Sands 13   Apr 1960  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

7 Because They're Young 3   Jul 1960  
  Duane Eddy  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

8 Josephine 11   Jul 1960  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

9 Look For A Star   Aug 1960  
  Billy Vaughn And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

10 Walk--Don't Run 2   Sep 1960  
  The Ventures  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

11 Theme From The Apartment 9   Sep 1960  
  Ferrante & Teicher  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

12 Never On Sunday 15   Oct 1960  
  Don Costa  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

13 Don't Be Cruel 11   Nov 1960  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

14 Last Date 2   Dec 1960  
  Floyd Cramer  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

15 Blue Tango 19   Dec 1960  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

16 Wonderland By Night 1   Dec 1960  
  Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

17 Wonderland By Night (Wunderland Bei Nacht) 18   Jan 1961  
  Louis Prima  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

18 Exodus 2   Jan 1961  
  Ferrante & Teicher  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

19 Calcutta 1   Jan 1961  
  Lawrence Welk  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

20 Pepe 20   Feb 1961  
  Duane Eddy  
    YouTube    

21 Wheels 7   Mar 1961  
  The String-A-Longs  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

22 Hearts Of Stone 19   Mar 1961  
  Bill Black's Combo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

23 Apache 2   Apr 1961  
  Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

24 On The Rebound 11   Apr 1961  
  Floyd Cramer  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

25 Asia Minor 10   Apr 1961  
  Kokomo  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

26 One Mint Julep 6   Apr 1961  
  Ray Charles  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

27 Bonanza 16   May 1961  
  Al Caiola  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

28 You Can't Sit Down 19   Jul 1961  
  Philip Upchurch Combo  
    YouTube    

29 San Antonio Rose 14   Jul 1961  
  Floyd Cramer  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

30 Yellow Bird 10   Jul 1961  
  Arthur Lyman Group  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

31 Last Night 5   Aug 1961  
  The Mar-Keys  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

32 Mexico 13   Oct 1961  
  Bob Moore And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

33 Take Five 17   Oct 1961  
  Dave Brubeck Quartet  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

34 Tonight 15   Dec 1961  
  Ferrante & Teicher  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

35 Let There Be Drums 9   Dec 1961  
  Sandy Nelson  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

36 Moon River 16   Dec 1961  
  Henry Mancini And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

37 Afrikaan Beat 7   Mar 1962  
  Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra  
    YouTube    

38 Tuff 20   Mar 1962  
  Ace Cannon  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

39 Midnight In Moscow 2   Mar 1962  
  Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

40 Percolator (Twist) 11   Mar 1962  
  Billy Joe & The Checkmates  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

41 Soul Twist 8   May 1962  
  King Curtis And The Noble Knights  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

42 Stranger On The Shore 3   May 1962  
  Mr. Acker Bilk  
    YouTube download at Amazon  

43 The Stripper 1   Jun 1962  
  David Rose And His Orchestra  
    YouTube download at Amazon  



Dec 1959
through
Jun 1962
Sep 1962
through
Oct 1966
Oct 1966
through
Jun 1973
Nov 1973
through
Jun 2015
Hit Rock
Instrumentals
Related Features for All Instrumental Top 20 Songs:
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Top 100 Instrumental Songs

Overall top 100 best instrumental songs 1960-2015 in popularity order

Top Instrumentals Of The 1960s

1The Theme From A Summer Place
 Percy Faith And His Orchestra
2Wonderland By Night
 Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
3Exodus
 Ferrante & Teicher
4A Taste Of Honey
 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
5Love Is Blue (L'amour Est Bleu)
 Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra
6The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
 Hugo Montenegro
7Last Date
 Floyd Cramer
8Calcutta
 Lawrence Welk
9Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet
 Henry Mancini, His Orchestra And Chorus
10The Stripper
 David Rose And His Orchestra
11Grazing In The Grass
 Hugh Masekela
12Telstar
 The Tornadoes
13Green Onions
 Booker T. & The MG's
14Wipe Out
 The Surfaris
15Walk--Don't Run
 The Ventures
16Stranger On The Shore
 Mr. Acker Bilk
17The In Crowd
 Ramsey Lewis Trio
18Midnight In Moscow
 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen
19Washington Square
 The Village Stompers
20Apache
 Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar
21Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You
 Jimmy Castor
22The Horse
 Cliff Nobles & Co.
23Soulful Strut
 Young-Holt Unlimited
24Java
 Al Hirt
25Last Night
 The Mar-Keys
26Classical Gas
 Mason Williams
27Time Is Tight
 Booker T. & The MG's
28Because They're Young
 Duane Eddy
29Cast Your Fate To The Wind
 Vince Guaraldi Trio
30Soul Finger
 The Bar-Kays
31No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
 The T-Bones
32Desafinado
 Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd
33Wheels
 The String-A-Longs
34Memphis
 Lonnie Mack
35One Mint Julep
 Ray Charles
36Soul Twist
 King Curtis And The Noble Knights
37Theme From The Apartment
 Ferrante & Teicher
38Watermelon Man
 Mongo Santamaria Band
39Afrikaan Beat
 Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
40Out Of Limits
 The Marketts

Instrumental Downloads

Click on the album covers to go
15 best instrumental songs of the 1950s and 1960s. 12 of these were top 20 songs. The other three were big instrumentals too.
 
18 best instrumental songs of the 1960s. 12 are original top 20 songs listed here. The other 7 were all top 20 near miss songs.
 
18 pop-soul best instrumental songs of the 1960s. 15 of these are original top 20 hits listed here. The other three were very popular too.
 
18 best instrumental songs of the 1970s. 14 of these best instrumentals are original top 20 hits listed here.

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