The Miracles returned to the top 10 this year. (The Motown group's '62 hits, "What's So Good About Good-Bye"(no. 35, mid-Feb.) and "I'll Try Something New"(no. 39, June 30th) were two of their best, but were bigger hits on the R+B charts.) "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" reached no. 8 in Jan., "A Love She Can Count On" hit no. 31 in May, and "Mickey's Monkey" (Mickey was producer/songwriter Mickey Stevenson, who was also married to Motown singer Kim Weston!) returned the group to the top 10 (no. 8, Aug.31st-early Sept).
The husband-wife duo of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were red-hot. Steve Lawrence had the no. 1 smash "Go Away Little Girl" in Dec. 1962-early 1963. "Don't Be Afraid, Little Darlin'" made no. 26 Mar. 30th, while "Poor Little Rich Girl"(Do you notice a theme here?) peaked at no. 27 in mid-June. And "Walking Proud" was a no. 26 hit in early Nov.
Eydie Gorme had a no. 7 smash with "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" in early Feb. As Steve and Eydie, the duo took "I Want To Stay Here" to no. 28 in late Aug. They never charted top 40 again, but have always been variety show and Vegas nighclub headliners.
Bobby Bare had a no. 16 hit with "Detroit City" on June 29th. "500 Miles Away From Home" was a no. 10 smash in late Oct. (Bare was also singer Bill Parsons, of "All American Boy" fame. The novelty tune was a no. 2 smash in very late Dec., 1958. Bare was the actual vocalist, but a record label error listed Parsons as the artist.)
Tony Bennett added to his classics with "I Wanna Be Around", no. 14 in mid-Feb. and "The Good Life", no. 18 June 1st.
Brook Benton(real name: Benjamin Franklin Peay) had three top 40s: "I Got What I Wanted", no. 28 in early April, "My True Confession", no. 22 in mid-July, and "Two Tickets To Paradise", no. 32 in early Oct. Benton was also a very talented songwriter; "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly" were two of his best-known songs, but he also wrote for others, including "Looking Back" by Nat King Cole, "The Stroll" by The Diamonds, and "A Lover's Question" by Clyde McPhatter.
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