Last updated 5/1/2025
The Top 30 Songs of 1962, as charted by Billboard Magazine, will be presented each month during the season.
675 records appeared on the Hot 100 chart in 1962. 191 more were Bubbling Under the Hot 100.
Songs that reached the Top 10 on another chart are marked with EL (Easy Listening),
C (Country), and R&B (Rhythm and Blues).
Song 1
Peaked at #1 on 6/2/62 for five weeks. EL #1 for five weeks. R&B #1 for ten weeks.
His third and final pop #1 record.
#1 – “I Can’t Stop Loving You” by Ray Charles
Song 2
Peaked at #1 on 11/17/62 for five weeks. R&B #1 for three weeks.
Second #1 hit and second of their 21 Top 20 hits.
#2 – “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by The 4 Seasons
Song 3
Peaked at #1 on 9/15/62 for five weeks. R&B #1 for one week.
First of their 5 #1 hits.
#3 – “Sherry” by The 4 Seasons
Song 4
Peaked at #1 on 7/14/62 for four weeks. EL #1 for four weeks. R&B #5.
First of his four #1 hits and fifteen Top 20 hits.
#4 – “Roses Are Red (My Love)” by Bobby Vinton
Song 5
Peaked at #1 on 1/27/62 for three weeks. R&B #8.
First of their four Top 20 hits.
#5 – “Peppermint Twist – Part I” by Joey Dee and the Starlighters
Song 6
Peaked at #1 on 12/22/62 for three weeks. R&B #5.
Their only Top 40 hit.
#6 – “Telstar” by The Tornadoes
Song 7
Peaked at #1 on 5/5/62 for three weeks. R&B #3 for three weeks.
Second of their two #1 hits.
#7 – “Soldier Boy” by The Shirelles
Song 8
Peaked at #1 on 3/10/62 for three weeks. R&B #2 for one week.
His only Top 40 hit.
#8 – “Hey! Baby” by Bruce Channel
Song 9
Peaked at #1 on 2/17/62 for three weeks. R&B #1 for five weeks.
Despite many years of recording, this first chart record was his only Top 10 pop hit.
The record is actually by Gene’s group, The Dukays.
#9 – “Duke Of Earl” by Gene Chandler
Song 10
Peaked at #1 on 1/13/62 for two weeks. R&B #4.
The #13 record of 1960, when it peaked at #1 for one week.
The only non-Christmas record to reach #1 in two different years.
#10 – “The Twist” by Chubby Checker
Song 11
Peaked at #1 on 4/7/62 for two weeks.
Her only Top 20 record.
Well-known TV actress for many years.
#11 – “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares
Song 12
Peaked at #1 on 11/3/62 for two weeks. R&B #2 for one week.
First of their three Top 10 pop hits. Except, this one is actually The Blossoms with lead singer Darlene Love.
As mentioned below, written by the artist of Song #30.
#12 – “He’s A Rebel” by The Crystals
Song 13
Peaked at #1 on 8/11/62 for two weeks.
Sedaka’s fourth Top 10 hit. His slower re-recording peaked at #8 in 1976.
#13 – “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” by Neil Sedaka
Song 14
Peaked at #1 on 10/20/62 for two weeks. R&B #9.
Peaked again at #91 in 1970 and #10 in 1973.
#14 – “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers
Song 15
Peaked at #1 on 4/21/62 for two weeks.
His seventeenth #1 record.
#15 – “Good Luck Charm” by Elvis Presley
Song 16
Peaked at #1 on 9/1/62 for two weeks. R&B #6.
His first hit and first of two #1 records.
#16 – “Sheila” by Tommy Roe
Song 17
Peaked at #1 on 5/26/62 for one week. EL #1 for seven weeks. R&B #7.
His only Top 50 American pop hit.
#17 – “Stranger On The Shore” by Mr. Acker Bilk
Song 18
Peaked at #1 on 7/7/62 for one week. EL #1 for two weeks. R&B #12.
His only Top 40 record. Recorded in 1958, released as the B-side of a record in 1962.
#18 – “The Stripper” by David Rose
Song 19
Peaked at #1 on 8/25/62 for one week.
Her only Top 10 hit.
Eva Boyd was Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s babysitter.
#19 – “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva
Song 20
Peaked at #1 on 3/31/62 for one week. EL #1.
Her third and final #1 Hot 100 record.
#20 – “Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You” by Connie Francis
Song 21
Peaked at #2 on 11/17/62 for five weeks. R&B #5.
#21 – “Return To Sender” by Elvis Presley
Song 22
Peaked at #2 on 12/22/62 for two weeks. R&B #3 for one week.
Seventh of his eight Top 10 Hot 100 hits.
#22 – “Limbo Rock” by Chubby Checker
Song 23
Peaked at #2 on 5/5/62 for two weeks. R&B #1 for four weeks.
First of her four Top 10 hits, plus one duet with Chubby Checker.
#23 – “Mashed Potato Time” by Dee Dee Sharp
Song 24
Peaked at #2 on 9/22/62 for two weeks. EL #1 for five weeks.
Nat’s next-to-last Top 10 pop hit.
#24 – “Ramblin’ Rose” by Nat King Cole
Song 25
Peaked at #2 on 7/21/62 for two weeks. R&B #5.
First of their three Top 10 hits. They were the backup singers on Song #23.
#25 – “The Wah Watusi” by The Orlons
Song 26
Peaked at #2 for one week on 2/3/62. EL #1 for six weeks.
Elvis had only six records that peaked at #2, out of his 149 Hot 100 records.
#26 – “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley
Song 27
Peaked at #2 for one week on 2/24/62.
Second of his nine Top 10 solo hits.
#27 – “The Wanderer” by Dion
Song 28
Peaked at #2 for one week on 3/17/62. EL #1 for three weeks.
This is how you take 30 seconds of a 1956 Russian song and turn it into a three-minute Dixieland jazz hit record.
Ball’s only Top 40 hit.
#28 – “Midnight In Moscow” by Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen
Song 29
Peaked at #2 for one week on 9/8/62. EL #1 for three weeks. R&B #5.
1962 was a big year for Ray on all charts.
#29 – “You Don’t Know Me” by Ray Charles
Song 30
Peaked at #2 for one week on 11/3/62. EL #1 for two weeks.
Second of Pitney’s four Top 10 hits. He had four more EL Top 10.
Although Pitney didn’t write this song (Bacharach/David did), he did write Song #12.
#30 – “Only Love Can Break A Heart” by Gene Pitney
All tracks are stereo 320 kbps mp3 files, converted from higher-resolution digital files.
Some have been converted from mono recordings using the Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES) process.
The source reference for this list is “Joel Whitburn’s Pop Annual 1950-2023.”
The structure of the annual charts is simple: records are rated on the highest position reached on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the number of weeks spent at that position. Ties are broken by the number of weeks spent in the Top 10, Top 40, and Top 100.
If a record charted in more than one year, all of its chart history is treated as if it occurred in the year that the record first hit its peak position, so it will not appear at all in the other year’s listing.