Hello again. DJ Ceejay back with you again for Golden Oldies Top 40. My thanks to Darryl for ghosting in this spot last week. Coming up, a new GO-40 record set by an artist, 1 of whose members died just over a week ago. And a new #1 by an artist who was shot to death nearly 45 years ago. OK, here we go:

7 songs bid farewell to the chart this week:

The Johnny Otis Show has played its last hand with Willie and the Hand Jive,
which made its best stand at #5.
The Beach Boys’ Surfin’ Safari washes ashore this week after cresting at #22 two weeks ago.
You can shed a tear for Julie London, as Cry Me a River reaches its delta this week, after bubbling up to #22.
And there go the Drifters, who are out of the GO-40 for the first time in 30 weeks! They first appeared in week #3 with Up on the Roof, followed by Save the Last Dance for Me in week #17, and this week, There Goes My Baby ends a 9-week run, landing as high as #22.
The chart also loses Barbara Lynn this week, as You’ll Lose a Good Thing drops out, also ending a 9-week run, after a #17 peak.
The countdown also closes its eyes on Curtis Lee’s Pretty Little Angel Eyes, which caught a wink at #28.
And come what may, Roy Orbison’s Blue Bayou can only dream of coming back someday, as it sinks out after rising to #21.

Now onto the 7 new songs:

The Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page waltzes its way in as the week’s first debut, at #40.

Now, in our GO-40 spotlight, until this week (not counting week #1, when songs were based on Billboard chart positions) only 1 artist had 2 songs enter the chart in the same week. That was in week #21, who had a re-entry with Jailhouse Rock at #34 and a new entry with Little Sister at #31, a song that later hit #1.

This week, we have an artist which appears on the chart for the 1st time, and has not 1, not 2, but 3 debuts. On September 16, Mary Travers, a member of the trio Peter, Paul & Mary, passed away. And this week, 3 songs from that trio enter our chart, starting at #39 with a song written by Pete Seeger, If I Had a Hammer.

Bobby Helms makes his first chart appearance a special one, as he enters at #36 with My Special Angel.
Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters enchant our chart at #35 with their debut, Cry Baby.
Blowing in at #33 is the 2nd debut by Peter, Paul & Mary: their version of a song written by Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind.
And coming up the Cherry Lane at #28 is yet the 3rd song by PP & M to enter the countdown this week, a song co-written by group member Peter Yarrow, Puff the Magic Dragon.
And the highest debut this week casts its shadow at #23, Silhouettes by the Rays.

Only 1 song makes a double digit climb up the charts this week:
Staggering up from #29 to #19 is Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price.

Only 1 song enters the top 10 this week as well:
Thumbing his way into the top 10 is Motown legend Marvin Gaye, with his 1st top 10, Hitch Hike.

Now we’re up to the top 4 … and for the 1st time on our chart all of the top 4 songs have hit #1:

Slipping a notch from #3 to #4 is 16 Candles by the Crests.
Falling out of the #1 spot to #3 is Cry to Me by Solomon Burke.
Holding steady at #2 is Ben E. King with Spanish Harlem.
And the new #1 song is by an artist who was shot and killed by the manager of a Los Angeles motel back in 1964:

Chain Gang by Sam Cooke

And there you have it: this week’s Golden Oldies Top 40. Log in again next week when we’ll count down a brand new chart. Until next time, keep your head in the stars and keep reaching for the ground.