Hello again, and welcome to another edition of Golden Oldies Top 40. I’m your host DJ Ceejay, and once again, we’ll be counting down the songs from this week’s chart.

Last week, Dion joined Elvis Presley, Ben E. King and Lesley Gore as the only artists to have multiple songs in the top 2, as The Wanderer wandered up to the #2 slot. Will The Wanderer replace the 1st instrumental #1, Green Onions by Booker T & the MG’s? We’ll find out just a little later on.

4 songs dropped out last week:

Stay by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs ends its stay on the chart after a 15-week stint that took it all the way to #1.
The day has come for Our Day Will Come by Ruby & the Romantics to depart the chart, after peaking at #21.
Long Tall Sally by Little Richard ends its long run after 14 weeks, climbing as tall as #5.
And La Bamba by Ritchie Valens completes its 2nd run, hitting #17 in its 2nd run, after topping off at #23 in its 1st.

That puts 4 new songs in the chart:

Greenfields is the 1st entry for the Brothers Four at #39.
Nat “King” Cole has 2 songs in the countdown this week. His newest is Ramblin’ Rose at #38; it joins Too Young, which slips a notch to #34.
Gene Chandler has his 1st chart hit at #37 with Duke of Earl.
And Connie Francis returns to the chart with the highest debut this week, as Where the Boys Are opens at #36. She previously charted with Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool, which hit #32.

2 songs take 2-digit jumps on the chart this week … and fittingly, they are both Halloween-themed:

Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt-kickers levitates 11 places from #39 to #28.
And the biggest mover, taking its magic up 14 spots from #30 to #16 is Witch Doctor by David Seville.

2 new songs join the top 10, both by artists who’ve been there before:
Ricky Nelson can enjoy the riches of his 3rd top 10, as Poor Little Fool climbs from #17 to #10, joining Travelin’ Man (#1) and Hello Mary Lou (#9).
And Peter, Paul & Mary blow their way into the top 10 with Blowin’ in the Wind, up from #13 to #9. PP&M are also in the top 10 at #7 with Puff the Magic Dragon, making them the 1st artist with 2 top 10’s in the same week since Lesley Gore with You Don’t Own Me and It’s My Party in week #22.

And that brings us to the top 4:

Spanish Harlem, a former #1 by Ben E. King, falls from #3 to #4.
Chain Gang by Sam Cooke, also a former #1, slides back up 1 from #4 to #3.
Green Onions by Booker T & the MG’s drops out of the #1 spot after 1 week, dipping to #2.

And that means we have a new #1 … and its singer joins as the only artists to have 2 #1’s on our countdown:


The Wanderer by Dion.

That takes care of another edition of Golden Oldies Top 40. My thanks again to Darryl for all the work he has put into creating this format and compiling the charts, and I hope that he will continue as much as he is able. Until next week, keep your head in the stars and keep reaching for the ground.