In the Aug. 18, 1958, issue of Billboard, "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto De Blu)," by legendary Italian singer/actor Domenico Modugno, became just the second song to ever top the Billboard Hot 100-but the song was certainly responsible for a lot of firsts as well. It was the first foreign title to top the newly created chart, the first honoree as Hot 100 song of the year and the inaugural winner of the Grammy Award for both song and record of the year. The track's stateside success was even more remarkable because it outperformed a competing bilingual version by superstar Dean Martin, whose recording peaked at No. 20 the same week Modugno stepped to No. 1. Billboard duly reported on Modugno's burgeoning success in its Aug. 11, 1958, issue, noting his upcoming appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Aug. 17 and Sept. 14. "Volare" was a tough act to follow however, and Modugno charted just one more time, peaking at No. 97 in March 1959 with "Piove (Ciao, Ciao Bambina)." --Silvio Pietroluongo

When Capitol's Kingston Trio took home the country Grammy in 1958 with "Tom Dooley" (there was no folk category at the time), Nashville's power brokers may have been privately galled by the trio's win, but there's one thing they undoubtedly understood-money. Columbia artist Johnny Horton's manager, Tillman Franks, suggested that his client experiment with saga songs. Franks just happened to have one he'd written in his back pocket, and in April 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)" became Horton's first such narrative hit-and his first No. 1 Country single. A "Louisiana Hayride" star best-known for rockabilly-styled uptempo fare, Horton followed "Springtime" with Jimmy Driftwood's "The Battle of New Orleans," which spent 10 weeks atop the Country singles list and six weeks atop the Hot 100. Horton's version was banned in the United Kingdom because of the line "the bloody British," but with a slightly altered lyric, Lonnie Donegan's cover became a sizable hit there. --Wade Jessen

If you found only one easy listening song in a college student's music library during the early '60s, it would have been Percy Faith's rendition of "Theme from 'A Summer Place.'" With a melody carried by Faith's orchestra string section, the instrumental entered the Hot 100 at No. 96 in the Jan. 16, 1960, issue and rose to No. 1 in its seventh chart week. "Summer Place" held the pole position for nine straight weeks, the chart's longest consecutive-week reign at the time and a record that would remain untouched until 1968, when the Beatles' "Hey Jude" also led the chart for nine uninterrupted weeks, becoming the band's longest-running chart topper. Consecutive weeks or not, no other instrumental to date has led the Hot 100 as long as this record of the year Grammy winner. --Geoff Mayfield

Bobby Lewis was a Detroit-based R&B singer whose exciting performances carried echoes of his mentor, Jackie Wilson. Shopping for a label in New York, he visited Beltone Records, where he ran into songwriter Ritchie Adams of doo-wop act the Fireflies ("You Were Mine"), a group with which Lewis had once shared a bill at the Apollo Theater. Written by Adams and Beltone label head Joe Rene, "Tossin' and Turnin'" is the most thrilling depiction of insomnia ever recorded. In addition to the song's seven weeks atop the Hot 100, the song was also No. 1 for 10 weeks on the R&B chart. Currently Disney's DTV cartoon video featuring Goofy, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and others illustrating the song's vivid themes can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere. --Wayne Robins

While Acker Bilk's hit was 1962's song of the year, the haunting clarinet-led tune was also used as the theme to the BBC drama of the same name. The song was the first U.K. recording to hit No. 1 in the United States at the same time it was No. 1 at home and received renewed attention when it was used in the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Jim Belushi cop movie "Red Heat" in 1988. Born in Pensford, Somerset, Bilk attributes his unique style of play to the fact that he lost two front teeth in a schoolyard fight and half a finger in a childhood accident. Born Bernard Stanley, the clarinetist's stage name, Acker, is derived from Somerset argot for "friend" or "mate." --Kamau High

This homage to a beach restaurant and the pretty lady who works there catapulted New Mexican Jimmy Gilmer and his band to the upper echelon of the Hot 100, earning them the top song of 1963. By the end of the year, "Sugar Shack," which peaked at No. 1 for five weeks, had been on the chart for 15 weeks. The group cracked the top 10 only once more with 1968's "Bottle of Wine." The Fireballs' greatest claim to musical history, however, came when they controversially dubbed over some of Buddy Holly's recordings for release after his death. The Fireballs recorded in the same studio as Holly, which was run by Holly's manager Norman Petty. --Kamau High

"British Beatles Hottest Capitol Single Ever," read the front-page headline in the Jan. 18, 1964, issue of Billboard, the week that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 45. Two weeks later, the song, with its octave-jumping chorus, reached No. 1. It held that spot for seven weeks, the first of the Beatles' still-unbroken record of 20 chart-topping hits. The song was atop the Hot 100 as the Beatles touched down in New York in February 1964 for their first U.S. visit. Beatlemania was born. --Thom Duffy

When Mr. Hand finally let Jeff Spicoli attend the graduation dance in 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs' first and biggest hit inspired Sean Penn's character to exclaim, "I know that song!" In 1965, the Dallas band's "Wooly Bully" had spent two weeks at No. 2, blocked by the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda" and the Supremes' "Back in My Arms Again." Still, 18 chart weeks, half of those in the top 10, made it the top song of 1965. No other single would be the Hot 100's song of the year without reaching No. 1 until Faith Hill's "Breathe" in 2000. Written about a cat owned by singer Domingo Samudio, the party romp became the Hot 100's first single of the year to be sung by a Hispanic vocalist, a distinction not repeated until 1996, when Los Del Rio's "Macarena" ruled. --Geoff Mayfield

A patriotic song made during the Vietnam era, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" is one of very few songs to cast a positive light on the military during the 1960s. Robin Moore and Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler wrote the song while recuperating from a leg wound suffered during the Vietnam War. The song became a major hit, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 for five weeks in March and April 1966. "The Ballad of the Green Berets" would be the top single of the year at a time when the British Invasion, led by the Beatles, generally dominated the U.S. charts. It would sell more than 9 million singles and albums. --Jeff Kolhede

Attracting attention at 15 with a 1963 recording of "Shout," the Scottish singer/songwriter copped a No. 1 stateside pop hit with "To Sir With Love." The ballad, the title track of the Sidney Poitier-starring film about British teen angst, rose to No. 9 on the R&B chart. Born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, Lulu later married and divorced Bee Gees member Maurice Gibb while maintaining a multifaceted career that has included stints as a popular TV host and radio personality. Still active, Lulu appeared on season six of "American Idol" as a mentor for the female contestants-and performed a live reprise of her signature hit. --Gail Mitchell

The first single released by the Beatles on their own Apple Records label, "Hey Jude" was written in 1968 by Paul McCartney to comfort John Lennon's son Julian on the divorce of his parents, John and Cynthia Lennon. "I started with the idea, 'Hey Jules,' which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better," McCartney told biographer Barry Miles. "Hey Jude" entered the Hot 100 Sept. 14, 1968, at No. 10 and rose to No. 1 two weeks later. It held the top spot for nine weeks, making it the longest-reigning hit in the band's career. --Thom Duffy

On the Sept. 20, 1969, Hot 100, the top five comprised Three Dog Night, Johnny Cash, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Rolling Stones and, at No. 1, a group that actually never existed. The Archies comic strip, created in 1942, became a hit Saturday morning TV show created by Don Kirshner-who had guided the Monkees. The bubble-gum bauble remained at the peak for four weeks and sold 3 million copies. Obviously its melody had legs: A year later, Wilson Pickett recorded a cover of "Sugar, Sugar," which reached No. 25 on the Hot 100. The Archies were hardly a one-hit wonder; among their four top 40 hits, follow-up "Jingle Jangle" reached No. 10 later that year. --Chuck Taylor