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We combed through thousands
of instrumental compilations and found a few that have authentic
instrumental top 20 hits.
Click on the pictures for more details.
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| 15 big instrumentals of
the 1950s and 1960s. 12 of these were top 20 hits. The other
three were US top 40 hits. |
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| 18 big instrumentals of
the 1960s. 12 of these are original top 20 hits listed here.
The other 7 were all US top 30 hits. |
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| 18 pop-soul instrumental
songs of the 1960s. 15 of these are original top 20 hits listed
here. The other three were US top 40 hits. |
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| 18 big instrumentals of
the 1970s. 14 of these are original top 20 hits listed here.
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Instrumental Top 20 Songs
Every Instrumental Top 20 Song
since 1960 with music samples
click on the speakers for samples, click on the
green links for full songs and other choices
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early
play
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hear
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US
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NY
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title
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artist
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In
The Mood was made popular in 1940 by Glenn Miller
And His Orchestra. Ernie Fields followed-up
with more instrumental
remakes, but In The Mood was a top 20 one
hit wonder. |
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William
P. Black wrote Smokie -- Part 2. |
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Instrumental
song The Theme From A Summer Place won the Grammy Award for Record Of The Year and
became the top
song of the year and the top song
of the 1960s.
Percy Faith and others recorded various instrumental
and vocal versions.
Max Steiner wrote the song. The song was from
the movie A Summer Place. |
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Jan
1960
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Feb
1960
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13
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12
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4
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The
instrumental
song Tracy's Theme was the only top 20 song
for Spencer Ross and a one
hit wonder. He did not receive mentionable
radio airplay with any other solo song. Robert
Ascher wrote the song. |
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Feb
1960
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Mar
1960
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15
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16
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5
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Johnny
And The Hurricanes
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Beatnik
Fly was a rock and instrumental
adaptation of Blue Tail Fly. |
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The
writers of Because They're Young were: Don Costa,
Wally Gold, Aaron Schroeder. The song was from
the movie Because They're Young.
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Jul
1960
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Jul
1960
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18
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11
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7
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The
writers of Josephine were: Burke Bivens, Gus
Kahn, Wayne King. |
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Billy
Vaughn And His Orchestra
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Tony
Hatch wrote Look For A Star. The song was from
the movie Circus Of Horrors. |
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Instrumental
song Walk--Don't Run was released in 1959. It
became popular the next year. John Smith wrote
the song. |
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Jul
1960
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Sep
1960
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10
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7
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10
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Theme
From The Apartment was originally titled Jealous
Lover. The name was changed when the instrumental
song was used for the movie The Apartment.
Charles Williams wrote the song. |
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Aug
1960
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Oct
1960
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19
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15
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11
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Never
On Sunday was an instrumental
from the movie Never On Sunday. It was
a top 20 one
hit wonder. A few weeks earlier,
Don Costa had a top 20 near miss with another
instrumental movie score, Theme From The Unforgiven
(The Need For Love). |
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Sep
1960
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Nov
1960
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11
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11
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12
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Floyd
Cramer wrote Last Date. |
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The
writers of Wonderland By Night were: Klaus,
Gunter, Neumann. |
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Blue
Tango was a popular 1952 song by Leroy Anderson
And His Orchestra. The writers of this song
were: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parrish.
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Nov
1960
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Jan
1961
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15
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18
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16
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Louis
Prima and Bert Kaempfert both had top 20 versions
of Wonderland By Night in 1961. The writers
of this song were: Klaus, Gunter, Neumann.
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Ernest
Gold wrote Exodus. The song was from the movie
Exodus. |
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The
writers of Pepe were: Daniel Langdon, Hans Wittstatt.
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The
writers of Calcutta were: Hans Bradtke, Heino
Gazel, Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance. |
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Number
7 hit instrumental
song Wheels was a top 20 one
hit wonder for The String-A-Longs.
The group followed-up with other instrumentals
that received moderate airplay. Wheels was written
by: Richard Stephens, Jimmy Torres. |
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The
writers of Hearts Of Stone were: Rudy Jackson,
Eddy Ray. |
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Jan
1961
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Apr
1961
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2
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12
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22
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Jorgen
Ingmann & His Guitar
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In
1960,
The Shadows had a UK number one instrumental
song with Apache. Jordan Ingmann brought the
song to the US, and reached number 2. He became
a top 20 one
hit wonder, but followed up with
many instrumentals that received airplay, including
Anna. Apache was written by Jerry Lorden.
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Mar
1961
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Apr
1961
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4
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11
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23
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Floyd
Cramer wrote On The Rebound. |
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Feb
1961
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Apr
1961
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8
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10
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24
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Instrumental
song Asia Minor was based on Piano Concerto
in A Minor by Edvard Grieg.
Kokomo was actually Jimmy Wisner, hiding his
identity from other classically trained musicians.
Kokomo was a top 20 one
hit wonder, but Jimmy Wisner received
some airplay with other songs as Jimmy Wisner
Trio also. The 1970s group Kokomo was unrelated. |
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The
link to listen to One Mint Julep here is an
alternate from the hit recording. Rudy Toombs
wrote the song. |
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Apr
1961
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May
1961
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19
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16
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26
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The
writers of Bonanza were: Ray Evans, Jay Livingston.
The song was from the TV show Bonanza.
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Jun
1961
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Jul
1961
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8
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18
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27
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Bob
Wills wrote San Antonio Rose. |
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Jun
1961
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Jul
1961
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4
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10
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28
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The
writers of Yellow Bird were: Alan Bergman, Marilyn
Keith, Norman Luboff. |
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Aug
1961
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Oct
1961
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7
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13
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30
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Bob
Moore And His Orchestra
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Although
instrumental
song Mexico was a top 20 one
hit wonder hit for Bob Moore, he
received some airplay in 1963
for another instrumental, Kentucky. Mexico was
written by Boudleaux Bryant. |
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Sep
1961
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Oct
1961
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25
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17
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31
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Paul
Desmond wrote Take Five. |
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Oct
1961
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Dec
1961
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8
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15
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32
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The
Ferrante & Teicher version of Tonight was mostly
instrumental.
The writers of this song were: Leonard Bernstein,
Stephen Sondheim. |
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The
writers of Let There Be Drums were: Sandy Nelson,
Richard Podolor. |
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Oct
1961
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Dec
1961
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11
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16
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34
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Henry
Mancini And His Orchestra
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This
instrumental
version of Moon River won the Grammy
Award for Record Of The Year. The
song was from the album Moon River & Other
Great Movie Themes, and from the movie Breakfast
At Tiffany's. The writers of this song were:
Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer. |
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Bert
Kaempfert wrote Afrikaan Beat. |
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Jan
1962
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Mar
1962
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10
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11
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38
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Billy
Joe And The Checkmates
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Instrumental
song Percolator (Twist) was a top 20 one
hit wonder for Billy Joe And The
Checkmates. He followed-up with Rocky's Theme,
which received slight play.
Billy Joe was actually Lew Bedell, a record
producer, a New York radio and TV star, and
comedian. The Checkmates here are not related
to the Emile Ford Checkmates nor to The Checkmates,
Ltd. The writers of this song were: Lou Bideu,
Ernie Freeman. |
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Feb
1962
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Apr
1962
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17
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8
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39
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King
Curtis And The Noble Knights
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Curtis
Ousley wrote Soul Twist. |
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Stranger
On The Shore was originally named Jenny after
Acker Bilk's daughter. The writers of this song
were: Acker Bilk, Robert Mellin. |
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