Three ways into 1960s music
Hear it, understand it, play with it.
Best 60s Songs
100 playable hits from 1960 to 1969, each with its year, genre and a line on why it matters. Prefer to lean back? The Radio Dial runs a genre station for you.
UnderstandYear Guides and Genre Hubs
Ten year pages, nine genre hubs, artist profiles and song stories, plus a new On This Day page for every date.
PlayFree Music Tools
Trivia, a crossword, a daily year-guessing game, a playlist builder and more. All free, all in your browser.
1960s music, year by year
Number one hits, key albums and genre shifts for every year of the decade.
The fastest way to see how the decade changed is one year at a time.
Each year guide covers that year's chart story, the genre shifts behind it, a playable song list and links to matching On This Day pages, with a Radio Dial filter for that year.
All 10 Years of the 1960s
Browse every year page, 1960 through 1969, in one place.
Year Guide1960
19 Billboard number ones and Elvis Presley's record year.
Year Guide1961
Motown's first number one and Patsy Cline's Nashville Sound breakthrough.
Year Guide1962
The Twist's historic return to number one and Ray Charles's Nashville crossover.
Year Guide1963
Beatlemania sweeps Britain while Surfin' U.S.A. tops the year-end chart without ever hitting No. 1.
Year Guide1964
The Beatles hold all five top Hot 100 spots on April 4 and take six number ones.
Year Guide1965
Wooly Bully tops the year-end chart without ever reaching number one, and folk rock takes off.
Year Guide1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets tops the revised year-end chart, and 27 songs reach number one as folk rock and psychedelia arrive.
Year Guide1967
Lulu's To Sir With Love tops the year-end chart, and 19 songs reach number one as psychedelia and soul fill the Hot 100.
Year Guide1968
The Beatles' Hey Jude tops the year-end chart after nine weeks at number one, and Otis Redding scores the first posthumous number one.
Year Guide1969
The Archies' Sugar, Sugar tops the year-end chart, and the 5th Dimension spends nine weeks at number one.
Playable ListBest 60s Songs
100 playable hits from 1960 to 1969, filterable by year and genre.
Genre stations
Eight stations across the 1960s band.
Each station has a hub page with its defining sound, key artists and key years, and a live station on the Radio Dial.
For the big picture, 60s Rock traces how British Invasion, garage and surf, folk rock and psychedelic bands connect.
British Invasion & Beat Music
Chiming guitars, Merseybeat harmonies, R&B-inspired energy and a sharp-suited attitude
Listen live →Motown, Soul & R&B
Tight rhythm sections, call-and-response vocals, gospel fervor and Detroit polish
Listen live →Folk Rock
Ringing twelve-string guitars, close harmonies, and literate, socially aware lyrics
Listen live →Garage & Surf Rock
Fuzz guitar, cheap combo organ, heavy reverb, and untrained teenage energy
Listen live →Psychedelic Rock
Swirling effects, feedback and fuzz, modal drones, and long improvisational jams
Listen live →Country (Nashville Sound & Bakersfield)
Pedal steel and Telecaster twang set against smooth Nashville strings and vocal choruses
Listen live →Artists, song stories and On This Day
The people and records behind the dial.
Artist profiles tell each act's story, and song stories go record by record: who wrote it, where it was cut and how it charted.
On This Day pages list verified 1960s music events for each calendar date, with a new date added every day.
Play Me Now
Free interactive tools: powered on and ready.
Random Song Generator
Hit generate and let the decade pick a track for you, from any of the eight genres, playing right on the page.
Play Me Now 92.5 FMParty Playlist Builder
Pick a vibe such as upbeat, romantic or dance, and build a shuffled playlist to match the mood.
Play Me Now 96.3 FMMusic Trivia
A ten-question round drawn from real facts about the decade's greatest records. Keep score, then play again.
Play Me Now 100.7 FMWhat's Your 60s Sound?
Answer seven quick questions and discover which 1960s genre is your personal soundtrack.
Play Me Now 103.9 FMRadio Dial
A continuous, station-style listening experience that rotates through each genre.
Play Me Now 105.5 FMDaily Guessing Game
Watch a 1960s music video and guess its release year. Fifteen elimination-style levels, one wrong guess ends the run.
Play Me Now 107.2 FM60s Music Crossword
A 55-clue crossword pulling songs, artists and genre terms from every station on the dial.
Play Me NowWarming up
More controls being wired to the panel.
Latest from the blog
The newest On This Day entry and fresh stories from the blog.
On This Day: December 17 in 1960s Music
13 verified 1960s music events from December 17: Tiny Tim's Tonight Show wedding, The Who's last Marquee show and I Feel Fine at No. 1 in the UK.
Song Story · Nov 11, 2026Sha La La La Lee: The Small Faces' 1966 UK Hit
Sha La La La Lee was the hit the Small Faces never wanted. How Don Arden, Kenny Lynch and Mort Shuman gave the mod band a UK No. 3 in March 1966.
Artist Bio · Nov 11, 2026Jefferson Airplane: Band History, Members and Hits
Jefferson Airplane formed in San Francisco in 1965, added Grace Slick in 1966 and hit the Top 10 with Somebody to Love and White Rabbit in 1967.
Song Story · Nov 11, 2026White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane: How Grace Slick Wrote It
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane: Grace Slick wrote it on a $50 piano from Alice in Wonderland, and it hit No. 8 in 1967. The full story.
A short guide to 1960s music
How the decade's sound changed, in five stops.
1960 to 1962: pop singles, girl groups and Motown's start
The decade opened with polished pop, Brill Building songwriting and Elvis Presley's record 1960.
1961 brought Motown's first number one and Patsy Cline's Nashville Sound breakthrough, and in 1962 The Twist returned to number one.
Hear that era on the Pop & Brill Building and Motown, Soul & R&B stations.
1963 and 1964: the British Invasion
Beatlemania swept Britain in 1963, and in 1964 The Beatles held all five top Hot 100 spots on April 4.
The British Invasion sent bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Kinks across the Atlantic, while surf bands like The Beach Boys held the American side of the Garage & Surf Rock story.
1965 and 1966: folk rock and bigger ideas
Folk rock took off in 1965, pairing twelve-string guitars with socially aware lyrics.
By 1966 the Folk Rock and Psychedelic Rock stations were overlapping, and Good Vibrations showed how far a studio could stretch a pop single.
1967 to 1969: psychedelia, soul and the end of the decade
1967 filled the Hot 100 with psychedelia and soul, and The Doors became a defining psychedelic act.
In 1968 Hey Jude spent nine weeks at number one, and in 1969 the 5th Dimension did the same.
Country and Jazz & Easy Listening ran alongside it all, with their own audiences and their own hits.
What ties the decade together?
Three things: the self-contained band, the 45 rpm single as a cultural force, and the studio used as an instrument.
To go deeper, start with the Best 60s Songs list or browse every year of the 1960s.
1960s music, in brief
Quick answers to the questions people ask about the decade.
What defines 1960s music?
1960s music is defined by a decade of rapid reinvention: in barely ten years popular music moved from polished early-60s pop and the Motown hit factory through the British Invasion, folk rock, surf and garage, Nashville and Bakersfield country, and the psychedelic explosion.
The common thread is the rise of the self-contained band, the 45 rpm single as a cultural force, and studios used as instruments in their own right.
What are the main genres of 1960s music?
This site organizes the decade into eight core genres: British Invasion & Beat Music, Motown/Soul & R&B, Folk Rock, Garage & Surf Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Country (Nashville Sound & Bakersfield), Pop & Brill Building, and Jazz & Easy Listening.
Each is presented as its own station with its defining sound and key artists.
How is 1960smusic.net organized?
The site is built like the front panel of a tube radio.
Each of the eight genres is a station you can tune into, and each interactive tool is a control on the panel.
You can start from a genre station, play a tool such as the Random Song Generator or Party Playlist Builder, or test yourself with trivia and the personality quiz.
Why these eight genres?
These eight cover the styles that shaped the charts and the culture across the whole decade, from the start of the 60s to its end, while staying distinct enough to explore one at a time.
Together they map the vast majority of the essential 1960s songs and artists without collapsing everything into a single vague “oldies” category.
Is everything on 1960smusic.net free to use?
Yes.
Every tool is free, needs no sign-up, and runs right in your browser, powered by a hand-checked catalogue of essential 1960s songs with music that plays on the page.
Where should I start with 1960s music?
Start with the Best 60s Songs list, which has 100 playable hits from 1960 to 1969, or pick a year from the 1960s hub and read its chart story. If you would rather lean back, the Radio Dial runs a genre station for you.
Which years of the 1960s does 1960smusic.net cover?
Every year from 1960 to 1969 has its own guide, linked from the 1960s hub. Each covers that year's chart story, key genre shifts, a playable song list and matching On This Day pages.