It was the year The Beatles governed the Australian charts with 75 per cent of the Number Ones: 1964.
The only other artists to reach number one in Australia were Mary Wells with ‘My Guy’, Cilla Black with ‘You’re My World’, Roy Orbison with ‘Oh Pretty Woman’, The Honeycombs with ‘Have I The Right?’, Elvis Presley with ‘Ain’t That Loving You Baby’ and the only local recording by a New Zealand band Ray Columbus and the Invaders, ‘She’s A Mod’.
Ray Columbus & The Invaders consisted mainly of David Russell on lead guitar, Wally Scott on rhythm guitar, Puni Solomon on bass guitar and Ray Colombus on vocals. Their biggest influence was Cliff Richard & The Shadows.
In New Zealand they were overshadowed by the excellent Max Merritt & The Meteors so they decided to try their luck in Australia where their cover of ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ outsold both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones version. This was the first time a New Zealand act had featured in the Australian Charts.
After appearances on the TV shows Bandstand and Sing, Sing, Sing they became resident group at Surf City, Sydney’s top attraction for teenagers. ‘She’s A Mod’ started slowly on the charts but after a live performance on the 2UW Radio Theatre the single went to number one in Sydney and soon rocketed up the national charts to number one.
On April 11, the below songs by The Beatles were the Top 6 in Australia:
‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ — number 1
‘She Loves you / I’ll Get You’ — number 2
‘Love Me Do / I Saw Her Standing There’ — number 1
‘Roll Over Beethoven / Hold Me Tight’ — number 1
‘All My Loving’ — number 1
‘Twist And Shout’ — number 5
This is the list of The Beatles Australian hits in 1964 with the peak position in the charts.
‘Can’t Buy Me Love / You Can’t Do That’ — number 1
‘Long Tall Sally/ Boys / I Call Your Name’ — number 1
‘Ain’t She Sweet’ — number 16
‘Hard Day’s Night / Things We Said Today’ — number 1
‘Matchbox / Slow down / Till there was you’ — number 7
‘If I Fell / I Should Have Known Better’ — number 1
The top 10 in Australia in October 1964:
1. ‘Oh Pretty Woman’, Roy Orbison
2. ‘Have I The Right?’, The Honeycombs
3. ‘If I Fell / I Should Have Known Better’, The Beatles
4. ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’, Manfred Mann
5. ‘The William Tell Overture’, Sounds Incorporated
6. ‘I Wouldn’t Trade You For the World’, The Bachelors
7. ‘Such A Night’, Elvis Presley
8. ‘Hard Day’s Night / Things We Said Today’, The Beatles
9. ‘She’s A Mod’, Ray Columbus & The Invaders
10. ‘When You Walk In The Room’, The Searchers
The number ones in the UK in October 1964:
3rd: ‘I’m Into Something Good’, Herman’s Hermits
10th, 17th: ‘Oh Pretty Woman’, Roy Orbison
24th,31st: ‘Always Something There To Remind Me’, Sandie Shaw
In the US:
3rd, 10th: ‘Oh Pretty Woman’, Roy Orbison
17th, 24th: ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’, Manfred Mann
30th: ‘Baby Love’, The Supremes
In Australia:
3rd: ‘If I Fell/I Should Have Known Better’, The Beatles
10th, 17th: ‘Oh Pretty Woman’, Roy Orbison
24th, 30th: ‘Have I The Right?’, The Honeycombs