1. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – Legend Of Xanadu – 03-68
2. Fleetwood Mac – Albatross – 12-68
3. Richard Harris – MacArthur Park – 07-68
4. Barry Ryan – Eloise – 11-68
5. Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Prayer – 08-68
6. Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends – 11-68
7. Tom Jones – Delilah – 03-68
8. Mama Cass – Dream A Little Dream Of Me – 09-68
9. The Small Faces – Lazy Sunday – 05-68
10. Scott Walker – Joanna – 05-68
11. Andy Williams – Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – 04-68
12. Mason Williams – Classical Gas – 09-68
13. Gary Puckett & The Union Gap – Young Girl – 05-68
And the ones which didn’t quite make the cut:
Dionne Warwick – Do You Know The Way To San José – 06-68
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower – 11-68
The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup -12-68
O.C. Smith – Son Of Hickory Holler’s Tramp – 06-68
Dusty Springfield – I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten – 07-68
Status Quo – Pictures Of Matchstick Men – 02-68
The Move – Fire Brigade – 02-68
Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson – 07-68
Esther & Abi Ofarim – Cinderella Rockafella – 02-68
Bobby Goldsboro – Honey – 05-68
Scaffold – Lily The Pink – 11-68
The Tremeloes – Suddenly You Love Me – 02-68
The Kinks – Days – 08-68
The Four Tops – If I Were A Carpenter – 03-68
John Fred & His Playboy Band – Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) – 01-68
Herman’s Hermits – Sunshine Girl – 08-68
The Hollies – Jennifer Eccles – 04-68
The Honeybus – I Can’t Let Maggie Go – 04-68
Mary Hopkin – Those Were The Days – 09-68
Jacky – White Horses – 05-68
Manfred Mann – My Name Is Jack – 07-68
1960s Prices
One pound in 1960 was quite a bit of money. The average manual worker made £14 in a week. 30 shillings (£1.50) would feed the average person for a week. In today’s money one pound in 1960 is about £29.
People were a lot poorer in the 1960s. The average weekly pay packet was less than £10 per week. Allowing for inflation that is £150 in today’s money. Today average weekly earnings are more than £600.
Houses were a lot cheaper in the 1960s than today. In the first quarter of 1960, an average house cost £2,189 (£33,000 in today’s money).
In the last quarter of 1969, an average house cost £24,312 (£47,500 in today’s money).
House prices rose faster than inflation in the 1960s. They were still much more affordable than today. Lenders were more cautious. Banks and building societies lent smaller multiples of income and would only consider a husband’s income, not his wife’s.
The average UK house price was £288,000 in June 2023.
The Daily Mirror was Britain’s most popular paper in the 1960s. The Daily Express came second and the Daily Telegraph third.
The UK Government’s Prices and Incomes Board controlled the prices of newspapers in the 1960s.
Newspaper circulation has halved since the 1960s. Newspapers have to compete with online sources of news.
• Daily Mirror – 1960 (2½d) 1969 (5d) 2019 (75p) 2023 (£1.40)
• Daily Express – 1960 (2½d) 1969 (5d) 2019 (90p) 2023 (£1.30)
• Daily Telegraph – 1960 (2½d) 1969 (5d) 2019 (£2) 2023 (£3.20)
Typical groceries people bought in the 1960s were:
| Item | Cost 1965 | In today’s money | Typical price today |
| Bread (large loaf) | 1s 2½d | £1 | 59p to £1.10 |
| Butter (1lb) | 1s 3d to 2s 10d | 80p to £1.81 | £3.45 (500g) |
| Margarine (1lb) | 1s 3d to 2s 10d | 80p to £1.81 | £1.80 (500g Flora Spreadable) |
| Back bacon (pre-packed, smoked per lb) | 4s 10d to 7s 10d | £3.09 to £5 | £2.39 to £4.50 (500g) |
| Eggs – 1 dozen | 3s 8d to 4s 6d | £1.22 to £2.87 | £1.80 to £3.00 |
| Evaporated milk | 1s to 1s 4d | 63p to 85p | 70p to £1.20 |
| Baked beans (16oz tin) | 9d to 1s 3d | 48p to 80p | 75p |
| Corned beef (12 oz tin) | 1s 11d to 4s 1d | 69p to £1.12 | £2.60 (340g) |
| Cornflakes (12 oz) | 1s 4d to 1s 10d | 85p to £1.17 | £1.30 (375g Sainsbury’s SO) |
| Sugar (2lb) | 1s 3d to 1s 9d | 80p to £1.12 | 75p (1kg Sainsbury’s) |
| Tea (loose leaf PG Tips ¼lb | 1s 4½d to 1s 9d | 85p to £1.23 | £2 for 250g (approx ½1b |
JRo Author 