Top 100 songs for May 8, 1961
This weekly snapshot follows the songs and artists competing across the Billboard Hot 100. Open any entry for its full chart history, or explore 1961 and the 1960s.
This week’s No. 1 is “Runaway” by Del Shannon. Meanwhile, “Hello Mary Lou” by Ricky Nelson rises from No. 73 to No. 27. 11 songs are listed in their first chart week.
See debuts and biggest movers
This week’s chart highlights
Biggest climbers
- Hello Mary Lou — Ricky Nelsonup 46 places, No. 73 → No. 27
- I'm A Fool To Care — Joe Barryup 30 places, No. 87 → No. 57
- Raindrops — Dee Clarkup 28 places, No. 90 → No. 62
New to this week’s Top 10
New to this week’s Top 40
- Hello Mary Lou — Ricky NelsonNo. 27
- Tragedy — The FleetwoodsNo. 31
- Little Devil — Neil SedakaNo. 34
- That Old Black Magic — Bobby RydellNo. 38
First-week entries
- Stand By Me — Ben E. KingNo. 75
- A Love Of My Own — Carla ThomasNo. 81
- In My Heart — The TimetonesNo. 83
- You'd Better Come Home — Russell ByrdNo. 86
- In Between Tears — Lenny MilesNo. 89
- This World We Love In (Il Cielo In Una Stanza) — MinaNo. 90
- Life's A Holiday — Jerry WallaceNo. 91
- Son-In-Law — The BlossomsNo. 97
- What Will I Tell My Heart — The HarptonesNo. 98
- Our Love Is Here To Stay — Dinah WashingtonNo. 99
- Son-In-Law — Louise BrownNo. 100
First-week entries have one recorded chart week. Climbs and Top 10/Top 40 arrivals use recorded previous positions for consecutive chart weeks; returning songs without a previous position are not classified as debuts.