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The list started with the top 100 beach music songs based on listener submissions. The Top 100 Songs were played in order from 100 to #1 on 94.9 The Surf in North Myrtle Beach, SC on Memorial Day. The ranking listed here may be different than the original list. Feel free to add likes and emojis to the songs you like. Thanks for listening to 949thesurf.com
Source: https://949thesurf.com/top-100-beach-music-songs.htm
This song was written by General Johnson
General Norman Johnson was a Grammy award winning songwriter
He said a song like Carolina Girls will last forever and it will continue to play on 94.9 the Surf forever.
This song was written by Johanna Hall, wife of John Hall of the band Orleans
It was #1 on All Time Beach Music Top 40 in 2018
It made #91 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1974
The Tymes were formed in 1956 in Philadelphia
*group came to Myrtle Beach in March 1973
*played at The Bowery on Ocean Blvd for tips
*Released in 1997
*a sentimental memory of Myrtle Beach in the 70s
*#3 on Billboard Country chart
*#20 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
*written for the movie Animal House
*first release credited to Otis Day and the Knights in 1978
*Band of Oz version came 17 years later
*#23 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
*there was a Shama Lama BBQ rib sauce
*Chuck French debut as lead singer
*did not make the All Time Top 40
*the inspiration for Steve Jarrells “I’ve Still Got Sand in My Shoes”
*released in 1964
#33 on the Billboard Top 40, #21 on the R&B chart
This song written by Jim Quick was released in 2007
*a song that many people who remember growing up in the South can relate to.
*every name mentioned in the song were real people
*all of the song is true
*Jim took four years to write this, the longest time for him to write any song
winner of the Song of the Year at the 2021 Cammys
*debuted at #6 on the Surf Countdown
*hit number one the next week and stayed there for weeks
*Glen Tippet sings lead
*a friend of Tim Sidden in Nashville wrote it
*turned down by many bands before Cat 5 recorded it
*The Futures were a Philly soul group that formed in the late 60s
*they were on the same label with The Ojay’s and Teddy Pendergrass
*Released in 1978
*When the Futures broke up in the early 80s, Harry McGilberry became the bass singer for the Temptations in 1996. Frank Washington joined the Delfonics
Aretha Franklin heard this song and said Joe Pope had the most soulful voice she ever heard.
It was the biggest song the Tams ever released.
This song was originally recorded by The Sensational Epics
It reached #26 on Billboard R&B chart and #61 on Hot 100
It was #9 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
It was written by Smokey Robinson at the Apollo Theater in Harlem after My Guy was a big hit, he decided to do a song from the male perspective
My Girl was #10 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
The Temptations first #1 hit on Billboard Top 40
It is listed in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry
*#12 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
*#5 on Billboard R&B chart
*released in 1976 on Arista Records
*their last big hit
*lead singer was Johnny Moore, the longest lasting Drifter
*#5 on the Billboard Top 40 in 1962
*second Drifters song on the Top 100
*this song was first recorded by Little Eva
*Rudy Lewis was the lead singer. He was intended to sing lead on Under The Boardwalk, but died the night before the recording session.
*released in 1965
*Maurice was from Lancaster South Carolina
*they originally called themselves the Gladiolas
Rudy Lewis was supposed to record this song but died the night before it was scheduled to be recorded. It was recorded the next day by Johnny Moore in 1964.
This song was recorded in 1963
It was #11 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
39-21-46 was the original title. The producer of the song wanted to change the title to 39-21-46 so it would rhyme.
General Norman Johnson had a horrible cold that affected his voice when it was recorded.
*group was from Lancaster South Carolina
*written by Maurice Williams at 15 years old
*wrote it after he tried to convince his girlfriend to stay
*the girl went home, the song went to #1 nationally in 1960
*#38 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
*Wilson Turbinton came out of the New Orleans scene
*played the Apollo Theater in the late 60s
*He was a visiting lecturer in the music department at Princeton University in 2005
*Passed in 2007 at 63
*this was the flip side of Teasin You
*recorded in 1974
*Johnny Moore on lead vocals
*Johnny had to be talked into singing the song because he thought it might be bad to hear a man his age singings lyrics about picking up a girl from school and when her homeworks done.
This song was written by Jackie Gore and released in 1979
It was #3 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
The Embers were formed in 1958 in Raleigh
I Love Beach Music has been used in several advertising campaigns including Budweiser and Pantry stores
It is widely considered the Carolina Beach Music National Anthem.
*this song was not in the All Time Top 40, but jumps into the Top 20 on the All Time Top 100
*from 1966
*first recorded by Gene Pitney
*In 2000, Donny was presented with the Carolina Beach Music Academy Award for lifetime achievement, inducted into the South Carolina Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame a year later and received the Palmetto Award from the local Governor Hodges.
*released in 1980
*from the iconic “Gift of Beach Music” album
*the concept of this song set the standard for beach music lyrics for decades
*Tim Morris sang lead
*Their second song on The Top 100
*formed in 1967 in Eastern North Carolina
*one of their most requested songs on the Surf
Lamont Dozier is 1/3rd of Holland Dozier Holland, cowriter or producer of 14 Billboard #1 hits
Cool Me Out was released in 1981
It #26 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
Dozier died in 2022
*#13 on All Time Beach Music Top 40
*3 on the Billboard Top 40 chart
*sold over a million records
*produced by Holland Dozier Holland
*hugely respected in Europe
*Lenny was the lead singer of Tower Of Power in the early 70s
*he’s also worked with Sly Stone and Billy Preston
*recorded this in 1986 off his first solo album