3 Rock Songs From 1963 That Still Make Me Smile Today
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The article highlights three memorable rock songs released in 1963: Elvis Presley’s “(You’re The) Devil In Disguise”, The Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back” and Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party”. It presents them as enduring examples of early-1960s pop-rock that remain enjoyable and culturally familiar.
– “(You’re The) Devil In Disguise” was written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye, reached the US Top 5 and topped charts in several other countries. It was later included on Elvis’ Gold Records, Vol. 4 in 1968 and marked Presley’s last Top 5 hit until “Crying In The Chapel”.
– “My Boyfriend’s Back”, written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, became The Angels’ only major hit and was later covered by artists including The Chiffons, Martha and the Vandellas, and Melissa Manchester.
– “It’s My Party” was Lesley Gore’s debut single and only No. 1 hit, produced by Quincy Jones. Gore later had several other Top 5 songs, while Amy Winehouse recorded a cover in 2010.
- Three cheerful 1963 rock favourites remain popular today.
- Elvis, The Angels and Lesley Gore each feature.
- The songs achieved notable chart success and inspired later covers.
Full account
A recent retrospective piece looks back at three rock and roll singles from 1963 that its author still finds themselves smiling along to decades later, spanning heartbreak, comeuppance and teenage tears across the American charts of that year.
Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise", penned by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye, is recalled as a brisk put-down of a duplicitous lover, reaching the top five in the United States while topping charts elsewhere in the world. The piece notes that the track was not attached to any studio album on release, only appearing on record five years later via the 1968 compilation Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 4, and it is highlighted as Presley's last top-five entry until "Crying in the Chapel" surfaced in 1965, despite a run of further singles in between.
"My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels is presented as the girl-group trio's sole major hit and the title cut of their second album, credited to songwriters Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer. The account frames it as a defiant, upbeat warning to a rival, and traces its afterlife through cover versions by acts including The Chiffons and Martha and the Vandellas, plus a Top 40 return for Melissa Manchester with her own rendition two decades later, in 1983.
Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" rounds out the selection as her debut single and, notably, the only chart-topper of her career, taken from the album I'll Cry If I Want To and written by Herb Wiener, John Gluck Jr. and Wally Gold. Producer Quincy Jones is credited with the record, a connection the piece links to Amy Winehouse's 2010 cover for the Jones tribute compilation Q Soul Bossa Nostra. Gore herself is noted for later top-five successes such as "Judy's Turn to Cry", "She's a Fool" and "You Don't Own Me", even though none matched this debut's chart peak. It is worth noting that a second source supplied alongside this account did not in fact address these 1963 rock releases at all, instead covering an unrelated list of 1990s ska tracks by bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake, so no meaningful cross-outlet comparison on the 1963 songs themselves could be drawn from the material available.
Where outlets differ
The two source pieces cover entirely different subjects: only Source 1 discusses the three 1963 rock songs referenced in the headline (Elvis Presley, The Angels, Lesley Gore), while Source 2 is an unrelated retrospective on 1990s ska-punk tracks by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake, so there is no genuine overlap or point of comparison between the two on this topic.
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