How a Ken Dodd single outsold everyone in the 1960s except The Beatles

25 April 2025, 12:06

How a comedian gatecrashed the biggest-selling singles of the decade.

After the explosion of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, pop burst into the mainstream in the following decade.

The Beatles absolutely dominated the charts 1960s, with the vast majority of their singles topping not just the hit parade but also the end-of-decade biggest sellers.

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Unlike the modern streaming era, you had to actually sell a lot of singles to top the charts in the 1960s.

There were 14 million-sellers in the UK during the decade.

Of the top five, four were The Beatles: 'She Loves You' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' took the top two spots for the period from 1960-69. 'Cant Buy Me Love' and 'I Feel Fine' were in fourth and fifth.

Other million-sellers included tracks by The Seekers, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

But nestling in third place in the decade's biggest songs, splitting those four Beatles numbers?

None other than Ken Dodd. Yes, that Ken Dodd.

Tears

"It comes as no surprise to see the Fab Four at number one, but other aspects of the chart are perhaps a little unexpected," said Tony Blackburn when the maths was belatedly done and the run-down was revealed in 2010.

Ken's unlikely hit was 'Tears', a song written Frank Capano (words) and Billy Uhr (music) back in 1930, though Billy borrowed some elements from Camille Saint-Saëns's 1877 opera Samson and Delilah.

It was recorded by Rudy Vallée the same year and covered countless times in the decades that followed, but it was Liverpudlian comedian Ken Dodd who really made the song famous when he released his version on the Columbia label in 1965.

While he's best remembered for his gags (and that tax evasion trial), Ken was actually an accomplished "straight" singer, too. 'Tears' was no novelty hit.

Ken racked up a whopping 18 (eighteen!) Top 40 hits in the UK, including his Decca Records debut 'Love Is Like A Violin' and a classic version of Bill Anderson's 'Happiness'.

But it was 'Tears' that blew everything else out of the water. It was the UK's biggest-selling single by a solo artist and by the decade was over it was there as the third-biggest selling of the era.

Happiness

Why was it such a hit?

Ken's comedy success to one side, he had a genuinely excellent crooning voice when crooners still had a foot in the charts – it was Engelbert Humperdinck who kept 'Strawberry Fields Forever' off the top with his 'Release Me', after all.

And with its rich opera background and tender lyics ("Tears for souvenirs are all you've left me..") 'Tears' is an honest-to-goodness great song, beautifully produced.