Sexiest 60s Songs: Sexy Music from the 1960s

Billboard's glaring omission of 1960s songs in their 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time List did not sit too well with a lot of folks. All they could come up with is 1969s Honky Tonk Woman by the Rolling Stones, which really isn't a sexy song. It's about meeting up with a "gin soaked bar room queen in Memphis." Is somebody's encounter with a wild drunken floozy what you play if you're looking for some sexy music when romancing your lover boy or girl? I didn't think so.

Perhaps the lyrics of love and hookup songs in the 1960s were too tame by comparison to today's music, but the irony is 1960s teens used to make up their own dirty lyrics. Now a lot of that is mainstream. In any event, as a source for this article, I really didn't have to look too far. I have a huge collection of 45 records with music from the 1940s to the 1990s. The oldest one is probably by Al Jolson, and I've even got some Madonna and Faith No More 45s. The 1960s are well represented, so I didn't even need to look up the banned list to find sexy songs from the 1960s.

Otis Redding's, Hard to Handle was written and recorded by the Love Man prior to its 1968 release after Otis died in a plane crash in 1967, and only went to #38 on Billboard. It fared even worse on the R&B charts at #51. The Grateful Dead covered the song in their live set for years, but it was The Black Crowes who had a huge hit with Hard to Handle in 1990. I wish you could have seen my kids' jaws hit the floor when I started singing along to the video. "Pretty little thing, let me light your candle, cause, Mama, I'm sure hard to handle, now yes I am." Love Man was another song by Otis that was pretty racy. If you have ever seen Dirty Dancing, I'm sure you've heard it. It's a great fun song, describing a 6'1" sexy dude who is "long-legged and outta sight" and can make love to you in the morning or the night, and even "make love to you when you think about it." Hot stuff in the sixties. Otis' offer to love women up was preceded by Jimmy Jones' 1959/1960 Handy Man (later covered by Del Shannon and James Taylor), where he offers his services to you and all your girlfriends. (Isn't there an HBO special like that now?). Wilson Pickett's soulful hit from 1966, 634-5789, let's you know that Wilson's only a phone call away "if you need a little lovin', Lord have mercy."

I'll bet Tommy James was pissed to be left off the sexiest songs list. His 1965/66 song, Hanky Panky, was enormously successful. "My baby does the hanky panky" All night long. When parents wanted to know exactly what kind of hanky panky his baby was doing, the reply was usually "it's a new dance." Yeah, well, this song only has about 7 lines in it altogether and "all night long" isn't really one of them. I guess that kept it off the banned list, but this next one, Rhapsody in the Rain by Lou Christie, actually was banned, which seems pretty hilarious today. Lou had to change the line, "we were making love in the storm" (some radio stations still played the original release) and it did go to #16. In the car, the lovemaking "went much too far" and it was "exciting as thunder." Sexy Lou had a high falsetto that really made the ladies go gaga, but the lines by background singers, The Tammys, make this song a real hoot. Lou still does the song in his live show, reminding everyone what a bad influence he was on the teens of 60s. I still love it, Lou. Oo-wee baby.

Also from the banned files, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels had a super sexy dance hit with Sock It To Me, Baby. "ready, ready, ready, ready or not / Baby, I want, yes, I do, what you got." Very sexy till Laugh-In turned the phrase into high comedy and it became popular with adults. Even President Nixon got in the act.

Jay and the Americans had a #11 hit in 1965 with Let's Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key). "I can't wait to kiss you, one little minute more." I've heard that Jay Black actually hates this song and refuses to sing it. I saw him live once and he didn't sing it, so maybe it's true, but let's just say that there's a certain guy this song reminds me of, so I have very fond memories of it. Thanks, Jay.

Billboard can't tell me that Clarence Carter's #6 hit from 1968, Slip Away, isn't a sexy song. "What would I give for a just a few moments." It's about a man yearning for his married lover. "Oh, I need you, darling ... I need you so." A couple of decades later, Clarence released a risque song even by 1980s standards, Strokin', which probably fits Billboard's definition of a sexy song even though it didn't make the cut. But Strokin' isn't sexy. It's a tad too graphic and comedic to fit my definition of sexy. Slip Away is sexy even if your love affair isn't stolen.

There are plenty more sexy songs from the 1960s, from slow and sensual songs like Peaches and Herb's Close Your Eyes and Mel Carter's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, to rockin' songs like The Troggs' Wild Thing and The Doors, Light My Fire, (over 8 million hits on youtube and counting).

Credits: youtube and my record collection
Fellow AC contributor Mark Hudziak for the article idea