How To Plan A 1961 Class Reunion:
 

If you’re wondering how to plan a 1961 class reunion, remember this: First things first! You’ve got to set the mood. Music is really the easiest way to do this and the top ten pop hits of 1961 are just about everybody’s favorites. In case you’ve forgotten: Benny E. King’s, Stand By Me, was the number one song that year, followed closely by Patsy Cline’s Crazy. Dion brought up the number three and four positions with the doo-wop classics: The Wanderer and Run Around Sue. Make sure these are all on your i-pod shuffle and then go ahead and download Roy Orbison’s: Crying, and Running Scared. It’s probably not a bad idea to bust out your Ray Charles records as well. Ray’s classic, Hit The Road Jack reached #6 that year. Then impress your classmates with Gary U.S. Bonds,’ Quarter to Three, and Del Shannon’s, Runaway.

If you want to get away from the pop charts and dig a little deeper here’s a list of some of the great albums released in 1961: 1. The Kingston Trio’s, Make Way 2. Johnny Cash’s, The Lure Of The Grand Canyon 3. Miles Davis, Miles Davis Live At Carnegie Hall 4. Judy Garland’s, Judy At Carnegie Hall 5. John Coltrane’s, My Favorite Things 6. Dizzy Gillespie’s, An Electrifying Evening With The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet 7. Frank Sinatra’s, Come Swing With Me 8. Ella Fitzgerald’s, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Songbook 9. Bill Haley And His Comets,’ Bikini Twist 10. Elivis Presley’s, Blue Hawaii

While the music is blasting, it might be a good idea to rent a few videos, and keep them circulating on your wide screen tv. Not so much for a sit down type of viewing, but as interesting visual background material. Fortunately 1961 was a year like no other in Hollywood. You can choose from a wide variety of classic films:

West Side Story was the academy award winner that year, and is sure to garner some attention from the guests. In case you need a reminder, other film classics of 1961 were: "Breakfast At Tiffany’s," "A Raisin In The Sun," "The Hustler," "Guns of Navarone," Fanny and Marilyn Monroe’s last film, "The Misfits." If you want to get a little more international you could go with either Fellini’s: "La Dolce Vita," or Truffaut’s classic: "Jules and Jim."

As far as decorations it might be great to print out some posters to decorate your reunion party with familiar images of that wonderful year. Remember, though he was elected in 1960, Kennedy was sworn in, in January of 1961. The 1961 Corvair is considered by many to have been the worst car of all times. A few photos of this classic lemon, might get your former classmates laughing.

In short there’s no end of historic and cultural references you can draw on, to help set the mood for your party. So if you’re wondering how to plan a 1961 class reunion, just remember, you’ve got a lot of material to work with.