"The Happy Organ," Dave "Baby" Cortez (1959)

An instrumental chart-topper guaranteed to improve your mood

Peak: #1 on the Hot 100
Streams: 1.9 million

As you may have noticed, I love writing about instrumentals that hit the top 10. That’s not only because they’re a relic of a bygone pop era, but also because they came in so many flavors. From the late 50s to the mid-80s, you might see a disco classical remake, a funky breakdown, and an Olympic theme all hit w…