| RAYCHARLES | Singer of the 1961 #1 song found in the starts of 16-, 23-, 37- and 48-Across |
| CHECKER | Chubby _, American rock'n'roll singer of the 1961 hit Let's Twist Again (7) |
| CHANNEL | Bruce --, singer of the 1961 hit single "Hey! Baby" (7) |
| LECARRE | Author of the 1974 novel found in the starts of the starred answers |
| BEERRUN | Trip to buy brewskis, or a sequence found in the starts of the answers to the starred clues |
| TAHITI | Origin of this successful song found in fine part of French Polynesia (6) |
| VEE | Bobby with the 1961 #1 "Take Good Care of My Baby" |
| DION | One-named singer with the 1961 #1 hit "Runaround Sue" |
| ARMENIA | Workers breaking into song found in South Caucasia (7) |
| INVARIANT | Popular song found in five books? It never changes (9) |
| KEYS | Typically lost items that are "found" in the starts of 16-, 24-, 45- and 57-Across |
| DAHDAHDAHDAHDAH | Zero in Morse code, any part of which will finish the title of the Oscar-winning song found at the e |
| GAMECHANGER | Industry-disrupting idea, or a hint to the slow transformation happening in the starts of the starred clues' answers |
| AFTERSHOCK | Seismic phenomenon, and where you might find the starts of 16-, 23-, 37- and 49-Across |
| NUMISMATIST | Buff who might be interested in the starts of answers to asterisked clues * (11) |
| MOONSHOT | Nothing in the start of the week to photograph at space launch (8) |
| ALLEN | Irwin, director of the 1961 film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (5) |
| NINETYONE | Number of Football League clubs at the end of the 1961-1962 and 2019-2020 seasons (6-3) |
| BIRDCALLS | Natural sounds that the starts of 16-, 23-, 37- and 49-Across resemble |
| CANDYCOATED | Like Jordan almonds...or 16-, 23-, 37- and 49-A |
