I said it back in January that the record charts in 1966 had some pretty odd hit songs. The strangest song of the year was the novelty song “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV. That, of course, was a stage name for the artist who was found out to be Jerry …
“Wild Thing” was the next song to be at the top of the record charts in 1966. The song was written in 1965 by Chip Taylor for his group, The Wild Ones but it didn’t become a hit for them. The next year The Troggs made what would be the popular version. “Wild Thing’ was …
The next song to go to the top of the record charts in 1966 was “Hanky Panky” by Tommy James and the Shondells. The song was written in 1963 by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, The Raindrops but their version went nowhere. The Shondells version was number one on the Cash Box …
The pop music charts in 1966 had all kinds of music; rock, folk, patriotic and easy listening. Frank Sinatra was on the top of the charts with “Strangers in the Night” for one week. The melody was credited to German, Bert Kaempfert with the English lyrics being claimed by a few writers. Most people credit …
It’s The Beatles that are again back on the top of the record charts in 1966. “Paperback Writer” is a song about a writer that is desperate need of a job. He has even written a paperback based on a book by a “man named Lear.” This is another Lennon-McCartney song but John later said …
The Rollings Stone were back on the top of the music charts for the second time in 1966. This time it was “Paint It Black” that brought the group more attention. This was their third number one song in the US and 6th in the UK. On the Cash Box record chart it was number …
“A Groovy Kind of Love” was a hit in 1966 for The Mindbenders. The song was written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager who said that they wrote the song in about 20 minutes. It is said that this was the first use of the slang word “groovy” used in the title of a …