Category: Monthly

Oh oh…this is starting to get real. It’s only 10 years before Thomas is born in our journey through musical history. Let’s turn our ears back to February, 1967…

Songs of the month

[new] “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” – Johnny Rivers
[new] “Bring It Up” – James Brown
“Colour My World” – Petula Clark
[new] “Darling Be Home Soon” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Epistle To Dippy” – Donovan
[new] “For What It’s Worth” – Buffalo Springfield
“Georgy Girl” – Seekers
[new] “Gimme Some Lovin’” – Spencer Davis Group
[new] “Go Where You Wanna Go” – 5Th Dimension
“Good Thing” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“Green Green Grass Of Home” – Tom Jones
[new] “Hello Hello” – Sopwith Camel
“I Had Too Much To Dream” – Electric Prunes
“I’m A Believer” – Monkees
“I’ve Passed This Way Before” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “It Takes Two” – Marvin Gaye And Kim Weston
“It’s Now Winter’s Day” – Tommy Roe
“Kind Of A Drag” – Buckinghams
“Knight In Rusty Armour” – Peter And Gordon
[new] “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” – Supremes
[new] “Mercy Mercy Mercy” – Cannonball Adderley
“Music To Watch Girls By” – Bob Crewe Generation
[new] “My Cup Runneth Over” – Ed Ames
“Nashville Cats” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Pretty Ballerina” – Left Banke
[new] “Ruby Tuesday” – Rolling Stones
“Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” – Royal Guardsmen
[new] “Sock It To Me Baby” – Mitch Ryder And Detroit Wheels
“Stand By Me” – Spyder Turner
“Standing In The Shadows Of Love” – Four Tops
“Sugar Town” – Nancy Sinatra
“Tell It Like It Is” – Aaron Neville
“Tell It To The Rain” – Four Seasons
[new] “The Beat Goes On” – Sonny And Cher
[new] “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” – Marvelettes
[new] “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” – Casinos
“We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet” – Blues Magoos
“Where Will The Words Come From” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
“Wild Thing” – Senator Bobby
“Words Of Love” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “You Got To Me” – Neil Diamond

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 6th WBC world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali defeated the WBA’s heavyweight champ, Ernie Terrell, at the Houston Astrodome. In the publicity leading up to the unification bout, Terrell had repeatedly used Ali’s former name, Cassius Clay. Starting in the 8th round, Ali repeatedly shouted at Terrell, “What’s my name? What’s my name?” as he threw punches. The bout went the full 15 rounds, and Ali won in a unanimous decision. What’s his name Terrell?

On the 9th, cellist and performance artist Charlotte Moorman was arrested by New York police at the Filmmaker’s Cinematheque, where she was playing Brahms’ Lullaby as part of Nam June Paik’s production, the Opera Sextronique. Moorman would receive a suspended sentence for indecent exposure because she played the cello in public while topless. It’s…art?

Then on the 12th In Chichester, West Sussex, British police raided “Redlands”, the home of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, in the early hours of the morning following a tip-off about a party from the News of the World. No arrests were made at the time, but Richards, Mick Jagger and art dealer Robert Fraser would subsequently be convicted of possession of drugs. On June 29, Richards would be sentenced by Judge Leslie Block to one year in prison, and Jagger to three months, but both would be released pending an appeal; on July 31, the London Appeal Court would overturn both convictions.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for “I’m A Believer” by the Monkees then two for “Kind Of A Drag” by the Buckinghams.

Sadie is particularly liking “I’m a Believer”, which we wholeheartedly agree with. Apparently it was written by Neil Diamond – but first recorded by The Monkees. Diamond subsequently recorded it for an album of his own. Sadie also liked the excellent new James Brown, “Bring It Up” and Aaron Neville’s “Tell it like it is”.

Loved ’em

• “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” – Johnny Rivers
• “Bring It Up” – James Brown
• “Darling Be Home Soon” – Lovin’ Spoonful
• “Epistle To Dippy” – Donovan
• “For What It’s Worth” – Buffalo Springfield
• “Gimme Some Loving” – Spencer Davis Group
• “It Takes Two” – Marvin Gaye And Kim Weston
• “Ruby Tuesday” – Rolling Stones
• “The Beat Goes On” – Sonny And Cher

Some division in the house over “It takes two” – it pains Thomas somewhat as it was used in adverts for “TV 2” for years – but Emily is a fan.

Liked ’em

• “Go Where You Wanna Go” – 5Th Dimension
• “Hello Hello” – Sopwith Camel
• “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” – Supremes
• “Mercy Mercy Mercy” – Cannonball Adderley
• “Pretty Ballerina” – Left Banke
• “Sock It To Me Baby” – Mitch Ryder And Detroit Wheels
• “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” – Marvelettes
• “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” – Casinos
• “You Got To Me” – Neil Diamond

Leave ’em

• “My Cup Runneth Over” – Ed Ames

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

As we finish off July in 2024, where it feels like things are warming up, we tune our ears back to the first month of 1967…

Songs of the month

“A Place In The Sun” – Stevie Wonder
“Born Free” – Roger Williams
[new] “Colour My World” – Petula Clark
“Coming Home Soldier” – Bobby Vinton
“Cry” – Ronnie Dove
“Devil With The Blue Dress / Good Golly Miss Molly” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
“East West” – Herman’s Hermits
[new] “Gallant Men” – Senator Everett Mckinley Dirksen
[new] “Georgy Girl” – Seekers
“Good Thing” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys
[new] “Green Green Grass Of Home” – Tom Jones
“Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” – Yardbirds
“Help Me Girl” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
[new] “How Do You Catch A Girl” – Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs
[new] “I Had Too Much To Dream” – Electric Prunes
“I Know I’m Losing You” – Temptations
[new] “I Need Somebody” – Question Mark & The Mysterians
“I’m A Believer” – Monkees
“I’ve Passed This Way Before” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “It’s Now Winter’s Day” – Tommy Roe
[new] “Kind Of A Drag” – Buckinghams
[new] “Knight In Rusty Armour” – Peter And Gordon
“Mellow Yellow” – Donovan
[new] “Music To Watch Girls By” – Bob Crewe Generation
“Mustang Sally” – Wilson Pickett
[new] “Nashville Cats” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Nothin’ Yet” – Blues Magoos
“Single Girl” – Sandy Posey
“Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” – Royal Guardsmen
[new] “Stand By Me” – Spyder Turner
“Standing In The Shadows Of Love” – Four Tops
[new] “Steppin’ Stone” – Monkees
“Sugar Town” – Nancy Sinatra
“Talk Talk” – Music Machine
“Tell It Like It Is” – Aaron Neville
“Tell It To The Rain” – Four Seasons
“That’s Life” – Frank Sinatra
[new] “Try A Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
[new] “We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet” – Blues Magoos
[new] “Where Will The Words Come From” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
[new] “Wild Thing” – Senator Bobby
“Winchester Cathedral” – New Vaudeville Band
“Words Of Love” – Mamas And Papas
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Supremes

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

In a sweet start to the new year, on the 1st the residents of the small town of Ellington, Connecticut, saved the life of a private pilot whose radio had failed while he was flying through fog and rain. After townspeople heard a low-flying, but not visible, plane, the Ellington Fire Department brought three fire engines and its 25 volunteer firemen to the town’s unlit airstrip at Hyde Field, and dozens of people followed in their cars. Lionel Labreche, a trooper with the Connecticut State Police, directed everyone to park on either side of the runway and to light it up with their headlights. The pilot, Frank Robinson, was able to spot the revolving lights of the fire trucks and then the lit runway; he commented later, “It was wonderful the way they did it. If they hadn’t… I’d have ended up in the woods.”

Then on the 15th The Rolling Stones appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the second time, but only after acceding to a demand by Sullivan to alter the words of their hit song, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”. After Sullivan reportedly said, “Either the song goes or the Stones go,” Mick Jagger sang the refrain as “Let’s spend some time together.” Times they were still a’changing!

And on the 27th, tragedy struck the space race when Apollo 1 was destroyed by fire at Launch Complex 34 at Cape Kennedy, killing all three of the American astronauts on board. At 6:31 in the evening, the three men were inside the capsule of the Saturn rocket, engaged in a full-scale simulation of the planned February 21 launch, and were wearing their pressurized space suits while in a pure oxygen atmosphere. A spark from a short-circuited wire ignited a flash fire that swept the cabin moments after it was noticed by Grissom. America’s manned space program would be grounded for 20 months for improvements, which would include an atmosphere of 60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen on future missions and a cockpit hatch that could be opened within seconds.

What’d Sadie think?

The faux-Beatles manage a number 1 run worthy of the real thing with “I’m A Believer” by the Monkees dominating for the whole month.

Loved ’em

Ear-worm of the week is the excellent “Georgy Girl” by the Seekers. Here’s a film of them performing it live:

Strangely their was no audio from the performance so the recorded version is played on top of the footage of them singing at the Myer Music Bowl in their home town of Melbourne.

I’ve not seen the film the tune is hte soundrack to, but it was good slice of swingin’ 60s london by all accounts.

• “Georgy Girl” – Seekers
• “Steppin’ Stone” – Monkees
• “Try A Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
  

Liked ’em

• “Green Green Grass Of Home” – Tom Jones
• “I Had Too Much To Dream” – Electric Prunes
• “I Need Somebody” – Question Mark & The Mysterians
• “It’s Now Winter’s Day” – Tommy Roe
• “Kind Of A Drag” – Buckinghams
• “Knight In Rusty Armour” – Peter And Gordon
• “Music To Watch Girls By” – Bob Crewe Generation
• “Nothin’ Yet” – Blues Magoos
• “Stand By Me” – Spyder Turner
• “We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet” – Blues Magoos
• “Where Will The Words Come From” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys

Leave ’em

• “How Do You Catch A Girl” – Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs
• “Nashville Cats” – Lovin’ Spoonful
• “Wild Thing” – Senator Bobby

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

Woopsie-daisy we skipped publishing the blog for a week, so tune into It’s November, 1966 first if you want the complete historical ride, before listing to this week’s sounds from Christmas of that year…

Songs of the month

“96 Tears” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
“A Hazy Shade Of Winter” – Simon And Garfunkel
[new] “A Place In The Sun” – Stevie Wonder
“Born Free” – Roger Williams
“But It’s Alright” – J.J. Jackson
[new] “Coming Home Soldier” – Bobby Vinton
“Coming On Strong” – Brenda Lee
[new] “Cry” – Ronnie Dove
“Devil With The Blue Dress / Good Golly Miss Molly” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
[new] “Devil With The Blue Dress” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
[new] “East West” – Herman’s Hermits
[new] “Good Thing” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys
[new] “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” – Yardbirds
[new] “Help Me Girl” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
[new] “Holy Cow” – Lee Dorsey
“Hooray For Hazel” – Tommy Roe
[new] “I Got The Feelin’” – Neil Diamond
[new] “I Know I’m Losing You” – Temptations
[new] “I Need Somebody” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
[new] “I’m A Believer” – Monkees
“I’m Ready For Love” – Martha And The Vandellas
[new] “I’m The One You Need” – Miracles
“I’m Your Puppet” – James And Bobby Purify
[new] “I’ve Passed This Way Before” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “It Tears Me Up” – Percy Sledge
[new] “Knock On Wood” – Eddie Floyd
“Lady Godiva” – Peter And Gordon
“Last Train To Clarksville” – Monkees
“Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing” – Lou Rawls
[new] “Mame” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
“Mellow Yellow” – Donovan
[new] “Mustang Sally” – Wilson Pickett
“Poor Side Of Town” – Johnny Rivers
“Rain On The Roof” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Run Run Look And See” – Brian Hyland
[new] “Single Girl” – Sandy Posey
[new] “Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” – Royal Guardsmen
[new] “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” – Four Tops
“Stop Stop Stop” – Hollies
[new] “Sugar Town” – Nancy Sinatra
[new] “Talk Talk” – Music Machine
[new] “Tell It Like It Is” – Aaron Neville
[new] “Tell It To The Rain” – Four Seasons
[new] “That’s Life” – Frank Sinatra
[new] “The Wheel Of Hurt” – Margaret Whiting
“What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “Whispers” – Jackie Wilson
“Winchester Cathedral” – New Vaudeville Band
[new] “Words Of Love” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Supremes

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 12th ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, a musical based on the bestselling book by Truman Capote (which had already been adapted to a successful film) opened on Broadway for a preview, and became one of the more memorable flops in theater history. After it was performed four times at the Majestic Theatre, which had planned to formally launch it on December 26, the Bob Merrill musical was closed down by its producer, David Merrick, who ran an advertisement in The New York Times to explain, “Rather than subject the drama critics and the theatre-going public— who invested one million dollars in advance ticket sales— to an excruciatingly boring evening, I have decided to close the show… the closing is entirely my fault.”

Then on the 18th, in more successful book-adaptation-entertainment-news, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss , was shown for the first time on CBS, becoming an annual Christmas tradition in the United States. “As a result of the television version,” an author would note later, “adults and children renewed their love of Seussian tales and bought his books in record-breaking numbers.

And on the last day of the year, in the most expensive art theft in history up to that time, thieves stole eight paintings from London’s Dulwich Art Gallery, the oldest art museum in the United Kingdom, and demanded a ransom of 100,000 pounds sterling (worth, at the time, $280,000) for their safe return. The paintings themselves were considered worth more than $20,000,000. The ransom failed and three of the paintings would be recovered a couple of days later, and the next evening, the other five would be found “wrapped in old newspapers behind a bush” at Streatham Common, a few miles from the gallery.

What’d Sadie think?

A battle for the top, with “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band taking it for a week before the absolute classic Beach Boys tune, “Good Vibrations”, gets only a week there before the former snatches it back for another couple! No accounting for taste, with faux-Beatles the Monkees taking the last week with “I’m A Believer”.

Loved ’em

Sadie was particularly explicit about liking some songs this week – I think she’s almost cottoned on to the idea we share the playlist and write about them. She’ll probably be dictating this blog by Xmas… Anyway, it wasn’t new this week but she loves Donovan’s “Mello Yellow”.

When you re-read this in many years time Sadie, you can discover that the song was named thusly, “I was reading a newspaper and on the back there was an ad for a yellow dildo called the mellow yellow,” Donocan said. “Really, you know the ‘electric banana’ was right in there and gave it away. And that’s what the song’s about.”.

She also loved, new to the charts, “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra. Which again is somewhat of a coded song, an allusion to sugar cubes laced with Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Although apparently, like other songs Hazlewood wrote, “Sugar Town” was equivocal, speaking to a young audience able to recognize its allusion, yet outwardly tame enough to receive radio play.

• “A Place In The Sun” – Stevie Wonder
• “Devil With The Blue Dress” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
• “Help Me Girl” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
• “I’m A Believer” – Monkees
• “Knock On Wood” – Eddie Floyd
• “Mustang Sally” – Wilson Pickett
• “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” – Four Tops
• “Sugar Town” – Nancy Sinatra
• “Tell It Like It Is” – Aaron Neville
• “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Supremes
  

Liked ’em

• “Coming Home Soldier” – Bobby Vinton
• “Cry” – Ronnie Dove
• “East West” – Herman’s Hermits
• “Good Thing” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
• “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” – Yardbirds
• “I Got The Feelin’” – Neil Diamond
• “I Know I’m Losing You” – Temptations
• “I Need Somebody” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
• “I’m The One You Need” – Miracles
• “I’ve Passed This Way Before” – Jimmy Ruffin
• “It Tears Me Up” – Percy Sledge
• “Single Girl” – Sandy Posey
• “Talk Talk” – Music Machine
• “Tell It To The Rain” – Four Seasons
• “That’s Life” – Frank Sinatra
• “Whispers” – Jackie Wilson
• “Words Of Love” – Mamas And Papas

Leave ’em

• “Holy Cow” – Lee Dorsey
• “Mame” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
• “Run Run Look And See” – Brian Hyland
• “Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” – Royal Guardsmen
• “The Wheel Of Hurt” – Margaret Whiting

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

It’s 53 years and 9 months before Sadie is born and 10 years and 3 months before Thomas is… yes, it’s November, 1966 so let’s turn our ears to the tunes of the day.

Songs of the month

“96 Tears” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
[new] “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” – Simon And Garfunkel
“B-A-B-Y” – Carla Thomas
[new] “Born Free” – Roger Williams
[new] “But It’s Alright” – J.J. Jackson
[new] “Coming On Strong” – Brenda Lee
[new] “Dandy” – Herman’s Hermits
[new] “Devil With The Blue Dress / Good Golly Miss Molly” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
[new] “Go Away Little Girl” – Happenings
[new] “Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys
[new] “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby
“Hooray For Hazel” – Tommy Roe
[new] “I’m Ready For Love” – Martha And The Vandellas
[new] “I’m Your Puppet” – James And Bobby Purify
“If I Were A Carpenter” – Bobby Darin
[new] “Lady Godiva” – Peter And Gordon
“Last Train To Clarksville” – Monkees
[new] “Look Through My Window” – Mamas And Papas
[new] “Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing” – Lou Rawls
[new] “Mellow Yellow” – Donovan
[new] “Paint Me A Picture” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
“Poor Side Of Town” – Johnny Rivers
[new] “Rain On The Roof” – Lovin’ Spoonful
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” – Four Tops
[new] “Secret Love” – Billy Stewart
[new] “Stop Stop Stop” – Hollies
“Walk Away Renee” – Left Banke
“What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “Who Am I” – Petula Clark
[new] “Winchester Cathedral” – New Vaudeville Band
[new] “You Keep Me Hanging On” – Supremes

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

I was searching for a video on the invention of the Jacuzzi (“spa pool”) that happened in November, 1966 but I couldn’t find anything appropriate. However, this great 1966 news reel came up and whatever the month it is from, it needs to be seen.

On the 18th Roman Catholics in the United States would no longer be required to abstain from meat on Fridays, as a national conference of Roman Catholic cardinals, archbishops and bishops voted in Washington to revoke a requirement of abstinence that had been in effect for 11 centuries. As part of the recognition of Friday as a day of penance, Pope Nicholas I had decreed in the 9th century that adherents to Roman Catholic faith would be required to abstain from the eating of meat, although the consumption of fish on Fridays was permitted. Friday, December 2, 1966, would mark the first day that 45,000,000 American Roman Catholics could consume beef, chicken, pork, or other meats without violating Church doctrine.

Then on the 30th the existence of the drink “Gatorade” was revealed to readers of the Miami Herald by sports columnist Neil Amdur, after Amdur had noticed that the University of Florida Gators football team had been drinking from what appeared to be milk cartons. Surprised, Amdur asked coach Ray Graves, “Are you giving your players milk?” and Graves showed him the beverage and said, “No. We’ve been fooling around with this stuff for a while now,” then told him about the invention of Florida medical professor Robert Cade. Days after the game, Amdur’s story, headlined “Florida’s Pause That Refreshes: ‘Nip of Gatorade’”. The story was soon spread nationwide by UPI about the team’s “bitter beverage… designed to keep the players from wearing down as they lose body fluid on a hot day”, and would be marketed nationwide in 1967.

What’d Sadie think?

A mixed bag at the top this month with the Monkees first single, “Last Train To Clarksville” taking it for a week before “Poor Side Of Town” by Johnny Rivers does likewise, rounded out by the Supremes new single “You Keep Me Hanging On” taking it for 2 weeks.

Loved ’em

• “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” – Simon And Garfunkel
• “Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys
• “I’m Ready For Love” – Martha And The Vandellas
• “I’m Your Puppet” – James And Bobby Purify
• “Mellow Yellow” – Donovan
• “You Keep Me Hanging On” – Supremes

Liked ’em

• “Born Free” – Roger Williams
• “But It’s Alright” – J.J. Jackson
• “Coming On Strong” – Brenda Lee
• “Devil With The Blue Dress / Good Golly Miss Molly” – Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels
• “Go Away Little Girl” – Happenings
• “Lady Godiva” – Peter And Gordon
• “Look Through My Window” – Mamas And Papas
• “Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing” – Lou Rawls
• “Secret Love” – Billy Stewart
• “Stop Stop Stop” – Hollies
• “Who Am I” – Petula Clark
• “Winchester Cathedral” – New Vaudeville Band

Leave ’em

• “Dandy” – Herman’s Hermits
• “Rain On The Roof” – Lovin’ Spoonful

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

We’re already getting towards the end of another year in our journey – let’s tune our ears back to October, 1966…

Songs of the month

“96 Tears” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
[new] “All I See Is You” – Dusty Springfield
[new] “All Strung Out” – Nino Tempo And April Stevens
“Almost Persuaded” – David Houston
[new] “B-A-B-Y” – Carla Thomas
“Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” – Temptations
“Black Is Black” – Los Bravos
“Born A Woman” – Sandy Posey
“Bus Stop” – Hollies
“Cherish” – Association
“Cherry Cherry” – Neil Diamond
“Eleanor Rigby” – Beatles
[new] “Flamingo” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
“Guantanamera” – Sandpipers
[new] “Hooray For Hazel” – Tommy Roe
“How Sweet It Is” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
[new] “I Really Don’t Want To Know” – Ronnie Dove
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” – Four Seasons
[new] “If I Were A Carpenter” – Bobby Darin
“Land Of 1000 Dances” – Wilson Pickett
“Last Train To Clarksville” – Monkees
“Mr. Dieingly Sad” – Critters
“Open The Door To Your Heart” – Darrell Banks
[new] “Poor Side Of Town” – Johnny Rivers
“Psychotic Reaction” – Count Five
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” – Four Tops
[new] “See See Rider” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
“See You In September” – Happenings
[new] “Summer Samba” – Walter Wanderley
[new] “Summer Wind” – Frank Sinatra
“Sunny Afternoon” – Kinks
“Sunshine Superman” – Donovan
[new] “Walk Away Renee” – Left Banke
“What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
“Wipe Out” – Surfaris
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Beach Boys
“Yellow Submarine” – Beatles
“You Can’t Hurry Love” – Supremes

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 7th of the month the hallucinogenic drug LSD became illegal in the state of California as it became the first state in the USA to ban LSD – no doubt only commending it more to the swelling hippie movement.

And on the 10th Bob Moog applied for the only patent ever granted for his invention, the highly influential Moog synthesizer, specifically for the Moog ladder filter that provides the electronic tones that give the synthesizer its distinctive sound. The patent would be granted on October 28, 1969.

Then on the 27th Walt Disney recorded his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for Epcot, a utopian planned city to be built in Florida. After his death less than two months later, the original concept would be scrapped and Epcot would become an amusement park… sad yet fitting.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s two weeks at the top for “Cherish” by Association then for “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops before the curiously named Question Mark And The Mysterians take it with “96 Tears”.

Loved ’em

• “All Strung Out” – Nino Tempo And April Stevens
• “B-A-B-Y” – Carla Thomas
• “See See Rider” – Eric Burdon And The Animals

You can go down a real rabbit hole if you look into the history of “See See Rider ” (nee “C.C. Rider”) but I’ll just link the first known recording by Ma Rainey and her band (that included Louis Armstrong on cornet!) from 1924.

Liked ’em

• “All I See Is You” – Dusty Springfield
• “Flamingo” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
• “Hooray For Hazel” – Tommy Roe
• “If I Were A Carpenter” – Bobby Darin
• “Poor Side Of Town” – Johnny Rivers
• “Summer Wind” – Frank Sinatra
• “Walk Away Renee” – Left Banke

Leave ’em

• “I Really Don’t Want To Know” – Ronnie Dove
• “Summer Samba” – Walter Wanderley

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

A lot of songs with “summer” in the title this month, as befits the end of that season in September, 1966. Let’s tune our ears back…

Songs of the month

[new] “96 Tears” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
[new] “Almost Persuaded” – David Houston
[new] “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” – Temptations
[new] “Black Is Black” – Los Bravos
“Blowin’ In The Wind” – Stevie Wonder
“Born A Woman” – Sandy Posey
“Bus Stop” – Hollies
[new] “Cherish” – Association
[new] “Cherry Cherry” – Neil Diamond
[new] “Eleanor Rigby” – Beatles
“Guantanamera” – Sandpipers
[new] “How Sweet It Is” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
“I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love” – Petula Clark
[new] “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” – Four Seasons
“Land Of 1000 Dances” – Wilson Pickett
[new] “Last Train To Clarksville” – Monkees
“Lil Red Riding Hood” – Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs
[new] “Mr. Dieingly Sad” – Critters
“My Heart’s Symphony” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
[new] “Open The Door To Your Heart” – Darrell Banks
[new] “Psychotic Reaction” – Count Five
[new] “Reach Out I’ll Be There” – Four Tops
“Respectable” – Outsiders
[new] “Say I Am (What I Am)” – Tommy James And The Shondells
“Say I Am” – Tommy James And The Shondells
“See You In September” – Happenings
“Summer In The City” – Lovin’ Spoonful
“Summertime” – Billy Stewart
[new] “Sunny Afternoon” – Kinks
“Sunny” – Bobby Hebb
“Sunshine Superman” – Donovan
[new] “The Dangling Conversation” – Simon And Garfunkel
“The Joker Went Wild” – Brian Hyland
[new] “Turn-Down Day” – Cyrkle
“Wade In The Water” – Ramsey Lewis
“Warm And Tender Love” – Percy Sledge
[new] “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
[new] “Wipe Out” – Surfaris
[new] “With A Girl Like You” – Troggs
“Working In The Coal Mine” – Lee Dorsey
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Beach Boys
“Yellow Submarine” – Beatles
“You Can’t Hurry Love” – Supremes

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the first of the month, while waiting at a bus terminal, Ralph H. Baer, an inventor with Sanders Associates, wrote a four-page document which laid out the basic principles for creating a video game to be played on a television set. As Baer, described it, he had been on New York City’s East Side, waiting to board a bus to Boston, when he noticed an advertisement for TV Guide on the wall.

Contemplating what a viewer could do with a television set if there was nothing worth watching, he remembered an idea that had occurred to him in 1951, the possibility of playing a game on a TV set, and realized that he now had the resources to develop the concept. His idea would become the Magnavox Odyssey home entertainment system, introduced on January 27, 1972. Video from the launch a few years later below:

Then on the 8th, “Star Trek”, the new science fiction television series from NBC, was broadcast for the first time on American television, with its first episode “The Man Trap”.

And on the 12th the first episode of, another childhood favourite, “The Monkees” was broadcast on the NBC network, introducing a rock band that had been assembled as part of the casting of a situation comedy, but whose records would become bestsellers. The group, composed of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, went on to have seven gold records, starting with “Last Train to Clarksville”, released on August 16, a month before the show’s debut. It’s in our charts this week.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s a week at the top for Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” before “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes has two, followed by Association with “Cherish”.

Loved ’em

• “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” – Temptations
• “Eleanor Rigby” – Beatles
• “How Sweet It Is” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
• “Last Train To Clarksville” – Monkees
• “Psychotic Reaction” – Count Five
• “Reach Out I’ll Be There” – Four Tops
• “Sunny Afternoon” – Kinks
• “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
• “Wipe Out” – Surfaris
• “With A Girl Like You” – Troggs

Plenty of great classics this month. I’ll admit to having been more of a fan of The Monkees, than The Beatles as a child. Simply because the former had a TV show (in repeat in NZ in the ’80s when I was young) one imagines. Interesting to see how blatantly they were designed to play off the latter’s success –

[Song writer of ‘Last Train to Clarksville’] Boyce has said that the song’s opening guitar part was an attempt to emulate the type of memorable and clearly identifiable riff that the Beatles had used in songs such as ‘I Feel Fine,’ ‘Day Tripper’ and ‘Paperback Writer’. The latter Beatles’ song had reached number one on the U.S. charts three months earlier, around the time that ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ was written and recorded.
The lyrics, too, were inspired by ‘Paperback Writer’: Hart misheard the end of that song on the radio and thought Paul McCartney was singing ‘take the last train’; Hart then decided to use the line himself, after he found out that McCartney was actually singing ‘paperback writer.’

Liked ’em

• “96 Tears” – Question Mark And The Mysterians
• “Almost Persuaded” – David Houston
• “Black Is Black” – Los Bravos
• “Cherry Cherry” – Neil Diamond
• “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” – Four Seasons
• “Open The Door To Your Heart” – Darrell Banks
• “Say I Am (What I Am)” – Tommy James And The Shondells
• “The Dangling Conversation” – Simon And Garfunkel
• “Turn-Down Day” – Cyrkle

Leave ’em

• “Cherish” – Association
• “Mr. Dieingly Sad” – Critters

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.