Today we've got another list of Summer's Greatest Hits ...
This time spotlighting The Summer of 1966!
Special thanks again to Randy Price and Jack Levin, who compiled the official chart statistics for June, July and August of 1966 of both the national charts (using chart information collected from the three major music trade publications of this era) and our Chicagoland Weekly Surveys as ranked by WLS and WCFL, two AM Top 40 Giants who were battling for our undivided attention that summer. (I, for one, couldn't do it ... I was CONSTANTLY switching back and forth between the two, trying to find MY summer favorites ... back then, I couldn't get enough of "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James and the Shondells, "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful, "Dirty Water" by The Standells, "Bus Stop" by The Hollies, "I Saw Her Again" by The Mamas and the Papas and, here in Chicago, "Sugar And Spice" by The Cryan' Shames and "You Wouldn't Listen" by The Ides Of March. Music just didn't get any better than this!!!)
The Biggest Songs Of Summer, 1966 - Based on The National Charts
1. HANKY PANKY - Tommy James & The Shondells (Roulette)
2. STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT - Frank Sinatra (Reprise)
3. LIL' RED RIDING HOOD - Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (MGM)
4. PAPERBACK WRITER - The Beatles (Capitol)
5. WILD THING - The Troggs (Atco / Fontana)
6. RED RUBBER BALL - The Cyrkle (Columbia)
7. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME - Dusty Springfield (Philips)
8. PAINT IT, BLACK - The Rolling Stones (London)
9. THE PIED PIPER - Crispian St. Peters (Jamie)
10. SUMMER IN THE CITY - The Lovin' Spoonful (Kama Sutra)
11. SWEET PEA - Tommy Roe (ABC)
12. COOL JERK - The Capitols (Karen)
13. I AM A ROCK - Simon & Garfunkel (Columbia)
14. MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER - The Rolling Stones (London)
15. SUNNY - Bobby Hebb (Philips)
16. DID YOU EVER HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND? - The Lovin' Spoonful (Kama Sutra)
17. I SAW HER AGAIN - The Mama's & The Papa's (Dunhill)
18. AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG - The Temptations (Gordy)
19. THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HA-HAAA! - Napoleon XIV (Warner Bros.)
20. DIRTY WATER - The Standells (Tower)
21. SOMEWHERE, MY LOVE - Ray Conniff & The Singers (Columbia)
22. HUNGRY - Paul Revere & The Raiders (Columbia)
23. LITTLE GIRL - The Syndicate Of Sound (Bell)
24. A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE - The Mindbenders (Fontana)
25. DON'T BRING ME DOWN - The Animals (MGM)
26. ALONG COMES MARY - The Association (Valiant)
27. SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER - The Happenings (B.T. Puppy)
28. OH HOW HAPPY - The Shades Of Blue (Impact)
29. SWEET TALKIN' GUY - The Chiffons (Laurie)
30. WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN - Percy Sledge (Atlantic)
31. OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN - The Yardbirds (Epic)
32. BAREFOOTIN' - Robert Parker (Nola)
33. OPUS 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me) - The 4 Seasons (Philips)
34. THIS DOOR SWINGS BOTH WAYS - Herman's Hermits (MGM)
35. GREEN GRASS - Gary Lewis & The Playboys (Liberty)
36. I COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - Petula Clark (Warner Bros.)
37. DOUBLE SHOT (Of My Baby's Love) - The Swingin' Medallions (Smash)
38. SWEET DREAMS - Tommy McLain (MSL)
39. HE - The Righteous Brothers (Verve)
40. IT'S A MAN'S MAN'S MAN'S WORLD - James Brown & The Famous Flames (King)
41. THE WORK SONG - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (A&M)
42. (I Washed My Hands In) MUDDY WATER - Johnny Rivers (Imperial)
43. BLOWIN' IN THE WIND - Stevie Wonder (Tamla)
44. THE MORE I SEE YOU - Chris Montez (A&M)
45. LOVE LETTERS - Elvis Presley (RCA Victor)
46. SUNSHINE SUPERMAN - Donovan (Epic)
47. MONDAY, MONDAY - The Mama's & The Papa's (Dunhill)
48. HOLD ON! I'M A COMIN' - Sam & Dave (Stax)
49. MAMA - B.J. Thomas (Scepter)
50. PLEASE TELL ME WHY - The Dave Clark Five (Epic)
The Biggest Songs Of Summer, 1966 - CHICAGOLAND CHART
2. Hanky Panky - Tommy James and the Shondells
3. Pied Piper - Crispian St. Peters
4. Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful
5. Hungry - Paul Revere and the Raiders
6. Paperback Writer / Rain - The Beatles
7. I Saw Her Again - The Mamas and The Papas
8. Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam The Sham and the Pharoahs
9. Strangers In The Night - Frank Sinatra
10. Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones
11. Bus Stop - The Hollies
12. I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
13. Dirty Water - The Standells
14. Sugar & Spice - The Cryan' Shames
15. Red Rubber Ball - The Cyrkle
16. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Dusty Springfield
17. I Couldn't Live Without Your Love - Petula Clark
18. Say I Am - Tommy James and the Shondells
19. You Wouldn't Listen - The Ides Of March
20. Sweet Pea - Tommy Roe
21. Sunny - Bobby Hebb
22. See You In September - The Happenings
23. A Groovy Kind Of Love - The Mindbenders
24. When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
25. Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind - The Lovin' Spoonful
26. Cool Jerk - The Capitols
27. Over Under Sideways Down - The Yardbirds
28. Sunshine Superman - Donovan
29. Don't Bring Me Down - The Animals
30. The More I See You - Chris Montez
31. This Door Swings Both Ways - Herman's Hermits
32. Along Comes Mary - The Association
33. Mother's Little Helper / Lady Jane - The Rolling Stones
34. Hey Joe - The Leaves
35. Girl In Love - The Outsiders
36. Respectable - The Outsiders
37. Sweet Dreams - Tommy McLain
38. They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha - Napoleon XIV
39. Wouldn't It Be Nice / God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
40. The Land Of Milk And Honey - The Vogues
41. Born A Woman - Sandy Posey
42. Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
43. Sweet Talkin' Guy - The Chiffons
44. I Call Your Name - The Buckinghams
45. Day For Decision - Johnny Sea
46. Oh How Happy - Shades Of Blue
47. You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes
48. Alfie - Cilla Black
49. Evol Not Love - The Five Americans
50. Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks
Had WCFL been a Top 40 chart instead of a Top 20 chart, the standings would have looked a lot different, especially in the case of the last five and a couple more that just missed being in the Top 50. They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha manged to make it to #38 despite spending only two weeks on each survey before being withdrawn from airplay. Obviously someone other than our parents bought Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra. Also four two sided hits make the chart in the summer of 1966. Three local bands,The Cryan' Shames, The Ides Of March and The Buckinghams all made the list, with The Robbs just missing.
Jack (Rock And Roll Never forgets)
1966 was without question the weakest showing for common Top 20 Results we experienced in compiling these charts ... only 12 songs were common to both the local and national chart rankings.
1966 was also a BIG year here in Chicago for local music ... both WLS and WCFL went out of their way to spotlight some of the local talent who were making a name for themselves. In addition to Top 50 Chart Hits by The Cryan' Shames, The Ides Of March and The Buckinghams (as Jack mentioned above), we were also hearing lots of music from the likes of The Shadows Of Knight and The New Colony Six (both of whom were still pretty much in their garage band phase at this point).
"Hanky Panky" is the song that I most associate with The Summer of '66 ... and it scored a #1 and a #2 ranking on our recap charts. Hand-in-hand with that one was always "Wild Thing" by The Troggs ... seemed like these two songs have been forever linked.
Your All-Time Summer Favorite (as voted on by nearly 10,000 of you out there), "Summer In The City", scored a Top Ten Showing on both charts ...
Click here: Forgotten Hits - Your All-Time Summer Favorites
... as did the aforementioned "Strangers In The Night" by Old Blue Eyes himself, The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. "The Pied Piper", "Paperback Writer", "Lil' Red Riding Hood" and "Paint It Black" were the other titles common to both Top Ten Lists.
Tomorrow we close out this week's Special Summer Series with a look back at The Summer Charts for 1970 ... but first, why not hop on over to the OTHER Forgotten Hits Website and take a look at The Top 50 Songs Of Summer for 1967, 1968 and 1969!!! You'll find them posted here:
Click here: Forgotten Hits - The Summer Of Love Countdown
Click here: Forgotten Hits - The Biggest Hits of Summer, 1968
Click here: Forgotten Hits - The Top 50 Songs From The Summer of '69
