Inside the Rock Era

Monday, April 25, 2016

The Top 100 Songs of 1966*--#100-91

O.K., after bringing back some great memories with the Prelude*, it's time for the real thing--The Top 100 Songs of 1966*. Just in time for your 50-year reunion, as 50th birthday or 50th wedding anniversary! We get underway with these 10 songs:

#100:

Little Girl

Syndicate of Sound

#99:

Sweet Talkin' Guy

Chiffons

#98:

Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly

Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

#97:

A Place In The Sun

Stevie Wonder

#96:

A Hazy Shade Of Winter

Simon & Garfunkel

#95:

Eight Miles High

Byrds

#94:

Elusive Butterfly

Bob Lind

#93:

Michelle

Beatles

#92:

Dirty Water

Standells

#91:

This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

Isley Brothers

Sunday, April 24, 2016

This Date in Rock Music History: April 25

1960: Bill Black, the bassist behind Elvis Presley for his early Rock Era hits, had formed Bill Black's Combo and they took over on the R&B chart with "White Silver Sands".

1960: "Stuck On You" moved from #6 to #1 for Elvis Presley on this date, finally breaking the hold that "The Theme From 'A Summer Place'" by Percy Faith had on the top spot. Faith had dominated the charts at #1 for nine weeks in a row but slipped to #4. The Brothers Four had #2 with "Greenfields", Johnny Horton climbed to #3 with "Sink The Bismark" and "He'll Have To Go" by Jim Reeves was #5.

1964: The Beatles placed an incredible 14 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, a feat no touring and recording artist has come anywhere close to since. In fact, that's a pretty good accomplishment for 10 years of work, let alone one. "Can't Buy Me Love" continued to set the pace at #1, with "Twist And Shout" stuck at #2 behind it and "Do You Want To Know A Secret" at #3. The rest of the Top 10: "Hello, Dolly!" by Louis Armstrong, which would eventually rise to #1, "Suspicion" from Terry Stafford as song #5, "Glad All Over" and "Bits And Pieces" getting positions 6 and 7, respectively, for the Dave Clark Five, "Don't Let The Rain Come Down" by the Serendipity Singers, Mary Wells' big hit "My Guy" moving from 14-9, and Jan & Dean at #10 with "Dead Man's Curve".
1965: The Rolling Stones performed at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
1967: Having completed work on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band four days previous, the Beatles began recording the theme to the movie Magical Mystery Tour at EMI Studios, recording three takes of the backing track. (Note: some websites report that the Beatles recorded the song on this date, as if they finished everything they needed to do. The group continued to work on the song for the next two days, and final mixing wasn't completed until November 7, according to 'The Beatles Bible'.)