The Songs of 1966 - First Volume Quiz

Answer: The Sound Of Silence

Simon and Garfunkel's debut hit (although they did have a minor blip on the charts in 1957 - "Hey, Schoolgirl" as Tom and Jerry). Simon wrote the song and it was so full of lyrical hooks that I could have chosen any pair of lines and they would be memorable to most people familiar with the song. To me, Simon was America's Poet Laureate of my generation.

Answer: Winchester Cathedral

These are NOT Simon lyrics! The writer of this song was Geoff Stephens who formulated the concept of a studio band that performed in the 30's style, a la Rudy Vallee. The novelty was short lived. Their next release peaked at #72 on the Billboard charts and the project died, mercifully to many listeners!

Answer: Flowers On The Wall

The Statler Brothers would make this their first hit on both the pop and country charts. There were brothers in this act but their names were Harold and Don Reid. Another member of the quartet, Lew DeWitt wrote the song which would be their only one to break into the top forty pop charts.

They would do considerably better on the country side of the ledger, charting over 60 hits in a twenty-five year span. They were still active as of 2004.

Answer: These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Nancy Sinatra, Frank's first child with his first wife (also named Nancy), had quite the career. She first appeared on TV with her father and Elvis in 1959 as a 19 year old, appeared in several movies, had 21 records make the Billboard Hot Hundred ("These Boots Are Made For Walkin" was her first hit single), was married for five years to heart throb Tommy Sands and even was the subject of a Playboy pictorial. Mind you, all this took place in the 1960's! Since then, she's devoted her energies to raising a family and participating in political and charitable causes.

She is on the comeback trail however, having released a new album in June 2004.

Answer: California Dreamin'

The Mama's and The Papa's made this, their debut hit, a #4 success in 1966. They may have been the first "psychedelic" band, if not for the content of their lyrics, then certainly for their "flower power" apparel and their notorious abuse of all the drugs known to mankind at the time! Although they were enormous stars in the 1960's, their body of work was surprisingly slight. Only 10 top forty hits and 16 entries onto the Billboard Hot 100 before they called it quits in 1968 except for a brief reunion in 1971.

Answer: Good Lovin'

Known as The Young Rascals at the time (they would become just The Rascals in 1968), this would be their debut top forty hit and their first of three #1's they would have in their eight year career. All but one member of the group were original members of Joey Dee's backup band, The Starliters, earlier in the '60's.

Answer: 96 Tears

A very intriguing group this! Formed in Saginaw, Michigan in 1966, all the members were of Mexican descent. Rudy Martinez was the lead singer, founder of the group and also wrote their songs. Subsequent to "96 Tears" becoming a hit, he legally changed his name to "?" Martinez.

A Prince before his time! The group only had one more minor top forty song in 1966 before fading from view in 1967. In the early 90's, they reunited claiming that they never really broke up. "Mysterians" indeed!

Answer: Clarksville

Yeah, yeah, they were the Monkees. For a group that was brought together for a goofy TV series, they did remarkably well - three #1's (this being their first), 18 top hundred hits, six million selling gold records and all the fame and fortune that went with it.

The group disbanded in 1968, reformed briefly in 1986 without Michael Nesmith, then in 1996 the whole group reunited on a more or less permanent basis. They were touring actively as of 2003.

Answer: The Pied Piper

Born Peter Smith in Swanly, Kent, England, he started performing with various folk groups in the early 60's before launching his solo career with this song under the pseudonym, Crispian St. Peters. A couple of minor hits followed then a series of nervous breakdowns, physical ill health and marital difficulties effectively curtailed his career.

He resurrected himself to some extent in the 80's and 90's in England performing religious and gospel music but he left the business altogether in 2001 due to persistent health problems.

Answer: Sunny

"Sunny" was written by Hebb shortly after his brother, Hal, was killed in a mugging incident and I'm presuming that "Sunny" was Hal's nickname. Hebb started performing in his native Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry as a 12 year old in the early 50's and subsequent to this brief foray onto the pop charts, he continued his career as a country artist and still makes occasional appearances at the Opry.

Answer: hanky panky

"Hanky Panky" was originally written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich in 1963. At the time, Ellie was a member of a group known as The Raindrops and in the process of an extended recording session, recognized that they were one song short. Barry and Greenwich wrote the song in 20 minutes and it wound up as a "B" side on one of that group's single releases.

They hated it! However, a number of amateur garage bands picked it up. James heard it, recorded it with his first Shondells group, also in 1963, and predictably, it went nowhere fast.

A couple of years later, James was contacted by a Pittsburgh DJ who had started spinning the record. James decided to re-record the song with his new line-up and there you go... a Number One hit. You can't make this stuff up!

Answer: Elusive Butterfly

This would be a compendium of Bob Lind's greatest hit, peaking at #5! He released another double sided chart entry "Remember The Rain" and "Truly Julie's Blues" both taken from the album which featured "Elusive Butterfly". Those songs charted at #64 and #65 respectively. Lind ultimately retired from the music business in 1969 and now resides in Florida pursuing a career as a short story writer.

Answer: Black Is Black

This group was another one hit wonder, at least as far as top forty songs go. "Black Is Black" was a #4 hit. Los Bravos (The Brave) was a group formed in Spain in 1965 and their career was rather meteoric - this big hit and a couple of other very minor releases prior to disbanding in 1968.

Answer: Cherry Cherry

Diamond's first release, "Solitary Man" peaked at #55 earlier in 1966 but "Cherry Cherry" made it to #6. As they say, the rest is history. Diamond ultimately has had 56 songs enter Billboard's Hot Hundred, 38 of which broke into the top forty and three ("Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue" and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers") reaching #1 status. A pop music legend still touring as of 2004!

Answer: Walk Away Renee

Purveyors of beautiful, melodic tunes, often dubbed "Baroque Pop" by the media, The Left Banke only had two top forty songs, this one and their follow up release, "Pretty Ballerina" a #15 hit later in the year. Internal strife led to the group's demise in 1967.

Now, did you notice that every one of these songs was the debut hit for each of the artists highlighted in this quiz? Of these fifteen artists, seven would go on to have noteworthy careers in the recording industry. For the other eight, these songs were the pinnacle of their brief careers. Several other recording acts made their first significant chart debuts either in 1966 or late in 1965; among them, The Hollies, The Lovin' Spoonful, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Percy Sledge, The Troggs, The Association and Donovan. This outbreak of "rookies" in such a brief period of time (eighteen months) is unique in the annals of pop music, I'm sure.