The Top Hits of 1966 Trivia Quiz

Answer: American soldiers in Viet Nam

That song, of course, was "The Ballad of The Green Berets" by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, at the time a member of that elite force. He wrote the song while recuperating from a combat wound and would sing it to cheer up his comrades who were also hospitalized. One of these performances was taped and filmed by a TV news crew and when the clip was played mainland, there was an immediate clamor for the song. RCA quickly signed Sadler up and released the record that promptly sold two million copies in five weeks. Its success seemed to be a backlash reaction to political criticism of the Viet Nam war. The song was a-political but it did promote the bravery of American troops. Maybe the war was unpopular but the American public would laud the courage of their military men. To his credit, Sadler surrendered most of the royalties to a fund that assisted the families of those troops who were casualties of the war.

Sadler was out of the military and out of music by the end of the decade, subsequent recordings selling poorly. Ultimately, he wrote a series of 22 action/war novels based on the character of Casca the Eternal Mercenary, a Roman soldier who supposedly speared Christ on the cross and was condemned to live until the Second Coming. He also dabbled in the supply of weapons and transportation to the Nicaraguan Contras during that conflict from 1983 to 1988. In Guatemala in 1988, he was shot through the head in either an assassination or robbery attempt and although he survived, he was brain injured and remained bedridden until his death of cardiac arrest a year later. He was 49 years old when he died.

Answer: Winchester Cathedral

Songwriter/producer Geoff Stephens concocted this piece and recruited a group of session men, which he called The New Vaudeville Band, to record it. When it placed in the top five of the U.K. charts and Number One in America, Stephens was obliged to round up a touring band for live appearances.

Not even the Rudy Vallee-like vocalist made the tour - only the percussionist played on both the record and the tour. The band had a couple of more minor British chart hits before sustaining their career on the British cabaret circuit with the occasional trip abroad.

After enduring numerous personnel changes over the years, they permanently disbanded in 1988.

Answer: 96 Tears

If you guessed "Too Many Teardrops", mentally give yourself half an answer - that was the song's original title before it was renamed first "69 Tears" then, for its release on record, "96 Tears". The group was ? and The Mysterians and for many years, no one knew who ? really was, even some of his band mates. It eventually was revealed that ? was Rudy Martinez, brother of drummer Robert.

The whole band was of Mexican descent and more or less grew up together in the Saginaw/Bay City area of Michigan. Like the Kingsmen, they were a proto-type garage band and an early forerunner to the punk movement. Not quite one hit wonders, ensuing releases did not chart well and when their record label, Cameo, went under, subsequent label hopping didn't help their cause. Throughout the next three decades, the band went through a series of break-ups and reformations generally with the same personnel and appears to be active, at least to some degree, with the new millennium.

Answer: Last Train To Clarksville

The debut hit of The Monkees, it was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart who would contribute more than a couple of songs to the Monkees repertoire. They were hired to write songs for the TV show and would crank out one or two new numbers each week for the band to perform. In the lyric segment provided in the question, the line "And I don't know if I'm ever coming home" was the protest component of the song - the young fellow about to board the train to boot camp was not sure that he'd ever make it back. I was unaware of the reference until researching these notes. The song just seemed too up-tempo and perky to have such a dark side.

Most fans of the music from this era are aware that The Monkees were formulated as a group especially for the TV show and acting talent was far more vital than musical skills in landing a part. Only Michael Nesmith, and to a lesser degree Peter Tork, had any background in music. On this song, Nesmith insisted on playing guitar during recording but the others only provided the vocal elements and this would be the formula on all of their earlier recordings. More Monkees trivia will follow in other quizzes!

Answer: (You're My) Soul And Inspiration

I can envision an Ann Landers rebuttal - "Honey, dump the guy right now. He's a sicko and will cause you nothing but grief if you stick around with him."

After their first four releases comfortably found top 10 chart positions, The Righteous Brothers broke away from the influence of producer Phil Spector on this recording and were rewarded with another Number One hit. However, if you listen to the song in comparison to their previous efforts, it sounds exactly the same from a production perspective right down to Spector's trademark - "The Wall Of Sound". Righteous Brother Bill Medley handled the production chores on this hit and it appears that he knew what sold and learned well from the master.

Answer: Good Golly, Miss Molly

I have never heard Shorty Long's "Devil With A Blue Dress" but, from all accounts, it was an R&B masterpiece. Whether due to poor promotion or simply being the wrong song at the wrong time, it never became a hit in its own right. That was left to Mitch Ryder. Long eventually scored a Number eight hit in 1968 with the funky "Here Comes The Judge" and it looked like he might become a significant star but sadly, it wasn't to be. He perished in a boating accident on the Detroit River in 1969.

Little Richard was one of a kind and a major influence on rock and roll during its infancy in the 1956-8 period. He was electric... a wailing, screaming, manic over-the-top rocker who oozed energy. "Good Golly, Miss Molly" was the last of his big hits, a Number 10 in 1958. By then, he had already turned his back on rock and roll. He felt the call of religion and had enrolled in a Bible College in Alabama by the time this song hit the charts. For the next couple of decades he bounced back and forth between music and preaching but by the 1980s, the oldies circuit was too much of a lure and he has continued to perform sporadically well into the new millennium.

Mitch Ryder got his start in Detroit as the white lead singer of a black group in the early 1960s while still a teenager. Due to ongoing racial harassment, he quit the group but his manager quickly found him a new gig with The Detroit Wheels and he was on his way, albeit ever so briefly. The group had a string of five charting hits in 18 months, this one being the biggest, when that same manager thought Ryder could go it alone. It turned out to be a serious career blunder and he quickly faded into total and complete obscurity. To compound matters, his vigorous singing style was impacting his vocal chords to the degree that he was obliged to take a sabbatical from singing for much of the 1970s. The new millennium sees Ryder back in full harness, touring regularly, especially in Germany where he has a loyal and devoted fan base.

Answer: Cherish

The Association had an enviable two year run as one of the biggest acts in music. Their first hit was the Number Seven "Along Comes Mary" during the summer of 1966 then they followed it up with this lovely song that has remained a perennial favorite ever since. In their 1999 survey, BMI recognized "Cherish" as the 22nd most played song of the 20th Century. The song listed at the top of BMI's list was 1965's "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and both these songs share an interesting story. Both songs' running time were well over three minutes. At the time, there was a general perception that any song over that time would not get sufficient radio play to become a hit. So, upon release, their labels showed a running time of 3:00 exactly. The same trick was used with "Turn! Turn! Turn!" which ran about 3:45. All three became huge hits and it would be interesting to know whether this little connivance was a factor.

"Cherish" was composed by Terry Kirkman, one of the original founders of the group and probably its most talented member. Other than writing beautiful songs, he also was a superb multi-instrumentalist, having mastered 23 different instruments.

Answer: Reach Out I'll Be There

The Four Tops experienced their fair share of ups and downs during the fifty years that they've been together. They formed as The Four Aims in 1954 and showed sufficient promise to be offered a recording contract with Chess Records in 1956 at which time they became The Four Tops.

Their earliest releases were not commercially successful and they bounced from record label to record label while honing their skills on the cabaret circuit. Finally, in 1964, they were signed to the Motown label and with access to the song writing talents of Holland-Dozier-Holland and others, went on produce a steady stream of hits well into the early 1970s.

They faded from view during the disco era, briefly resurfaced in the early 1980s, and then became fixtures on the oldies tour throughout the 1990s into the new millennium, celebrating their golden anniversary as an entity in 2004.

Answer: Born Free

"Autumn Leaves" was Williams' first hit, a Number One in 1955. "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" was a Number Two hit for Hugo Montenegro in 1968. Although Roger Williams issued a recording of "Lara's Theme" in 1966, the best it could do was Number 65 on the Hot 100. "Born Free" was also labeled as the 86th most frequently played song of the 20th Century in the 1999 study by BMI.

Born Louis Weertz in 1925, he became Roger Williams in honor of the founder of Rhode Island at the insistence of Dave Kapp, president of Kapp Records, who signed him to his label in the early 1950s. Williams would only have 15 Hot 100 releases over a 15 year span from 1955 to 1969 but he made his mark on the Billboard Album charts. A total of 38 albums of his charted from 1956 to 1973. As of 2005, he is still semi-active performing about 30 concerts per year and devotes the rest of his free time to lobbying for the reintroduction of music to school curriculums.

Answer: Good Vibrations

"Good Vibrations" was one of the first songs that was more crafted as opposed to recorded, essentially a studio creation. Brian Wilson had given up touring with the band by this time and while the rest of the boys were on the road, he was holed up at home working on this song.

It took a few weeks for the song to take shape and then over two months to get it on vinyl. Except for the overdubbing of Carl Wilson's vocal, it was performed by studio musicians, one of them Glen Campbell, and six different recording studios were used in the project. Ultimately, 70 hours of tape were spliced from four of those studio sessions to manufacture the finished product. Apparently, it became the most expensive record ever produced at $40,000.00.

It was the third Beach Boys Number One hit and their last for some time... their next one was "Kokomo" in 1988, 22 years later.

The record for such things falls to Cher. "Dark Lady" was Number One in 1974. Her next Number One was 25 years later in 1999 with "Believe".

Answer: These Boots Are Made For Walking

Despite being the daughter of arguably the best singer of all time and recording on the same record label as her dad, Nancy Sinatra was almost a certifiable flop. She had recorded a number of singles with Reprise that went nowhere and it was only when the company united her with writer/producer Lee Hazlewood that she achieved stardom in her own right. Singing primarily his compositions and benefiting from his able production talents, she would record a nice string of hits into 1968 ending with her 10th top 40 hit, the Number 26 "Some Velvet Morning". Perhaps she fell victim to changing musical tastes with the onset of both the bubblegum and psychedelic eras. Maybe the Hazlewood magic wore off.

However, by the early 1970s, she had switched to RCA records and would never again have a charting hit.

After years out of the industry limelight, she returned to the studio in 2004 to release a couple of new CD's and has been making limited personal appearances. She is scheduled to have her star laid on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in May 2006.

Answer: California Dreaming

In the magic two years that The Mamas and The Papas were together, they charted nine top 40 hits. This was their debut release and it would prevail as their biggest hit and group anthem. They followed it up with their only Number One hit "Monday, Monday" later in the year.

It ultimately filled the 16th position in these rankings. All members of the group, John and Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Mama Cass Elliot were pretty strong personalities and a combination of sexual tension, internal bickering and the excesses of success soon led to their break-up in 1968. Mama Cass died in 1974, John Phillips in 2001. Michelle eschewed music for a successful acting career and continues to perform regularly on TV as of 2005. Denny Doherty pursued solo projects but continued to perform with other "Mamas and Papas" attempting to keep the name and "sunshine pop" alive in the new millennium.

He passed away in 2007.

Answer: We Can Work It Out

In 1964, The Beatles had an amazing 30 entries in the Hot 100, almost double the number they would have chart in 1965 and 1966 combined. Of course, many of those 1964 songs had been recorded earlier and were released to the American market to capitalize on Beatlemania fever. By 1966, they were constantly on tour, on movie sets and making public appearances and still were in the studio often enough to have more charting hits than any other recording artist of the day.

"We Can Work It Out" simultaneously topped the charts for two weeks in January in all the major English speaking markets around the world - the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada - the third time one of their releases accomplished the feat, "A Hard Days Night" and "I Feel Fine" setting precedence. No other act had ever even done it once! In all those markets except for the U.S., the flip side, "Daytripper", was deemed to be a co-Number One. Billboard charted the two sides separately and "Daytripper" peaked at Number Five.

Answer: The Poor Side Of Town

Since his debut Number Two hit in 1964, "Memphis", Rivers contributed eight other top 40 hits to the charts, three of them top tens. All of them were cover versions of hits from acts as diverse as Chuck Berry, Harold Dorman and Hudie Leadbetter. This hit was a distinct departure from that formula in a couple of respects. First, it was an original composition co-written with record producer Lou Adler and second, it was more a ballad rather than the rockers he had become identified for.

He curtailed his recording career in the 1980s but has remained active ever since, touring blues venues around the country.

Answer: You Can't Hurry Love

The Supremes were still riding high at this time. This song would start a stretch of four consecutive Number One hits almost matching their career defining five in a row two years earlier. But trouble was brewing. Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard were beginning to resent the extra attention Berry Gordy was lavishing on Diana Ross and the relationship between Ballard and Ross was becoming particularly strained. Within a year, Ballard would be ousted from the group and slowly the hits, especially the big ones, would become less frequent.

Answer: Strangers In The Night

The last time Frank Sinatra had a Number One hit was in 1955 with "Learnin' The Blues" and his last top ten hit was the Number Six "Witchcraft" in 1958. But this truly wasn't a comeback story. It merely marked his return to the Hot 100 in a big way... Sinatra had never lacked for popularity during this period, as a glance at the Album chart would reveal. During that same period from 1959 to 1966 when his highest charting single was the Number 25 "Ol' MacDonald" in 1960, he released no less than 17 top ten albums.

I have a hypothesis for this phenomenon. The kids bought singles because that's what they could afford and that's what drove the Hot 100 chart. Their parents bought albums and when it came to Sinatra, it was all about how he did a song rather than the song itself. Why would you buy a 45rpm record with two Sinatra songs when you could buy an LP with a dozen Sinatra songs? Hence, the singles performed poorly on the charts because Sinatra fans would get the single as part of an album release. This song struck a chord with listeners of all stripes... both the album and the single went Number One. His performance won Grammy's for Record of the Year and Best Vocal Performance.

Answer: Summer In The City

The Lovin' Spoonful were like The Mamas and The Papas in many respects. Both had their roots in folk music via the Greenwich Village scene; The Mamas and The Papas would have six top ten hits and a Number One among their nine top 40s while the "Spoonful" would score 10 top 40 hits with a Number One among their seven top tens; both groups came together with their principal components in 1965 and by 1968, both were spent forces and dissolving.

Most of The Lovin' Spoonful's hits reflected their jug band roots. Musically, they were pretty mellow songs spiced up with interesting but inoffensive John Sebastian lyrics. "Summer In The City" was a bit of an exception... both the lyrics and the music were a little grittier and perhaps that's what made it their sole Number One entry.

In 1967, co-founding member, Zal Yanovsky, was busted in a drug raid and informed on his supplier to avoid either a jail term or deportation to his native Canada. When being a "snitch" became public knowledge, touring and performing became extremely difficult for him and Yanovsky decided to leave the group. He was out of the music business altogether not many years later and became a restaurateur in Kingston, Ont. He died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 57.

John Sebastian was the other founding member of the group and when he decided to pursue a solo career in 1968, The Lovin' Spoonful had lost both its heart and soul and soon disbanded. Sebastian's solo career as a recording artist was decidedly mediocre - one top 40 hit, albeit a Number One in 1976, "Welcome Back". During the late 1990s, he decided to get back to his roots and at last word, he was leading the "J-Band", a jug band, in New York.

Lastly, the other original members of the group, Steve Boone and Joe Butler joined forces with Jerry Yester, the fellow who replaced Yanovsky when he split, and together they revived the "Lovin' Spoonful" name in 1991. As of 2005, they remained an active touring entity.

Answer: The Sound Of Silence

Simon and Garfunkel began their recording career together as "Tom and Jerry" in 1957, striving to emulate the pop success of the Everly Brothers. They failed. After separating for a period of time during which Garfunkel attended university and Simon continued to struggle finding his niche as a performer, they reformed in 1964 as a folk duo, influenced by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan and all the rest of the successful folkies of the day. They recorded one album "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." featuring "The Sounds Of Silence". When it also went nowhere, Garfunkel returned to school and Simon moved to England for a change of pace.

1965 was the year that folk-rock first made its appearance thanks to the efforts of Dylan, The Byrds, Sonny and Cher, and many others. Tom Wilson, the producer of Simon and Garfunkel's album, noted this development with interest and decided to "electrify" the original acoustic version of "The Sound of Silence". He released the remake unbeknownst to the singers who were astonished to hear it on the radio and watch it climb the charts right to Number One. Simon and Garfunkel's next reunion would last five years!

Answer: Sunshine Superman

Donovan came forth out of the many recording acts in the U.K. to be a late participant in the British Invasion, their answer to Bob Dylan. Initially, the comparisons were reasonable enough in that both were seemingly "folk" singers but they were walking down separate paths and Dylan wasn't embracing "flower power" and psychedelic imagery. Donovan was and for four years he profited handsomely from it.

When the whole hippie movement dissipated in the early 1970s, so did Donovan's career and by the 1980s he was no longer performing, recording or writing music.

He emerged from his self-imposed exile in the early 1990s and has been actively recording and touring in support of his releases ever since.

Answer: Bus Stop

Allan Clarke and Graham Nash were longtime schoolmates and together they started assembling The Hollies in Manchester, England in 1962. Like most British groups at the time, they did covers of R&B music but eventually they recognized that pop/rock music was more suited to their collective talents - catchy songs with group vocal harmony. They already had considerable success in the U.K. with that approach, over 20 charting hits, but this was the record that won the public over in North America.

The group continued to have considerable success on both sides of the pond for a couple of years but Nash was getting restless. He wanted to expand his horizons beyond the commercial pop songs The Hollies now seemed trapped in and left for America to co-found Crosby, Stills and Nash in 1968. Clarke and another original member, guitarist Tony Hicks, and drummer Bobby Elliott, who joined the band in 1963, carried on The Hollies name together for close to 40 years with other spots in the group roster constantly fluctuating. As of 2005, the group still plays on, primarily on the British oldies circuit, but Clarke decided to retire in 1999.