"Hold What You Got" #5 1/30/1965

Way before "Skinny Legs" or "I Gotcha" or "I Ain't Gonna Bump No More..." we had this one from Joe Tex. Decidedly not politically correct lyrics, but in 1965 that's the way it was. You can't rewrite history.

Joe Tex - Hold What You Got

"The Name Game" #3 1/30/1965

This one falls into the novelty song category. Shirley Ellis had several hits in the mid 60's in this genre. It's a fun rhyming tune; however, not quite on a par with the Three Stooges and "Swingin' The Alphabet." WARNING: DO NOT use the names Mitch or Chuck in singing along. You'll see why, and then TANK us later. You have been cautioned.

Shirley Ellis - The Name Game

"I'll Follow The Sun" Album cut

Another go-to track for the Fabs in order to meet a deadline for their "Beatles For Sale" LP (where the content was split between "Beatles '65" and "Beatles VI" in America). Paul wrote the song in 1959 and kept it on the back burner until needed. It's a dream record for a radio station's program director, uptempo and under two minutes @ 1:45. It filled a lot of holes in the programming clock!

Beatles - I'll Follow The Sun

"Rock And Roll Music" Beatles album cut

Written and originally done by Chuck Berry as his single just before "Sweet Little Sixteen" in 1957. The Fab Four needed songs to meet a deadline for their "Beatles For Sale" album, so they went into the archives from their Hamburg and Cavern Club days for this one. It was released in some countries as a 45, reaching #1 in Norway and Australia, but was never a single for them in the US or UK. The Beach Boys' version was a Top 5 record in 1976.

Beatles - Rock And Roll Music

"Baby's In Black" Album Cut

This was never part of a Beatles single until 1996, when a live version recorded at the Hollywood Bowl in '65 was the B-side to "Real Love" - the John Lennon demo fleshed out by the rest of the band. Ringo said afterwards, "That's it - there's nothing more we can do as the Beatles."

Beatles - Baby's In Black

Happy Birthday, Eddie Van Halen! "(Oh) Pretty Woman"

Look...I've seen Van Halen in concert and I STILL don't know how Eddie does it! It just looked so effortless when he'd hit those ridiculous guitar licks on stage, like "Hey! Look what I found!" They stayed pretty true here to the original by Roy Orbison. Enjoy!

Van Halen - (Oh) Pretty Woman

"Dear Heart" Andy Williams #24 1/23/1965

The third and highest charting of three versions of this song simultaneously appearing on the Hot 100, it eventually made the Top Five on the easy listening charts. Andy Williams introduced the Osmond Brothers to America via his TV show, and he operated the first non-country music theater located in Branson, Missouri - and very successfully, too.

Andy Williams - Dear Heart

"Willow Weep For Me" #15 1/23/1965

Originally written in 1932 and recorded by dozens of artists since, Chad and Jeremy kept the unstoppable British Invasion chugging along with this Top 20 effort.

Chad and Jeremy - Willow Weep For Me

"Downtown" #1 1/23/1965

For me, this is the ultimate British Invasion song - more so than anything the Beatles or Stones or anyone else ever did. I hear this and immediately I'm transported back to Swinging London, with the music and clubs and fashion on Carnaby Street and Austin Powers...wait!! Written by Petula's manager/producer Tony Hatch after a trip to New York, and actually represented an outsider's view of NYC. A song as iconic of the 60's as it gets.

Petula Clark - Downtown

"Dans Le Temps" ("Downtown" in French) Bonus

A #1 worldwide for Petula Clark, mainly because she speaks fluent French, German and Italian, and would record her hits in those languages as well as English. She was very successful in France for a number of years before her career exploded all over with "Downtown" - her biggest French record was "Chariot" which we knew later in America as "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March.

Petula Clark - Dans Le Temps (Downtown)

"(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" Bonus

We present Merle Haggard's first Top 10 country hit from early 1965, the beginning of 66 Top 10's for the Hag, not counting two duets with George Jones plus two more with Willie Nelson. 36 of those were #1's, plus one each with George and Willie. Amazing.

Merle Haggard - (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers

"I'm A Loser" Album cut

This was released as the B-side of the Fab Four's version of Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" - but that single was never distributed in either the US or UK. A definite Bob Dylan influence here - but then, Dylan first turned them on to weed. Johnny Cash said this sounded like a Johnny Cash record, and I can understand that sentiment. Video is from "Shindig."

Beatles - I'm A Loser

"Don't Forget I Still Love You" #19 1/16/1965

Here's one by Baltimore's two-hit wonder Bobbi Martin that is very reminiscent of Patsy Cline in her pop-sounding days. Her other major hit was the non-feminist "For The Love Of Him" from 1970.

Bobbi Martin - For The Love Of Him

"Thou Shalt Not Steal" #13 1/16/1965

This act would double the vocal tracks on their recordings - nothing unusual, except that DeeDee would sing both middle parts while Dick handled the low part plus the falsetto, a la Frankie Valli. Definitely odd, but hey, it worked for them.

Dick and DeeDee - Thou Shalt Not Steal

"The Jerk" #7 1/16/1965

A one-hit wonder with a dance craze record...boy, that happened a lot in those days. Clip is from "American Bandstand" - at the end, check out the Dr Pepper ad (not a typo, as there is no period in the brand name) featuring a novel way to serve the product. I was born a poor black child...

Larks - The Jerk

"Love Potion Number 9" #3 1/16/1965

Originally done by the Clovers (from Washington, DC), these guys took this one to the Top Five over here, yet it was never released as a single in the UK. The Searchers came out of the same club scene as the other Liverpool acts - Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, and a little group we like to call the Beatles. Produced by Tony Hatch, who was the brains behind virtually all the Petula Clark hits. We'll get to Petula's music very soon.

Searchers - Love Potion Number 9

"Promised Land" #41 1/9/1965

Elvis had the bigger hit here in 1974, but Chuck Berry wrote this one and did it first. It was his last trip above the Top 50 until the infamous "My Ding-A-Ling" in 1972. It's sort of like a 60's audio version of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" where our protagonist has travel issues getting from Norfolk, VA to Los Angeles. And yes, the melody is exactly like "The Wabash Cannonball."

Chuck Berry - Promised Land

"Dear Heart" Jack Jones #30 1/9/1965

Here's the second of three versions of this song that charted at the same time in early 1965. The movie of the same name was kind of forgettable, but featured Angela Lansbury. Jack Jones was heard every week for years singing the opening theme to "The Love Boat" and even did a disco version of said theme. It was exciting and new!

Jack Jones - Dear Heart

"As Tears Go By" #22 1/9/1965

Released a year before the Rolling Stones did their version, Marianne Faithfull wasn't quite 18 when this one charted. She eventually became Mick Jagger's main squeeze for about five years, and allegedly "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was written about her.

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By

"Leader Of The Laundromat " #19 1/9/1965

From time to time, a novelty or parody song would do well on the charts. This one goofed on the recent #1 hit "Leader Of The Pack" and was performed by a studio group called the Detergents, which counted future Archies and Cuff Links member Ron Dante among them. There is a whole convoluted backstory behind this record - you can read about it on Wikipedia. Interesting stuff. It even involves Barry Manilow and Don Kirschner!

Detergents - Leader Of The Laundromat

"Any Way You Want It" #14 1/9/1965

Another foot stomping rocker from the DC5 which fared better in the US than back in the UK. They certainly had a great deal of success performing in that style.

Dave Clark Five - Any Way You Want It

"Sha La La" #12 1/9/1965

Here's one originally recorded by the Shirelles several months before Manfred Mann re-did it as the followup to "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." A very representative (and pretty darn good) entry in the British Invasion sweepstakes.

Manfred Mann - Sha La La

"Amen" #7 1/9/1965

Definitely some powerful gospel-tinged harmonies here. Curtis Mayfield said he saw this song performed in the movie "Lilies Of The Field" and knew the Impressions had to record it. I would've loved to have met Curtis Mayfield. He absolutely GOT IT.

Impressions - Amen

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

The King would've been 80 today. Damn, I'm old. This one reached #2 in October 1972 - my senior year at Page County HS, Shenandoah, VA. It was kept out of the #1 spot by Chuck Berry's infamous "My Ding-A-Ling." A little hunka-hunka will cure what ails you. But then, a little hunka-hunka may be what ails you to start with.

Elvis - Burning Love

"Dear Heart" Henry Mancini #77 1/2/1965

It was common in the 1930's and 1940's for several versions of the same song to become popular simultaneously. In early 1965, three versions of this song were on the Hot 100 at the same time. The others topped out over the next few weeks (and we'll get to them), but today's feature by co-writer Henry Mancini reached its peak of #77 this week.

Henry Mancini - Dear Heart

"I'm Gonna Love You Too" #56 1/2/1965

Our featured group today wasn't named for the 60's TV show which premiered this week in 1965, but for their hometown of Hull in the UK. They remade this Buddy Holly tune, which Terry Jacks also did and achieved a Top 10 record in Canada immediately before "Seasons In The Sun." It was also done by Blondie, and the single bombed. The next 45 from "Parallel Lines" fared much better - "Hanging On The Telephone."

The Hullaballoos - I'm Gonna Love You Too

"The 81" #51 1/2/1965

One of the best pop music band names ever - Candy and the Kisses. This was a song about a Philly dance, recorded by a girl group from Staten Island, who tried to sound like Motown's Martha and the Vandellas singing "Heat Wave" or "Quicksand."

Candy And The Kisses - The 81

"My Love (Roses Are Red)" #43 1/2/1965

Not to be confused with the similarly titled Bobby Vinton song - the lawyers at Bobby's label made sure of that. This was a "let's make the public think it's a famous act under an assumed name" record, right down to the fake British accents and publicity photo of the band in masks and capes. Even the Four Seasons and the Guess Who went down this route, but much more successfully.

"You Know Who" - My Love (Roses Are Red)

"Oh No Not My Baby" #24 1/2/1965

Another Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition originally recorded by the Shirelles. It was later re-done by many others, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt and Cher among those.

Maxine Brown - Oh No Not My Baby

"My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)" #16 1/2/1965

In my youth, I really didn't appreciate Robert Goulet and his impressive set of pipes. Now I can truly appreciate those things. Geared more to the Michael Corleone crowd than the rock and roll crowd, but this still did quite nicely on the pop charts.

Robert Goulet - My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)

"The Wedding" #10 1/2/1965

Admittedly, I don't remember this one from back in the day, even though it was a Top 10 record in the US and Top 5 in England. According to Wikipedia, some Catholics were offended by a Protestant female using the phrase "Ave Maria." Go figure.

Julie Rogers - The Wedding

"You're The Only World I Know" Bonus

This eventually reached #1 on the country side of Billboard in January 1965. A few years later, Sonny James would have 16 consecutive #1 records on that chart, which I believe was surpassed by Alabama in the 80's (it depends of whether "Christmas In Dixie" counts). Not even the Beatles, the Supremes or Elvis had that kind of a run.

Sonny James - You're The Only World I Know