01.01.1966 : Seekers - The Carnival Is Over (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.zoomerradio.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/theseekers.jpg

 

 

"The Carnival Is Over" is a Russian folk song (1883) with lyrics written by Tom Springfield in 1965 for Australian group Seekers, who customarily close their concerts with it. At its peak, the song was selling 93,000 copies per day and is No 30 in the chart of the biggest selling singles of all time in United Kingdom, and has sold 1.41 million copies in the UK alone. The track spent three weeks at No. 1 in UK Singles Chart in November and December 1965.

 

The main tune is taken from a Russian folk song about Stenka Razin known as "Iz-za ostrova na strezhen" or "Volga, Volga mat' rodnaya". The song became popular in Russia as early as 1890s. It was performed by the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra (balalaikas and domras) during their 1967 tour of Australia. The tune is also used in a Dutch hymn "Vol Verwachting Blijf Ik Uitzien", and a Dutch nursery rhyme "Aan de Oever van de Rotte".

 

Tom Springfield adapted the melody from Russian folk song, and also wrote the remaining music used in the song, as well as writing the lyrics, after a trip to Brazil, where he witnessed the Carnaval in Rio.

 

Seekers were supposed to have performed this song at the end of the closing ceremony for Summer Olympics in Sydney (2000), but the performance was cancelled after Judith Durham broke her hip. The Seekers did, however, sing the song at the conclusion of Summer Paralympics with Judith Durham seated in a wheelchair.

Edited June 26, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

15.01.1966 : Cilla Black - Love's Just A Broken Heart (1 week # 1)

 

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/224x224/p01bqljd.jpg

 

 

"Love's Just a Broken Heart" (# 5 in UK) was the first single from Cilla Black's second solo studio album "Cilla Sings a Rainbow" released on 18 April 1966 by Parlophone Records. The album reached #4 on UK Album Chart, surpassing the peak of her previous album, which reached #5.

 

Her 4th vintage number one single.

Edited July 7, 201410 yr by Alex.

 

22.01.1966 : Barbra Streisand - Second Hand Rose (1 week # 1)

 

http://jensenbrazil.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/frontblog27.jpg

 

 

"Second Hand Rose" is a single from the film "Funny Girl", reached # 14 in UK Singles chart.

 

"Funny Girl" is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein. The songs from film "My Man," "Second Hand Rose," and "I’d Rather Be Blue" frequently were performed by the real Brice during her career.

 

Barbra Streisand, reprising her Broadway role, shared the Academy Award for Best Actress with Katharine Hepburn for "The Lion in Winter".

Edited June 13, 201411 yr by Alex.

Great week. Sandie, Dusty and Nancy singles were released in one week, but # 1 is...

 

29.01.1966 : Janie Jones - Witches Brew (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://artistxite.com/imgcache/artist/000/014/000014497_290.jpg

 

 

Marion Mitchell, better known by her stage name, Janie Jones, was an English singer.

 

Jones had been a pop singer in the 1960s, her best results coming from the cackling novelty number "Witches Brew" which peaked at number 46 in UK Singles Chart.

Edited June 13, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

26.02.1966 : Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://kara.allthingsd.com/files/2008/02/nancy_sinatra22.jpg

 

 

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a pop song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by Nancy Sinatra. It was released on February 22, 1966 and hit #1 in United States and United Kingdom Pop charts.

 

Subsequently, many cover versions of the song have been released in a range of styles. Jessica Simpson made #14 in the United States in 2005 with her version based on the movie "The Dukes of Hazzard". Geri Halliwell and Jewel also released covers of the song.

 

Nancy Sinatra was encouraged by Lee Hazlewood to sing the song as if she were a sixteen-year-old girl giving the brush-off to a forty-year-old man. Sinatra's recording of the song was made with the help of Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. This session included Hal Blaine on drums, Al Casey, Tommy Tedesco, and Billy Strange on guitars, Ollie Mitchell, Roy Caton and Lew McCreary on horns, Carol Kaye on electric bass, and Chuck Berghofer on double bass, providing the notable bass line.

Edited June 14, 201411 yr by Alex.

Now allowed for this thread, because wasn't released in United Kingdom, but it's my favourite song from 1966 and maybe # 1 for all 60s decade.

 

France Gall - Les sucettes

 

 

26.03.1966 : Petula Clark - My Love (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/My_love_warner_bros.jpg

 

 

"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which in early 1966 became an international hit, reaching # 1 in United States : the track continued Clark's collaboration with songwriter and record producer Tony Hatch.

 

"My Love" was recorded at Western Studios and featured the backing of the Wrecking Crew. Petula Clark would recall: "We recorded three songs on that session...I liked the two other songs quite a lot, but I really didn't like 'My Love'...I thought it was a bit ordinary. I had got so used to these wonderful songs that Tony had been writing with all these different moods and I thought "My Love" was just a bit flat." Clark would describe her discouraging Warner Bros a&r man Joe Smith from issuing "My Love" as a single: "he's a very small man physically...about the right height for me. I was able to get hold of his lapels, and I said to him, 'Joe, I don't care which [of the three songs] you put out, but just don't put out "My Love". And he said: 'Trust me, baby.'"

 

Smith did in fact okay the single release of "My Love" which would return Clark to the top of US charts for the first time since her breakthrough success with "Downtown", as "My Love" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 5 February 1966, making her the first British female to have two US #1 hits. Also a #1 hit in Canada, "My Love" returned Clark to the UK Top Ten for the first time since "Downtown" two years previous with a March 1966 peak of #4. "My Love" became a certified Gold record for US sales of one million units and in the UK the single earned a Silver disc for sales of 200,000 units.

 

"My Love" also provided Clark with a hit in Australia (#4), New Zealand (#6) and reached #13 in both the Netherlands and the Dutch speaking region of Belgium. In Germany "My Love" became a hit first in its original English version (#13) and then again when rendered in German as "Verzeih' die dummen Tränen" (Forgive the foolish tears) (#21).

Edited June 17, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

30.04.1966 : Petula Clark - A Sign Of The Times (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://s.ecrater.com/stores/238174/4f20c0f64c5f2_238174n.jpg

 

 

"Sign of the Times" was the followup to Petula Clark's #1 US hit "My Love", continuing her association with writer/producer Tony Hatch Jackie Trent though with a more percussive sound than was evident on Clark's previous singles – or would be evident on her later ones.

 

Petula Clark introduced "A Sign of the Times" on The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast of February 27, 1966. The single would debut on the Billboard Hot 100 dated March 26, 1966 and reached its peak of #11 that April 23. It peaked at #2 on Billboard's "Easy Listening" survey.

 

Beginning with her American breakout "Downtown", Clark's singles had all had higher chart peaks in the US than the UK. (The 1966 #23 UK hit "You're the One" was not released in the US.) "A Sign of the Times" became the most extreme example of this discrepancy by spending only one week – that of April 23, 1966 – in UK Top 50 at #49.

 

"A Sign of the Times" was a hit in Australia (#11) and South Africa (#2).

Edited June 20, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

21.05.1966 : Sandie Shaw - Nothing Comes Easy (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/45981185.png

 

 

# 14 in UK Singles Chart. It's the fifth # 1 single for Sandie Shaw and she still most successful vintage artist.

 

In 2004 her record label used a title "Nothing Comes Easy" for a boxed set of four CDs. It contained digitally remastered versions of every A-side and B-side of the singles she released in UK from 1964 to 1988, plus several rare and unreleased recordings.

Edited June 20, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

02.07.1966 : Geneveve - Just A Whisper (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://rymimg.com/lk/f/a/cad9906de27abcdc57f10369dac81396/5030073.png

 

 

Don't have any information about her. # 43 in UK Singles Chart.

Edited June 21, 201411 yr by Alex.

I really start to love this singer.

 

30.07.1966 : Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (7 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.petulaclark.net/discography/6566/17133.jpg

 

 

"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" is a 1966 single written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent and recorded by Petula Clark. It was inspired by the affair the songwriters were having at the time. Clark has cited "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" and "Don't Sleep in the Subway" as her favorites of her hits.

 

The single peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" was the first single by Clark to reach #1 on the US Easy Listening chart. The single became a certified Gold record for US sales of one million units.

 

A hit in Australia (#11) and New Zealand (#18), "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" gave Clark a hit in Germany twice, first in the original English at #13 and then again via a translation entitled "So wunderbar verliebt zu sein" (So wonderful to be in love) (#28).

Edited June 24, 201411 yr by Alex.

there's some great stuff in here Alex, I think I'll be using this as reference material when (if) I ever do retro charts for 1960-68.. B-)

 

17.09.1966 : Sandy Posey - Born A Woman (6 weeks # 1)

 

http://joetroiano.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/sandy_posey_born_a_woman_lp.jpg

 

 

Sandy Posey is an American popular singer, who enjoyed success in the 1960s with singles such as her 1966 recording of Martha Sharpe's composition, "Single Girl." She is often described as a country singer, although, like Skeeter Davis (to whom she has been frequently compared) her output has varied. Later in her career, the term "countrypolitan," associated with the "Nashville sound", was sometimes applied. Posey had four hit singles in United States, three of which peaked at number 12 in the sales charts.

 

Posey's first single record, under the name Sandy Carmel was "Kiss Me Goodnight" (1965), written by William Cates, which was coupled with "First Boy". This was released by Bell Records, but received minimal publicity and made little impact.

 

Posey had her first hit with "Born a Woman", which Moman produced in Nashville on March 15, 1966. This reached number 12 on U.S. Billboard sales charts and # 24 in United Kingdom. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. "Born a Woman" is a musically adept song featuring prominent piano, understated strings and horns, and distinctive multi-tracked vocals. Posey received two Grammy Award nominations for "Born a Woman" in the categories of vocal performance (female) and contemporary (R&R) solo vocal.

Edited June 26, 201411 yr by Alex.

 

29.10.1966 : Cilla Black - A Fool Am I (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.7inchrecords.com/Discography/BeatGroups/CillaBlack/SafoolamiNO.jpg

 

 

Fifth vintage # 1 for Cilla Black. # 13 in UK Singles Chart.

 

26.11.1966 : Sandie Shaw - Think Sometimes About Me (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://image.bayimg.com/pafcbaacb.jpg

 

 

A ballad "Think Sometimes About Me" had been released as a single in late 1966, but had only made Number 32 on the UK singles chart, her lowest position since her breakthrough.

 

"Think Sometimes About Me" also is available on Sandie Shaw's third full-priced album "Puppet on a String", released on the Pye label in May 1967 on the back of her Eurovision success.

 

24.12.1966 : Seekers - Morningtown Ride (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/224x224/p01bqr3w.jpg

 

 

"Morningtown Ride" is a lullaby, written and performed by Malvina Reynolds in 1957, and covered by a number of artists. It tells the 'comforting' story of the 'journey' through nighttime made by all the "little travellers" (children), on board a train, with the Sandman as guard.

 

The Seekers' version of "Morningtown Ride" was issued in Australia in July 1965 and peaked in the top 10. In November 1966, a re-recorded version of "Morningtown Ride" was released in UK and reached No. 2.

All my personal # 1 singles (1966) :

01. Seekers - The Carnival Is Over (2 weeks # 1)

02. Cilla Black - Love's Just A Broken Heart (1 weeks # 1)

03. Barbra Streisand - Second Hand Rose (1 week # 1)

04. Janie Jones - Witches Brew (4 weeks # 1)

05. Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (4 weeks # 1)

06. Petula Clark - My Love (5 weeks # 1)

07. Petula Clark - A Sign Of The Times (5 weeks # 1)

08. Sandie Shaw - Nothing Comes Easy (4 weeks # 1)

09. Geneveve - Just A Whisper (4 weeks # 1)

10. Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (7 weeks # 1)

11. Sandy Posey - Born A Woman (6 weeks # 1)

12. Cilla Black - A Fool Am I (4 weeks # 1)

13. Sandie Shaw - Think Sometimes About Me (4 weeks # 1)

14. Seekers - Morningtown Ride (2 weeks # 1)

 

Special awards :

Best single, which was not my personal # 1 : Connie Francis - Jealous Heart

Most # 1 singles : Petula Clark (3)

Most # 1 weeks : Petula Clark (17)

Group of the Year : Seekers

Singer of the Year : Petula Clark

Favourite Eurovision song : Ann Christine Nystrom - Playboy (Finland)

Favourite official UK # 1 single : Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Song of the Year : Petula Clark - My Love

 

07.01.1967 : Sandy Posey - Single Girl (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://hitparade.ch/cdimag/sandy_posey-single_girl_s.jpg

 

 

Sandy Posey recorded "Single Girl" in Nashville, Tennessee on August 10, 1966. Although not strictly a country song, her rendition gave it a country feel – a style that some years later was often referred to as "countrypolitan".

 

"Single Girl" was produced by "Chips" Moman and released by MGM, reaching number 12 in United States sales charts in January 1967 and number 15 in Britain. It was re-released in 1975, and it entered the British top 50 again and, as Posey's signature song, appeared on a number of compilations, including a Posey retrospective "A Single Girl: The Very Best" in 2002.

 

"Like Born a Woman", which was also written by Martha Sharpe, "Single Girl" contained some sentiments that were obstensibly sceptical of men (for example, "I know all about men and their lies"). But whereas "Born a Woman" was seen by some as having feminist overtones, Single Girl was essentially more traditional in outlook – a young, isolated woman anticipating that "some day", despite not knowing anybody, people being "phoney" and the nights getting "so lonely", she would find waiting for her a man to "lean on". As one later commentator put it, drawing a contrast with Julie Rogers' "The Wedding" (1964), "Single Girl" touched a nerve with every 'wallflower' who possessed a record player"

 

Billboard described "Single Girl" as "a strong piece of ballad material with driving rhythm background". The production overall conveyed very well the sense that "to make it in pop music in the 1960s, a girl needed a really strong song and a strong production, as well as a lot of tenacity and dogged determination"

Edited June 30, 201410 yr by Alex.

All my personal # 1 singles (1966) :

01. Seekers - The Carnival Is Over (2 weeks # 1)

02. Cilla Black - Love's Just A Broken Heart (1 weeks # 1)

03. Barbra Streisand - Second Hand Rose (1 week # 1)

04. Janie Jones - Witches Brew (4 weeks # 1)

05. Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (4 weeks # 1)

06. Petula Clark - My Love (5 weeks # 1)

07. Petula Clark - A Sign Of The Times (5 weeks # 1)

08. Sandie Shaw - Nothing Comes Easy (4 weeks # 1)

09. Geneveve - Just A Whisper (4 weeks # 1)

10. Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (7 weeks # 1)

11. Sandy Posey - Born A Woman (6 weeks # 1)

12. Cilla Black - A Fool Am I (4 weeks # 1)

13. Sandie Shaw - Think Sometimes About Me (4 weeks # 1)

14. Seekers - Morningtown Ride (2 weeks # 1)

 

Special awards :

Best single, which was not my personal # 1 : Connie Francis - Jealous Heart

Most # 1 singles : Petula Clark (3)

Most # 1 weeks : Petula Clark (17)

Group of the Year : Seekers

Singer of the Year : Petula Clark

Favourite Eurovision song : Ann Christine Nystrom - Playboy (Finland)

Favourite official UK # 1 single : Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Song of the Year : Petula Clark - My Love

 

Hi Alex, I'm going to have to keep referring back to your list, there's a few I don't know (or have forgotten) and the rest I like or love. Great start to 1967 too with Sandy Posey, fab record. B-)

 

21.01.1967 : Nancy Sinatra - Sugar Town (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k9DNTDxyIVE/S-P0_vfX4uI/AAAAAAAAABE/5V-8i7VKvH0/s1600/ns1.jpg

 

 

"Sugar Town" is a song written by songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood and first recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra in 1966. As a single released under the Reprise label, it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and in December 1966, while reaching number one on the Easy Listening chart in January 1967 and # 8 in United Kingdom. The song was included on Nancy Sinatra's LP, Sugar, also released in 1966, and was featured in her 1967 TV special "Movin' with Nancy"

 

AllMusic.com reviewer Richie Unterberger describes "Sugar Town," Sinatra's second largest hit single, as “daintier” than the material for which she was known, with a “carefree” lyric backed by the “big hook” of a “circular happy-go-lucky pluck of a guitar” with “nicely muted horns and harpsichord” and “fetching double-tracking of Sinatra's voice on the slightly jazzy chorus.” A highlight, Unterberger writes, is the fadeout, where she dispenses with the lyrics and softly “la-las” the melody.

Edited June 30, 201410 yr by Alex.