The Lovin’ Spoonful held the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 9, 1969, with ‘Summer in the City,’ the folk rock band’s first and only #1 hit. This was also the most overtly rocking song they had released to that point.
Dropping in the middle of a record heat wave in New York City, ‘Summer in the City’ was the right song at the right time. It spent three weeks in the top spot and earned critical acclaim for its shifting keys and use of sound effects.
The week of July 26, 1966, found English rock band The Troggs atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their classic hit ‘Wild Thing.’ This was one of two top ten hits for the band in the U.S., with the following year’s ‘Love is All Around’ reaching #7.
‘Wild Thing’ was written by Chip Taylor for the American band The Wild Ones. Their version, released six months earlier, failed to make a splash. It’s not dissimilar from The Troggs’ recording, but lacks its swagger and immediacy.
The week of July 12, 1966, found Tommy James and the Shondells atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Hanky Panky,’ one of two #1 hits for the band (‘Crimson and Clover’ would top the chart two years later).
This song started as a B-side for a duo called The Raindrops, written by its members Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. A year later, 17-year-old Tommy James and his backing band The Shondells recorded a version of the song from memory, accurately recreating the chorus and melody but rewriting all of the verses.
The week of June 28, 1966, found a couple of legends atop the Billboard Hot 100: Frank Sinatra with ‘Strangers in the Night‘ at #1 and The Beatles with ‘Paperback Writer‘ at #2. I wrote about the latter way back in 2009 when these were Beatles Weekends.
At #3 that week was the song ‘Red Rubber Ball’ by the bizarrely named pop band The Cyrkle. The American trio was managed by none other than Brian Epstein, who also managed the little band right above them on the chart, and they actually opened for The Beatles during the Fab Four’s U.S. tour. John Lennon even suggested the spelling of their band name.
The week of June 14, 1966, found so many repeats atop the Billboard Hot 100 that I have to go all the way to #7 to find a song I haven’t already featured.
Let me first take a deep breath and run down the top six: ‘Paint it Black‘ by The Rolling Stones, ‘Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind‘ by The Lovin’ Spoonful, ‘I Am a Rock‘ by Simon and Garfunkel, ‘When a Man Loves a Woman‘ by Percy Sledge, ‘Strangers in the Night‘ by Frank Sinatra, a ‘A Groovy Kind of Love‘ by The Mindbenders.
Hell of a lineup.
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