The Beach Boys claimed the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of June 1, 1965, with ‘Help Me, Rhonda,’ their second chart-topper (following the previous year’s ‘I Get Around‘).
This was the second version of this song released in 1965. The first, titled ‘Help Me, Ronda,’ appeared on the band’s album The Beach Boys Today!, ran about 20 seconds longer, and had less of a rock sound. Brian Wilson felt the song had hit potential so the band rerecorded it with a little more oomph.
The Beatles topped the Billboard Hot 100 the week of May 18, 1965, with ‘Ticket to Ride,’ their eighth #1 on the chart and second of 1965.
In second that week was Herman’s Hermits’ ‘Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,’ featured a couple of weeks ago when it was at #1. How many acts saw themselves kicked out, or kept out, of the top spot by The Beatles?
The #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of May 4, 1965, was a novelty track by Herman’s Hermits titled ‘Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.’
When I first saw this title, I was reminded of daily commenter Dana’s question just last week: If you removed the parenthetical opening phrase of B.J. Thomas’ ‘(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,’ would it still have the longest title of a #1 song?
Well, the answer is no… today’s SOTD has a seven-word title with no parentheses, topping the six non-parenthetical words in Thomas’ track. So that mystery didn’t take long to solve.
The week of April 20, 1965, saw Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘The Game of Love,’ a song that had reached #2 in their native UK six months earlier.
Frontman Fontana left the band in the middle of a concert later that year, leaving the Mindbenders to continue as a trio. They bounced back nicely, making it to #2 with ‘A Groovy Kind of Love‘ the following year.
The week of April 6, 1965, found Freddie and the Dreamers atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘I’m Telling You Now,’ a Merseybeat track that had success in the UK two years earlier. When it was rereleased for the U.S. audience, it gave the band their only chart-topping hit.
The song kicked off a minor dance craze called “The Freddie,” which basically consisted of extending your arms and legs as if you’re doing half-assed jumping jacks. You can see it in the Ed Sullivan clip of this song.
