The Songs of 1966 - Second Volume Quiz

Answer: Strangers In The Night

Frank Sinatra's career swooned somewhat in the late fifties and early sixties. This #1 hit, his first top ten recording since "Witchcraft" in 1958, signified that he was back - all the way. It was tempting to just provide the lyric "doo-be-doo-be-doo" but I resisted!

Answer: Paperback Writer

"Paperback Writer" was the Beatles tenth million selling record and twelfth #1 hit. As usual, a Lennon-McCartney composition.

Answer: Monday, Monday

"Monday, Monday" was The Mamas & the Papas' second release, their follow-up to "California Dreamin'". It would ultimately prove to be the group's only #1 hit.

Answer: Good Vibrations

This song by the Beach Boys would signal a decided turn in the fortunes for the band. It was their thirtieth song to crack Billboard's Hot Hundred since 1962, their third #1 hit and thirteenth top ten. Arguably, it was their best song ever and they were clearly at the top of their game. So what happened then? It would be ten years before they would have another top ten hit ("Rock And Roll Music" in 1976) and twenty-two long years until their next #1 ("Kokomo" in 1988)! Such are the vicissitudes of popular music!

Answer: Mellow Yellow

"Mellow Yellow" was Donovan's second hit of the year following up "Sunshine Superman" which hit #1 earlier in 1966. Although "Mellow Yellow" only reached #2 on the charts, it was the million seller -"Sunshine Superman" was not! This bit of trivia is about as esoteric as most of Donovan's lyrics!

Answer: Cherish

Written by Terry Kirkwood, this was the first of two #1 hits that The Association would have - "Windy" was their other in 1967. This group, along with The Beachboys, The Mama's and the Papa's and Spanky and Our Gang specialized in vocal harmonies for their pleasant sound. With several personnel changes, The Association are still around and touring as of 2004.

Answer: I'm A Believer

"I'm A Believer" debuted on the charts on December 10, 1966 and hit #1 three weeks later on New Years Eve. It stayed at #1 for seven weeks altogether making it not only The Monkees biggest hit ever but also the fifth biggest hit of the decade. Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz thank Neil Diamond for the song. Neil, incidently, released the song himself in 1971 - his version stalled at #51 on the charts. I guess it was all in the delivery!

Answer: Summer In The City

This was the biggest song ever for The Lovin' Spoonful, #1 for three weeks in 1966. The band was formed by Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian in 1965 in Greenwich Village and they would have their first hit "Do You Believe In Magic" later that year. Yanovsky would leave the band in 1967 and when Sebastian left in 1968, essentially the group was done.

They were inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame in 2000.

Answer: When A Man Loves A Woman

This was Percy's debut song on the Billboard pop charts and it was #1 on both the pop and R&B charts. Primarily a R&B singer, he only had three other top 40 pop hits and none of those challenged this song for popularity. It seemed to be on every K-Tel record of the late 60's. Percy still performs in the New Orleans area as an R&B act.

Answer: Yellow Submarine

Not a #1 hit for the Beatles peaking at #2, it still sold a million copies. If I had a vote, it would rank as my least favorite Beatles song of all time! It became the title song of their animated movie in 1968.