The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1966

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1966

In the following article, I go back nearly 60 years ago to a year that’s widely been considered the best year-end list in Hot 100 history and highlight the songs that make it absolutely deserving of that title.

Hello guys, welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes, and today, we’ve got a very special list. We’re looking at the top 10 best hit songs of 1966!

Yes, before we move on to the rest of the 2000s, we’re gonna head back to 1966 - I had just done its Hot 100 rankdown on Pulse Music Board, so it’s only fitting that I make a retro year-end list for this year. This was a year-end list that I was particularly interested in exploring, because there is a case to be made that 1966 was the absolute best year in Hot 100 history. I wanted to see if it lived up to its title, and also see if it exposed any sort of underlying bias I may have towards the 2010s. As I said, because I grew up with music from the 2010s, that decade’s music was the most foundational for my music taste, and ergo, I thought that going through this year-end list may expose some of that, and...?

Well, it turns out I didn’t need to worry about any of that, because, yeah, 1966 truly lives up to its hype in spades. I’ll fully admit that I can’t for sure say whether it’s the best year-end list in Hot 100 history - given that I’m still exploring the history of popular music, I’ve only looked at just over 20 years worth of pop music, and there are over 60 years worth to explore. But I can say that, yeah, 1966 was the best year-end list I’ve looked at thus far! Yes, it even beats 2017, a year I’ve praised to the high heavens and back for being a phenomenal year for music and a year where my best list was even more overstuffed than usual with songs I’ve grown a personal connection with - this is very high praise! It’s a year overstuffed with classics and a year that laid so much of the foundation for what hit music would be like in the future, from disco to R&B to rock to funk and much, much, much more! Yeah, I definitely had a ton of fun going through this year-end list, and I’m really happy about that!

So there’s a question now that some may be wondering - or not, that’s fine - where is the worst list? Well, here’s the thing, when you have a year that is this overstuffed with quality, it gets super difficult to find songs that would be worth placing on the worst list for any given year. Ergo, on the 1966 year-end Hot 100 list, only 6 songs ended up being mediocre or worse, and if you go beyond that, only two songs were here that I actively disliked. So it’s not worth it in my eyes to make a worst list where 66% of it isn’t even bad, it’d just be really tedious like how the worst list for 2000 was. So thus, for completion’s sake, I’ll highlight what I picked as the worst hit song of 1966 and only that - also because this hit in particular has a strong shot at quite possibly being the worst hit song in Hot 100 history, we’ll get to that. And as for the best list...ok, look, there were 85 songs I liked, more than any other year I’ve looked at - I could’ve made a top 30 of this list and still have a lot of material to cut. And I was tempted to do more than 10 songs for this list, but eh - I’m gonna keep myself consistent and just stick with a top 10 with 7 honorable mentions. Also, as a fair thing to note, there’ll be a lot of songs that will miss this list where if there are any 60s music fans that wind up reading this list, they'll absolutely hate me for excluding them. And I’m just gonna say that I’m just a 17 year-old who’s eager to dig into pop music’s history and I’m not speaking for anyone alive during this time period - hell my parents weren’t even born yet when these songs were released! But anyways, the rule is the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 list in 1966 to qualify - so no, unfortunately “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris isn’t eligible for this list - and it’s also noted that I’m gonna be using the revised version of this year-end list, which isn’t the one that gets displayed on Wikipedia, for those of y’all wondering, that one for some reason has 3 weeks shaved off and they contribute to literally nothing. So yes, unfortunately “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys won’t make this list either - and I am as sad as I imagine some of you guys are, that would’ve had a strong shot of actually topping this list. But anyway, let’s get things started, not with our honorable mentions, but with the worst hit song of 1966...

THE WORST: SSgt Barry Sadler - The Ballad of the Green Berets (YE: #1, PEAK: #1)

Imagine if “Am I The Only One” by Aaron Lewis or one of the “Let’s Go Brandon”’s or whatever shit Tom MacDonald managed to chart became the biggest hit song of 2021. That would basically be what this is equivalent to. Let’s make this clear, this song was released during the Vietnam War, and many people were protesting against entering it and being drafted against their will, and the fact that this disgusting pro-war propaganda was not just a hit, but the biggest hit of 1966 is just sad and absolutely sickening, and yes, there was a reason I didn't put this song's single art in the graphic for this post. Even on an instrumental level, this song is just...nothing. With how wonderfully varied the year-end list for 1966 was, this is showing absolutely none of it, this is the limpest shit I’ve ever heard, and additionally Sgt Sadler does nothing to elevate it, it’s so uniform and stiff. And the lyrics are nothing but cliché patriotic shit. To him, the highest honor one can achieve is being among the US army. And you know what, if one wants to join the military, if they actually believe that it’s their calling in life, I don’t have a problem with that. And if this song was just to show appreciation and respect for those who risked their lives for the safety of the US, that’d be one thing. But this song doesn’t do that, it goes way beyond that, it’s sickening. And to illustrate that, here’s the final verse of the song:

“Back at home a young wife waits

Her Green Beret has met his fate

He had died for those oppressed

Leaving her this last request

Put silver wings on my son's chest

Make him one of America's best”

...are you fucking kidding me!? Yeah, there’s absolutely no way I’m giving this song a pass, even if you ignore the “send my son to war” bullshit and any of the context surrounding this song, this is still the limpest and most uninteresting shit I’ve ever heard. Even if I actually agreed with this song, this would still probably be the worst song on this year-end list. “Ballad of the Green Berets” by Ssgt Barry Sadler, the worst hit song of 1966 and quite possibly the worst #1 hit of all time.

Alright, now that we got that taken care of, let’s start to focus on the positives with our honorable mentions, shall we?

HM #1: Simon & Garfunkel - I Am A Rock (YE: #51, PEAK: #3)

Never did having no friends sound so appealing. Seriously, this song is basically a list of every way that our narrator is immovable and unaffected by being alone and I really liked it! Also the last few lines “And a rock feels no pain/and an island never cries” - genuinely a great way to close out a song.

HM #2: Paul Revere & The Raiders - Kicks (YE: #25, PEAK: #4)

What a damn catchy riff! And when you add on top of that that this song is an anti-drug song where it’s clearly shown that these guys seem to know what actually happens when someone gets addicted to drugs and why people may actually steer towards that territory, yeah, this is really damn good.

HM #3: Cher - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (YE: #60, PEAK: #2)

Did I place this song here because I know a David Guetta song that sampled this that wasn’t very good and thus this just sounds great in comparison? Probably. Whatever, this has a very dark yet weirdly energetic vibe to it, helped by Cher’s vocal delivery here. Nice song.

HM #4: The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee (YE: #40, PEAK: #5)

This just sounds very dreamy and relaxing. And I can point to that very lush string arrangement as to why I like this so much, it just sounds so pretty.

HM #5: The Beatles - Nowhere Man (YE: #90, PEAK: #3)

Excellent song that ended up winning me over with those impeccable harmonies and the great guitar solo.

HM #6: The Beatles - Paperback Writer (YE: #28, PEAK: #1)

On the flipside, we have the Beatles’ followup to “Nowhere Man”. Now, unlike “Nowhere Man”, this song is significantly more upbeat and energetic. This song came into existence because Paul McCartney’s aunt challenged him to write a song that wasn’t about love - and I have no clue why I find this story about a poor author trying to become the next big thing as engaging as I do here, but somehow, it just works. Is it because of that ridiculously catchy guitar riff? Yeah, probably.

HM #7: Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances (YE: #84, PEAK: #6)

A song with many dance references stitched together and Wilson Pickett throwing in a shit ton of personality to match an energetic production, with that blaring trumpet and incredible percussion work, and I absolutely love it. In other words, with this song’s existence, “Watch Me” by Silento is basically obsolete.

Alright, now for the list proper...

10...The lead singer of this band said that he came up with the title of this song in health class when learning about psychosis. The interesting backstories just keep on coming and coming...

10. The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction (YE: #64, PEAK: #5)

There are a lot of songs on this year-end list that I don’t even want to analyze, I just wanna vibe. This is one of those songs. I don’t know, it’s just really catchy and infectious. The verses have a great groove to them, I like how that bass guitar sounds and those fuzzy guitars are really good too, and then that switchup into that instrumental break kinda just...works. Like seriously, I can’t put it in any other way, it just flows together really well. Yeah, this is just a really, really fun song, and that infectious groove really won me over, damn amazing track.

9...God, Diana Ross has such a good voice...

9. The Supremes - My World Is Empty Without You (YE: #81, PEAK: #5)

Seriously, her voice sounds incredible on this song, she can sell the heartbroken atmosphere that this song needs so well. That’s another thing, for a song that feels as upbeat as this one is, it does have a note of bleakness to it as well - it’s a song about dealing with depression as a result of a breakup, and it does have a pretty sad atmosphere to match it. The minor key melody probably helps that. The rest of the instrumentation is superb as well, the organs, the saxophone loop, the strings arrangement, they just work so well together. It’s just a really pretty song that showcases Diana Ross’s vocal talents beautifully.

8...But you know what, on the topic of The Supremes...

8. The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin’ On (YE: #30, PEAK: #1)

A genre that was big in 1966 was motown, which from what I’ve been able to piece together is a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence, named after a record industry - okay I probably butchered the definition of that but anyway, arguably one of the biggest acts from the motown era was The Supremes. I’ve seen people say that “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a classic from the motown era, and yeah, I can’t say that they’re wrong. The Supremes all sound great on this song and the instrumentation courtesy of The Funk Brothers is excellent. Oh yeah, and I also found out about this just recently when writing this segment: the opening guitar riff that continues throughout the rest of the song is apparently morse code for S.O.S. - an incredibly creative decision that I can’t help but applaud - it really sets the tone of the song about pleading with the guy to just break up with the narrator already because she knows he doesn’t love her, and she just wants to be set free. Basically, if a song is so good that it became a top 10 hit as a motown, rock, EDM, and country-dance song - and yes I’m serious, it actually got covered that many more times and they all became top 10 hits - that should speak volumes about how much of a classic this song is.

7…“It's been a really really messed up week

Seven days of torture, seven days of bitter

And my girlfriend went and cheated on me

She's a California dime but it's time for me to quit her”

“Thank God the week is done

I feel like a zombie gone back to life”

Those are lyrics from “Tonight Tonight” by Hot Chelle Rae and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher and Pitbull, two songs that made my best list for their respective years, and in all honesty they’d both be even higher if I made those lists now. I mainly bring these songs up because they are songs about being thankful about a stressful week being over and just being ready to party and have fun. Now, imagine your job being so tiring that, when you’re finally done with your week, you don’t even have the energy to party or have fun...

7. Lee Dorsey - Workin’ In A Coal Mine (YE: #76, PEAK: #8)

Indeed, how long could this go on? Really, this song doesn’t have much to it, though I will say that the pickaxe sound-effect that creates the atmosphere of literally working in a coal mine was a pretty neat touch. It’s very stiff and mechanical, which may well highlight just how truly exhausted our narrator is after working in a coal mine, and it succeeds in highlighting the mundaneness of it all. Like how our narrator wakes up at 5AM every morning to go work in dangerous conditions, constantly repeating that he’s “about to slip down” - both literally going down in the coal mine but also slipping down into a mental darkness of breaking down, and the conditions are so harsh that he literally says that by the time it’s Saturday he’s way too exhausted to even have fun. And then there’s the repetition of the line “lord I’m so tired, how long could this go on” throughout - highlighting that he feels like he’s right at the breaking point. It’s definitely a mundane and pretty simple song, but it’s still a damn excellent one with a hell of a lot of shit to say.

6...So let’s go back to what I said about “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, where that song became a hit 4 different times. Yeah, this song literally did the exact same thing, all in the same decade too. This was actually the latest version of that song - and wow, what a delight it is!

6. Dionne Warwick - Message To Michael (YE: #77, PEAK: #8)

In every rendition of the song, it’s about the narrator talking to a bluebird in Kentucky and requesting it to go to New Orleans to deliver a message to Michael, or Martha in the other versions, pleading for him to come back. And I think Dionne Warwick sells this really well, she has a really good voice and she sounds like she is truly begging for Michael to come back. Also, I don’t know why, there’s just something beautiful about the way our narrator is talking to a bluebird here to deliver the message. Possibly the piano melody having a very soothing and peaceful tone to it, or maybe the fact that to some people, bluebirds apparently symbolize a connection between the living and those who passed away - okay wow this song just got a whole lot darker. Eh, either way, this just sounds really beautiful to me, and I think that “fly away” outro is incredible. Nice cover.

5...There have been songs about pineapples. There have been songs about apples. There have been songs about pens. There have been songs about pen-pineapple-apple-pens. Let’s take a moment and talk about the cherry, a very underappreciated fruit in music...well actually Harry Styles literally has a song called “Cherry”. And “Kiwi” for that matter. And “Watermelon Sugar”, where the first line is literally “tastes like strawberries” holy shit Harry Styles likes fruit.

Okay, I have absolutely no clue where I was going with that intro, let’s just start the entry...

5. Neil Diamond - Cherry, Cherry (YE: #75, PEAK: #6)

Not even joking, when listening to this year-end list, this song immediately caught my attention because it reminded me a lot of “Linus & Lucy” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio - and don’t ask why, I know, they aren’t even remotely close to the same genre. But I mean, “Cherry, Cherry” is still a really fun song. That piano instrumental riff sounds really good and it’s just really groovy. And I’m more impressed that they managed to make this song this catchy and groovy without even using percussion! Seriously, this song has no right to be as catchy as it is with just handclaps! Yes, in later sessions, it was rerecorded to include percussion and horns, but that rerecording wasn’t what became a hit in 1966. No, it was this version, and man, what a fun track this is. Gold was really struck with this one.

4...Yes, all three of The Supremes’ songs made my actual top 10, they were just that excellent. Twenty One Pilots did it in 2016, Post Malone did it in 2019, Olivia Rodrigo did it in 2021, and now, we’re here...

4. The Supremes - You Can’t Hurry Love (YE: #8, PEAK: #1)

And this is the biggest of The Supremes’ hits in 1966, and I think it’s the best of them. The melody is fantastic and very high energy, it’s such a strong melody that even a mid at best Phil Collins cover of it can’t hurt it. The song is just so exuberant, helped by Diana Ross’s vocals just sounding gorgeous here. And it fits the content here too, the subject matter here is that Diana Ross is stuck trying to look for love, and she takes her mom’s advice that you can’t hurry love and it won’t come easily. If she feels like she can’t go on or like she has lost all strength and hope, she remembers those words that her mom told her. And with how exuberant the track is, it keeps a very optimistic attitude and it makes waiting for love not as bad as you may think. Yeah, this is a classic, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, then check it out, it’s worth it.

3...So if you’ve read some of my past lists, you know that I put a very heavy emphasis on nostalgia when making my best lists. Whether the songs just feel nostalgic to me - “Burn” by Ellie Goulding, “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz, “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes, “It Ain’t Me” by Kygo and Selena Gomez are just a few examples - or they’re literally about nostalgia, in which probably the biggest example of this was “Castle On The Hill” by Ed Sheeran, which I still absolutely adore with all my heart. I bring this all up because my #3 pick for 1966 is about nostalgia...

3. Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound (YE: #56, PEAK: #5)

Or well, it’s about homesickness and nostalgia for that specific location. “Homeward Bound” is just an incredible song that, yeah, hits weak spots of mine, but still, I absolutely love it. The guitar strumming sounds beautiful and the harmonizing just sounds gorgeous. But yeah, the star of the show here is the lyrics, which entails the story of an artist touring and getting homesick, he’s missing his love who’s “silently waiting for [him]” and his music getting played at home. Everywhere he looks, the towns just look the same, he doesn’t know anyone there, and he just needs someone to comfort him. And yeah, I’m just gripped by every word that’s sung here, I’m sure we can all relate to it in some way. Still though, it’s not even Simon & Garfunkel’s best song this year...

2...and that would be because of this song...

2. Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence (YE: #54, PEAK: #1)

Arguably, more than any other song on this list so far, this song has persisted the most in culture today. Whether it be due to the numerous memes surrounding the “hello darkness my old friend” line - and I can’t lie, that did kinda play a role in this song finishing this high on this list - or Disturbed’s heavy metal cover of it that I...honestly don’t hate as much I probably should. But anyway, back to the original, it’s absolutely incredible. It really isn’t an average pop song, it’s an actual poem that you’d write for your English class, and it just works so well. After every stanza, the guitar just feels like it’s building up more and more and the harmonizing is able to match that. I’m not gonna go into the lyrics of this song, because let’s be real, there are so many interpretations of them that if I tried to go through them all I’m sure it wouldn’t matter and y’all would scroll past this review anyway. But I will say that as the song builds up after each stanza, the lyrics feel like they’re building up in a way too, into reaching a climax in the 5th stanza. Look, “The Sound Of Silence” is a song that’s been thoroughly engraved into the culture today, and it absolutely deserves it. So now, it’s time to take a look at the best hit song of the best year for hits.

1...So the reason I named my blog “Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes” was, well a) to match the username I had given myself on Pulse Music Board, “Fire” - and what led me to choosing that name is an entirely new story that I don’t feel is necessary to get into right now - and b) because when I made my very first list in July 2021, I knew that many of my entries were going to be very controversial, or, well, hot takes. And I know I’ve had many, many, many controversial opinions, just a quick scroll through my past lists and you’ll be able to see what I mean. I bring that up because this time...I went with quite possibly the most predictable pick to top this list. What can I say? This song just gives me good vibrations. Wait...

1. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations (YE: #33, PEAK: #1)

This is just one of those songs that I feel like everyone has heard, and if the song title doesn’t seem familiar to you, you probably have heard it and just didn’t know the song was called “Good Vibrations”. But if you actually haven’t heard it, then change that, please, because this is fantastic. And honestly, there isn’t much I can add to this song that people haven’t praised about it already. Essentially, this song proved that the studio can literally be your instrument and you could be as experimental as you want. Through tape splicing, they could take different sounds and different recordings and splice them into one song, creating something that literally couldn’t be performed live. As someone who has actually produced beats before, “Good Vibrations” is basically the best invention since sliced bread. The fact that everything was stitched together to create a fun as hell banger is the icing on the cake. I think I’ve said enough here, and it’s definitely safe to say that “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys is the best hit song of 1966. It may be the obvious pick, but hey, it wouldn’t be the obvious pick without a reason.

And that’s my special list, holy shit this was a stacked year. But I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope I didn’t completely butcher talking about these songs. Still, I won’t be moving on to 2001 just yet. I’ll be releasing a post that I really should’ve made 6 months ago, and if you want a hint as to what it is, well, I did mention it in one of previous lists, I’ll say that. My aim is to get that list out by the 4th of July, coinciding with my one year anniversary since creating this blog, so look out for that! Until then, you’ve been reading Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes, and take care.