- 3 months ago
Dust off your vinyl collection and prepare for a groovy blast from the past! Join us as we count down our picks for those singular sixties sensations whose chart-topping hits continue to rock decades later. From psychedelic masterpieces to bubblegum pop perfection, these tunes defined an era with just one unforgettable hit!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those singular 60s hitmakers
00:14that live on decades after their chart success.
00:2410. Harper Valley PTA, Jeannie C. Reilly
00:29The world of country music received an injection of pop sensibility with this novelty hit from
00:401968. Harper Valley PTA was written by industry legend Tom T. Hall and performed with charm
00:47by Jeannie C. Reilly, who made history by becoming the first woman to top both the Billboard Top 100
00:53and the U.S. Hot Country Singles Charts.
00:56And as she walked up to the blackboard, I can still recall the words she had to say.
01:01The meteoric success of Harper Valley PTA made a star out of Reilly, whose natural beauty and
01:08charm imbued each performance of the song with contemporary sexiness that mirrored its fictional
01:14subject matter. Harper Valley PTA was even adapted into a 1978 movie starring Barbara
01:25Eden, and it remained a career-defining moment for Jeannie C. Reilly.
01:30And we don't believe you ought to be a-bringing-up-your-little-girl-this-way
01:35Number 9.
01:36I had too much to dream last night.
01:39The Electric Prunes.
01:40There isn't one defining decade that retains a lock on one-hit wonders, yet it should also
01:58be said that the disposable nature of many garage and bubblegum acts from the 1960s made
02:03it possible for even the most casual of artists to fly by night and attain a hit.
02:15The most successful commercial period for The Electric Prunes was with this collaboration
02:20with songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancy Mance on this tune titled I Had Too Much To Dream
02:26Last Night.
02:27The song proved to be one of the early psychedelic periods defining cult hits, although The Electric
02:33Prunes would struggle to keep up musically with future collaborators like David Axelron.
02:46This latter material, though certainly the most accomplished, featured little involvement
02:51from The Electric Prunes.
02:52Number 8.
02:53Who put the bop in the bop-bop-bop?
02:54Barry Mann.
02:55It's time that we're alone.
02:56Boogity-boogity-boogity-boogity-boogity-boogity-shoots.
02:58There's a surprising amount of metal charm present with this anarchistic hit tune from Barry Mann.
03:19Who put the bop in the bop-bop-bop may have been released in 1961, but its retroactive
03:24appreciation of 1950s doo-wop songs and songwriters made it feel like a hit charmingly out of time.
03:31Who put the bop in the bop-bop-bop banks on the nostalgia bug, and comes out on top despite
03:451961 not really being all that removed from doo-wop's golden era.
03:50Still, Mann's earnest performance, combined with the song's impeccable arrangements, make
03:56this one a winner in our book…
03:57Choo-bop-choo-wada-wada-yippin-a-boom-da-boom.
03:59Chain-chain-changity-chain-chipop.
04:01That's the way it should be.
04:06Number 7.
04:07The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
04:10The progressive rock landscape isn't one that's generally known for one-hit wonderdom,
04:20but the Crazy World of Arthur Brown also wasn't an average, everyday group.
04:25Brown's career is one that still continues today, although it's fire from which the
04:30man's proto-shock rock legend was forged.
04:33The tune is strange and intense for 1968, thanks to Brown's red-hot stage show and penchant
04:40for vocal caterwauling.
04:49Fire is all about that memorable earworm chorus, the occult-drenched visual trappings, psychedelic
04:56organ, and swelling horn arrangements.
04:59It was here where Arthur Brown affirmed himself as the god of hellfire.
05:03And you know what?
05:04We believe him.
05:05Fire!
05:08Take you to burn!
05:12Fire!
05:14Take you to burn!
05:16Number 6.
05:17Do You Love Me?
05:18The Contours.
05:20Now when I get back, back, back.
05:27A great song is a great song, often living through multiple iterations as it becomes covered
05:33by newer, younger artists.
05:35Do You Love Me?
05:36by The Contours is another one of those songs that feels as if it's from two eras.
05:41Watch me now!
05:42Work it on!
05:43I said I work it on, baby!
05:46Work it on!
05:47The R&B grooves still feel indebted to the 1950s, albeit with a certain musical urgency
05:53that allows The Contours to adapt to their new decade.
05:57Do You Love Me?
05:58Do You Love Me?
05:59Do You Love Me?
06:00Do You Love Me?
06:01Do You Love Me?
06:02Do You Love Me?
06:03Do You Love Me?
06:04was recorded and released two more times during the 1960s, charting for both the Dave Clark font,
06:10as well as Brian Poole and the tremolos.
06:125.
06:13Wipeout, The Surfaris
06:17Who ever said that you needed lyrics to be a hit?
06:33Wipeout was part of the surf rock boom of the 1960s and became one of the defining tunes
06:39of this era.
06:40It was also the surfaris' biggest hit and irrepressible song that features minimal vocals,
06:46driving drums, and that instantly recognizable surf rock reverb.
06:50Wipeout also feels cinematic, and its inclusion to this end has allowed the surfaris to remain
07:03relevant within the mediums of film and television.
07:06The surf rock genre can be a great rabbit hole to venture down for adventurous fans,
07:11but you just gotta start with the classics, right?
07:144.
07:23Angel Of The Morning, Merrilee Rush, and The Turnabouts
07:32This is a song that's been covered numerous times by many different artists, often to great
07:38success.
07:395.
07:40Angel Of The Morning was originally composed back in 1967 by songwriter Chip Taylor, but
07:45its third release proved to be the charm with regards to chart success.
07:495.
07:50Just call me angel of a morning angel
07:55Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts struck gold with their version in 68, while Juice Newton
08:01also earned a hit in 1981 with her take on the song.
08:05The Merrilee Rush version is soft, gentle, and full of warm 60s sunshine, a great example
08:11of a lyrically driven ballad that also possesses plenty of dynamic and memorable melodies.
08:175.
08:18There's no angel on my shoulder to keep me hangin' on
08:24Number 3.
08:27Spirit In The Sky, Norman Greenbaum
08:30When I die and the name is the rest, I'm gonna go to the place, that's the best.
08:37There were a lot of moving musical parts that went into the construction of Spirit In The Sky
08:42by Norman Greenbaum.
08:43From session musicians to the inclusion of additional gospel singers to back Greenbaum
08:48up on the chorus, Spirit In The Sky proved to be a truly collaborative effort.
08:53This was, despite, the comparatively brief time this former member of Dr. West's medicine
08:59show and junk band spent writing the lyrics.
09:12Spirit In The Sky possesses quasi-spiritual connotations while also retaining a mid-paced,
09:18fuzz-rock groove.
09:19It's a rootsy tune that's retained its popularity decades after being released in 1969, although
09:25Greenbaum's flirtation with the pop charts was never replicated with any subsequent singles.
09:31This guy is where I'm gonna go when I die, when I die and the name is the rest, I'm gonna
09:41go to the place, that's the best.
09:44Number 2.
09:45Nah Nah Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye, Steam.
09:49Man, that's one great chorus, isn't it?
10:00Songwriters Paul Laika, Gary DiCarlo, and Dale Furshu certainly seemed to know what they
10:06had with Nah Nah Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye.
10:09The only thing they didn't have was an actual band, but that didn't stop this song from being
10:14released under the moniker of Steam.
10:25A group of musicians was eventually brought together to support the subsequent Steam album,
10:30although these folks weren't the ones who recorded Nah Nah Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye.
10:35Does it really matter at the end of the day, however?
10:38One hit is better than none after all, and the Steam follow-up single, I've Gotta Make
10:43You Love Me, only managed to make it to 46 on the Billboard Top 200.
10:55Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:59Grazing in the Grass, Hugh Masekela, Groovy, Feel-Good Jazziness, Bend Me, Shape Me, The American
11:16Bree, Handclaps, Horns, and Pop Grooves?
11:19Oh my!
11:20I can't get your love, I can't get satisfaction.
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11:55Number 1.
11:56Sugar Sugar The Archies
12:05The golden age of bubblegum pop featured a number of stellar studio groups masquerading
12:11as fictional, animated bands.
12:13The banana splits come to mind, as do the Archies, who earned a number of memorable hits over the
12:18course of their recorded discography.
12:20It's Sugar Sugar that's lived on the best, however.
12:29An ultimate earworm that feels 60s with a capital S, but in the best possible way.
12:35The studio talents of Jeff Berry, Tony Wine, Ron Dante, and more all contributed to the Archies'
12:41success.
12:42While this fictional group's comic book and Saturday morning cartoon origins have kept them in the
12:57public eye, right on through to the modern day.
13:01Were you around during the 60s, or do you wish you were?
13:12Let us know some of your favorite pop jams in the comments.
13:16The Lost
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