WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE WONDERFUL ONES Page 24
IT'S THE YEAR 1964 and most of us, W.O., have finished working our way through college. Many of us were now C.P.A.'s, engineers, teachers, nurses, agriculturists, medical technologists (but no physical therapists nor computer programmers yet then). The R&D activities of
our club was still in full swing, and our names dotted
the pages of the leading songhits magazines of the country,
as well as heard over the radio. R&D lines such as "Lovingly
dedicated to my co-W.O. Brenda Solon and to members of the Lover Elvisian Dolls Lynn Tolentino and Aida Manalac, and also especially to White Gardenia (happy birthday) from
Nellie Grecia of the Joni James/Jerry Vale committee" were a common sight on the pages of the song hits. Various fan
clubs still vie to make their song number one and published in the front page of the R&D section, and which was determined by the number of requests and dedications sent.
But for the current hits then, it was the Billboard magazine
that rated the songs according to the volume of sales they made week by week.
Here are the songs that reached the top spot then:
There! I've Said It Again by Bobby Vinton, I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles, She Loves You by The Beatles (again!), Can't Buy Me Love by The Beatles (Boy, this is Beatlemania! What a streak!) Hello Dolly by Louis Armstrong, My Guy by Mary Wells, Love Me Do by The Beatles,
Chapel Of Love by The Dixie Cups, A World Without Love by Peter & Gordon, I Get Around by The Beach Boys, Rag Doll by The 4 Seasons, A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles, Everybody Loves Somebody by Dean Martin, Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes, The House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals, Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison, Do Wah Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann, Baby Love by The Supremes, Leader Of The Pack by The Shanri-Las, Ringo by Lorne Greene, Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton, Come See About Me by The Supremes, I Feel Fine by The Beatles. The Beatles have invaded the U.S. and their songs began to dominate the charts and not even Elvis Presley could stop them! On top of the chart for 7 weeks, I Wanna Hold Your Hand was the blockbuster for that year, followed by another Beatles smash hit, Can't Buy Me Love (5 wks).
And now, the hit parade continues for the year 1965:
Downtown by Petula Clark, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' by The Righteous Brothers, This Diamond Ring by Gary Lewis & The Playboys, My Girl by The Temptations, Eight Days A Week by The Beatles, Stop! In The Name Of Love by The Supremes, I'm Telling You Now by Freddie & The Dreamers, Game Of Love by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter by Herman's Hermits, Ticket To Ride by The Beatles, Help Me Rhonda by The Beach Boys, Back In My Arms Again by The Supremes, I Can't Help Myself by The Four Tops, Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds, Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones, I'm Henry VIII, I Am by Herman's Hermits, I Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher, Help! by The Beatles, Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire, Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys, Yesterday by The Beatles, Get Off My Cloud by The Rolling Stones, I Hear A Symphony by The Supremes, Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds, Over And Over by The Dave Clark Five. Clearly this was the year of "group" singers as shown in their proliferation.
And now, for the hit parade of 1966, the last year of the W.O. era, when they bowed out of the R&D activity and became more "serious" in life. Many of them got married in this year, and some started to immigrate to the U.S. and Canada.
The Sounds Of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, We Can Work It Out by The Beatles, My Love by Petula Clark, Lightnin' Strikes by Lou Christie, These Boots Are Made For Walking by Nancy Sinatra, The Ballad Of The Green Berets by Sgt. Barry Sadler, Soul And Inspiration by The Righteous Brothers, Good Lovin' by The Young Rascals, Monday, Monday by The Mamas & Papas, When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge (Note: You can listen to this song in the beginning of the film "The Crying Game" and in the film of the same title.), Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones, Paperback Writer by The Beatles, Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra, Hanky Panky by Tommy James & The Shondells, Wild Thing by The Troggs, Summer In The City by The Lovin' Spoonful, Sunshine Superman by Donovan, You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes, Cherish by The Association, Reach
Out I'll Be There by The Four Tops, 96 Tears by The Mysterians, Last Train To Clarksville by The Monkees, Poor Side Of Town by Johnny Rivers, You Keep Me Hangin' On by The Supremes, Winchester Cathedral by The New Vaudeville Band, Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys, I'm A Believer by The Monkees. Honestly, I don't know many of these 1966 songs. The topnotcher for the year was I'm A Believer (7 wks) by the Monkees who went on to put up another number one song the following year: Day Dream Believer. 1966 - that was a very good year! Stay tune for the movies that won oscars during the wonderful years of the Wonderful Ones
Society.
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Copyright © 2002 Ernie Turla, founder and first president, W.O. Society, Philippines. All Rights Reserved