Toay, we head back out onto that boat that floated off the coast of Hilversum, the Netherlands, which was the home to Radio Veronica, where British teenagers could hear the actual songs being played, not covers by the Northern Dance Orchestra on the BBC. Here’s their survey for this week in 1966.
- Boudewijn De Groot, “Welterusten Mijnheer De President (Good Night Mr. President)” Labeled as a protest singer becaue of this song, which was written by his friend and songwriter Lennaert Nijgh, this was probably his biggest hit, not that I have any way of knowing how far up the survey this went.
-
The Walker Brothers, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)” Bobs Crewe and Gaudio from The Four Seasons wrote this and Frankie Valli did it as a solo number in 1965, but The Walker Brothers made it a hit. It reached #9 in the Netherlands, #1 in the UK, and #13 in the US.
-
Crispian St. Peters, “You Were On My Mind” Crispian did his version of We Five’s hit, and it’s … okay. He had far better luck with the next song.
-
The Jets, “Pied Piper” Crispian St. Peters had a concurrent version of this on the chart, and Radio Veronica had his listed here as well. His is more widely known. The Jets were a Dutch band from Utrecht, which is about all I could find on them.
-
Barbra Streisand, “Second Hand Rose” From the Broadway Musical Funny Girl from 1964. They didn’t make the movie until a couple of years later.
-
Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” Daddy was none too happy with his daughter prancing around like this, but Nancy had a great hit with the song. And if the song didn’t get you, the video did.
-
Simon & Garfunkel, “Homeward Bound” S&G had a great year in 1966, with two albums (Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, from which this is taken) that went triple platinum in the US and five singles, two of which made it to the Top 20. This was their followup to “Sounds of Silence” and reached #5.
-
The Who, “Substitute” This did very well in the UK (#5) and The Netherlands (#7) but didn’t chart in the US.
-
The Kinks, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” This was a #1 hit in The Netherlands and New Zealand and a #4 in the UK, but barely made the Top 40 (#36) in the US. It did get a lot of FM airplay
-
The Beach Boys, “Sloop John B” From Pet Sounds, a cover of a folk tune that my aunts played ad nauseum around this time.
And that’s The Friday 5×2 for May 15, 2020.
I love the first guy even though that is new to me. Love that second song so much and glad to hear it again but then, I got stopped as video was unavailable but I do know the other songs and enjoy them even the funky one by nancy Sinatra
LikeLike
That’s always an issue. Honestly, I don’t understand why people restrict their videos like that.
LikeLike
when the Who’s Substitute came out I liked it it’s a shame it did not here in the US.I added you to The 5 On Friday linky list!
LikeLike
Thanks! The linky wasn’t there when I went to your page…
LikeLike
Some good songs in this line-up. “These Boots” is a fine song well performed by Nancy. I have a Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood 8 track in my garage that I used to love listening to–wish I had a CD version, but I guess the songs can all be found on YouTube.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
LikeLike
Is that the one with “Jackson” on it?
LikeLike
Yes it is. My favorite song on the album is “Some Velvet Morning” which later had a bizarre cover by Vanilla Fudge. Actually it might make for a good Battle of the Bands song as there are many covers of this song.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
LikeLike
Your #1 slot is a new one on me – never heard of them. I remember the rest and specifically the hoopla over Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin'”.
LikeLike
#1 (or #10, depending on how you look at it) was new on me, too. I was actually hoping for more, but I guess we can’t have everything…
LikeLike
I’ve never heard of the Dutch guys, but I recognise all the rest! 🙂
LikeLike
The Dutch guys were new to me, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person