Entered Charts:  22 March 1967
Entry Point:  26
Highest Position:  1
Weeks In:  15

They’re back … and this time, the Beatles are represented by the other side of their previous entry, Penny Lane.

When Strawberry Fields was listed at number 3 in the Radio Ga Ga Top 30 Beatles countdown (at number 3), this is what I wrote … that’ll do today!

 Well, yesterday I said that I Am The Walrus was Lennon at his finest and here I am, 24 hours later, declaring another of his songs to be higher on my list of favourites.

It was a line ball decision between these two songs but at the end of the day, I prefer Strawberry Fields Forever to I Am The Walrus. That said, I think that the Walrus is a better song and does more to highlight Lennon than today’s song. If that’s a bit illogical, then that’s just the way life is sometimes.

This is another complex piece of music with almost a haunting melody. Very different to anything else the Beatles did in my opinion.

For the record, Strawberry Fields was the name of a Salvation Army children’s home just near where John grew up. He used to spend a lot of time in the woods behind the home.

This song was supported by one of the Beatles’ earliest promotional videos, filmed in Sevenoaks near London.

Entered Charts:  19 August 1964
Entry Point:  37
Highest Position:  6
Weeks In:  11

How’s this for a combination … take the one of the best female voices of all time, the pre-eminent US composer of the 1960′s and his lyricist and long-time collaborator. It’s a recipe for success of the highest order.

Dusty Springfield released this Burt Bacharach / Hal David song in Australia in 1964, taking it all the way to number 6 on the national charts. Twelve years later, Marcia Hines charted in Australia with her own version. Interestingly, versions featuring male singers including Elvis Costello, Isaac Hayes, Gary Puckett, Demis Roussos (yes, really) and Tommy Hunt (the original) didn’t chart.

It’s a great song by a great singer …

Entered Charts:  18 October 1967
Entry Point:  32
Highest Position:  4
Weeks In:  14

Undoubtedly one of Australia’s top bands of the 1960′s and 1970′s, the Masters released this psychedelic masterpiece in late 1967. This was their last hit with the original lineup – the one that had developed out an Adelaide band, The Mustangs.

I was fortunate to meet and interview Jim Keays in late 2010 and we discussed this song and it’s vivid imagery. Jim said that they had not set out for this song to be psychedelic, as such, but was now seen as one of the finest examples of this genre from the period.

“See the windows of the green house, they’re painted yellow like the doors.“

Legendary stuff, Masters!

Entered Charts:  3 November 1965
Entry Point:  27
Highest Position:  2
Weeks In:  18

The Toys were three female singers from Jamaica, New York. They had a hit with this song in 1965 but failed to chart in Australia before or after this time.

The melody was based on a piece of classical music – the Minuet in G Major, written by Johann Sebastian Bach (although in recent times, it has been suggested that Bach did not actually write the minuet). That piece of music was written in 3/4 time, giving a waltz-type rhythm, whereas, the writers of the song changed the melody to a 4/4 time – much more in line with a pop song.

If you are unfamiliar with Bach’s work, click here.

It’s just a really nice song and a great example of so many of the “girl groups” of that period.

Entered Charts:  3 February 1965
Entry Point:  22
Highest Position:  2
Weeks In:  16

Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were clearly not brothers at all. They started singing together as part of the five member group called the Paramours. When they spilt and formed their duo in 1962, they took on the name Righteous Brothers and performed with that name until Hatfield’s death in 2003.

The song was co-written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Phil Spector and was produced by Spector, using his “Wall of Sound” technique. Arguably, this is the finest example of Spector’s technique.

A couple of things you mightn’t know about the song … one of the backing singers was Cher and the song remains the most played song on US radio and TV throughout the 20th century.

Entered Charts:  16 November 1966
Entry Point:  29
Highest Position:  2
Weeks In:  15

A very significant song in the context of the 1960′s and, specifically, in the careers of the Beach Boys. Until this time, the Beach Boys songs were all happy, poppy, beachy kinds of tunes with cars, girls and surfing the primary (only?) themes.

Along came Good Vibrations, composed as part of the famous Pet Sounds sessions, and for the first time, there was almost a “grown-up” Beach Boys sound.

Sadly, in recent times, this amazing piece of music has been played far too often as the advertising jingle for the Good Guys chain of electrical stores in Australia. In fact, I recall one of my children referring to this song as the Good Guys song in their early years.

One out of the box …

Entered Charts:  5 November 1969
Entry Point:  39
Highest Position:  2
Weeks In:  19

I guess it is impossible to top a countdown of the sixties and not acknowledge arguably the most successful solo performer of the decade, Elvis Presley.

And yet the song I chose ALMOST didn’t make it into the countdown. Suspicious Minds entered the Australian charts in early November 1969 and spent more time in the charts in the 70′s than the 60′s. But, it charted in the 60′s so it counts.

I must say that , in general, I preferred Elvis’ later work more than the stuff he was recording in the 50′s and early 60′s. There was some good songs in that era but I think the overall quality was at its peak around the turn of the decade.

This song was covered by the Fine Young Cannibals in 1986 and also made the top 10 here in Australia.

Entered Charts:  10 November 1965
Entry Point:  40
Highest Position:  1
Weeks In:  22

Today, we present one of the best loved songs by arguably Australia’s best loved group. A group of three pretty daggy guys supporting a former Ruyton Grammar student – a woman with the voice of an angel.

Australia, and in particular, Melbourne absolutely loved ‘em. Their concert at the Myer Music Bowl in 1967 attracted 200,000 people to the event … approximately one in ten members of the Melbourne population was there. They brought the house down by closing the concert with The Carnival Is Over.

In 2009, Judith Durham was the very special surprise guest at the end of the 50th anniversary concert for the Bowl. Of course, she closed her bracket with this song.

The Carnival Is Over is one of only two number ones recorded by the “traditional” Seekers – the band reformed on several occasions with different woman singing in place of Judith Durham.

Entered Charts:  13 December 1967
Entry Point:  14
Highest Position:  1
Weeks In:  15

The second Beatles song in this countdown and certainly not the last. In the Radio Ga Ga Top 30 Beatles Countdown in May this year, I Am The Walrus came in at number 4. This is what I said then:

“I Am The Walrus was not released on an album in the UK. It was released as the second named song on the double A side with Hello Goodbye.

This is a song rich with imagery and amazing chord progressions. It is simply a work of art. What is semolina pilchard, anyway??

There’s not much to say except that it is John Lennon at his best – musically, lyrically and vocally. You could argue that Imagine was better but that didn’t quite stretch the imagination like the Walrus.  Incidentally, there is a reference to this song in another Lennon song – Glass Onion from The Beatles (White) album:

“I told you about the walrus and me, man
You know that we’re as close as can be, man
Well, here’s another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul”

For the record, this is one of Aussie music legend Russell Morris’ favourite Beatles songs and sometimes gets a run during Cotton, Keays & Morris gigs.

Goo, goo g’joob!

Entered Charts:  3 June 1964
Entry Point:  33
Highest Position:  14
Weeks In: 10

I reckon that this is just a great song and like yesterday’s entry, it comes from 1964.

There were several bands called the Reflections in the USA around that time. This one was based in Michigan and while they had some moderate success locally, this was the sing that they are best remembered for.

Australia’s Mental As Anything did a cover version of the song in 1980 which got to number 17 on the chart but to my way of thinking was a little too “slick” and “modern” for my liking. This version from 1964 is, for me, the definitive version.

This version also featured in the Radio Ga Ga Top 30 One Hit Wonder Countdown in March 2011.