Jon Savage: 1966 ~ The Year The Decade Exploded

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The soundtrack to the book about the year that shaped the rest of the century.

Pop was everything in 1966. It was a way of looking at the world, all funnelled into the single: ideas, attitudes, lyrics and experimentation that in the more indulgent years to come would be stretched out into a whole album. Condensed within the 7-inch format, the possibilities of 1966 were expressed with an extraordinary electricity and intensity – whether it be the flourishing of Holland-Dozier-Holland at Motown, the breakthrough of black American dance culture, the start of psychedelia and the beginnings of rock, or just simple mod pop.

This compilation accompanies my book 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded, which explores the various events and themes of the year in 12 essays, based around one record a month. The record is, of course, a 45 – and some of them are included here, such as ‘The Quiet Explosion’ (Chapter 1: January – CND, Protest and the Conspiracy of Silence) or ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ (Chapter 6: June – The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol’s America).

It is also designed to stand alone – a mix of the familiar and the obscure, informed by memory. I turned 13 in late summer 1966 and spent much of the year bathed in the music I saw on television and heard on Radio Caroline South. The 45 records beamed in on that station – James Brown’s ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’, the Association’s ‘Along Comes Mary’, ? and the Mysterians’ ‘96 Tears’, to name but three – went very deep, and that mixture of mainstream pop, mod pop, West Coast, soul and Motown has stayed with me as an ideal.

1-1 The Uglys*– The Quiet Explosion
2:37
1-2 The Strangeloves– Night Time
2:29
1-3 The Guys From U.N.C.L.E.*– The Spy
2:30
1-4 Dusty Springfield– Little By Little
2:32
1-5 The Wheel-A-Ways– Bad Little Woman
2:32
1-6 Norma Tanega– Walkin' My Cat Named Dog
2:32
1-7 San Remo Golden Strings– Festival Time
2:29
1-8 James Brown And The Famous Flames*– I Got You (I Feel Good)
2:45
1-9 Link Wray And The Raymen*– Batman Theme
1:58
1-10 Ray Sharpe With The King Curtis Orchestra*– Help Me (Get The Feeling) Part 1
2:32
1-11 The Monitors– Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)
3:00
1-12 Robert Parker– Barefootin'
2:33
1-13 The Who– Substitute
3:47
1-14 The Association (2)– Along Comes Mary
2:47
1-15 The Seeds– The Other Place
2:22
1-16 The Olympics– Secret Agent
2:24
1-17 The Capitols– Cool Jerk
2:31
1-18 The Electric Prunes– Ain't It Hard
2:11
1-19 Sandie Shaw– Nothing Comes Easy
2:28
1-20 13th Floor Elevators– You're Gonna Miss Me
2:26
1-21 Rex Garvin And The Mighty Cravers*– Sock It To 'Em J.B. - Part I
2:38
1-22 Rex Garvin And The Mighty Cravers*– Sock It To 'Em J.B. - Part II
2:39
1-23 The Roosters (2)– One Of These Days
2:44
1-24 The Velvet Underground– I'll Be Your Mirror
2:15
2-1 The Lovin' Spoonful– Summer In The City
2:40
2-2 Lee Dorsey– Working In A Coalmine
2:47
2-3 Joe Tex– You Better Believe It Baby
2:57
2-4 Love– 7 And 7 Is
2:22
2-5 Chris Clark (2)– Love's Gone Bad
2:21
2-6 Wilson Pickett– Land Of 1000 Dances
2:23
2-7 Count Five– Psychotic Reaction
3:01
2-8 The Tornados– Do You Come Here Often?
3:53
2-9 ? And The Mysterians*– 96 Tears
2:55
2-10 Otis Redding– I Can't Turn You Loose
2:33
2-11 Four Tops– Reach Out I'll Be There
2:58
2-12 The Who– I'm A Boy
2:38
2-13 Paul And Ritchie And The Crying Shames– Come On Back
2:33
2-14 James Brown– Tell Me That You Love Me
1:40
2-15 The Yardbirds– Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
2:55
2-16 The Supremes– You Keep Me Hanging On
2:46
2-17 The Oxford Circle– Foolish Woman
2:31
2-18 The Human Expression– Love At Psychedelic Velocity
2:23
2-19 The Blue Things– One Hour Cleaners
2:44
2-20 The Freaks Of Nature– People! Let's Freak Out
2:33
2-21 We The People (2)– In The Past
2:32
2-22 David Bowie– The London Boys
3:19
2-23 The Marvelettes– The Hunter Get's Captured By The Game
2:46
2-24 Tim Hardin– Hang On To A Dream
2:00