Billboard 1966 Year End Chart

[djjoe1960]

I was looking at an old issue of Billboard magazine (December 24, 1966) and noticed that California Dreamin' by the Mamas & Papas was listed as their #1 single on the year end chart--but I know when I look up the year end chart on the internet The Ballad Of the Green Berets by S/SGT Barry Saddler is #1--so does anyone know when Billboard changed the 1966 year end list (and why)?

Joe

[mitchm]

I'm thinking that they just called the two songs tied.

[doofus67]

Dec 14, 2018 18:36:15 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

...but I know when I look up the year end chart on the Internet The Ballad Of the Green Berets by S/SGT Barry Sadler is #1--so does anyone know when Billboard changed the 1966 year end list (and why)?

Joe

Just out of curiosity, Joe, where on the Internet did you see this revised list? It's just one guy's opinion, but if it's in the actual issue of Billboard, then that's the official list. It shouldn't have been messed with!

[djjoe1960]

Dec 14, 2018 21:11:06 GMT -5 mitchm said:

I'm thinking that they just called the two songs tied.

Mitch,

  In the December 24, 1966 issue The Ballad Of The Green Berets is at #10--so when and how did it become #1 (which is how it's listed now).

Joe

[djjoe1960]

Dec 15, 2018 2:51:17 GMT -5 doofus67 said:

Dec 14, 2018 18:36:15 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

...but I know when I look up the year end chart on the Internet The Ballad Of the Green Berets by S/SGT Barry Sadler is #1--so does anyone know when Billboard changed the 1966 year end list (and why)?

Joe

Just out of curiosity, Joe, where on the Internet did you see this revised list? It's just one guy's opinion, but if it's in the actual issue of Billboard, then that's the official list. It shouldn't have been messed with!

Here is a link to the list you get 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1966

[doofus67]

Dec 15, 2018 7:56:37 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

Dec 14, 2018 21:11:06 GMT -5 mitchm said:

I'm thinking that they just called the two songs tied.

Mitch,

  In the December 24, 1966 issue The Ballad Of The Green Berets is at #10--so when and how did it become #1 (which is how it's listed now).

Joe

That tie happened in Cash Box, not in Billboard:

www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1966YESP.html

[1finemrg]

Dec 14, 2018 18:36:15 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

I was looking at an old issue of Billboard magazine (December 24, 1966) and noticed that California Dreamin' by the Mamas & Papas was listed as their #1 single on the year end chart--but I know when I look up the year end chart on the internet The Ballad Of the Green Berets by S/SGT Barry Saddler is #1--so does anyone know when Billboard changed the 1966 year end list (and why)?

Joe

Funny you should ask, Joe...

[doofus67]

All right.  This may not answer any of our burning questions about the discrepancy between the official and unofficial year-end lists for 1966.  It may not clear up any confusion, and in fact may create more.  But here's a side by side comparison anyway.  It's surprising that only one song finished top-ten on all four versions of the list; which one shouldn't surprise you. 

The first three columns show the chart positions according to Billboard, Wikipedia, and Cash Box.  The numbers in the last column were pulled from Ranking the '60s: A Comprehensive Listing of the Top Songs and Acts from Pop's Golden Decade, by Dann Isbell.  I recommend it highly.  It's a must-own book for any and all hardcore chart nerds.  As time goes on, I'll be mentioning and referring to it -- and Ranking the '70s, which Dann wrote with Bill Carroll -- more often.

	Billboard	Wikipedia	Cash Box	RT60s
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'	1	10	1 (tie)	41
96 TEARS	2	5	19	7
WHAT BECOMES OF...	3	14	36	54
LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE	4	6	21	10
REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE	5	4	38	13
THESE BOOTS ARE MADE...	6	13	26	11
CHERISH	7	2	16	6
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT	8	15	4	24
KICKS	9	25	14	42
BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS	10	1	1	2
SOUL AND INSPIRATION	12	3	17	5
MONDAY, MONDAY	24	7	31	12
YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE	13	8	5	15
POOR SIDE OF TOWN	18	9	80	28
THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE	--	54	2	16
SUNNY	14	27	3	35
A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE	20	34	6	33
I GOT YOU (I Feel Good)	--	--	7	32 (for '65)
LIL' RED RIDING HOOD	16	31	8	22
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER	15	29	9	39
GOOD LOVIN'	11	17	10	19
I'M A BELIEVER	--	--	--	1
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL	--	--	--	3
WE CAN WORK IT OUT	45	16	11	4
SUMMER IN THE CITY	35	11	39	8
GOOD VIBRATIONS	--	33	--	9

[djjoe1960]

Wow--Fascinating. Although I understand why I'm A Believer by the Monkees could be considered the #1 single of 1966; IMO the single should be the top single of 1967--since it spend more of it's chart life in 1967. By the way, all this discussion, of the 1966 year end chart(s) leads to the newly posted year end countdown--Cash Box's Top 100 of 1966--

archive.org/details/NEW01_201812

Generally I think Billboard's year end surveys to be more accurate, this is one of the few year's I think Cash Box got it right.

[doofus67]

Dec 16, 2018 7:48:46 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

...By the way, all this discussion, of the 1966 year end chart(s) leads to the newly posted year end countdown--Cash Box's Top 100 of 1966--

...Generally I think Billboard's year end surveys to be more accurate, this is one of the few years I think Cash Box got it right.

Oops. Looks like I'm playing spoiler for most of that top 20 -- or should we say 21?

My humble opinion is, I don't know if there is a truly reliable version among these four. It's pretty obvious that they all used different methods, formulas, and survey periods.

Had Bill Carroll been on board for Ranking the '60s, their list would have been by far and away the most accurate. Bill is a chart nerd with a deep background in chemistry. He came up with a more complex formula, involving algorithms and normalization and all that fun stuff. I'm getting to know how it all works.

[djjoe1960]

Dec 16, 2018 9:02:21 GMT -5 doofus67 said:

Dec 16, 2018 7:48:46 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

...By the way, all this discussion, of the 1966 year end chart(s) leads to the newly posted year end countdown--Cash Box's Top 100 of 1966--

...Generally I think Billboard's year end surveys to be more accurate, this is one of the few years I think Cash Box got it right.

Oops. Looks like I'm playing spoiler for most of that top 20 -- or should we say 21?

My humble opinion is, I don't know if there is a truly reliable version among these four. It's pretty obvious that they all used different methods, formulas, and survey periods.

Had Bill Carroll been on board for Ranking the '60s, their list would have been by far and away the most accurate. Bill is a chart nerd with a deep background in chemistry. He came up with a more complex formula, involving algorithms and normalization and all that fun stuff. I'm getting to know how it all works.

Hey no big deal about revealing some of the top hits of 1966 (doofus67); all the discussions of the various charts is what makes this forum fun.

Here is one of the most accurate lists of the Top hits of 1966--


rateyourmusic.com/list/goldwax317/the_top_200_hits_of_1966/

Maybe I will use this list for a future possible countdown.

Joe
Plus I always thought vincem on this forum does a great job at recapping the year end hits--

This is the second version for 1966. Here I added 100 bonus points for each week at #1. The survey period is 1/1/1966 to 12/10/1966.



Points (* indicates a #1 song) POS-TITLE-Artist (Peak Position-Peak Month)

1608 *1 THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS SSgt. Barry Sadler (#1, March)

1448 *2 CHERISH The Association (#1, Sept)

1394 *3 (You're My) SOUL AND INSPIRATION The Righteous Brothers (#1, April)

1390 *4 REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE The Four Tops (#1, Oct)

1364 *5 96 TEARS ? (Question Mark) and the Mysterians (#1, Oct)

1302 *6 MONDAY MONDAY The Mamas and the Papas (#1, May)

1294 *7 LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE The Monkees (#1, Nov)

1291 *8 YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE The Supremes (#1, Sept)

1265 9 CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' The Mamas and the Papas (#4, March)

1263 *10 SUMMER IN THE CITY The Lovin' Sp00nful (#1, Aug)

1257 *11 THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN' Nancy Sinatra (#1, Feb)

1250 12 WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED David Ruffin (#7, Oct)

1235 *13 STANGERS IN THE NIGHT Frank Sinatra (#1, July)

1209 *14 WE CAN WORK IT OUT The Beatles (#1, Jan)

1203 *15 GOOD LOVIN' The Young Rascals (#1, April)

1180 *16 HANKY PANKY Tommy James and the Shondells (#1, July)

1179 *17 WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN Percy Sledge (#1, May)

1172 *18 PAINT IT, BLACK The Rolling Stones (#1, June)

1160 *19 MY LOVE Petula Clark (#1, Feb)

1151 *20 LIGHNIN' STRIKES Lou Christie (#1, Feb)

1132 *21 WILD THING The Troggs (#1, July)

1129 *22 POOR SIDE OF TOWN Johnny Rivers (#1, Nov)

1129 23 KICKS Paul Revere and the Raiders (#4, May)

1118 *24 SUNSHINE SUPERMAN Donovan (#1, Sept)

1089 25 SUNNY Bobby Hebb (#2, Aug)

1085 *26 PAPERBACK WRITER The Beatles (#1, June)

1072 27 SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER The Happenings (#3, Aug)

1056 28 LIL' RED RIDING HOOD Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (#2, Aug)

1026 29 A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE The Mindbenders (#2, May)

1025 30 YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME Dusty Springfield (#4, July)

1019 31 COOL JERK The Capitols (#7, July)

1009 32 BORN A WOMAN Sandy Posey (#12, Sept)

1000 33 RED RUBBER BALL The Cyrkle (#2, July)

994 34 BORN FREE Roger Williams (#7, Dec)

986 35 B-A-B-Y Carla Thomas (#14, Nov)

980 36 WALK AWAY RENEE The Left Banke (#5, Nov)

973 37 DAYDREAM The Lovin' Sp00nful (#2, April)

971 38 TIME WON'T LET ME The Outsiders (#5, April)

967 39 HOORAY FOR HAZEL Tommy Roe (#6, Nov)

964 40 SWEET PEA Tommy Roe (#8, July)

963 41 BUS STOP The Hollies (#5, Sept)

951 42 I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY B. J. Thomas and the Triumphs (#8, April)

937 43 AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG The Temptations (#13, July)

933 44 DIRTY WATER The Standells (#11, July)

929 45 ELUSIVE BUTTERFLY Bob Lind (#5, March)

928 46 I AM A ROCK Simon and Garfunkel (#3, June)

916 47 CRYING TIME Ray Charles (#6, Feb)

913 48 SECRET AGENT MAN Johnny Rivers (#3, April)

912 *49 SOUNDS OF SILENCE Simon and Garfunkel (#1, Jan)

909 50 DID YOU EVER HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND The Lovin' Sp00nful (#3, June)

909 51 HOMEWARD BOUND Simon and Garfunkel (#5, March)

905 52 BAREFOOTIN' Robert Parker (#7, June)

897 53 UPTIGHT (Everything's Alright) Stevie Wonder (#3, Feb)

894 54 BANG BANG (My Baby Shot Me Down) Cher (#2, April)

891 55 SLOOP JOHN B The Beach Boys (#3, May)

890 56 19TH NERVOUS BREAKDOWN The Rolling Stones (#2, March)

887 57 WIPE OUT The Surfaris (#16, Oct)

886 58 PSYCHOTIC REACTION The Count Five (#5, Oct)

884 59 BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP The Temptations (#3, Oct)

883 60 NO MATTER WHAT SHAPE (Your Stomach's In) The T-Bones (#3, Feb)

865 61 JUST LIKE ME Paul Revere and the Raiders (#11, Jan)

862 62 LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND Deon Jackson (#11, March)

858 63 THE PIED PIPER Crispian St. Peters (#4, July)

851 64 SOMEWHERE, MY LOVE The Ray Conniff Singers (#9, Aug)

848 65 ALMOST PERSUADED David Houston (#24, Oct)

844 66 IF I WERE A CARPENTER Bobby Darin (#8, Nov)

839 67 DON'T MESS WITH BILL The Marvelettes (#7, Feb)

836 68 CHERRY CHERRY Neil Diamond (#6, Oct)

835 69 WORKING IN THE COAL MINE Lee Dorsey (#8, Sept)

834 70 MESSAGE TO MICHAEL Dionne Warwick (#8, May)

832 71 LOVE IS A HURTIN' THING Lou Rawls (#13, Nov)

832 72 BARBARA ANN The Beach Boys (#2, Jan)

826 73 GLORIA The Shadows Of Knight (#10, May)

825 74 MY WORLD IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU The Supremes (#5, Feb)

819 75 RAINY DAY WOMEN #12 AND 35 Bob Dylan (#2, May)

817 76 GUANTANAMERO The Sandpipers (#9, Sept)

816 77 I'M YOUR PUPPET Bobby and James Purify (#6, Nov)

816 78 LAND OF 1000 DANCES Wilson Pickett (#6, Sept)

815 79 OH HOW HAPPY Shades Of Blue (#12, June)

811 80 WOMAN Peter and Gordon (#14, April)

809 81 YOU BABY The Turtles (#20, March)

807 82 FIVE O'CLOCK WORLD The Vogues (#4, Jan)

806 83 BLACK IS BLACK Los Bravos (#4, Oct)

806 84 NOWHERE MAN The Beatles (#3, March)

802 85 DANDY Herman's Hermits (#5, Nov)

795 *86 YOU KEEP ME HANGIN' ON The Supremes (#1, Nov)

793 87 BABY SCRATCH MY BACK Slim Harpo (#16, March)

792 88 SHE'S JUST MY STYLE Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#3, Jan)

785 89 THE MORE I SEE YOU Chris Montez (#16, June)

785 90 I FOUGHT THE LAW The Bobby Fuller Four (#9, March)

779 91 YELLOW SUBMARINE The Beatles (#2, Sept)

775 92 HUNGRY Paul Revere and the Raiders (#6, July)

775 93 SHAPES OF THINGS The Yardbirds (#11, May)

774 94 ZORBA THE GREEK Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (#11, Feb)

766 95 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) Wilson Pickett (#13, March)

766 96 DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS ON/GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4, Nov)

765 97 WOULDN'T IT BE NICE The Beach Boys (#8, Sept)

761 *98 GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys (#1, Dec)

752 99 THIS OLD HEART OF MINE Isley Brothers (#12, April)

749 100 A WELL RESPECTED MAN The Kinks (#13, Feb)

[briguy52748]

Incidentally, the same issue of Billboard listed Merle Haggard’s “Swinging Doors” as the year’s No. 1 song, before officially going later with “Almost Persuaded,” the nine-week No. 1 hit by David Houston. (Initially, “... Persuaded” was the second-ranked country song of the year.)

Brian

[djjoe1960]

Brian,

Cash Box had Almost Persuaded as their #1 Country Single of 1966 (the song spent 10 weeks at #1 on the Cash Box Country charts--and it placed on the 1966 year end pop chart, as well).

Joe