Picture Britain in the first week of August 1966, because there has rarely been a giddier one. Seven days earlier, Bobby Moore had climbed the Wembley steps and lifted the Jules Rimet trophy — England, champions of the world, four goals to two — and the bunting was still up and down the country. The very day before this chart, Friday 5 August, the Beatles had walked their new long-player Revolver into the record shops, along with the “Yellow Submarine” / “Eleanor Rigby” single, and pop was quietly turning a corner nobody could quite name yet. Out on the North Sea the pirate stations — Radio London, Radio Caroline — were blasting this music at a transistor-radio nation in the last, gilded summer before the law came for them. It was hot, it was loud, and the wireless had never felt more alive.
And the chart caught all of it. Sitting proudly on top this week is a brand-new number one: the Troggs’ “With A Girl Like You,” those four lads from Andover climbing 3–2–1 to knock Chris Farlowe’s Jagger-and-Richards-penned “Out Of Time” off the summit after a single week’s reign. Elvis and Dave Berry are on the rise, the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” and Frank Sinatra are drifting back down after their turns at the top, and Bob Dylan and Alan Price both barge fresh into the Twenty. But the record to watch is the one making the biggest leap of anything on the chart — the Beach Boys’ aching “God Only Knows,” up a remarkable eighteen places from thirty-four to sixteen, and clearly not finished yet. Twenty records, one glorious summer — here’s the countdown.
Tracklist
- Frank Sinatra — Strangers In The Night — Strangers In The Night (Expanded Edition)
- The Hollies — Bus Stop — The Air That I Breathe - The Very Best of the Hollies
- Bob Dylan — I Want You — Blonde On Blonde
- Alan Price Set — Hi Lili Hi Lo — 60s Rare Hits
- The Beach Boys — God Only Knows — Pet Sounds (Original Mono & Stereo Mix)
- Cliff Richard — Visions — Finders Keepers
- Gene Pitney — Nobody Needs Your Love — Very Best of Gene Pitney (Remastered)
- The Walker Brothers — (Baby) You Don't Have To Tell Me — No Regrets - The Best Of Scott Walker & The Walker Brothers 1965 - 1976
- The Lovin' Spoonful — Summer in the City — Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful
- Ike & Tina Turner — River Deep - Mountain High — River Deep-Mountain High
- Dusty Springfield — Goin' Back — The Silver Collection
- The Kinks — Sunny Afternoon — Face to Face (Deluxe)
- Petula Clark — I Couldn't Live Without Your Love — The Ultimate Petula Clark
- Dave Berry — Mama — This Special Sound Of Dave Berry
- Elvis Presley — Love Letters — The 50 Greatest Hits
- Georgie Fame, The Blue Flames — Getaway — 20 Beat Classics
- Chris Montez — The More I See You — Call Me - The A&M Years
- LOS BRAVOS — Black Is Black
- Chris Farlowe — Out Of Time - Original (Original Mono) — Chris Farlowe's Yesterday's Papers
- The Troggs — With A Girl Like You — Greatest Hits
