Last updated 5/4/2020
Songs 1-20 are located here.
Songs 41-65 are located here.
The Extra Songs are located here.
Week 24
The biggest hit ever for Dave Clark peaked at #1 on 12/25/65. Merry Christmas!
The song was written by Bobby Day, and was the B-side of his 1958 #2 hit “Rockin’ Robin” (which he did not write).
This is a mono recording. Unlike other DC5 stereo that has been posted, there is no true stereo version of this record.
#21 – “Over And Over” by The Dave Clark Five
Week 23
Finally, The Beatles. The first of four hits on the list peaked at #1 on 5/22/65.
It was their third of six straight #1 records.
This is the 2015 stereo remix.
#22 – “Ticket To Ride” by The Beatles
The fourth of five Hermits records on the list peaked at #1 on 8/7/65.
“I’m Henery The Eighth, I Am” is an old British music hall song, first recorded in 1911 by Harry Champion.
The Hermits’ version is just the song’s chorus repeated, because the group members didn’t know the lyrics to the verses.
This is the recent stereo mix.
#23 – “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits
Week 22
The only Top 40 hit by Wayne Fontana peaked at #1 on 4/24/65.
The Mindbenders reached #2 without Fontana the following year.
Fontana was coincidentally also the name of their record label, though Wayne had actually taken his stage name from Elvis Presley’s drummer, D.J. Fontana.
This is a rare stereo mix.
#24 – “Game Of Love” by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders
The first of three records on the list by The Supremes peaked at #1 on 6/12/65.
This was the last of five consecutive #1 records for the group.
This is the stereo mix, from a high-resolution digital download.
#25 – “Back In My Arms Again” by The Supremes
Week 21
The only Top 10 hit by The Toys peaked at #2 on 10/30/65, 11/6/65, and 11/13/65.
Songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell based the melody on the familiar “Minuet in G major,” changing it from 3/4 time to 4/4.
Although it has long been attributed to J.S. Bach, the Minuet is now believed to have been written by Christian Petzold.
This is a mono recording.
#26 – “A Lover’s Concerto” by The Toys
The first and biggest hit for Domingo Samudio peaked at #2 on 6/5/65 and 6/12/65.
“Wooly Bully” was the name of Sam’s cat.
The record stayed on the Hot 100 for 18 weeks, the most weeks for any record in 1965.
This is the stereo mix.
#27 – “Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs
Week 20
The third of five records by Herman’s Hermits peaked at #2 on 3/27/65 and 4/3/65.
Weird fact: the group name came from a supposed resemblance between lead singer Peter Noone and the character Sherman from the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV cartoon show. Sherman was shortened to Herman, which then became Herman and his Hermits, which was soon shortened to Herman’s Hermits.
This is the recent stereo mix.
#28 – “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” by Herman’s Hermits
The biggest hit of Bob Dylan’s career peaked at #2 on 9/4/65 and 9/11/65.
At 6:00, this is the only record on the list over four minutes long.
Things that probably nobody would have predicted about Dylan in 1965: 1) he would win the Nobel Prize in Literature; 2) he would win a songwriting Oscar; 3) he would appear in TV commercials for IBM, Cadillac, Pepsi, and other companies; 4) he would still be recording and touring in 2017; 5) at that time he would record two albums of standards, then follow those up with a triple album (scheduled for release on 3/31/17).
This is the stereo mix, from a high-resolution digital download.
#29 – “Like A Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan
Week 19
The only Top 30 hit by Roy Head peaked at #2 on 10/16/65 and 10/23/65.
Roy and the Traits made the Hot 100 six times. Roy then became a country artist in 1974 and had 24 Country Top 100 records over the next ten years.
This is the stereo mix.
#30 – “Treat Her Right” by Roy Head and the Traits
The third of four records by Gary Lewis peaked at #2 on 5/8/65 and 5/15/65.
The song was written by studio musician Glen Hardin, a piano player who was in Elvis Presley’s band in the Seventies and who worked with many other artists.
This is the stereo mix.
#31 – “Count Me In” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Week 18
Len Barry’s only Top 20 solo hit peaked at #2 on 11/20/65.
Len had been the lead singer of The Dovells, who had two Top 3 hits with “Bristol Stomp” and “You Can’t Sit Down.”
This is the stereo mix.
#32 – “1-2-3” by Len Barry
The second of four Gary Lewis records peaked at #2 on 8/21/65.
The group’s first three Top 40 hits, all in 1965, ended up being their three biggest hits.
This is the stereo mix.
#33 – “Save Your Heart For Me” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Week 17
The biggest Hot 100 hit by James Brown peaked at #3 on 12/18/65, 12/25/65, and 1/1/66.
Despite his enormous success on the Billboard R&B/Soul charts (58 Top 10 hits and 16 #1 records!), “the hardest-working man in show business” only made the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart seven times in 28 years. Two of them came in 1965.
His only Top 10 pop hit after 1968 was “Living In America” from the movie Rocky IV in 1986.
This is a mono recording.
#34 – “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown
The only Top 40 record by Jewel Akens peaked at #3 on 3/20/65 and 3/27/65.
Akens continued to perform for many years, but never had another hit.
This is the stereo mix.
#35 – “The Birds And The Bees” by Jewel Akens
Week 16
The only Top 10 hit by The Searchers peaked at #3 on 1/16/65 and 1/23/65.
The original 1959 recording by The Clovers peaked at #23.
This is the stereo mix.
#36 – “Love Potion Number Nine” by The Searchers
The biggest of three Top 10 hits by Shirley Ellis peaked at #3 on 1/30/65 and 2/6/65.
Shirley wrote the song with her manager, Lincoln Chase. It is based on a game that she played as a child.
This is the stereo mix.
#37 – “The Name Game” by Shirley Ellis
Week 15
The second Top 10 record by Tom Jones peaked at #3 on 7/31/65 and 8/7/65.
Despite all the success that Burt Bacharach and Hal David were having at this time, this is the only one of their songs on the list.
Most reissues of this song leave out the 13-second introduction that ends with the sound of breaking glass.
This is the stereo mix with the intro, which is probably the way it was heard as the title song of the Woody Allen movie.
#38 – “What’s New Pussycat?” by Tom Jones
The first of two records by The Beach Boys peaked at #3 on 8/28/65 and 9/4/65.
Twenty years later, David Lee Roth also reached #3 with this song. Beach Boy Carl Wilson sang backup on that record.
This is the stereo mix.
#39 – “California Girls” by The Beach Boys
Week 14
The only Top 10 hit of the year by The 4 Seasons peaked at #3 on 12/11/65.
When I saw Frankie Valli perform at an IBM conference in the early 1980s, this was the closing number.
This is the rare stereo mix, which was used on the original stereo LPs. CD reissues all use the mono mix.
#40 – “Let’s Hang On!” by The 4 Seasons