JANUARY
Top hit
The Sound Of Silence · Simon
Top album
Whipped Cream & Other Delights · Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Studio as instrument
1966
Studios stop being back rooms and start becoming headlines, as psychedelic color creeps in while Motown still delivers flawless pop precision.
Psychedelia Starts Knocking
Studio experimentation stops being a secret and starts becoming the headline — bands treat the mixing desk like an instrument and the single like a canvas. Motown keeps delivering precision pop while San Francisco's underground begins painting with brighter colors and stranger textures. The charts still love a melody, but the margins are filling up with feedback, sitars, and songs that refuse to end where they started.
- psychedelic pop
- Motown
- Beach Boys
- Revolver
- studio experimentation
- The Beach Boys begin the 'Pet Sounds' sessions
- The Beatles release 'Revolver'
- The Supremes dominate with 'You Can't Hurry Love'
- Donovan's 'Sunshine Superman' brings psychedelia to Top 40
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
My Love · Petula Clark
Top album
Rubber Soul · The Beatles
MARCH
Top hit
The Ballad Of The Green Berets · Ssgt Barry Sadler
Top album
Ballads Of The Green Berets · Ssgt Barry Sadler
APRIL
Top hit
The Ballad Of The Green Berets · Ssgt Barry Sadler
Top album
Ballads Of The Green Berets · Ssgt Barry Sadler
MAY
Top hit
Monday, Monday · The Mamas
Top album
—
JUNE
Top hit
When A Man Loves A Woman · Percy Sledge
Top album
—
JULY
Top hit
Strangers In The Night · Frank Sinatra
Top album
Strangers In Night · Frank Sinatra
AUGUST
Top hit
Wild Thing · The Troggs
Top album
Yesterday And Today · The Beatles
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Sunshine Superman · Donovan
Top album
Revolver · The Beatles
OCTOBER
Top hit
Cherish · The Association
Top album
Revolver · The Beatles
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Last Train To Clarksville · The Monkees
Top album
The Monkees · The Monkees
DECEMBER
Top hit
Winchester Cathedral · The New Vaudeville Band
Top album
The Monkees · The Monkees
Voices of the year
- Ssgt Barry Sadler
- The Beatles
- The Righteous Brothers
- The Mamas
- The Lovin' Spoonful
- The Association
