6 of the 60s: 1/15/14 (1965)...

Hey gang, it's hump-day 60s flashback time, and this week I'm back to 1965, the year President Lyndon B Johnson gave his State of the Union address introducing the concept of "The Great Society" civil programs to aid poverty and racial justice.

Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs - "Wooly Bully"
from the album Wooly Bully (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2
Songwriter: Domingo Samudio

It's kind of a sign of the times that the Mexican-American band masqueraded as Arabs for the pop market. This became Billboard's top song of the year even though it never went to #1, something not repeated until 2000.

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The Kingsmen - "Jolly Green Giant"
from the album The Kingsmen Volume 3 (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4
Songwriter: Lynn Easton

The Portland garage-rock band co-opted the famous processed vegetable brand for their second top-ten hit after "Louie Louie"...

Roger Miller - "England Swings"
from the album Golden Hits (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8
Songwriter: Roger Miller

The comical country singer gave that format a tour of the Queen's city with this simple little ditty.

Shirley Ellis - "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)"
from the single (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8
Songwriter: Lincoln Chase

This record borrowed lyrics from a 1930's tune to give the soul singer another instructional hit after "The Name Game"...

"Little" Jimmy Dickens - "May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose"
from the album May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15
Songwriter: Neal Merritt

The subject of Dickens' #1 country hit's insult is the singer himself, after stiffing out a series of people.

Buck Owens - "I've Got A Tiger By The Tail"
from the album I've Got A Tiger By The Tail (1965)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25
Songwriters: Harlan Howard, Buck Owens

The songwriters were "driven" to write this country classic by passing an Esso gas station, where "Put a Tiger In Your Tank" was the ad tagline...

Tomorrow I'll bring you 7 more from 1975 and 8 from 1985...