The Best 40 Singles of 1966
Music is a time machine. A song (or even the sound of a part of a song) can transport you back in so many ways. There are songs that are entangled with memories you never think about until that certain song plays and you're 16 again, feeling the summer or remembering old friends. The 90s did that for me - a million songs provoking a million memories specific to each song. The 60s holds no such experiences, so judging the music of that decade is much more of an objective exercise than if my formative memories were meshed in the opening chords of a Manfred Mann song. It strikes me that 1966 was the year music started to rely more on visuals to support the music. Pop promos were becoming more glossy and choreographed which in turn, helped to prop up some mediocre songs. Take Nancy Sinatra's 'These Boots Were Made for Walking' - a plodding dirge with no discernible tune turned into something iconic by its colourful promo featuring women tiptoeing around in what can only be...