The Shagadelic Tunes of 1965

Dave and Milt hop back into the Past Tens time machine and land in February 1965—a time when the Billboard Top 10 didn’t mess around. This is peak-era stuff: songs you know, artists you trust, and records that somehow still sound better than half the things clogging your algorithm today.

As always, the guys do more than just count them down. They break apart the songs, talk about where they hit in their own musical DNA, and wander into side streets involving movies, memories, and the occasional “how did we get here?” tangent. The chart itself is loaded: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Righteous Brothers, The Kinks—basically a greatest-hits album disguised as a single week in ’65.

Somewhere along the way, a perfectly reasonable discussion turns into a full-blown “sweet” song playdate, because once you open that door, you’re not closing it quietly. The episode wraps with debates about longevity, covers that worked (and didn’t), and the usual Past Tens soul-searching about which songs are truly immortal—and which ones just had a really good run.

Topics 

00:00 – Welcome to Past Tens (set your dials accordingly)
01:17 – Listener Feedback & Shoutouts
04:09 – Time Machine Locked In: February 1965
05:30 – What 1965 Looked Like Outside the Radio
15:55 – Countdown Begins (no wasted notes)

34:06 – Sweet Talkin’ Woman – ELO
39:45 – My Girl – The Temptations (yes, that moment)
48:35 – All Day and All of the Night – The Kinks
57:24 – Love Potion No. 9 – The Searchers
01:06:07 – Hold What You’ve Got – Joe Tex

01:11:31 – This Diamond Ring – Gary Lewis & The Playboys

01:13:21 – The Ed Sullivan Show Question
01:14:02 – Gary Lewis’ Chart Run
01:14:55 – Al Kooper’s Vision for This Diamond Ring
01:16:49 – The Name Game – Shirley Ellis
01:24:12 – Petula Clark Takes Us Downtown
01:30:12 – The Righteous Brothers and That Vocal
01:36:11 – Covers, Substitutions, and Tough Calls
01:38:47 – Final Thoughts, Personal Stories, and Why 1965 Still Wins