4 Top 40 Hits From 1966 That Every Baby Boomer Can Still Sing by Heart

A good song sticks with you for a day or two. A great song sticks with you for life. For baby boomers who watched as some of the most influential, iconic pop tracks came into the mainstream in real time, they have no small shortage of songs they can still sing by heart decades later—including these Top 40 hits from 1966.

“California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & The Papas

One of the best parts about singing along to The Mamas & The Papas is the ability to pick which part you want to sing that day. The vocal group’s 1966 hit “California Dreamin’” came to define the late 1960s pop sound, combining airtight harmonies with interesting chord progressions and bittersweet, somewhat rebellious lyrics. (Folks weren’t really singing about “pretending to pray” back in the mid-60s.) Most baby boomers can still sing this Top 40 tune by heart, even if they’re singing the backup echo of the lyrics.

“These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” by Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra was in desperate need of a hit when Lee Hazlewood showed her his song, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”. Hazlewood didn’t want to give up the track initially, but Sinatra convinced him that the song would sound better coming from a woman. The rest of the world agreed, and the song became a massive, career-defining hit for the daughter of the blue-eyed crooner, Frank Sinatra. Even decades later, baby boomers can still sing this 1966 track like it just appeared on the Billboard Top 40 yesterday.

“Wild Thing” by The Troggs

Sometimes the simplest choruses are the most memorable, and that certainly seems to be true for The Troggs’ “Wild Thing”. The Wild Ones were the first to record this track in 1965. But it was The Troggs’ version the following year that became a smash hit. The lyrics are straightforward and repetitive, making it an easy one to sing years later. Ask any baby boomer to finish the line “wild thing,” and most will be able to reply without missing a beat, “You make my heart sing.”

“Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles

While diehard Beatles fans might not pick “Yellow Submarine” as their top Fab Four track from 1966, most baby boomers—Beatles fans or not—know enough of this Top 40 hit to sing along to the chorus. It’s a distinctly “Beatles” tune, like “Octopus’s Garden” and “Come Together”. Nonsensical in just the right ways, fantastical, and psychedelic, this once-melancholy tune travels deep into the brain like a, well, submarine.

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