The 10 Worst Songs of the 1960s

The 1960s were a great time for popular music. The development of recording technology allowed new sounds, and the decade saw the rise of Motown, the British Invasion, and psychedelia. Major artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones began their recording careers. But as in every other decade of recorded music, there was a ton of terrible records as well.

Other decades’ worst lists on this site have documented the songs that I hated on the radio, I didn’t live through the 1960s and the bad stuff had already been erased from playlists. Therefore this list is mostly comprised of weird novelty songs that somehow cracked the big time in the 1960s. As always, there’s often a fine line between a well-written hook that’s welcome in your head and an infuriating hook that you want to permanently erase.

#10 Young Girl by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap

1968
Gary Puckett was born in the mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota, and ‘Young Girl’ is his most successful recording. ‘Young Girl’ is easily my favourite song on this list from a musical perspective, but its lyrics are a relic of a disturbing past. “And though you know that it’s wrong to be/Alone with me/That come on look is in your eyes” is a particularly abhorrent line. Puckett has some impressive vocal chops, ideal for melodrama, but ideally he’d find other songs than icky underage ballads ‘Young Girl’ and ‘This Girl Is A Woman Now’.


#9 Puppy Love by Paul Anka

1960
The first wave of 1950s rock and rollers disappeared abruptly from view – Elvis joined the army, Buddy Holly perished in a plane crash, and Little Richard switched to gospel music. The early 1960s witnessed important developments like the launch of Motown, but popular music felt a little toothless. Paul Anka’s gormless ‘Puppy Love’ is a case in point – it was later revived by Donny Osmond in the 1970s.


#8 They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! by Napoleon XIV

1965
Record producer Jerry Samuels recorded this novelty single under the pseudonym Napoleon XIV. This odd record with its minimal percussive backing was inspired by the Scottish folk tune ‘The Campbells Are Coming’. The song was pulled from some stations after complaints from mental health professionals, although it still charted at #3. The song’s b-side was simply the original single in reverse, entitled ‘!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT’


#7 Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul & Mary

1963
New York folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary were huge in the early 1960s, helping to launch Bob Dylan’s career with their cover of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ was adapted from a poem written by a fellow student of Peter Yarrow at Cornell University. It was immensely successful but I find its combination of a cheerful singalong chorus and a tragic lyric about a loss of innocence difficult to swallow.


#6 Speedy Gonzales by Pat Boone

1961
Pat Boone’s early musical career consisted of producing safe covers of R&B songs for conservative music fans. It’s tough hearing a well-heeled white man singing about how a Mexican roof is “leakin’ like a strainer” and “there’s loads a roaches in the hall”. While the cartoon that the song was based on was about a mouse, the song is clearly about a Mexican person. Thankfully, this type of casual racism now looks horribly dated.


#5 The Ballad of the Green Berets by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler

1966
It must be tough for conservatives to find pop music to listen to – progressive politics are the norm in rock and roll. Performed by New Mexico soldier, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets’ isn’t quite a pro-war song. Nonetheless, it put a positive spin on the increasingly unpopular Vietnam conflict. Despite Sadler’s uncharismatic vocals, ‘Green Berets’ was astonishingly popular. It topped the singles chart for 5 weeks in the US, while the accompanying album sold 9 million copies.


#4 An Open Letter to My Teenage Son by Victor Lundberg

1967
It’s tempting to think that everyone in the 1960s was enjoying the musical genius of Brian Wilson, John Coltrane, and The Beatles. But somehow this boring yet provocative monstrosity reached the US top ten. It’s a plainspoken dialogue that adds an excerpt from ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ to emphasise its patriotic flavour.

I will remind you that your mother will love you no matter what you do
Because she is a woman
And I love you too, son
But I also love our country and the principles for which we stand
And if you decide to burn your draft card
Then burn your birth certificate at the same time
From that moment on, I have no son!


#3 Honey by Bobby Goldsboro

1968
Florida’s Bobby Goldsboro enjoyed a string of easy-listening country hits in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s difficult to believe in retrospect, but ‘Honey’ was the highest-selling international single of 1968, beating out ‘Hey Jude’. Its melodramatic lyrics and simpering delivery make Neil Diamond look tough in comparison.


#2 Yummy, Yummy, Yummy by Ohio Express

1968
Bubblegum pop became popular toward the end of the 1960s, targeting tweens’ pocket money with irresistible pop confections. ‘Yummy Yummy Yummy’ was one of the first bubblegum pop hits, along with the 1910 Fruitgum Company’s ‘Simon Says’. There’s a memorable tune here and the opening chords were later adapted by The Cars into ‘Just What I Needed’. But Joey Levine’s faux-naive, nasal lead vocal is grating, and the lyrics are irredeemably stupid.


#1 Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp) by Allan Sherman

1963
Chicago song parodist Allan Sherman hit #2 on the Billboard singles chart with this novelty record. It overlaid lyrics onto a famous classical piece – Ponchielli’s ‘Dance of the Hours’ from La Giaconda. Despite its campiness (on multiple levels!) it topped the Cash Box charts. ‘Hello Mudduh, Hello Fudduh’ was based on the actual letters that Sherman received from his son at school camp. It also namechecks a character named Leonard Skinner, inspiring a notable 1970s southern rock band.

Did I miss your most despised 1960s hit?

Read More

82 Comments

  1. Yep, those are bad songs, especially the cringeworthy lyrics of “Young Girl”. But I’ll disagree on “Yummy Yummy Yummy”.

    As for the Lynyrd Skynyrd reference in the number one spot, per Wikipedia:
    “…the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was in part a reference to a character named “Leonard Skinner” in Allan Sherman’s novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” and in part a mocking tribute to P.E. teacher Leonard Skinner at Robert E. Lee High School (which members of the band attended). Skinner was notorious for strictly enforcing the school’s policy against boys having long hair.”

    • I assume it was mostly inspired by the gym teacher? Then just a coincidence it was in the song.

      I would like to hear Yummy Yummy Yummy with a different vocalist.

    • Good choices. Never minded Gary P and the Union Gap. You’re spot on with choices as the Napolean IV song. This POS became a hit again in 1973. Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35” has that same God-Awful Beat. And I like Dylan’s music but detest Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35. Some of my abortions from the 60’s in no particular order: “Winchester Cathedral,” Anything Steve Lawrence especially Go Away Little Girl. Sister Solet (sp) Dominique, Neil Sedaka “Calendar Girl,” Sam the Sham and the Pharo’s “Wooly Bully.” I’d include Hanky Pankey T James and Shondells other hits are fine with me but Hanky Pankey! “Barefootin.” Johnny Horton “North to Alaska,” However Battle of New Orleans is kitschy. This may be blasphemy, but I can’t stand the Beatles Rocky Racoon. The White Album had some amazing stuff but also plenty of sh*t IMHO. Some more baddies Jewel Aikens “The Birds and The Bees,” “Monster Mash.” I sound like a “Karen” but my bottom feeder the worst of the worst of the 1960’s? Wait For It… “Pass Me By” by Peggy Lee. Peggy Lee had singing chops, but her songs were, are and will always be hurl inducing! Its so bad it’s kitschy good, Roger Miller’s King of The Road and Dagney.

      • Peggy Lee’s ‘Rocking Around The Christmas Tree’ hit #1 in New Zealand (where I live) recently.

        You’re not the first person to suggest ‘Hanky Panky’ – certainly disappointing from a band capable of Crimson and Clover.

        • It’s BRENDA Lee, not Peggy Lee. And that’s one of the greatest records of all time!!!! And most popular!! And are u crazy?? So is Hanky Panky. It should have been on Nuggets and it would have been the best fucking thing on there!!! My God!!!

          • Oops, I’ve obviously always got those two confused, even though ‘Fever’ and ‘Rocking around the Christmas Tree’ obviously have a different vocalist.

            Just learned that Peggy Lee is 4 foot 9 – pretty short. Brenda Lee was 9 inches taller… So that’s another difference.

          • I think it’s the other way around. Cuz Brenda Lee was known for being small and I have no idea how tall Peggy Lee was. She kind of looked average size standing next to all those jazz guys.

          • Oops, I still can’t get them straight. At least I can tell Steely Dan and Steeleye Span apart!

          • Yeah before I knew who either one of them really were those two names used to confuse me. Eventually I found out where the name Steely Dan came from, but I never found out what Steeleye Span means.

          • ““[Martin Carthy] had suggested the name Steeleye Span to Tim [Hart] late one evening while staying at Tim’s family home, The Vicarage in St. Albans. The name comes from a Lincolnshire ballad called Horkstow Grange and is a story of an argument between John Bowlin and Jon Span, whose nickname was Steeleye.””

            https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/name.html

  2. That’s a perfect list. How can a reasonable person quarrel with the inclusion of any of these awful “songs”? I disliked Gary Puckett’s music with a passion. He was one of those white bread American artists of the 60s who deserved to be totally displaced by the British Invasion. He wasn’t! In retrospect, it’s not a bad song, except for the unacceptable lyrics.

    • Young Girl is easily my favourite musically, but even as a pre-teen I found those lyrics pretty disturbing. The past is a foreign country.

  3. Well here’s a list I cannot stay away from. Some thoughts:

    -I actually liked Gary Puckett quite a bit. I can see that that song is…. questionable. But back then there were way too many “I dig young girls” songs. Hell, the Stones have one called “Stray Cat Blues.” A then 25-year-old Jagger sings creepily about a 16-year-old groupie.
    -We loved “They’re coming to take me away.” Everybody knew it was stupid but we loved it anyway.
    -I disagree on “Puff.” I wasn’t a particularly big fan of that group but I found that song kind of poignant in its way.
    -Those “open letter” and Green Beret and all those ‘proud to be an American’ songs were the right-wing reaction to hippies and the anti-war movement. Those people are still with us in another from. Dismissible nonsense. ‘
    -I can get under my wife’s skin in three seconds by singing ‘Honey.’ It’s a coin toss between that and ‘Sometimes When We Touch’ which one she hates more. I’ll go with ‘Sometimes’ which is, as always, the one to beat.
    ‘Yummy, Yummy, Yummy is what I was thinking of when discussing bubble gum with one of your followers. That and ‘Sugar, Sugar.’ Execrable garbage.
    ‘I love ‘Hello Muddah.’ The lyrics are great and I quote them all the time. There was a camp around here this summer – I think in New Hampshire – that was so ‘Camp Grenada’ they had to cancel it six days in and send the kids home. They quoted this song.

    • There’s probably a good/bad list about inappropriate underage songs.

      I think part of my dislike of Puff and Hello Muddah is having to sing them at school. We also sang Under The Bridge and Blaze of Glory, so a weird potpourri of stuff. Puff is just so depressing.

      • You had to song them at school??? What the hell kind of a school is that? See, I view Puff as more if a “life is not forever” lesson. I suppose that is kinda sad. But then… Bambi.

  4. I agree on all counts! The Gary Puckett song was one we played a lot and got requests for, but it always got on my nerves. The studio speaker volume was always down all the way when I played it.

  5. “They’re Coming to Take Me Away ” and “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadah” got a lot of airplay on the popular 70s radio programme, The Dr. Demento Show. I found both of those songs amusing but never took them seriously.

  6. Most of these are pretty bad but they’re mostly novelty records, which were never really meant to be good music. I think Honey is an okay tear-jerker, and I like the Gary Puckett.. I think the only way you can find the lyrics disturbing is if you believe that a teenager would never initiate sex. Or that a woman would never initiate sex. Which of course is ridiculous. And Puppy Love is kind of okay for a pre-teen type song. It has a nice melody. And the Green Beret song is really no worse and no sillier than the anti-war songs of the time, which were pretty bad. It’s weird because I just heard yummy yummy today and noticed just like you how terrible the singing and the song are, and how at odds it was with the wild garage type guitars playing in the background. Seems like two completely different records playing at the same time. I never noticed that before. It was so weird.

  7. The 1970s and 2000s have infinitely many more awful songs in my opinion, and I can’t think of very many from the 1960s that I truly loathe. That said, your picks for #s 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 are pretty horrific.

    “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” was a humorous – and harmless – novelty song, but I can see how having to sing it at school (which I find very odd for New Zealand in the 80s) would make you hate it. “Puff the Magic Dragon” is a sweet song of its time. And though sappy as hell, “Honey” never bothered me much, however, one of my long-time best friends considers it her all-time most hated song.

  8. Young Girl has creepy lyrics but like the melody. I am shocked by #4’s lyrics. I hate #1 on your list. Songs you missed that should have made the list: “Seasons in the Sun” (worst song EVER) and it really shouldn’t be listed as it was released in 1970, but “American Woman” by The Guess Who is one I have despised for a long time. I hope those guys never got another piece of American tail for as long as they lived.

    Graham… I noticed that you created a playlist of your songs. Just asking, but could you do the same with Hanspostcard draft songs for each round???? I know it’s presumptuous to ask, but…. 🙂

    • Seasons in the Sun wasn’t really a big hit until 1974. My 1970s list was more hits that I hated, but I could go back and make a novelty record list sometime I guess.

      • Graham, I wanted to see if you were amenable to it before thinking further ahead. If you’re willing to do it, I’ll email Hans with you on cc and see what he thinks. My thought would be when he does a rounds recap he could include it there. What do you think?

  9. This is a lot of fun Graham. The only one you have that I cannot agree with is Puff the Magic Dragon…I should not admit this on a public forum but the damn song almost makes me cry…but I still love it. That might be the only song that does that to me. The rest of the songs I agree somewhat…they are pretty bad.

    Young Girl never bothered me although I just don’t like the song…it sounds like she tried to trick him into thinking she was older…and now he is saying get away…compare that to Mick’s Stray Cat Blues and it’s a nursery rhyme. Of course the difference is Stray Cat Blues is not burning up the radio.

    My number 1 most hated song of the sixties…no… of all time is a song by a band called The Fireballs in 1962. The name of this monstrosity is…”Sugar Shack.” It makes me cringe because it’s so damn corny and embarrassing. My mental version of hell is this song playing 24/7. I may be the only person who thinks it’s that bad…but Seasons in the Sun is Stairway to Heaven compared to Sugar Shack.

  10. This list absolutely stinks. Well done. I’d never heard of Open Letter before. Horrendous. But then again I am a bleeding heart liberal limey. I can think of a few deserving entries but I’d struggle to find worse than this decimal unit of degradation

    • That’s a lovely compliment, thank you! I think most music bloggers are probably bleeding heart liberals? Open to new music probably equates with open to progress politically.

  11. I love Young Girl. I loved it when I first heard it at nine years old and still love it. Puckett’s voice is great on it. The lyrics have never bothered me.

    I seriously cannot listen to either Puff The Magic Dragon or Honey because they make me cry floods of tears – for real. Crazy that songs should do that but they just do. They upset me as a kid and they still have that effect.

      • Somewhere, I don’t know where, way back in time, I read a similar tale to the one of Puff, but in this one the little boy grows up and eventually returns with his own small son, whose child’s imagination then brings Puff back to his former vitality again. I prefer that ending!

    • I listened to Honey again and it’s really a great song. The way it’s written is elliptical, where the ending is the same as the beginning and it has the effect of making it seem like the guy’s sorrow is just endless and circular and goes on and on. It’s fantastic.

  12. haha, good one. I recognised some of those songs. did not realize they’re coming to take me away was that old. a bad song nonetheless.

  13. Can’t argue with any of these, except maybe “Puff,” which was a staple of early childhood, and we were much too young to understand the “lost innocence” theme. We just liked the dragon imagery and gently melody. All the others are reprehensible, especially the pro-Vietnam War songs.

    Side note: The Ohio Express and “Yummy Yummy Yummy” have a convoluted history. I was neighbors with one of the band members, however none of them either sang or played on the actual song. They were merely hired to promote it, after it was already recorded.

    • Also, I agree with others about “Young Girl.” The melody is pretty catchy, and Puckett’s deep voice has some appeal, but the lyrics are dumb and somewhat disturbing.

    • Yeah, I think that kind of thing happened a bit back then? Before MTV people didn’t really know what band members looked like, I guess?

      • Yep. The most famous example is with The Monkees, who didn’t play instruments on their first two albums. But at least they sang the songs. The members of “The Ohio Express” didn’t even retain their original name. They were actually a group called “Sir Timothy and the Royals.” Talk about a shameless sellout!

  14. Yes, that’s a good description, I know exactly what you mean.

    Also, as Badfinger mentioned, I think, Puckett gets all moral and spurns the Lolita’s advances, so all is above board!

  15. Wow number 4 is an absolute howler – having not long watched Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War though I’m not surprised stuff like this existed.
    I’ll always associate “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” with one of the few scenes in The Simpsons that makes me chuckle just for the pure absurdity of it

    • I like the words of Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, but it still feels like despoiling a lovely classical piece.

  16. Gotta tell you, Ohio Express was great. Yummy… and Chewy…. were memorable, fun, stupid songs. Kind of like Sugar Sugar, Snoopy and the Red Baron and Surfing Bird.

    Gary Puckett sang what everyone else thought. Tell me Led Zeppelin or The Beach Boys were not also a little prurient.

    A truly awful piece of dreck: I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher.

      • Trust me, you are not missing anything. Song with that stereotypical “tribal howling and drumbeat” were like nails on the blackboard. Running Bear was another hurl inducer by Johnny Preston. Itsy Bitsy and Ally Oop were also shite to me. Going out on a limb but the Fugs were ahead of their time and had great music with the exception of their mentally challenged “Boobs A Lot.” The early 60’s (my definition) up till November 22, 1963, were basically a holdover sound from the 50’s so hence all those novelty songs.

  17. I was on a music site once and they said the Fireballs hated it, too. They had actually recorded a stripped down and much better version of the song that was good and they liked it that way. I think their producer sweetened it up and added that recorder part after in the studio. The band was furious when they heard the new version and said he’d ruined their song. After it came out and was the biggest hit of the year in 1962, I think, they relented and said it was ok,, but they were ticked that their original and much better cut got ruined. ?

  18. Too many people are upset over “Young Girl”. Lots of songs refer to “girls”; I think it is more of a euphemism than creepy reference to underage relationships.

  19. The funny thing is that the only people who find Speedy Gonzales offensive (the character and the song) are YOUR gringos,we the latins love BOTH.Always.

  20. Though it wasn’t a big hit how could I forget the Serendipity Singers: “Beans In My Ears?” A follow up non hit to the Crooked Little Man Don’t Let The Rain Come Down folk hit.

  21. Brenda Lee was sort of country with I’M Sorry and Sweet Nothins. I liked both. How could I forget another turd. Now many got into the Lovin Spoon Full, yours truly never did. Their ultimate worst? “Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind.” Smarmy tune. Overplayed. And John Sebastion’s big monster hit the Theme from “Welcome Back Cotter.” John Sebastion is one of those popular singers I despise along with Kenny Loggins. JMHO!

Leave a Reply to 1537Cancel reply

About

Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.

Default image
Aphoristical View Profile
Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.

Review Pages

Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:

Blog Posts

I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections: