Favorite "#" Songs #10 - "96 Tears"
@teamfreak16 (43642)
Denver, Colorado
June 7, 2017 10:05pm CST
It's time to continue celebrating music with yet another countdown. In this case, the theme is "numbers," songs with a number in the title. My only self-imposed rule is that the numbers must be numeric, not spelled out. But that's just me. Feel free to take the idea and run with it. #10 in my Favorite "#" Songs is "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians.
Wanna talk about a successful garage rock tune? "96 Tears" reached #1 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and in Canada. Billboard ranked the song 5th for 1966, the same year it was certified gold.
Written by ? (vocalist Rudy Martinez,) "96 Tears" was originally entitled "Too Many Teardrops," then "69 Tears." (The title was changed in order to have a better chance at getting played on the radio, although Martinez has denied this, expressing a personal affinity for the #96.)
The song has been covered numerous times, notably by Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Ruffin, Thelma Houston, The Modern Lovers, The Stranglers, and Primal Scream.
Nothing is going to top the original, however. It's garage rock at it's finest.
(Info verified by Wikipedia)
From Detroit's 'Swingin' Time', 1966. **Link to 2011 video**: http://www.use.com/2ec36578a05ec9324d28 Racist comments will be deleted.
3 people like this
3 responses
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
8 Jun 17
I always liked this song going back to my childhood.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43642)
• Denver, Colorado
8 Jun 17
You wrote about this awhile ago, didn't you? I thought you would approve.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86778)
• United States
8 Jun 17
I read he changed his name to Question Mark. Oy. Oh, well, the song is terrific. One of the great organ riffs in rock and roll.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43642)
• Denver, Colorado
8 Jun 17
Something for any band that uses an organ to aspire too.
