1966 Top Ten: Red Rubber Ball (#8)

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April, the Paul Simon month! Yes, Mr. Simon is back again as we celebrate songs that are now 60 years old. You may not know that he co-wrote this song, which is one of the reasons I like doing these things. Here’s today’s song. #8: Red Rubber Ball - The Cyrkle Poor guys couldn’t spell circle right, could they? Actually, that’s John Lennon’s fault. After all, he had trouble spelling beetles. The band, then known as the Rhondells, opened for the Beatles on a US tour, and Beatles manager Brian Epstein became their manager. At Lennon’s suggestion, they took the name The Cyrkle, complete with the misspelling. As for the song, which was The Cyrkle’s biggest hit internationally, Paul Simon wrote it with the Seekers’ Bruce Woodley. He said he wrote it for the money. (Isn’t that why most songwriters write? ) Simon was in England at the time, and not doing the Simon & Garfunkel thing. By 1966, he’d returned to America, was having a number of hits with Art Garfunkel, AND The Cyrkle recorded this song and made it a big hit. It was a good year for Paul Simon! Red Rubber Ball Written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley Recorded by The Cyrkle From Red Rubber Ball, 1966 I bought my ticket with my tears: