The American air bases in Vietnam and Thailand often hosted live bands in their respective Officer and Enlisted Clubs. These bands, some made up of servicemen assigned to the bases, but mostly local and country-wide artists, worked very hard to learn and sing the latest American songs. There were some very popular Vietnamese, Thai and Korean bands that played many of the clubs. They did quite well to play and sing so many songs to meet the request demands of so many sober and not so sober club patrons. Those performers that did well were frequently kept over for longer than their original contracts, and they seemed to work even harder to play the songs we liked the most. As an aside, in 1971 at NKP, there was an all-women's band that loved to sing the Tina Turner hit, "Rolling on the River". They had some difficulty with all the 'Rs' in that song, but we enjoyed it anyway. An online search produced several lists of "the most popular" songs of 1966. A couple of the songs were actually recorded or updated in 1967 . . . but they are great songs nonetheless. Below is a selected/consolidated list with links to audio/video tracks of the original performers. Just click the highlighted title and enjoy this nostalgic music from 50 years ago. When the song ends, click the browser Return Arrow or your video player X button, depending on your browser display.
Do You Believe In Magic? - The Lovin' Spoonful
Where Were You When I Needed You? - The Grass Roots
When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
Billy and Sue - B.J. Thomas
I Love You 1,000 Times - The Platters
The Letter - The Box Tops
Spooky - Classics IV
Li'l Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
98.6 - Keith
Ballad of the Green Berets - Barry Sadler
Working in the Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey
Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love) - The Swingin' Medallions
Cool Jerk - The Capitols
Bottle of Wine - Jimmy Gilmer
Barefootin' - Robert Parker
Feelin' Groovy - Simon & Garfunkel
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - Eric Burdon & The Animals
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