(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
? & the Mysterians - "96 Tears"
Hit Number 1: October 29, 1966
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
These guys were not your ordinary band, mostly because of their front man. The Mysterians were led by a guy who called himself "Question Mark", and he's quite the eccentric figure. He's said before that he believes he once walked on the world with dinosaurs in a previous life, and that his soul originated from Mars. His name is widely believed to be Rudy Martinez, as he is the brother of Mysterians' member Robert Martinez, but there has never been a source to confirm this. We, the public, don't know for certain what Question Mark's real name is, even after all these years. There are also no known videos or photographs of Question Mark without his trademark sunglasses. But I think it was because of Question Mark's bizarre nature, and his dancing abilities, that helped him and the Mysterians yield their first and only #1 hit in "96 Tears".
"96 Tears" was written by Question Mark in 1962, in his manager's living room. Some stories claim that Question Mark first wrote the song with the title "Too Many Teardrops", then changing it to "69 Tears", but then changing it to "96 Tears", for fear that radio stations wouldn't play a song with the number 69 in it. However, Question Mark denies that that ever happened, and he's said that the number 96 has a big philosophical meaning to him, whatever that means. In 1966, the group was set to record another song called "Midnight Hour", but Question Mark insisted that "96 Tears" be the A-Side over it. It was settled, and "96 Tears" ended up being the A-Side of the group's new single, with "Midnight Hour" being the B-Side. Question Mark probably scared the group into going with "96 Tears" as the A-Side. Either way, it worked out for them in the end.
The song is listed as being "garage rock" mixed with "psychedelia", but it doesn't have that garage rock "sound" to it in my opinion. The song's most prominent feature is the escalating organ bleeping all throughout, which sounds more psychedelic than anything else. That's the kind of thing that will become very popular in the late 1960s, and "96 Tears" is the first instance of this being used in psychedelic rock. The song's lyrics are dry and cold, but also pretty confusing. At one point in the song, two lovers are separated, with the narrator crying "too may teardrops". He compares their relationship to a mountain or a hill, with the girl being "way on top" at the start. He tells her to watch out, and that he's "gonna get there", where they'll be together. The narrator seems to think in this hill metaphor he's using, that he'll soon be the one on top, but yet he still says he'll be crying. But then at the end, he seems to mock the girl, saying "You're gonna cry 96 tears!" Question Mark sounds excited about the girl crying "96 tears", even though he just said he's crying too. I can't wrap my head around what exactly is going on in this song, but I guess that's what makes it psychedelic. We're not supposed to be able to understand these kinds of songs.
And maybe that's part of why "96 Tears" works. The mixture of those organ bleeps, Question Mark's hyped up vocals, and the knowing of his eccentric personality, make "96 Tears" the sort of mysterious, confusing, yet addicting piece of music that I kinda like. While I wouldn't label this as "garage rock", it has the mind numbing, shameless attire that a lot of garage rock has, and that's what makes "96 Tears" good. And it's different. The organ riffs in "96 Tears" started a new wave of psychedelic rock that we hadn't heard yet. But once it arrives, it'll be pretty hard to escape it.
GRADE: 8/10
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