If you lived through the '60s, you're intimately familiar with The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and, of course, The Beatles. But what about groups like Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, The Left Banke, and The Marcels? Even though you may not know them by name, those artists—and the rest of the groups on this list—achieved major success in the '60s. Their hits had people shakin' on dance floors back then, and they still get toes tapping today. So, without further ado, from Motown to folk to the British invasion, here are 25 huge bands from the '60s that you totally forgot existed.
1 | The Marcels
ALAMYEven in an era when being unique was the name of the game in the music business, the Marcels stood out from other groups. Racially diverse and trained on 50s doo-wop, the Pittsburgh-based band hit with a decidedly not-of-the times take on "Blue Moon"—a song previously covered by, among others, Elvis Presley—which went No. 1 in 1961.
2 | The Amboy Dukes
Mainstream RecordsFew would call Ted Nugent a hippy—he is a pro-gun hunting enthusiast who has said no to drugs and alcohol his entire life, after all. But the Nuge first found success as the lead guitarist in this Detroit-based psychedelic band all the same. Though maybe not a household name, Nugent remained proud of his work with band—whose second studio album, Journey to the Center of Your Mind, had some chart success in 1968—and had this to say at a 2009 reunion: "Everyone knows The Amboy Dukes are the ultimate garage band on the planet Earth."
3 | Manfred Mann
ALAMYManfred Mann was an English blues rock band named after their keyboardist. The London-based group had a string of hits in the 1960s, including three that went No. 1 on the U.K. charts—1964's "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," 1966's "Pretty Flamingo," and 1968's "The Mighty Quinn," which was penned by Bob Dylan.
4 | The Archies
RCA RecordsYes, those Archies. The ones in the comic books, the cartoons, and then, in 1969, the band, whose sticky sweet hit “Sugar, Sugar,” is the defining tune of the bubble gum pop genre. The song topped the charts in the U.S. and around the world, making the Archies the first fictitious band to hit No. 1, and the only group to do so without ever performing live, according to NPR. Like so many '60s acts, however, their bright-as-Technicolor success began to dim in the '70s, and when they resurfaced decades later with a Christmas album, it failed to chart.
5 | Procol Harum
ALAMYWe’d never heard of them either. But we’ve certainly heard "Whiter Shade of Pale," one of only a handful of singles to sell 10 million copies. Five decades and many incarnations later, Procol Harum is still touring.
6 | The Left Banke
ALAMYWhat’s a '60s list without a band from the Baroque—where rock meets classical—section of the record store. The New York band charted early with songs like "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina" before disbanding in 1969.
7 | Barry Sadler
ALAMYThough not technically a "band," Sergeant Barry Sadler is too enigmatic an artist not to mention on this list. A decorated Army and Air Force veteran, his "Ballad of the Green Berets" was a tribute to his fellow Special Forces fighters at the peak of the peace craze. The song hit No. 1 while he was still enlisted, and would sell some 9 million copies. Stranger still was Sadler's post-military and music career: a pulp-novelist in Guatemala.
8 | Paul Revere & The Raiders
ALAMYCould an organ-based band from Idaho performing in Revolutionary War-era garb really be a chart-topping juggernaut? Well, yes. With four top 10 hits, including "Good Thing," which was prominently featured in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the Raiders could be found strutting their period-specific threads everywhere from Dick Clark to the Batman series.
9 | Herman’s Hermits
ALAMYWith seven albums, three films, and two No. 1 Billboard hits—"Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"—Herman’s Hermits was quintessentially '60s. Led by former soap-opera actor Peter Noone, the Manchester, England-born rock quartet who, on the heels of of Beatlemania, made a big splash on the American charts as part of the British Invasion. And while they've drifted into relative obscurity when you consider the other bands in that group—The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks, to name a few—the Herman's are actually still around, and touring! The proof’s in their vintage website.
10 | The Youngbloods
ALAMYMany a '50s coffee house act withered and died in the next decade, but this folk-rooted rock trio came into their own, first as house band at New York's Café Au Go Go, then as a mainstream act with the Billboard hit, “Get Together.”
11 | The Hollies
ALAMYGraham Nash was still a skiffle-obsessed schoolboy when he formed the first incarnation of this five-piece singing group that made serious waves on the charts in the '60s and '70s with their harmonies and synchronized outfits. Nash set sail for America by the decade's end to form Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, who were just as successful musically, sans the wardrobes.
12 | The Fireballs
ALAMYTheir sound and name owe a lot to "the Killer" himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, but the The Fireballs had less staying power. A pure '60s act, the band's song "Sugar Shack" went No. 1 in 1963, but they wouldn't crack the top 10 again until 1967's "Bottle of Wine," which peaked at No. 9 on the U.S. charts. A year later, with both songs still on hit rotation, the Fireballs were no longer burning.
13 | The Kingsmen
ALAMYYou may not recall this ever-gigging party band by name, but you certainly know their indiscernible, yet ever-listenable smash hit, "Louie Louie"—a Richard [not Chuck] Berry cover. After hitting the airwaves in 1963, the song, which is required learning material for every garage rock band, maintains a presence on classic rock and oldies radio stations still to this day.
14 | The Seekers
ALAMYThis Aussie folk quartet sounded more like an odd '50s aftermath than a '60s mega-band, but their unlikely rendition of their homeland’s ballad "Waltzing Matilda" helped cement them as a giant band of the era that would eventually sell 50 million records.
15 | The Searchers
ALAMYAnother massively successful band you’ve heard, but not heard of, the Searchers rose from Liverpool’s skiffle ashes and helped lead the British invasion with hits like "Hippie Hippie Shake" and "Love Potion #9." A 2019 tour finally retired the band, which lives on, somewhat, via Facebook.
16 | The Shadows
ALAMYThe group more known as the backing band to Cliff Richards—England's answer to Elvis—were successful in their own right, charting four No 1. EPs. Their instrumental single "Apache" spent 5 weeks at No.1 and had bedroom guitarists around the world trying to master their surf-rock licks.
17 | Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
ALAMYFrontman Domingo Samundo’s costume act would never fly today, yet the band's biggest hit still plays. "Wooly Bully" spent 18 weeks on the Billboard 100, and today is as synonymous with classic good-time garage rock as another party hit on this list.
18 | The Chambers Brothers
ALAMYWant proof of how sonically eclectic the '60s were? Look no further than this psychedelic soul band from Mississippi and their 11-minute instrumental of "Time Has Come Today," the single version of which hit #11 on the Billboard 100.
19 | Jan & Dean
ALAMYJan and Dean were two beach boys from Los Angeles, whose surf and doo-wop-driven hits—including "Dead Man's Curve" and the No.1 "Surf City" 26 in 8 years—made them as essential to that genre as, well, the actual Beach Boys.
20 | The Fifth Dimension
ALAMYA true amalgam of all things '60s, and some things not, this California combo combined soul, funk, rock, Motown, show-tunes, rock, and anything else that it felt like adding into the mix. In 1969, The Fifth Dimension released "Aquarius," the No.1 single that would become the signature song for the wildly popular counter-culture musical Hair.
21 | Dave Clark Five
ALAMYWhile not known as the quintessential British invasion group, the Dave Clark Five appeared 18 times on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and sold 100 million. Oh, and their No.1 single, “Glad All Over,” knocked out “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” by those four mop tops from Liverpool.
22 | Blood, Sweat & Tears
ALAMYThis experimental Canadian collective had a revolving door of members that included players from, among other bands, the Blues Project and Frank Zappa's the Mothers of Invention. The experiment worked, and the group's second album, 1968’s eponymously named Blood, Sweat & Tears, won the Grammy for album of the year. The following decade saw as much success, but the group hasn't released a studio record since 1980.
23 | The Rascals
ALAMYAs successful as it was under the radar, New Jersey's The Rascals had multiple hit singles, including the infectious No.1 hits "Good Lovin' and "Groovin'" before breaking up in the 1970s. A 2013 reunion run on Broadway produced by super-fan Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and The Sopranos reminded the world of The Rascals, and we're here to do the same.
24 | The Surfaris
ALAMYThis California combo had high hopes for their first single, "Surfer Joe," in 1963. It was a wipe out, but thank god for the B-side! "Wipe Out" and it's iconic drum roll spent 25 weeks on the Billboard 100 and the song has been played over 5 million times on the radio.
25 | The Tornados
ALAMYOriginally a backing band that did film scores, These English instrumentalist scored a No.1 hit in 1962 with the song "Telstar," which is said to be the first song by a British band to top the U.S. charts, according to American Songwriter.
