3 Garage Rock Songs From 1966 That Could Have Soundtracked a Suburban Riot

There’s nothing quite like the early wave of garage rock from the 1960s. So many young musicians gathered together during that decade and formed bands in their parents’ garages. And many of those artists dished out songs that are now considered groundbreaking. Back in 1966, I imagine many a suburban teen rebel got down with the following garage rock songs from 1966. Let’s get a little nostalgic, shall we?

“Pushin’ Too Hard” by The Seeds from ‘The Seeds’

“Well, all I want is to just be free / Live my life the way I wanna be / All I want is to just have fun / Live my life like it’s just begun.”

“Pushin’ Too Hard” by The Seeds is a fan favorite among garage rock aficionados today. But when it was originally released as a single in 1965, it didn’t make much motion. But after a re-release in 1966, the song climbed the pop charts all the way to No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Today, “Pushin’ Too Hard” is considered both a garage rock classic and a proto-punk classic in tandem.

“Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five from ‘Psychotic Reaction’

“I feel depressed, I feel so bad / ‘Cause you’re the best girl that I’ve ever had / I can’t get your love, I can’t get a fraction.”

I just couldn’t leave this one off our list of rebellious garage rock songs from 1966. Count Five was a fascinating band, even outside their sole hit. The group dressed as vampires and had an extremely unique sound compared to other young garage rock bands at the time. Not many rock outfits utilized harmonicas and wore Dracula capes on stage, after all. “Psychotic Reaction” resonated with so many young people that the track made it all the way to No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart.

“Talk Talk” by The Music Machine from ‘(Turn On) The Music Machine’

“My social life’s a dud, my name is really mud / I’m up to here in lies, I guess I’m down to size, to size.”

The Music Machine managed to pack garage rock, proto-punk, and even proto-metal elements into the ever-iconic 1966 song “Talk Talk”. Like many similar garage rock bands, they only had one hit single. But that hit single is really something to behold, and its lyrics resonated with any teen at the time who felt alienated and outcast. “Talk Talk” made it to No. 15 on the Hot 100.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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