Throwback Thursday: Cher

Welcome back to another edition of Throwback Thursday. This week we are once again adventuring to the 1960s, particularly 1966.

1966 was a good year for music, it was also a good year for individuality. It was the year when young David Jones, became David Bowie, Gerry no longer needed his Pacemakers, and Cher was starting to show her star power.

When Sonny & Cher hit the scene with their overnight sensation ‘I Got You Babe’, the world hadn’t seen anything like them. They were a fresh departure from what was going on in the Music industry at that time. Their style was unique as well, but no one shined more at this time out of the two, than Cher.

In 1965, Cher had released her 1st solo album, ‘All I Really Want To Do’, which was produced by Sonny Bono, and received critical acclaim. It would be her most successful solo album of the 1960s. However, the singles released would not, until the release of her 2nd solo album ‘The Sonny Side Of Cher’.

The 1st single released, ‘Where Do You Go’, would fail to reach the top 20 in 1965. But all was not lost, for the 2nd single released would eventually remedy this. In 1966, ’Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’, (written by Sonny Bono) would become Cher’s most successful solo hit in the 1960’s, by reaching #2 on the Billboard charts; it would reach #3 in the United Kingdom. This would remain her last top 3 hit, until the 1980’s when Cher would reemerge as a force to be reckoned with.

Upon release in 1966, its impact was huge. Not only was it covered in the same year by Nancy Sinatra, it would also be an anti-war anthem during that time. The song’s popularity would stay in the 1960s though, until in 2003, when Quentin Tarantino used it (Sinatra‘s version) in his 2003 film ‘Kill Bill Volume 1’. It was here, that it was brought to life to a whole new generation of listeners.


So here it is your Throwback for Thursday…