Australian singles charts:
Eve of Destruction entered the Kent charts on 28 Aug 1965 and peaked at #2. The song was #40 on the Top 100 of 1965.
Songwriter:
PF Sloan
Producers:
Lou Adler, PF Sloan, Steve Barri
Record label of Australian release:
RCA
Songfacts:
A protest song about political issues of the ’60s, many US radio stations refused to play Eve Of Destruction because of its anti-government lyrics. There was an upside to this controversy, however, as it piqued interest in the song, sending it to #1 in the US.
The song takes on racism, hypocrisy, and injustice at a volatile time in American history. The assassination of US President John F Kennedy in 1963 was a big influence on the lyric.
Eve Of Destruction was written by 19-year-old PF Sloan, who was a staff songwriter at McGuire’s label and went on to form The Grass Roots.
The song was originally recorded by The Turtles, who released it on their first album earlier in 1965. The Turtles did not release it as a single, and McGuire’s version became the hit.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/barry-mcguire/eve-of-destruction
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
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