'I n the 1960s Australian rock'n'roll singles were as good as those made anywhere in the world," boasts broadcaster and pop writer David N. Pepperell, co-author of a new book called 100 Greatest Australian Singles of the 60s.
It's a big claim when you consider the hugely influential singles made during the time in the UK and US by the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Beach Boys. 
But scrolling through the list of songs by Aussie heroes such as Billy Thorpe, the Easybeats, Normie Rowe, the Masters Apprentices, the Bee Gees, the Seekers and the Twilights there's no denying Pepperell and co-compiler Colin Talbot present a strong case.
There were hundreds of local singles released in Australia during the 60s. Some of them rose and fell, never to be heard of again, while others - Russell Morris' Real Thing (1969) recorded at the height of the psychedelic boom; the Seekers' I'll Never Find Another You (1964) that arguably invented folk-rock; and Spicks and Specks by the Bee Gees (1966) - became part of Oz music history.
It's not just the well-known names that make Pepperell and Talbot's personal selection so compelling. Lots of half- forgotten groups make the cut, including Axiom, Purple Hearts (featuring top guitarist Lobby Loyde), the Throb, Steve and the Board, Zoot, Flying Circus, Cam-Pact, Wild Cherries and that great mid-60s band the Loved Ones, who scored with the unforgettable Everlovin' Man.
To accompany the handsome hard-bound volume, a four-disc set of all the songs listed in the book has been released by Warner Music and can be purchased separately.
The project started when Pepperell and Talbot, who have long shared a love of 60s music, met for coffee every week and started making lists of their favourite songs. 
"We started off with 350 singles," Pepperell explained recently. "It took four or five months to whittle it down to 100 by restricting every group or artist to only four tracks. We broke that rule with five for the Easybeats because they had so many great songs."
On closer examination every genre of music is represented - pop, rock, country (Betty McQuade's Midnight Bus), surf hits by the Atlantics (Bombora), the Delltones (Hangin' Five) and Little Pattie, the early days of indigenous music with Jimmy Little's Royal Telephone, Lionel Rose's I Thank You, instrumentals and ballads by Judy Stone, Merv Benton, Tony Worsley and Doug Parkinson.
Pop music obsessives will revel in the facts and trivia that provide background to the artists and the songs. 
We're told how the Seekers' 1965 hit The Carnival is Over began life as a Russian folk song. How Perth's own Johnny Young, who penned three huge 60s hits, didn't know how to write songs until Barry Gibb showed him the trick of using a "hook". And how Sydney band Python Lee Jackson moved to the UK and recorded In a Broken Dream with an unknown Rod Stewart - the track was recently sampled for New York rapper A$AP Rocky's hit Everyday.
Top honours go to the Easybeats, who created Easyfever - the equivalent of Beatlemania - wherever they played live. They also released 15 Top 40 singles; such as She's So Fine, Wedding Ring, Come and See Her and Friday on My Mind and scored with three number ones.
Reverberations from the 60s can be strongly felt today in the continuing careers of Morris and ACDC. It was the powerful team of the Easybeats' Harry Vanda and George Young, and the later addition of the Valentines singer Bon Scott, who were responsible for ACDC's career that started in the early 70s and has lasted over four decades.
100 Greatest Australian Singles of the 60s  by David N. Pepperell and Colin Talbot (Melbourne Books, hardcover $29.95, and the four-disc set of the same name, plus the book $45) are out now.