So okay, it's been a while. Been busy. In a good way. But I haven't forgotten my obligations. So better late than never, here's the rest of 1968.
20 - "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (Part 1)," James Brown
Brother James' rallying cry to his fellow African-Americans to stand up for themselves against oppression. "We'd rather die on our feet than keep living on our knees," he declares. The chorus of children that back him up on the refrain adds to the power of the statement. A genuinely important song.
19 - "Revolution," The Beatles
One of the band's hardest-rock songs was this number on which John Lennon gives his assessment of the growing youth political movements of the day. He was kind of cynical of them, feeling they were more about "destruction" than real meaningful change, and didn't really have workable alternatives to the systems they were fighting against ("we'd all love to see your plan"). His opinion seemed to be "it's gonna be all right." Of course, later he'd change his tune somewhat and become more politically active himself, to the point where the FBI tried to have him deported from America. Regardless, this is a great song, and it became historic nineteen years later when Nike made it the first Beatles song to be used in a television commercial.
18 - "Abraham, Martin and John," Dion
Dion DiMucci's first hit in four years was this mournful tribute to the cut-short lives of American heroes Lincoln, King, and Kennedy, with a sad coda about the death that year of Robert Kennedy. Heartfelt and poignant, and was especially meaningful recently when the world marked the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination.
17 - "Hey, Western Union Man," Jerry Butler
Chicago-raised Butler was a member of Impressions in their early days, but left in the early 60s to begin a prolific solo career. One of his better hits was this funky plea to the titular messenger to send a telegram to his beloved. Sweet soul goodness.
16 - "Girl Watcher," The O'Kaysions
The lone hit for these Californians was this flimsy soul-popper about...um, watching girls. For me, if I need to hear a song like this, I'll put on Dean Martin's "Standing on the Corner."
15 - "Harper Valley P.T.A.," Jeannie C. Riley
The début single, and only pop hit, for this Texas-born country singer was quite a doozy. It tells the tale of Mrs. Johnson, a widow whose teen daughter who, one day, brings home a note from the local Parent Teacher Association. The note expresses the opinion of that distinguished body that Mrs. Johnson's choice of attire and active social life make her an unsuitable mother. Luckily, the PTA just happened to be meeting that afternoon, so the widow Johnson attends the meeting in her miniskirt and proceeds to expose the various booze and sex-related skeletons in the closets of the board's members. "This is just a little Peyton Place, and you're all Harper Valley hypocrites," she concluded on the day he "socked it to" them. A companion of sorts to "Ode to Billie Joe" in the pop crossover female story song category.
14 - "Suzie Q," Creedence Clearwater Revival
This quartet originated in San Francisco, but their swampy sound caused many to think they were from the American South. This tone was set by their first hit, a bluesy cover of a 1957 Dale Hawkins rockabilly hit. The lyrics are a basic expression of lust for the titular lady, but they go with the groove, and that's all that matters. A solid start to a short but brilliant run.
13 - "Sweet Blindness," The 5th Dimension
This quintet's sixth Top 40 was this ragtimey ode to getting drunk with friends. Like a few of their hits, it was written by Laura Nyro, a singer-songwriter who had more success with other people's versions of her song than her own recordings. I always thought I should look up her records sometime. Hopefully I'll get around to it.
12 - "Piece of My Heart," Big Brother and the Holding Company
Born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis Lyn Joplin would relocate to San Francisco, where she hooked up with an up and coming local psychedelic rock group. Her bluesy rasp elevated the band's popularity, which peaked with their smash hit second album, Cheap Thrills, and its main single, a cover of an R&B hit from the previous year by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma. Haven't heard that version, but on this one, Janis is in full-throated form, declaring her loyalty to a man who doesn't always reciprocate that courtesy. Just a classic, plain and simple. And arguably the best showcase her voice ever got.
11 - "Over You," Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
Originally from Yakima, Washington, Puckett formed this band in San Diego, California. Onstage, they dressed up as soldiers from the Union Army during the Civil War, although their name actually came from a town near Yakima. Between late 1967 and the summer of '69, they scored six Top 40 singles, including this one about not being able to recover from a breakup. It's kind of bland, like all of their hits. But not a bad song, really. Nothing to unleash anything close to Association levels of vitriol over.
The Top Ten admits to using crack cocaine, but only once, in one of its drunken stupors.
10 - "Midnight Confessions," The Grass Roots
The biggest hit for this L.A. band was this song about secretly lusting after a woman who is married to another man. I like the almost Gothic organ on the verses. Plus, Creed Bratton plays on this one, which is awesome. He's probably the thing I miss most about The Office.
9 - "Fire," The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
From Leeds, England, Brown first attracted attention for his outrageous stage performances, during which he wore face paint and a literally flaming helmet. His band's only major hit was this dark, organ-driven psychedelic horror piece which Brown opens by screaming "I am the God of Hellfire!" It's a great song, and Brown's act is said to have influenced many later musicians who brought outrageous theatrics to their concerts, from Alice Cooper to Kiss to George Clinton.
8 - "Elenore," The Turtles
The next-to-last of this band's nine Top 40 hits was this peppy pop number that the band wrote as kind of a parody of sunny, earlier hits like "Happy Together." The lyrics are deliberately sappy ("Gee, I think you're swell!"), and it is one of the rare hits to use the term "et cetera." But it all works. It might be their best single.
7 - "Magic Carpet Ride," Steppenwolf
Formed in Toronto, this band broke through earlier in the year with the motorcycle anthem "Born to Be Wild." They followed it up with their other major lasting hit, this driving rocker on which John Kay invites a girl to travel with him using a mode of transportation from Arabian myth. It is, indeed, quite a trip.
6 - "White Room," Cream
After making his reputation as "God" during his stints in The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton teamed with fellow Londoners Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker and formed a new band. They would have three American hits, including two Top Tens, the second of which being this cool rocker with the sort of inscrutable lyrics common in rock at the time: "tired starlings," "silver horses," shadows running from themselves and all that. But it's aged quite well. Still a great listen.
5 - "Hold Me Tight," Johnny Nash
A Houston-born singer who'd scored his first Top 40 at 17 with "A Very Special Love," in 1957, Nash also co-owned a record label, and in 1968, while traveling in Jamaica, he signed a young musician to his first American recording contract. While there, he himself recorded this breezy reggae number that became his first pop Top Ten. Nash would continue recording in that genre, eventually topping the charts in 1972 with "I Can See Clearly Now." Great voice, good song.
4 - "Little Green Apples," O.C. Smith
Born in 1932, Smith had spent much of his career to this point as a journeyman singer, with his most notable gig being a four-year stint singing with Count Basie and his orchestra. Earlier in 1968, he had hit #40 with "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp." His follow-up was this tender love song that declares that if his idyllic relationship with his isn't love, then God didn't create a lot of the good things in life, such as the titular fruit, Dr. Seuss., puppy dogs, and rain in Indianapolis. It went all the way to #2. It's kind of cheesy and sappy, but damn if it doesn't work. And apparently, Robbie Williams and Kelly Clarkson just put out a cover of it. Think I might have to check that out.
3 - " Love Child," The Supremes
The group's penultimate #1 is arguably their best. On it, Diana Ross tells her boyfriend she won't sleep with him because of the danger of it resulting in an unwanted pregnancy ("We'll only end up hatin' the child we may be creatin'") She goes on to tell her own said tale of being born "illegitimate," and the pain, poverty and shame that accompanied it. Affecting, realistic, and just so powerful. Too bad the other Supremes didn't actually sing on it; they were replaced for the recording by Motown session group The Andantes.
2 - "Those Were the Days," Mary Hopkin
Welsh folksinger Hopkin was just 18 when she signed to The Beatles' Apple Records label, but she sounded much older and more world-weary on her first and biggest hit. Set to the tune of a Russian love song from the 20s, it tells the tale of a woman reflecting on her youth with her friends and all the dreams that never came true. The kind of song that seems perfect for group sing-alongs at 2 am in a bar, with everyone enthusiastically swinging their beer mugs to and fro.
And at #1 way back then was:
1 - "Hey Jude," The Beatles
Clocking in at over 7 minutes, this is one of the longest songs ever to hit #1. And what a song it is. Written by Paul McCartney to help comfort John Lennon's son Julian during his parents' breakup. it's the ultimate cheer-up tune, talking about making sad songs better and not carrying the world upon one's shoulders. And then that long, almost cathartic series of "Na na na na"s.. Just greatness. Nine weeks at #1 almost seems like too little.
Next time: 1969. And you won't wait as long as you did this time. I promise.
