It’s Xmas back in December, 1967 but nary a Xmas song on the charts! Let’s hear what it sounds like anyway…
Songs of the month
“An Open Letter To My Teenage Son” – Victor Lundberg
[new] “And Get Away” – Esquires
[new] “Beg Borrow Or Steal” – Ohio Express
[new] “Bend Me Shape Me” – American Breed
“Boogaloo Down Broadway” – Fantastic Johnny C
[new] “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” – Glen Campbell
[new] “Chain Of Fools” – Aretha Franklin
[new] “Come See About Me” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
“Daydream Believer” – Monkees
[new] “Different Drum” – Stone Poneys
“Everlasting Love” – Robert Knight
“Expressway To Your Heart” – Soul Survivors
[new] “Green Tambourine” – Lemon Pipers
[new] “Hello Goodbye” – Beatles
[new] “Honey Chile” – Martha Reeves And The Vandellas
“I Can See For Miles” – Who
“I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
“I Say A Little Prayer” – Dionne Warwick
“I Second That Emotion” – Smokey Robinson And The Miracles
[new] “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
“In And Out Of Love” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
“Incense And Peppermints” – Strawberry Alarm Clock
“It Must Be Him” – Vicki Carr
[new] “It’s Wonderful” – Young Rascals
“It’s You That I Need” – Temptations
[new] “Judy In Disguise” – John Fred And His Playboy Band
“Keep The Ball Rollin'” – Jay And The Techniques
“Lazy Day” – Spanky And Our Gang
“Let It All Hang Out” – Hombres
[new] “Massachusettes” – Bee Gees
[new] “Neon Rainbow” – Box Tops
[new] “Next Plane To London” – Rose Garden
“Pata Pata” – Miriam Makeba
“Please Love Me Forever” – Bobby Vinton
[new] “She’s My Girl” – Turtles
[new] “Skinny Legs And All” – Joe Tex
“Soul Man” – Sam And Dave
“Stag-O-Lee” – Wilson Pickett
[new] “Summer Rain” – Johnny Rivers
[new] “Susan” – Buckinghams
“The Rain The Park And Other Things” – Cowsills
“To Sir With Love” – Lulu
“Watch The Flowers Grow” – Four Seasons
[new] “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” – Donovan
[new] “Woman Woman” – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
[new] “Yesterday” – Ray Charles
“You Better Sit Down Kids” – Cher
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On the 2rd Christiaan Barnard and a team of surgeons carried out the world’s first heart transplant, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
Then on the 7th The Apple Boutique, one of the first attempts by The Beatles to open a retail business, opened at 94 Baker Street in London to sell specially designed clothing and accessories. Because of shoplifting and poor management, the store would close on July 30, 1968, after less than eight months of operation.
On the 11th the first (and last?) supersonic airliner, the French and British financed Concorde, was rolled out of a hangar in Toulouse for its first public appearance. The plane was designed to carry 130 passengers at speeds of up to Mach 2.2 (2,300 km/h) and was originally set to make its first flight in February 1968. The plane would not be flown, however, until more than a year later, on March 2, 1969.
And in more, The Beatles’ were bigger than Jesus but couldn’t get everything right news, their film “Magical Mystery Tour” premiered as a made-for-television movie on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. British newspaper critics derided it the next day with terms like “blatant rubbish”; “a great big bore”; “tasteless nonsense”, and “witless conceit”. Paul McCartney would later respond, “Aren’t we entitled to have a flop?”[
What’d Sadie think?
Four weeks at number 1 for family fave, “Daydream Believer” by the Monkees before a week atop the charts for the Beatles with newcomer, “Hello Goodbye”.
Loved ’em
- “Chain Of Fools” – Aretha Franklin
- “Different Drum” – Stone Poneys
- “Hello Goodbye” – Beatles
- “Honey Chile” – Martha Reeves And The Vandellas
- “It’s Wonderful” – Young Rascals
- “Next Plane To London” – Rose Garden
- “She’s My Girl” – Turtles
- “Summer Rain” – Johnny Rivers
Liked ’em
- “And Get Away” – Esquires
- “Beg Borrow Or Steal” – Ohio Express
- “Bend Me Shape Me” – American Breed
- “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” – Glen Campbell
- “Come See About Me” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
- “Green Tambourine” – Lemon Pipers
- “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
- “Judy In Disguise” – John Fred And His Playboy Band
- “Massachusetts” – Bee Gees
- “Neon Rainbow” – Box Tops
- “Skinny Legs And All” – Joe Tex
- “Susan” – Buckinghams
- “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” – Donovan
- “Woman Woman” – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
- “Yesterday” – Ray Charles
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.