It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in 2024, but back in our journey through musical history its just August of 1968. Let’s listen…
Songs of the month
[new] “1-2-3 Red Light” – 1910 Fruitgum Co.
[new] “Alice Long” – Tommy Boyce And Bobby Hart
“Angel Of The Morning” – Merrilee Rush
“Autumn Of My Life” – Bobby Goldsboro
[new] “Baseball Game” – Intruders
[new] “Born To Be Wild” – Steppenwolf
“Classical Gas” – Mason Williams
[new] “Do It Again” – Beach Boys
“Don’t Take It So Hard” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“Dream A Little Dream Of Me” – Mama Cass
“Face It Girl It’s Over” – Nancy Wilson
“Grazing In The Grass” – Hugh Masekela
[new] “Halfway To Paradise” – Bobby Vinton
[new] “Harper Valley P.T.A.” – Jeannie C. Riley
“Hello I Love You” – Doors
“Here Comes The Judge” – Shorty Long
“Hurdy Gurdy Man” – Donovan
[new] “Hush” – Deep Purple
[new] “I Can’t Stop Dancing” – Archie Bell And The Drells
[new] “I Say A Little Prayer” – Aretha Franklin
“Indian Lake” – Cowsills
[new] “Journey To The Centre Of The Mind” – Amboy Dukes
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” – Rolling Stones
“Lady Willpower” – Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
[new] “Light My Fire” – Jose Feliciano
[new] “Love Makes A Woman” – Barbara Acklin
[new] “People Got To Be Free” – Rascals
“Pictures Of Matchstick Men” – Status Quo
[new] “Please Return Your Love To Me” – Temptations
“Reach Out Of The Darkness” – Friend And A Lover
[new] “Sealed With A Kiss” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
“Sky Pilot” – Eric Burdon And The Animals
[new] “Slip Away” – Clarence Carter
[new] “Soul Limbo” – Booker T And The Mg’s
“Stay In My Corner” – Dells
“Stoned Soul Picnic” – 5Th Dimension
“Sunshine Of Your Love” – Cream
[new] “The Fool On The Hill” – Sergio Mendes And Brasil ’66
“The Horse” – Cliff Nobles And Co.
[new] “The House That Jack Built” – Aretha Franklin
“The Look Of Love” – Sergio Mendes And Brasil ’66
“This Guy’s In Love With You” – Herb Alpert
“Turn Around Look At Me” – Vogues
[new] “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Vanilla Fudge
[new] “You’re All I Need To Get By” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
[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 9th U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Samuel C. Phillips, Director of NASA’s Apollo lunar landing program, announced that it was “clearly possible” for a crewed landing on the Moon to happen in 1969, fulfilling the goal announced by the late President Kennedy in 1962 to land a man on the Moon, and return him to Earth, “before the end of the decade”.
And in “things that didn’t happen this month” history… according to an urban legend which would begin circulating on the Internet around 2014, every television in America shut down for about 25 seconds on this date, during which a murmuring sound was heard. Snopes would rate this story as “False” in March 2023, stating that there was no historical or eyewitness evidence to support it. One of those videos that won’t embed about it here.
Then on the 30th, William Talman, 53, American actor best known for portraying “television’s biggest loser” as Los Angeles prosecutor Hamilton Burger, who was bested every week by the title character on the popular mystery and courtroom series, Perry Mason. Six weeks before his death from lung cancer, Talman— who had smoked three packs of cigarettes a day— filmed a 60-second television commercial for the American Cancer Society, urging viewers to avoid cigarette smoking and would set a trend for other such “warnings from beyond the grave”.
What’d Sadie think?
Two weeks at the top for “Hello I Love You” by the Doors before “People Got To Be Free” by the Rascals take it for the last three weeks of the month.
Loved ’em
- “Born To Be Wild” – Steppenwolf
- “Do It Again” – Beach Boys
- “Harper Valley P.T.A.” – Jeannie C. Riley
- “Hush” – Deep Purple
- “I Can’t Stop Dancing” – Archie Bell And The Drells
- “I Say A Little Prayer” – Aretha Franklin
- “Slip Away” – Clarence Carter
- “You’re All I Need To Get By” – Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
Liked ’em
- “1-2-3 Red Light” – 1910 Fruitgum Co.
- “Alice Long” – Tommy Boyce And Bobby Hart
- “Baseball Game” – Intruders
- “Halfway To Paradise” – Bobby Vinton
- “Journey To The Centre Of The Mind” – Amboy Dukes
- “Love Makes A Woman” – Barbara Acklin
- “People Got To Be Free” – Rascals
- “Please Return Your Love To Me” – Temptations
- “Sealed With A Kiss” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
- “The House That Jack Built” – Aretha Franklin
- “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Vanilla Fudge
Leave ’em
- “Light My Fire” – Jose Feliciano
- “Soul Limbo” – Booker T And The Mg’s
- “The Fool On The Hill” – Sergio Mendes And Brasil ’66
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.