When the missions of the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts were well defined ...
When Bill Cosby was emerging as one of our favorite TV personalities ...
When Donald Trump was a mere pup ...
And when Stormy Daniels wasn't even born yet.
Yes, 1968 does seem like a long time ago when compared to today, doesn't it?
But for fun, let's look back exactly 50 years ago today--May 4, 1968--and see what music people listened to on their radios.
One of the most annoying songs ever written topped the chart this week. Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" would top Billboard's Hot 100 charts for a total of five weeks, this being the fourth, and while it ranks as one of the 1960's biggest hits, it is also the song most likely to be on the worst song lists also. This tune defines the phrase "Misery Loves Company," and I guess that is why it became such a popular song.
The Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby" was the No. 2 song in the country for the week. The southern rockers, led by lead vocalist Alex Chilton, had a nice chart career, and this song probably should have risen to No. 1, but never did.
The kind of lecherous "Young Girl" by the Union Gap came in at No. 3 this week. Propelled by the powerful vocals of Gary Puckett, it was only years later that people started to examine the lyrics and find just how creepy they really were.
Yet another hit record by the Beatles, "Lady Madonna," was the fourth most popular song on the singles chart this week, followed by one of the all-time great 1960s dance tunes, "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells, who I believe were military service members when this song hit, and just a few weeks later hit the top of the chart.
Another huge James Brown single, "I Got the Feelin,'" followed at No. 6, with the pop/soul classic "Cowboys To Girls" by the Intruders reaching No. 7 this week.
One of the great movie themes of all time was the eighth most popular single of the week, with Hugo Montenegro's mostly instrumental theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" residing in that spot amongst the yelps that permeate that tune and make it so memorable.
Rounding out the chart was another hit single from one of the most popular acts of the time, followed up by one of the 1960's most memorable novelty tunes. The Rascals' "A Beautiful Morning" came in at No. 9, with the Irish Rovers closing out this week's top 10 with "The Unicorn." Strange, St. Patrick's Day had passed nearly two months before, but this song was still rising up the charts.
The week's highest debuting single was "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" by the Temptations, which came into the Hot 100 at No. 87, and would rise to No. 13. This song directly preceded the fivesome's extremely successful foray into psychedelic soul the very next year.
The chart's biggest mover--or the song which moved up the most chart positions during the week--was Otis Redding's "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)," which went from No. 87 all the way up to No. 47. This posthumous release--Redding died in a plane crash in December--got up to No. 25.
And there you have it, the Top 10 songs that we were listening to this week--plus a couple of other songs--exactly 50 years ago.
To say that this was an eclectic bunch of music would be accurate, I think.
Time to grab those old records off the shelf ...
Have a great weekend. Speak to you again on Monday.
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