# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1968 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478 "2014-09-14T16:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/41 "2014-09-15T14:12:58Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, ok, Archie Bell has just as good of a groove, but those lyrics are silly. I had never heard of Archie Bell or “Tighten Up”\* until today. Pretty funky! Shows that James Brown, while he did pretty much invent this music, wasn’t operating in a vacuum (with Sly Stone on the scene as well by '68). \*I did always like the Lee “Scratch” Perry [reggae tune of the same name](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uVxe_FzlJuw#t=3), recorded in 1968 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/42 "2014-09-15T14:29:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’m surprised that Gary Puckett and the Union Gap didn’t get a #1. If you were listening to top 40 radio in 1968, you heard a shitload of Puckett. (And by the end of the year, you were ready to not hear from him again for the next forever or two.) I would have figured at least one of “Young Girl” and “Lady Willpower” would have gotten to #1. I think the biggest head scratcher in pop music history is that Creedence Clearwater Revival never had a #1 single (although they made it to #2 a bunch of times, and ironically for such a quintessential singles band, had two chart-topping _albums_). ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/43 "2014-09-15T14:38:09Z")
I went with “Grapevine,” but it’s really a toss-up between that and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” Both are just incredible songs and performances. It’s interesting that “This Guy’s In Love With You” is Burt Bacharach’s first #1 hit as a songwriter – I figured one of his songs would’ve shown up before 1968, but he really didn’t have a lot of songs hit #1. The song was also recorded by Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick, of course (substituting the original “Girl’s” for “Guy’s,” natch) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/44 "2014-09-15T15:00:57Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I had never heard of Archie Bell or “Tighten Up”\* until today. Pretty funky! Shows that James Brown, while he did pretty much invent this music, wasn’t operating in a vacuum (with Sly Stone on the scene as well by '68). I remember seeing Homer Simpson’s rendition of it when I was a kid, and then not discovering until hearing it on an oldies station just last year that it was an actual song. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/45 "2014-09-15T15:34:15Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I think the biggest head scratcher in pop music history is that Creedence Clearwater Revival never had a #1 single (although they made it to #2 a bunch of times, and ironically for such a quintessential singles band, had two chart-topping _albums_). No, not a head-scratcher at all, IMHO. With the stuff the music gods poured out on the 1960s, CCR just never stood out. They were part of the _background music_ of the era: you enjoyed it when you heard it, but nobody ever grabbed you and said, “you’ve _got_ to hear this new song/album by CCR.” There was always a huge pile of music that was getting your attention at just about any moment during that time, and CCR just didn’t have that effect on many people. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/46 "2014-09-15T15:35:28Z")
1968 was a great year for music, but you wouldn’t know it from the #1 singles. I picked Marvin Gaye, but this wasn’t a very strong list. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/47 "2014-09-15T17:43:41Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Quite true. For example, the Stones released “Jumping Jack Flash” in 1968, arguably their second signature song after “Satisfaction”, but surprisingly [that only made it to number three](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpin%27_Jack_Flash#Charts). For years I had mistakenly assumed that song hit number one. I had an awful summer job in 1968, with the only consolation that I could bring in a transistor radio. Had to listen with an earbud, so I got tinny sound in one ear only. I used to wait all day for the local Top Ten countdown. “Jumping Jack Flash” and the Fifth Dimension’s “Stoned Soul Picnic” seemed to be on it all summer long. I burned out on the Stones but “Stoned” is still one of my all-time favorites. It introduced me to Laura Nyro, a good thing. > [@scabpicker](#): > > I actually do like a lot of the #1’s this year. More than in earlier years, and more than I expected. But Hugh Masekela easily kills all the others with a great groove. Plus, I dare you to want more cowbell. > > Well, ok, Archie Bell has just as good of a groove, but those lyrics are silly. That’s the first song I remember that brings the instruments in one by one,which is a great technique when done right. Very different, but compare Al Stewart’s “On the Border” for a brilliant opening that sets the song’s tone by building instruments into full accompaniment. And Masekela’s horns are fine stuff, indeed. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > The drek is really strong on this list: the Lemon Pipers. Paul Mauriat. _Bobby Goldsboro_. Herb Alpert as a vocalist. One of the few Rascals songs I can’t stand. Competition like that makes forgettable songs like “Harper Valley PTA” and “Judy in Disguise” look like masterpieces. Nah. “Green Tambourine” is miles above “Judy in Disguise” and even that is really catchy. Why they made number one are mysteries, true. I’m just awed by a period in which any random group or songwriter could pull insanely catchy melodies out of the air by the hundreds. The music overrode everything. I said in a previous thread that I’m a sucker for dreamy strings. “Love Is Blue” had those plus a harpsichord. Who doesn’t love a harpsichord? It was deservedly a huge, huge hit. Remains the only French song to hit number one. I put it on a mix tape of 60s favorites that also includes “Green Tambourine.” (And “All Along the Watchtower,” 1968’s claim to the greatest song ever.) Herb Alpert never should sing. Ever. But he was gigantic in the 60s, with a long string of number one albums. _Whipped Cream and Other Delights_, with the delightful “The Lonely Bull,” is in every used record shop in America. It shares with Mauriat’s _Blooming Hits_ a “nude” woman on the cover. Sex sells, baby. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/48 "2014-09-15T18:12:53Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > I went with “Grapevine,” but it’s really a toss-up between that and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” Both are just incredible songs and performances. It came down to those two for me as well. I ultimately went with Otis Redding on the grounds that “Grapevine” remained #1 into 1969, so I’ll have a chance to vote for it in that poll instead. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/49 "2014-09-15T19:07:58Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > No, not a head-scratcher at all, IMHO. With the stuff the music gods poured out on the 1960s, CCR just never stood out. They were part of the _background music_ of the era: you enjoyed it when you heard it, but nobody ever grabbed you and said, “you’ve _got_ to hear this new song/album by CCR.” There was always a huge pile of music that was getting your attention at just about any moment during that time, and CCR just didn’t have that effect on many people. Quite a number of your opinions on music you consider worthy vs. unworthy have caused me to scratch my head. As subjective opinions, I can let them pass. But your dismissal of a band that had 17 Top 10 singles, all but one of them gold (and five of them platinum) is a little beyond the pale. And let’s add the #1 albums into the mix as well. Sorry, but a song doesn’t get into the Top 10 — as nine of CCR’s did…four of them to #2 — if people are blasé about it. I can assure you that CCR were very big indeed from 1968 through 1971, and had a considerable “effect” on lots and lots of people. They were among a rather small number of artists who were just as successful with the denizens of the “underground” as they were with Top 40 AM radio listeners. Perhaps you and the crowd you ran with thought of them as “background music” of little consequence, but it makes no sense to extrapolate your personal experience to something universal — especially when charts and sales figures (objective, not subjective measures) tell a very different story. And while it’s a different measure, of course, critical evaluation of CCR also tells a very different story then the one you seem so certain is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/50 "2014-09-15T20:45:38Z")
I voted for Ms. Robinson. Grapevine and Dock are just so overplayed for me. They’re almost like Camptown Races, or She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain, to me. And Hey Jude just sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/51 "2014-09-15T22:40:47Z")
I went with Mrs. Robinson, though Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding are close behind. Overall it is a stagnant year for the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/52 "2014-09-15T22:41:50Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I voted for Ms. Robinson. Grapevine and Dock are just so overplayed for me. They’re almost like Camptown Races, or She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain, to me. > > And Hey Jude just sucks. Very true, the ending is just so unnecessary, and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/53 "2014-09-16T00:17:28Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > … I mean is there _any_ song more iconic (to use that word yet again in these threads) than Hey Jude? _Everyone_ knows, and almost everyone likes, Hey Jude. Can you listen to it without singing along? Without joining in to the refrain that defines its second half? \ I don’t like it. The refrain _never fucking ends_. I can listen to it without singing along. But I’d rather not listen to it at all. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/54 "2014-09-16T18:02:02Z")
I could tell coming in that the Grapevine and the Dock would lead the pack, and am well impressed at Mrs. Robinson’s performance. I am \*\*\*not \*\*\*puzzled by Hey Jude’s relatively modest showing, sure it’s emblematic and iconic but I don’t know if I can honestly call it “best”. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/55 "2014-09-16T20:43:13Z")
_googles ‘Love Is Blue.’_ Hey! I never knew that song had a name! (and I worked at an easy listening station once!) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/56 "2014-09-17T03:13:23Z")
For me, “Dock Of The Bay” is such an iconic song that it’s difficult not to vote for it. But I’ve cast my lot with “Green Tambourine” as my personal favorite out of this group of songs. I know it’s kind of a hippy-dippy throwaway song in some respects, but it grabs me in some way…probably because this is one of those songs I really liked as a kid in the mid 1970-s listening to stuff like this on my K-Tel records. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/57 "2014-09-17T22:53:23Z")
I went with \*Mrs. Robinson, \*though there were a few great “also-rans.” ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478/58 "2014-10-24T16:36:45Z")
I wanted to vote for all 4 of the standouts. On any given day, I might pick any of them. Y’all have good taste! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1968/698478.md?page=2)