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  21. There are a few years always worth listening to on Pick of the Pops. 1967-1970 is almost a perfect run – and I agree 1968 is the best. (Also in the category, 1979-1982 as well).

    Here’s Judy Clay & William Bell – Private Number which I think is a favourite of my parents.

    • Yes, a 2 minute 40 second version of Dark Star.
      In live versions from 1972 (particularly Rotterdam on 11 May), the song would grow to more than 17 times that length. Ha!

  38. 1968 was a big year for me musically, as I spent most of the summer at my Gran’s in South Wales with my cool aunties, several of whom were not much older than me. One of them was 18 – imagine being 18 in 1968 – and was a blues fan and told me about John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull etc, may of whom she’d seen in clubs. She was and remains one of the coolest people I have ever known. And she loved this one….

    • Do we all know the story of the Lady Madonna clip? The Fabs assembled to film a clip for the aforesaid single only to decide “fuck it we’ll record a new song”. And bingo, we got the far superior (IMHO) and often forgotten Hey Bulldog

  55. 1968 was a peak year because of course it was the year DONOVAN had a hit with Jennifer Juniper.

    How have we got this far without mentioning the progenitor of all modern music?

  58. Quinton Claunch gets a bang up to date shout on that thread over yonder➡️ and he co-wrote and co-produced this little beauty for James Carr back in ‘68:

    (A Man Needs A Woman)

    • I think it’s funny that there’s a little pre-echo of this in The Village Green Preservation Society…

      … a village green where undoubtedly cricket is being played. I wonder if whoever selected Soul Limbo for TMS had The VGPS in mind?

      It’s certainly a mash-up* waiting to happen.

      (*Yes, that’s right – I’m one of the “with-it” set!)

  75. Some of these selections are being a bit too flexible with the year of origin. ’67 and ’69 tracks are creeping in. “Something In The Air” is a case in point. Thunderclap Newman didn’t exist until 1969. A shame because it’s one I immediately thought of when I saw the thread and then had to reject.

  79. 1968. What a great year. .Just scrolling through these songs I’m back in the fourth form at Wellington College in New Zealand – hearing these songs was my life. I’d come home from school, get some food from the kitchen – a sandwich, cake, biscuits, whatever – retire to my bedroom to “do my homework” and turn on the radio. It was bliss, total happiness. I’m back there now. There are songs here that didn’t get played on NZ radio – the album tracks and the American soul/R’nB songs that I heard in later years.

    If anyone’s interested, there were local NZ records too, here’s a couple of the best – I’d be interested to hear what you think…

    The Avengers – “Love Hate Revenge”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8CxW3FEN0M

    The Hi-Revving Tongues (nobody got the band name in 1968 NZ, especially 14 year old me) – “Tropic Of Capricorn”

  81. Like M ousey, it was great being able to hear not only the cream of US and UK pop, but also the homegrown stuff.

    Here’s a couple from The Master’s Apprentices – first up, their go a at psychadelica

    Then their crack at bubblegum (for some reason they tended to leave this out of anthologies, and even gave it scant notice in their various histories)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Ns–kZJmU

  82. The Strangers doing Happy Without You – the fellow on the left is John Farrar, who moved to the UK in the early 70s and formed Marvin, Welch and Farrar with Hank and Bruce after the Shadows had split, then wrote and produced Olivia Newton-John’s run of 70s hits (including a couple of new tunes (You’re The One That I Want and Hopelessly Devoted To You) for the screen version of Grease).

    The Procession doing Anthem – unusual for being an accappella song…not many of those popped up in your typical Top 40 chart (the New Seekers did a cover version during their heyday).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GakUIGtSM2E

  93. The Maytals – “Do the Reggay” (1968)
    This, of course, was the first Jamaican single to mention the word ‘reggae’, except that, obviously, they spelt it ‘reggay’.

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