Forgotten Hits

The Summer of Love Countdown

In honor of the 40th Anniversary of The Summer Of Love (1967), FORGOTTEN HITS put together a Top 50 List, showing the most popular songs in the nation ... as well as here in Chicagoland.  Surprisingly, at the dawn of this psychedelic era, the list was VERY "pop" oriented.  FORGOTTEN HITS List Members (and Chart Statisticians) RANDY PRICE and JACK LEVIN calculated the most popular songs during the months of June, July and August ... and came up with this VERY unique countdown.  RANDY PRICE used National Chart Information gathered through researching the BILLBOARD, CASH BOX and RECORD WORLD Charts ... while JACK LEVIN based HIS calculations of The Top 40 Charts of Chicago's Powerhouse AM Top 40 Stations WLS and WCFL.  What follows is a unique look back at one of the most influential times in pop music history.  We call it THE SUMMER OF LOVE COUNTDOWN!!!

THE CHICAGOLAND CHARTS:

1.   Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli

2.   A Little Bit O' Soul - The Music Explosion

3.   Windy - The Association

4.   It Could Be We're In Love - The Cryan' Shames

5.   Come On Down To My Boat - Every Mother's Son 

6.   Light My Fire - The Doors

7.   Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry

8.   Somebody To Love - The Jefferson Airplane

9.   Come Back When You Grow Up - Bobby Vee

10.  Pleasant Valley Sunday / Words - The Monkees

11.  Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

12.  Groovin' - The Young Rascals

13.  Reflections - Diana Ross & the Supremes

14.  I've Got Rhythm - The Happenings

15.  Let's Live For Today - The Grass Roots

16.  San Francisco - Scott MacKenzie

17.  Mirage - Tommy James and the Shondells

18.  Blue's Theme - Davie Allan and the Arrows

19.  All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man - The Beatles

20.  Him Or Me, What's It Gonna Be - Paul Revere and the Raiders

21.  She'd Rather Be With Me - The Turtles 

22.  In The Midnight Hour - Michael and the Messengers

23.  I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder

24.  White Rabbit - The Jefferson Airplane

25.  Carrie Anne - The Hollies

26.  Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley

27.  Funky Broadway - Wilson Pickett

28.  C'Mon Marianne -  The Four Seasons 

29.  Respect - Aretha Franklin

30.  Up, Up And Away - The Fifth Dimension

31.  Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - The Buckinghams

32.  Thank The Lord For The Night-Time - Neil Diamond 

33.  Do It Again (Just A Little Bit Slower) - Jon & Robin

34.  Silence Is Golden - The Tremeloes

35.  Step Out Of Your Mind - The American Breed

36.  Release Me - Englebert Humperdinck

37.  I Had A Dream - Paul Revere and the Raiders

38.  Tracks Of My Tears - Johnny Rivers

39.  Yellow Balloon - Yellow Balloon

40.  A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum

41.  I Like The Way - Tommy James and the Shondells

42.  Sunday Will Never Be The Same - Spanky and Our Gang

43.  A Girl Like You - The Young Rascals

44.  Hold On - The Mauds

45.  Zip Code - The Five Americans

46.  Pay You Back With Interest - The Hollies

47.  Don't Sleep In The Subway - Petula Clark

48.  Heroes & Villains - The Beach Boys

49.  Baby I Love You - Aretha Franklin

50.  Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead - The Fifth Estate

THE NATIONAL CHARTS:

We've highlighted the songs unique to each of these charts ... incredibly, THIRTY THREE songs (out of 50) matched and made BOTH lists including the ENTIRE Top 23 songs on THE NATIONAL CHART.  

Were there a few surprises?  SOME songs just seemed to be a "given" ... if SCOTT McKENZIE's Top Five Hit, SAN FRANCISCO (WEAR FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) is the ANTHEM for THE SUMMER OF LOVE ... it epitomized the entire era ... then the song that would HAVE to come in as its second cousin would HAVE be THE BEATLES' own ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE ... whereas prior to THE SUMMER OF LOVE,  THE BEATLES pretty much led the way for everything new and innovative, they, too, were mesmerized by what was happening out California way (or would that more accurately be BLUE JAY WAY???) in The Summer of '67 ... and JOHN LENNON wrote the PERFECT song to capture the mood of the era.

Amazingly, much of what's left on the list was pretty much standard fare for the charts mid-'60's style.  There were a few exceptions ... THE DOORS' hit LIGHT MY FIRE probably comes closest to the next SUMMER OF LOVE Classic ... and THE JEFFERSON AIRPLANE scored two of the decades biggest psychedelic hits with SOMEBODY TO LOVE and WHITE RABBIT.  But, after that, you had ALL kinds of MOTOWN and SOUL (STEVIE WONDER, THE SUPREMES, ARETHA FRANKLIN, RAY CHARLES, THE FOUR TOPS, THE TEMPTATIONS, DIONNE WARWICK, SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES and JAMES BROWN all made The National Top 50 List.)

Big on the LOCAL Charts were Chicago's own CRYAN' SHAMES, who spent FOUR WEEKS on top of the WLS and WCFL Charts with their classic local hit IT COULD BE WE'RE IN LOVE.  You'll also find Chicago's BUCKINGHAMS, AMERICAN BREED, THE MAUDS and SPANKY AND OUR GANG (along with Milwaukee's MICHAEL AND THE MESSENGERS) prominently featured in The Chicagoland Top 50.  The first song unique to The National Chart was the controversial JANIS IAN classic SOCIETY'S CHILD.  Banned on a number of stations across the country at the time for its inter-racial love them (including Chicago's own WLS), it's #12 showing on The Super 'CFL Chart wasn't enough to earn it a spot on The Chicagoland Countdown.

HOW COOL IS THIS?!?!?:  We have been VERY fortunate to have MANY of the artists on these combined charts share their memories with FORGOTTEN HITS over the past nine years.  At one time or another, we've spoken with members of THE YOUNG RASCALS, THE TURTLES, THE BUCKINGHAMS, THE GRASS ROOTS, THE MONKEES, NANCY SINATRA, THE FIFTH ESTATE, PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS, TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS, HERMAN'S HERMITS, THE CRYAN' SHAMES, BOBBY VEE, DAVIE ALLAN AND THE ARROWS, MICHAEL AND THE MESSENGERS and THE AMERICAN BREED.  With more artists chiming in all the time, FORGOTTEN HITS has become THE source to keep these great memories alive!

WHAT ABOUT THE ALBUM CHARTS???

By 1967, Album Rock (and the beginning of FM Radio) was starting to eclipse the old tried-and-true sounds of Top 40 Pop.  What were the biggest LPs during THE SUMMER OF LOVE?  Here were The Top Ten National LP Charters:

 1. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND - The Beatles (NATCH!!!)

 2. HEADQUARTERS - The Monkees

 3. I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU - Aretha Franklin

 4. SOUNDS LIKE - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

 5. REVENGE - Bill Cosby

 6. SURREALISTIC PILLOW - The Jefferson Airplane

 7. MORE OF THE MONKEES - The Monkees

 8. FLOWERS - The Rolling Stones

 9. BORN FREE - Roger Williams

10. THE DOORS - The Doors