Apr 28 | This week in 1968

#1 at KRUX/Phoenix: “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,” title song from the latest Clint Eastwood film, by Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra — back in the days when instrumentals could be chart-toppers.

The “spaghetti western” movie theme knocks out “The Unicorn” (#2), a children’s song written by Shel Silverstein — who among other things was a popular cartoonist for Playboy (!) — and performed by the Irish Rovers, a Canadian (!) group.

Moving two places up to #3 is “The Unknown Soldier,” the Doors’ anti-war anthem with that over-the-top execution sequence in the middle. Climbing to #8 is “A Beautiful Morning” by the no-longer young Rascals. Dropping to #12 is the Box Tops’ soulful “Cry Like A Baby.”

In stark contrast, this was the golden era of bubblegum music, a silly genre seemingly aimed at pre-adolescents that infiltrated Top 40 radio for a while. This week’s list includes:

A couple of borderline bubblegum songs are also on this week’s chart:

  • Mony, Mony” (#17 to #9), the future dance party classic by Tommy James & The Shondells, was also a hit in 1987 for Billy Idol;
  • the Hollies sing about a girl with freckles named “Jennifer Eccles” (#7).

#1 album: Horizontal by the pre-disco Bee Gees. However, their current single, “Jumbo” (#11), is not on that album.

Simon & Garfunkel have two hit albums: Bookends (#2) and The Graduate soundtrack (#4). Their latest single, “Mrs. Robinson” (new at #26) appears on both albums. Their previous single, “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (#13), served as the title track of their previous album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and is also on the Graduate soundtrack.

Other debuts include Tom Jones’ melodramatic “Delilah” (#24) and the Beach Boys’ waltz-like “Friends” (#28).

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