#1 at KRUX/Phoenix: “I’m A Believer” by the Monkees, rocketing in from #10 last week. The song would become familiar to a whole new generation when Smash Mouth covered it in 2001 for the movie Shrek. “Believer” was written by Neil Diamond, who is at #19 with his own hit, “I Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No).”
The Pre-fab Four knock out of #1 “Lady Godiva” (#3) by big-time duo Peter & Gordon. Local duo Floyd & Jerry hold steady at #8 with “Dusty.” Another Arizona-connected artist, Lee Hazlewood, wrote and produced Nancy Sinatra’s “Sugar Town” (#11). Nancy’s dad, Frank Sinatra, climbs to #10 with “That’s Life,” a song featured in the 2019 film Joker. In a few months the Sinatras would team up for “Something Stupid,” a national #1, again produced by Hazlewood.
Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” (#6) allegedly launched a “teen craze” of smoking banana peels. The sad tale of an interracial teen love affair, “Society Child” by 15-year-old Janis Ian, drops from #9 to #15 — a good six months before the song entered the national chart.
Future classics include the Beach Boys’ eternal “Good Vibrations” (falling to #9) and Aaron Neville’s soulful “Tell It Like It Is” (Hitbound) — the original version of a future hit by Heart and Andy Williams, among others.
Also Hitbound is “Wedding Bell Blues” by Laura Nyro, who wrote the song. Her version wasn’t a big hit, but the Fifth Dimension took it to #1 in 1969.
This week’s biggest mover: “Pandora’s Golden Heebie Jeebies” (#29 to #14), the Association’s rather feeble follow-up to their #1 classic, “Cherish.” Other big jumpers: the Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard” (#24 to #12) and Herman’s Hermits’ “East West” (#25 to #13) — back-to-back on the chart but from the opposite ends of the pop-rock spectrum.
Among the other cool songs this week:
- “Devil With The Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly” (#4), the classic medley by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels;
- “Talk Talk” (#16) by that quintessential garage band, the Music Machine;
- “Good Thing” by Paul Revere & The Raiders, jumping from #28 to #20;
- “But It’s Alright” (new at #26) by soul man J.J. Jackson (not the future MTV VJ);
- “Blue’s Theme” (new at #30 — five months before it hit the national chart) the great instrumental by Davie Allan & The Arrows from the biker movie The Wild Angels.
And debuting at #25 is the Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron,” a song that further popularized the already iconic cartoon character.