#1 at KRUX/Phoenix: “Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The song was given another life in 2019 with a version by the Pope of Mope, Morrissey.
The Gary & The Gap block out the Doors’ “Hello, I Love You” for another week. The Doors are also represented by Jose Feliciano’s Latin-flavored cover of “Light My Fire” (new at #23).
Among the other debuts:
- “People Got To Be Free” (#26), biggest hit for the Rascals, who officially had just dropped “Young” from their name. It’s a song whose message is, unfortunately, as relevant today as ever.
- “Born To Be Wild” (#29), the first hit for Steppenwolf. It was featured the following year in the movie Easy Rider, whose opening sequence shows Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson as they ride their motorcycles on Route 66 across northern Arizona.
Falling from #5 to #11 is Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” The uncharacteristic heavy sound for Donovan was rumored to be provided by session musicians Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham — three-fourths of the future Led Zeppelin, together in the studio for the first time.
Biggest climber is “Classical Gas” (#19 to #9), the distinctive instrumental by Mason Williams, who also was a writer at the time for TV’s Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Another big jumper is the Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men” (#30 to #21), which would become a 1990 hit for Camper Van Beethoven. (who were in concert last night in Phoenix, along with David Lowry‘s later group, Cracker).
The #1 album is Friends by the Beach Boys. Not on the album is their new single, “Do It Again,” which is listed as a “KRUX-ter Komer.” Also a “Komer” is ’70s Phoenix concert favorite Jerry Jeff Walker‘s original version of “Mr. Bojangles,” which became a 1971 hit by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Another new song is “I’d Love Making Love To You” by none other than Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy. Although it wasn’t a hit, it’s a more credible attempt than William Shatner’s (Captain Kirk) infamous reading of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” from earlier that year.