#1 at KRIZ/Phoenix: “Gimme Little Sign” by Brenton Wood, following up his Phoenix top 10 hit “The Oogum Boogum Song.” It dethrones “The Letter” by the Box Tops, featuring vocals by 16-year-old Alex Chilton, who in 1999 sang a rather lame version of “Oogum Boogum” himself.
The Rolling Stones, at their most psychedelic, climb from #10 to #5 with the two-sided hit “Dandelion” and “We Love You” — the latter featuring background vocals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Leaping from #12 to #6 is “Purple Haze,” the debut single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The record wasn’t a big hit nationally, though in later years it would become a classic rock cornerstone. KRIZ had the foresight to give it exposure when it was first released, while rival KRUX ignored it.
Zooming from #23 to #10 is “Do Something To Me” by ? & The Mysterians, a song Tommy James & The Shondells would make a minor national hit the following year. The Mysterians’ version never even made the Billboard Hot 100, but it was hot in Phoenix. Unlike Hendrix, this one was played on KRUX, reaching #2.
Peter, Paul & Mary never sounded cooler than on their semi-sarcastic “I Dig Rock & Roll Music” (falling from #5 to #11), which name-checks (and mimics) a slew of popular artists of the day.
Comedian/actor/future scoundrel Bill Cosby drops to #16 with his former top 5 novelty hit “Little Ole Man,” which incorporates Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight – Everything’s Alright” — long before the practice of “sampling” pieces of a song to create a new one would become commonplace.
King Curtis & The Kingpins are at #41 with a rush-released jazzy saxophone rendition of “Ode To Billie Joe,” while the mysterious original version by Bobbie Gentry (a former chart-topper) drops to #14.
On the local front:
- “Lightning’s Girl” (#12) by Nancy Sinatra was another in a string of hits written and produced for her by legendary Phoenix producer and DJ Lee Hazlewood.
- Local band Motion jumps from #44 to #30 with “Don’t Blame The Rain,” issued on Phoenix’s own Mascot Records.
- Phoenix native and Phoenix Christian Academy graduate Bobby Hart teams with songwriting partner Tommy Boyce for “Sometimes She’s A Little Girl” (#34).
- Sam & Dave’s classic “Soul Man” debuts at #39 featuring longtime Valley resident Sam Moore, who later was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame.
- Future Phoenician Glen Campbell leaps from #49 to #37 with the aptly named “By The Time I Get To Phoenix.”
Among other big jumpers this week:
- “People Are Strange” (#20 to #9), the Doors’ change-of-pace follow-up to their landmark hit “Light My Fire“;
- “To Sir With Love” (#31 to #15), a future #1 hit by Lulu, title track from the movie starring Sidney Poitier — and featuring Lulu herself;
- “Rock And Roll Woman” (#28 to #16) by Buffalo Springfield, written and sung by Stephen Stills;
- “(Your Love Lifts Me) Higher And Higher” (#29 to #19), the Jackie Wilson soul classic;
- “Holiday” (#32 to #21), third hit from the Bee Gees’ U.S. debut album;
- “Incense And Peppermints” (#48 to #28), a future #1 hit by the Strawberry Alarm Clock;
- “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (#46 to #33) by Aretha Franklin, co-written by Carole King.
And debuting at #49 is the Hombres with their (at the time) raunchy-sounding (but really inoffensive) “Let It All Hang Out” — a title shortened by the record label to the more polite “Let It Out.”