1967 Song of the Week | The New Retro League

Last updated 5/15/2019

Songs 23-44 are located here.

Songs 45-67 are located here.

Extra Songs are located here.

The Top Songs of 1967, as charted by Billboard Magazine, will be presented each week during the season.
The source reference for this list is “Joel Whitburn’s Pop Annual 1955-1999.” Joel originated the tracking of Billboard chart data in 1970, so he’s known as the expert in the field.
The structure of the annual charts is simple: records are rated on the highest position reached on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the number of weeks spent at that position. Ties are broken by the number of weeks spent in the Top 10, Top 40, and Top 100.
If a record charted in more than one year, all of its chart history is treated as if it occurred in the year that the record first hit its peak position, so it will not appear at all in the other year’s listing.
739 records appeared on the Hot 100 chart in 1967.

Unless otherwise indicated, all tracks are stereo 320 kbps mp3 files, converted from CD sources (16 bits and 44.1 KHz). Some tracks were converted from high-resolution digital download sources (24 bits and 88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192 KHz; or DSD at 2.8 MHz), and those are marked as “high-res”.

Peaked at #1

Song 1

#1 for five weeks on 10/21/67, 10/28/67, 11/4/67, 11/11/67, and 11/18/67.
Lulu’s real name is Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. She both appeared in the film and sang the title song.
Though she was a popular recording and TV star in England, her only other U.S. Top 20 hit came fourteen years later.
Curiously, although this was the top record of the year in the U.S., it wasn’t even a hit in the U.K., only being released as the B-side of a single.
(As described in the 1966 list, the real #1 of 1967 should be “I’m A Believer” by The Monkees, which would have given them two of the top 3 records of the year – both containing the word “believer” in the title.)

#1 – “To Sir With Love” by Lulu

Song 2

#1 for four weeks on 12/2/67, 12/9/67, 12/16/67, and 12/23/67.
The last Monkees #1 hit. The late Peter Tork did the vocal arrangement and played piano on the record.
Another one of my favorite records. I played my 45 dozens of times.
I still have my original 45, stereo LP, and 8-track tape:
Transferred from high-res 24/192.

#2 – “Daydream Believer” by The Monkees

Song 3

#1 for four weeks on 7/1/67, 7/8/67, 7/15/67, and 7/22/67.
This was the group’s second #1 record and the third of their five Top 10 hits.
They never reached the Top 40 again after 1968.
Songwriter Ruthann Friedman was introduced to the group by Van Dyke Parks (see Song #5 below).

#3 – “Windy” by The Association

Song 4

#1 for four weeks on 8/26/67, 9/2/67, 9/9/67, and 9/16/67.
Bobbie Gentry’s real name is Roberta Lee Streeter. Though she was born in Missisippi, she went to high school in
Arcadia, CA and attended UCLA.
Grammy Awards for Best New Artist; Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement; Best Vocal Performance, Female; and Best Contemporary Female Solo Vocal Performance.
This was Gentry’s only Top 20 record.

#4 – “Ode To Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry

Song 5

#1 for four weeks on 4/15/67, 4/22/67, 4/29/67, and 5/6/67.
The first duet #1 hit of the rock era. There wouldn’t be another one until 1974. Also, it’s the only case where two artists who had solo #1 hits one year had a duet #1 hit the following year.
Written by C. Carson Parks, whose brother, composer/producer Van Dyke Parks, was collaborating with Beach Boy Brian Wilson at the time.

#5 – “Somethin’ Stupid” by Nancy and Frank Sinatra

Song 6

#1 for four weeks on 5/20/67, 5/27/67, 6/17/67, and 6/24/67.
There’s a gap in the middle, because after two weeks “Respect” replaced it at #1 for two weeks, then “Groovin'” went back to the top for two more weeks.
Atlantic Records was happy either way, because they had six straight weeks of #1 hits.
Transferred from high-res 24/192.

#6 – “Groovin'” by The Young Rascals

Song 7

#1 for four weeks on 9/23/67, 9/30/67, 10/7/67, and 10/14/67.
The group’s first and biggest hit. They had one other Top 10 record.
Lead singer Alex Chilton was 16 when this was recorded.

#7 – “The Letter” by The Box Tops

Song 8

#1 for three weeks on 7/29/67, 8/5/67, and 8/12/67.
The Doors’ first and biggest hit. They only had three Top 10 hits, two of them reaching #1.
This is the mono single edit, which is now less common than the stereo album long version.
Transferred from high-res 24/192.

#8 – “Light My Fire” by The Doors

Song 9

#1 for three weeks on 3/25/67, 4/1/67, and 4/8/67.
The Turtles’ biggest hit.
Chip Douglas, who had just become the group’s bass player, arranged the song. He soon left to produce The Monkees, including both songs #2 and #35, then returned in 1968 to produce The Turtles’ last two Top 10 records.

#9 – “Happy Together” by The Turtles

Song 10

#1 for three weeks on 12/30/67, 1/6/68, and 1/13/68.
This really should be the #8 record of 1968 instead, but that’s not how the charts are computed.
This is the 2015 stereo remix.

#10 – “Hello Goodbye” by The Beatles

Song 11

#1 for two weeks on 6/3/67 and 6/10/67.
Aretha had 21 singles and nine albums on Columbia from 1960 to 1967, never reaching the Top 30 of the Hot 100.
This record, her second single for Atlantic, was also the first track on her first Atlantic album.
The backup singers are Aretha’s sisters Carolyn and Erma, both of whom had minor recording careers. Erma recorded the original version of “Piece Of My Heart,” a year before the better-known Janis Joplin version.
Transferred from high-res 24/192.

#11 – “Respect” by Aretha Franklin

Song 12

#1 for two weeks on 2/18/67 and 2/25/67.
The success of this record on the regional U.S.A. label got the group a contact with Columbia, where they recorded their other four Top 20 hits.

#12 – “Kind Of A Drag” by The Buckinghams

Song 13

#1 for one week on 11/25/67.
The band recorded this song for the small All-American label under the name Thee Sixpence. By the time the Uni Records subsidiary of MCA picked it up for national distribution, the band had changed its name.
The lead singer on the record is a 16-year-old friend of the band who was from another group. He never recorded with this band again.
This was their only Top 20 hit.
Guitarist Ed King was later a member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

#13 – “Incense And Peppermints” by The Strawberry Alarm Clock

Song 14

#1 for one week on 3/11/67.
The ninth Supremes #1, primarily recorded in Los Angeles in August 1966, but later completed at Motown in Detroit.
My younger brother and his friends liked to turn down the radio volume right after the words “You stripped me” and then back up in time for the words “Look at me now.” Kids…
Transferred from high-res 24/192.

#14 – “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” by The Supremes

Song 15

#1 for one week on 3/4/67.
The only Stones record to make the Top 10 in 1967. They had just one other (“Dandelion,” peaked at #14) reach the Top 40.
Transferred from a DSD Super Audio CD.

#15 – “Ruby Tuesday” by The Rolling Stones