Party Like It's Almost 1968

Just 364 days ago, I wrote a post about, and included the sounds from, a tape recording of the countdown of the hits of the year, for 1968, recorded by someone in Columbus, Ohio, from radio station WCOL, AM 1230, on December 31st, 1968 and into January 1st, 1969. That post can be found here!

Today, here's another tape from that same collection, and again, just in time for you to enjoy while you count down to 2017. In this case, it's the top 50 hits, again from WCOL, as heard on December 31st, 1967 and into January 1st, 1968.

As with the 1968 recording, you will hear some selective editing. This means that unfortunately, much of the DJ chatter and almost all evidence of commercials have been cut out. The person recording the show also had far different tastes than me in at least some areas, as he or she kept some all time lameness-in-song, while fading out/skipping recording some really good stuff. But perhaps he or she already had those songs on another tape. There is also the unfortunately habit of the DJ of playing with a squeaky toy and talking over the songs.

Information about the individual charts from this station (and many other stations) can be found in this marvelous spot. I have copied the year-end survey (for the show you're hearing) below, but you can find virtually every survey from 1967, and many many others, from WCOL, at that site, and that's where some of my information in the paragraphs below comes from.

As with the previously shared tape, there are some interesting differences between this station's local hit ranking and the national charts. The number one song is not a surprise - it was also the number one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 that year. But how did "Hello Goodbye" - a record released in mid-November of that year - make the top 50 for the year, and "Let it Out" by the Hombres, which was a two-week number one hit on the station, earlier that year, miss the countdown entirely.

Otherwise, there aren't as many left-field items on this list as there were on the 1968 list. The standouts for me are the cover version of "King of a Hush" by Gary and the Hornets, which did not chart on Billboard's Hot 100, and the # 11 song, "Thousand Devils" by Fifth Order, a group which never made the Billboard hot 100 at all. (Unfortunately, our taper friend chose to fade and cut the latter song.)

Sit back with family and friends, some New Year's Eve snacks, and whatever you choose to drink, and pretend it's 1967, going on 1968. Save me some Lard and Scrapple from Teeters!

Download: WCOL, Columbus, Ohio: The Top Hits of 1967
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