It looks like Beatlemania is just about to hit (a little later than in other parts of the country!) as "I Want To Hold Your Hand" / "I Saw Her Standing There" climbs from #11 to #5. There are some positive signs, however, as "Meet The Beatles" is the Pick Album of the Week ... and "She Loves You" shows up near the bottom of the list as an "extra".
Some strange, middle-of-the-road stuff elsewhere on the chart this week ... including Jody Miller at #2 with "He Walks Like A Man". (This song crapped out at #66 in Billboard ... but Jody was raised in Oklahoma City so this most likely had something to do with its success there.)
Al Hirt, Dean and Jean, Murry Kellum, Peter Guliker (who?), Connie Francis, The Singing Nun and Brenda Lee all have Top 20 Hits this week ... makes you wonder just how popular rock and roll was at this station back then. (Making it all that MORE surprising to see The Trashmen at #1!!! Hmmm ... maybe the listeners were trying to tell them something!)
Love the little bits at the bottom ... "Don't forget February 7th ... Write Ann Landers Day"!!! (lol)
Next up ... two completely different charts from completely different parts of the country for this week in 1967.
First, WAPE out of Jacksonville, FL, which shows Aaron Neville at #1 with his first big pop hit "Tell It Like It Is". (Look at #3, a two-sided hit by The Classics IV ... once again, radio is saluting their hometown boys with this one. Dennis Yost and Company wouldn't score a national hit for another ten months when "Spooky" broke through in a big, big way.)
They're showing "No Milk Today" by Herman's Hermits as an "exclusive" at #24 ... and it just may have been ... since the WIXY was showing the A-Side of that record, "There's A Kind Of Hush" as the "Ultimate Song of the Week"!!! Two weeks later BOTH sides of this record would be charting in Billboard.
Chicago's Buckinghams sit on top of Cleveland's WIXY Survey this week with "Kind Of A Drag", something they never managed to do here at home. (It was their SECOND big hit, "Don't You Care" that became their first chart-topper here locally.)
We found a great site dedicated to preserving the memory of WIXY ... Click here: WIXY1260Homepage ... which features a few other survey charts from their 10 1/2 year Top 40 run.
When we did our Local Hits / Regional Hits "Show Me Your Hits" Series a few years back, I remember hearing that "Little Black Egg" was a big hit in Cleveland ... this survey shows The Nightcrawlers at #8 for the week of January 30th, 1967. (These guys earned quite a few votes in our All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Poll a short while back, too!)
And how cool is THIS?!?!?
Chicago's WCFL used to do their Top Ten Capsule Countdown intermittently throughout the day. It coincided with their Sound 10 Survey (mentioned previously in these pages) which typically spotlighted The Top 20 Records in Chicagoland plus the "Action Ten" up-and-comers, as well as usually two or three "Chicago Premiers".
Ironically THIS particular countdown (sent in my FH Reader BSpro ... thanks, Bill!) just happens to be for the 'CFL Chart ending February 2nd, 1967, which ties in PERFECTLY with this week's edition of Saturday Surveys.
Give a listen to The Top Ten Tunes in Chicago for this week in 1967:
Well I don't have any surveys to contribute to your Saturday feature, but thought you might get a kick out of the attached.
Bill
GREAT chart, Bill ... once again showing the diversity of what radio sounded like back in the Swinging' '60's! Everything from soul (Aaron Neville at #10), brand new sounds of psychedelia ("I Had Too Much To Dream" by The Electric Prunes, "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" by The Blues Magoos and "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds, at numbers 7, 5 and 3 respectively), novelty hits like "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsmen at #6, run-away pop hits by The Monkees ("I'm A Believer") and The Seekers ("Georgy Girl") at Number 2 and Number 1 as well as the local sounds of Chicago's very own Buckinghams ("Kind Of A Drag", #9) and "Love You So Much" by The New Colony Six, #4 ... ALL played right along side the biggest hits of the decade by The Rolling Stones (who were at #8 with "Ruby Tuesday", up from #17 the week before)! Man, what an exciting time in radio! (kk)
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Be sure to check back next Saturday ... and EVERY Saturday ... for more great Top 40 Charts from around the country ... running EXCLUSIVELY in Forgotten Hits!
