August 5th

Herman's Hermits perform at Chicago's International Amphitheater.

Pink Floyd releases their first album, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". It was an auspicious debut, only reaching #131 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart.  (It peaked at #6 back home in England.)  Not a huge seller, it would take the record 27 years to be certified gold.  (Of course eventually one of their LPs would go on to stay on the charts for 27+ years!!!)

Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs make the cover of this week's TV Guide for their work on "The Today Show".  Walters would stay in our lives for the next 50 years … a great career in broadcasting.  

ABC's Wide World Of Sports hosts a boxing doubleheader from The Houston Astrodome as boxing seeks to determine the new Heavyweight Champion of the World now that Muhammad Ali has been stripped of his title due to draft evasion.  Ultimately Jimmy Ellis will be declared the new champ but not until he defeats Jerry Quarry in April of '68.  He won't hold the title long, however … Joe Frazier is waiting for him just around the corner.  (Or would that be IN the other corner???)

August 4th

Climbing up their way toward The Top 40 we find "Out And About" by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (#56 to #41), "The River Is Wide" by The Forum (#50 to #42), "Glory Of Love" by Otis Redding (#57 to #44), "I Take What I Want" by James and Bobby Purify (#60 to #45), "The Sweetest Thing This Side Of Heaven" by Chris Bartley (#66 to #48), "You're My Everything" by The Temptations (a 40 point leap from #90 to #50!), "Fakin' It" by Simon and Garfunkel (#84 to #56), "Baby You're A Rich Man" by The Beatles (#80 to #57), "Come Back When You Grow Up" by Bobby Vee (#77 to #59), "Cry Softly Lonely One" by Roy Orbison (#79 to #68), "The Windows Of The World" by Dionne Warwick (#96 to #72) and "Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie" by Jay and the Techniques (#88 to #74).  

The Monkees perform a sold-out show at The St. Paul Auditorium Arena in Minneapolis.  After the show, a 16-year-old female fan stows away on the group's private plane. Her father threatens pressing criminal charges against the group, claiming that they have committed a felony by transporting a minor across state lines.

August 3rd

Top debuts this week belong to The Beach Boys ("Heroes and Villains", #54), Frank Sinatra ("The World We Knew", #67) and "San Franciscan Nights" by Eric Burdon and the Animals (#77).  Also new on the chart this week are "Ode To Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry, "Run Run Run" by Third Rail (a BIG hit here in Chicago), "Groovin'" by Booker T. and the MG's, an instrumental version of The Young Rascals' recent #1 Hit and "Funky Broadway" by Wilson Pickett.  

Way down at #95 we find "It Could Be We're In Love" by The Cryan' Shames, a long-time Chicagoland favorite.  Although this record never made The Top 50 nationally, it topped the local chart here in Chicago for four straight weeks.  (That's right … "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles and "Light My Fire" by The Doors never stood a chance against this regional monster!)   

We've introduced thousands and thousands of Forgotten Hits Readers to this tune over the past eighteen years, most of whom have gone out to pick up a copy of the record for themselves.  Most consider it to be an undiscovered gem that really slipped thru the cracks upon its original release.  Several have compared it to being every bit as good as what Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys were doing at the time … high praise indeed!  This one should have been a HUGE national hit.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience begin a five night stand at The Salvation Club in New York

August 2nd

Brand new to The Top 40 this week are "Words" by The Monkees (up 18 places from #48 to #30 … and the flipside of their now Top Ten Hit "Pleasant Valley Sunday"), "Thank The Lord For The Night Time" by Neil Diamond (#43 to #31) and "I Wanna Testify" by The Parliaments (#41 to #36).  Also on the move are "I Like The Way" by Tommy James and the Shondells (#29 to #24), "To Love Somebody" by The Bee Gees (#38 to #32) and "Cold Sweat" by James Brown (#49 to #8), all earning bullets this week.  

The Monkees film music video sequences here in Chicago with the colorful rainbow backdrop later seen in the song clips for "Daydream Believer", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Randy Scouse Git", "No Time", "Love Is Only Sleeping" and "She Hangs Out".  These became some of the best episode endings of the second season.  (See photos and clips below)

And still one of my favorites ...



The Association broke the attendance record for The Ravinia Festival held here in Highland Park, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, when they attracted 17,432 fans to their concert held on August 2, 1967. The band's attendance total broke a record, by a margin of 3,000 ticket-holders, that the Kingston Trio had set in 1958. The opening act that night was Chicago's own The Mob. The event was billed as "Mod Night".

Ravinia Festival has presented summer concert programs continually since 1904, always attracting some of the biggest names in music.  It's a beautiful outdoor venue that offers both pavilion and lawn seating and concert attendees go all out with some pretty high-end picnic practices.  (It has also been the summer performance venue for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since the mid-1930s.)

August 1st, 1967

The race riots continue into August, now hitting Washington, DC.  

Another Monkees concert is cancelled, this time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (scheduled for tomorrow night), again due to race rioting.  (It doesn't FEEL like The Summer Of Love, does it?)  As such, the group returns to Chicago and some more overdubbing sessions at RCA Studios.  (The Monkees would not return to Milwaukee until June of 1969, by which time Peter Tork had already left the band.)

This would prove to be an INCREDIBLE night of music, however, as The Monkees shared the stage that night with The Classics IV, Eddie Floyd and the Bar-Kays, The Bob Seger System, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Cryan' Shames, Tommy James and the Shondells, The New Colony Six, The Buckinghams, Andy Kim, The Royal Guardsmen and The Guess Who!  This would turn out to be the single largest audience of their entire career, a MAJOR event sponsored by WOKY and known as "M'Woky Fest".  Over 29,000 fans were on hand to witness this incredible event … and I swear it breaks my heart daily to not have been one of them!

July 31st

"Light My Fire" by The Doors holds at #1 for a second week while Stevie Wonder moves up a couple of notches into the #2 position with "I Was Made To Love Her".  The two biggest movers within The Top Ten this week are "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles (up 26 places from #32 to #6) and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees (up 15 spots from #26 to #9).  Other Top Ten movers include "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum (#7 to #5), "Mercy Mercy Mercy" by The Buckinghams (#11 to #7), "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane (#10 to #8) and "A Girl Like You" by The Young Rascals (#18 to #10).  

Just outside The Top Ten, we find "Carrie Anne" by The Hollies up from #15 to #11, "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes up to #15 from #20, "My Mammy" by The Happenings (#24 to #17) and "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin (up 18 places from #36 to #18).  

The #1 Album again this week is "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles.  

The Monkees take advantage of their time in Chicago and record overdubs for a few tracks from their upcoming album.  (You can hear some of the Chicago chatter on "Don't Call On Me" from "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.", which just may be Michael Nesmith's most beautiful song ever.)  

That evening the group trek on up to Big Top Historyland (an Indian Reservation) in Old Hayward, Wisconsin, to see The Buffalo Springfield perform.  Micky joins the band on stage toward the end of their set.  

The Rolling Stones appeal their drug possession conviction from June 29th … Keith Richards' conviction is overturned while Mick Jagger's three month jail sentence is reduced to a "conditional discharge".

July 30th

The Monkees perform at The Chicago Stadium to a capacity crowd.  

The Who perform at The Miami Beach Convention Hall.  

We've got Race Riots in Milwaukee this time where four are killed.  Riots will continue until August 2nd, at which point the city will be shut down for ten days.  

Fans are still going to see "The Dirty Dozen" in its seventh week of release … it tops the box office again for the fifth time!

July 29th

The Monkees' scheduled appearance at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, MI, is cancelled due to rioting and an enforced curfew.  The show is rescheduled for an afternoon appearance on August 13th.  

With nothing else to do, the group flies into Chicago, which is their next scheduled tour stop.  By 3:30 that afternoon they are in the studio and on the air on WLS Radio.   

That night they hang out with members of Buffalo Springfield and The Association ... and then pay a visit to Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion.  

The Byrds appear on American Bandstand

July 28th

Pirate Radio 390 (Radio Invicta) is closed down in England.

Folk heroes Simon and Garfunkel decided to put one over on all the great minds in radio with their latest release.

Back then, the general way of thinking was that in order to get your song played on the radio, you had to deliver the goods in under three minutes.  (Keep in mind the FM Revolution was still several months off in the future at this point.)

But Simon and Garfunkel couldn't capture the feel they were going to in less than three minutes ...

So instead they had the labels printed for "Fakin' It" showing the time as 2 minutes and 74 seconds.

Hey, it worked ... "Fakin' It" (which really clocked in at 3:14) went to #15 on the National Charts!

July 27th

Working their way toward The Top 40 this week we find "Thank The Lord For The Night Time" by Neil Diamond (#43), "Words" by The Monkees (#48), "Cold Sweat" by James Brown (#49), "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison (#68), "Come Back When You Grow Up Girl" by Bobby Vee (#77) and "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" by Jay and the Techniques (#88).  

In response to all the rioting going on across his country, President Lyndon Johnson appoints the Kerner Commission to look into what may be causing all of this violence.  Later that same day, Black Militant Rap Brown says "Violence is as American as Apple Pie."  (I suppose one could reasonably argue that this way of thinking may have in some way contributed to what was going on in our country at the time.)

July 26th

After major debuts last week by The Monkees and The Beatles, this week's list of premiers pales in comparison … although it IS interesting to see a song called "Lonesome Road" premiering at #78 by The Wonder Who?  This "mystery group" is none other than The Four Seasons, giving Frankie Valli THREE Top 100 Hits this week!  Also new this week is the B-Side to The Beatles' latest record … "Baby You're A Rich Man" (another one of my LEAST favorite Beatles songs ... a real shame, coming during such an incredibly fruitful period of music!) premiers at #80.  (I remember reading years later of Paul explaining this song this song as being written very much in the same method of "A Day In the Life", where each he and John had two completely separate songs started that they just decided to combine into one.  I'm sorry ... but THIS one ... and "A Day In The Life" ... are LIGHT YEARS apart in the way of comparison!!!)



To give you some idea as to how diverse the music scene was back in July of 1967, other new records on the chart this week belong to Roy Orbison, The Seeds, The Tokens, Simon and Garfunkel, The Temptations,  The Four Tops, Dionne Warwick, Andy Williams, Booker T and the MG's, and duets by Nino Tempo and April Stevens and David Houston and Tammy Wynette!

July 25th

A quick check of the local scene ...

Check out "Words", showing as the A-Side, as The Monkees jump from #13 to #2 with their latest two-sided hit, "Words" / "Pleasant Valley Sunday".

Meanwhile, our FH Buddy Davie Allan has a HUGE hit here in Chicago with "Blues' Theme".

July 24th

There's only one new song in The Top Ten this week as "White Rabbit" by The Jefferson Airplane inches up from #11 to #10.  There is definitely a "San Francisco feel" to the chart, however, as The Doors move into the #1 spot (up from #5) with "Light My Fire" and Scott McKenzie's "Summer of Love" Anthem "San Francisco" hangs on at #8 after three straight weeks at #4.  "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli slips to #2 and "Windy" by The Association falls to #3.  Rounding out The Top Ten are "Up Up And Away" by The Fifth Dimension (#5), "Little Bit O'Soul" by The Music Explosion (#6), "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum (up three spots from #10 to #7) and "C'mon Marianne" by The Four Seasons, which holds at #9.  

Big movers within The Top 40 include "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees, which climbs from #50 to #26 in its second week on the chart, "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles (up 44 places from #76 to #32) and "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin, which moves from #57 to #36.  Also on the rise:  "To Love Somebody" by The Bee Gees (#46 to #38), "I Take It Back" by Sandy Posey (#20 to #14), "Carrie Anne" by The Hollies (#19 to #15), "A Girl Like You" by The Young Rascals (up ten places to #18), "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes (#20, up from #26), "My Mammy" by The Happenings (#24 from #32) and "There Goes My Everything" by Engelbert Humperdinck (#25 from #30).  

In a London Times advertisement, The Beatles (along with Brian Epstein and several other British groups) urge the British Government to legalize marijuana.  (All four signatures are on the petition). 

Speaking of The Beatles, the #1 Album, once again, is "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".  

And, speaking of albums, The Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow" is certified gold today.  It contains their two recent Top Ten Hits, "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit".  And The Yardbirds released their final album, "Little Games" today as well. 

On-going Detroit riots forced the postponement of a Major League Baseball Game between The Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles.  Meanwhile, race riots broke out in Cambridge, Maryland, as well. 

Also on this date in 1967, The City of Milwaukee staged an exhibition game between The Chicago White Sox and The Minnesota Twins at County Stadium in an effort to prove that Milwaukee was still a viable home for Major League Baseball.  (They had lost their beloved Braves to Atlanta two years earlier.)

Forgotten Hits Reader Robert Campbell sent in this article celebrating the 50th Anniversary ... http://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2017/07/18/when-milwaukee-auditioned-return-big-leagues-1967/471987001/ ... which explains that over 51,000 fans showed up, proving that the city was still starving for Major League Baseball Action. 

Playing to the crowd, The White Sox started Pitcher Don McMahon, who was a rookie sensation for The Milwaukee Braves in 1957 (although he was now primarily used as a reliever.)  Sox Manager Eddie Stanky played for the minor league Milwaukee Brewers in 1942 and Minnesota Twins Coach Billy Martin also played briefly for The Braves in 1961.  

The White Sox were so impressed with the turn-out that they promised to play ten of their home games at County Stadium in 1968.  When expansion was still denied that year, The Sox returned for eleven more games in 1969.

Finally, just days before the start of the 1970 season, expansion team The Seattle Pilots filed for bankruptcy ... and Milwaukee jumped in to claim that team as The Brewers ... ironically, five future Brewers players (Rod Carew, Rich Rollins, Sandy Valdespino, Ken Berry and Jerry McNertney as well as future manager Cal Ermer) played in that 1967 Exhibition Game.  Major League Baseball would return to Milwaukee ... and it's been there ever since.  
(By the way, The Brewers went to the World Series just twelve years later.  County Stadium attendance for 1982 was just under two million ... yes, Milwaukee fans love their baseball!)

French President General Charles de Gaulle shouted "Vive le Quebec libre" (long live free Quebec!) from the balcony of Montreal's City Hall.  This was viewed as a serious breach of protocol and sparked Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to protest the remark.  (The phrase had been used by those who favored Quebec sovereignty and de Gaulle's use of it was seen as his lending support to the movement.)  Two days later, in what can only be seen as a diplomatic debacle, de Gaulle abruptly cancelled his visit to Ottawa and returned to France.