Number Two Hits, 1967-1968

This is a weird list and there are several songs I don't know here. On the plus side, until listening to these songs I never got the "Hey There Blimpy Boy" joke from The Simpsons.

I really want MacArthur Park to win

"Never My Love" flies under so many radar screens. BMI said it was the 2nd most-played song on radio and tv of the 20th century, but the two songwriters don't even have their own wiki pages, and even as The Addrisi Brothers, their page isn't much more than a placeholder.

That's insane WilliamC, I just listened to it now and I don't think I've ever heard it before.

0_0

Mid-2012 I made a Spotify playlist of all the versions of it I could find: http://open.spotify.com/user/wmcrump/playlist/6Dt6afY62sPLLuU7TktqyW

The one by Blue Swede was a pretty big hit (#7 US).

That's a heck of a list of music. Very difficult to choose just one but I've gone for the underdog and voted for "The Horse" - terrific Northern Soul belter (UK reference; yes I know the group were from Alabama) which did nothing in Britain i.e. sold in all the "wrong" shops.

Voted The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, though obviously the Morricone arrangement is far better.

Going for "Born to Be Wild", but also much love for "Reflections" and its trippy intro

Just noticed that I overlooked Arthur Brown's "Fire" - that would've been my second choice

Born to Be Wild

"Fire" was the biggest chart hit Pete Townshend ever had (he produced it). No Who single placed that high in the US.

Voted "Soul Man." Hearing the original for the first time, after what seemed like years of the worthless Blues Brothers version, was monumentally revelatory.

voted aretha over stevies, the association, 'the horse', the supremes

Favorite song: I Was Made to Love Her
Most surprised it wasn't #1: Soul Man; The Rain, The Park, and Other Things
"Should" have been #1: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly; Born to Be Wild

Not sure what I'll vote for but it'll be one of those.

Wow. Almost every one of these deserved to be a #1. MacArthur Park, Those Were the Days, Valley of the Dolls, & Can't Take My Eyes Off You are classic restaurant jams and I love 'em all. Kind of hard to focus on the original versions of these when so many other renditions run through your mind. Then there's the Stevie Wonder pair.. OK, MacArthur Park narrowly over Valley of the Dolls.

Going for "Born to Be Wild", but also much love for "Reflections" and its trippy intro

^^^

The only sane vote is for Sam & Dave.

I hope I never hear "Born to be Wild" again and "Young Girl" is probably the creepiest song ever.

Songs I didn't recognize by name but when I heard them I realized I had heard them lots of times before and never knew what they were: Cliff Nobles and Co. - "The Horse", Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - "Young Girl", Music Explosion - "Little Bit O' Soul"

Best song among the ones I genuinely had never heard before (to my knowledge): Little Green Apples.

Love "Georgy Girl" and "Never My Love"--they're like the "Mystery Train" of Sunshine Pop. Also "Reflections" and "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You." Vote for "Georgy Girl."

"Soul Man" with "Little Bit o' Soul" probably my number two.

heard 'classical gas' on the radio a few weeks ago and it made my day

"for once in my life" is a masterpiece in every sense - the writing is phenomenal, those changes are just mindblowing, everybody playing on the record just kiling it, the strings and -- woodwinds? I feel certain there's flutes - but at any rate to put a vocal performance like that on top of it, all in the service of a love song lyric that hits the mark squarely and beautifully and honestly over and over again line after line...this is one of my favorite songs of all time, I consider it perfect. there's a lot of really good songs here, but this one seems head and shoulders above them all to me.

man this has sent me on a Spotify run through some versions...nobody can touch Stevie but Smokey and the Miracles give it a really good and deep reading

about the michael buble version on the other hand the less said the better

copping sinatra surely

the louis prima version pretty much smokes though!!

Big props to "The Rain, the Park, and Other Things" - an incredible record.

os Mutantes on this version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9uzHcN4DSs

Heavy Metal Thunder...

I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you... FIRE!!!

http://mybandsbetterthanyourband.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hellfire.jpg%3Fw%3D450

Should be noted that "The Horse" might be the all time high school band jam.

Well, high school marching band, that is.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

That's insane WilliamC, I just listened to it now and I don't think I've ever heard it before.

― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Thursday, 30 January 2014 13:34 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You're not alone; I'd never heard "Never My Love" in my life before a month or so ago and neither had the (admittedly few) people I'd played it to. I wonder if it actually charted over here in the UK. I was surprised to see it was the second most-played song of the 20th century.

the uk doesn't really have oldies radio to nearly the extent that the us does

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

It's super corny, but "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things." It's a lost gem.

Oh I love a bunch of these but 1968 is the year my parents met and Can't Take My Eyes Off You is their song and it's just awesome so, yeah, that.

on one hand, it's impossible to choose from all these fantastic songs

on the other hand, "Born To Be Wild"

Oh I love a bunch of these but 1968 is the year my parents met and Can't Take My Eyes Off You is their song and it's just awesome so, yeah, that.

They probably fucked to that song then.
Does this visual kill the song for you at all?

I voted for "I Was Made to Love Her" because a) always vote for Stevie and b) the turnaround in that bass line never, ever gets old.

Yeah, the bass on that is beyond jaw-dropping.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Stevie Wonder - For Once in My Life 5
Stevie Wonder - I Was Made to Love Her 5

LOL, I can't even remember which of these two I voted for.