“Your Precious Love” #5 11/4/1967

The biggest pop hit for the duo of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, although they would have two subsequent #1 R&B hits. Written by Ashford and Simpson and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who both provided backing vocals. Fuqua was a founding member of the Moonglows who originally did "Sincerely" in 1954, which became a huge hit for the McGuire Sisters. He was once married to Berry Gordy's sister and parlayed all that into an executive position at Motown.

“Expressway To Your Heart” #4 11/4/1967

The first major hit produced and written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, done by the Soul Survivors, a Caucasian rock band from NYC who recorded in Philadelphia. Gamble based his lyrics on getting stuck in traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway in Philly while trying to get to a young lady's house. Kenny and Leon went on to considerable fame in the 70's as purveyors of smooth Philly soul.

“It Must Be Him” #3 11/4/1967

A few days ago we featured "He's A Rebel," a #1 for the Crystals from 1962. That song was first done by Mexican-American singer Florencia Bisenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona a.k.a. Vikki Carr, born in El Paso. Phil Spector heard about Vikki's version of "Rebel" and rush-released the version credited to the Crystals (actually recorded by the Blossoms), knocking her career for a loop. After this easy listening chart-topper, she had two minor Top 40 records, then went on to far greater success in the Latino music world with numerous hits en Español. The song is about a girl wondering if the ex is ringing her up - no caller ID back then.

“Soul Man” #2 11/4/1967

Play it, Steve! A #1 R&B hit from Sam and Dave with that world-famous shout-out to guitarist Steve Cropper. He and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. and the MG's appeared both on this record and the cover version by the Blues Brothers which stayed very true to the original. There's a line in the song, co-written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, that I (and many others) always believed went "I was educated from good stock." But according to the Songfacts website, Porter said it's actually "I was educated at Woodstock" meaning at a school in the forest built from felled timbers, not the rock festival which didn't happen until almost two years later.

“Telstar” #1 12/22/1962

One of my all-time favorite instrumentals! The last #1 single of 1962 was likely the only record ever honoring a communications satellite. Telstar was launched several months before this tune by the Tornados, the first British group to top the American charts, 13 months before the Beatles. It was very spacey (pun intended) with lots of bizarre studio effects, including the sound of a rocket booster which was a tape of a toilet flush played backwards. Produced by Joe Meek, a tragic figure in rock music history. Joe was flamboyantly gay when that was still illegal in the UK. He was accused of plagiarizing this from another song and the court case dragged on for years, but was resolved in his favor just after he died. A very interesting read.

“Big Girls Don’t Cry” #1 11/17/1962

The followup to "Sherry" proved the old adage that if you had a hit, make sure the next record sounds really close to the previous hit. Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons wrote it with assistance from their producer Bob Crewe. The bass vocals of Nick Massi provided a counterpoint to Frankie Valli's trademark falsetto. This became the group's second #1 in late 1962.

“He’s A Rebel” #1 11/3/1962

We go back to 1962 and a #1 from November written by Gene Pitney and credited to the Crystals, except it was actually done by the Blossoms with Darlene Love on lead vocals. Producer Phil Spector was hot to trot with the song, but the Crystals weren't available as they were on tour in NYC. He knew Vikki Carr was ready with a competing version, so Phil had the Blossoms record the single. The Crystals were SO surprised to hear this on the radio with their name attached. And Spector pulled the same stunt with the group's next release! The Wrecking Crew did the music, with Al De Lory on the piano intro and Steve Douglas with the great sax solo.