“Light My Fire” (José Feliciano) #3 8/31/1968

A decidedly different arrangement of the Doors classic made José Feliciano a very influential Latino performer. Blind since birth, at age 5 his family moved from Puerto Rico to Spanish Harlem in NYC and he soon became a guitar virtuoso. The success of this single led to an invite by Hall of Fame Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell to perform the National Anthem before Game 5 of the 1968 World Series. His very unconventional version led to José being booed off the field, but for better or worse opened the door for all the other unconventional versions we hear today.

“Everybody’s Talkin’ “ (1968) #113 8/24/1968

This totally flopped the first time around for Harry Nilsson, but reached the Top 10 a year later when it was on the “Midnight Cowboy” soundtrack. No, Nilsson didn’t write it - Fred Neil (who?) wrote and recorded the song first in 1966. Neil soon moved to the Florida Keys, living solely off the writing royalties from Harry’s version. Also used for the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack. Video is from Germany’s “Beat Club.”

“Hard To Handle” #51 8/24/1968

Man, this record is just smokin’. That’s to be expected given this posthumous B-side featured Booker T. and the MG’s, Isaac Hayes and a Stax Records horn section playing behind Otis Redding. The Black Crowes remake in the early 90’s seriously kicked ass. This REALLY shoulda been a bigger hit for Otis.

“Alice Long (You’re Still My Favorite Girlfriend)” #27 8/24/1968

The last chart single for Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. They wrote and produced most of the tracks for the Monkees’ first album until getting fired by Don Kirshner. After Kirshner’s own forced departure from the TV show, Boyce and Hart continued to write songs for the group while pursuing their own recording career. They even did songs used on “Bewitched,” “I Dream Of Jeannie” and “The Flying Nun.”

“(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game” #26 8/24/1968

Swing, batterbatterbatter! The followup to “Cowboys To Girls” for the Intruders made the R&B Top 5 by working in a sports metaphor to love. Their success enabled Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff to obtain seed money from Columbia Records to start up their Philadelphia International label. The rest is history.

“Halfway To Paradise” #23 8/24/1968

In the late 60’s, Bobby Vinton’s singles seemed to be a bunch of remakes. Here, he re-did a Gerry Goffin/Carole King tune that was the first chart record in 1961 for one Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis. We all know him as Tony Orlando, who was just 15 when he got Don Kirshner’s attention at the famed Brill Building. Tony worked his way up to VP of publishing firm CBS Music, signing Barry Manilow to his first record deal, before becoming wildly successful as the front man of Dawn in the 70’s. Vinton’s version of this song is a bit more mellow than Tony’s.

“Journey To The Center Of The Mind” #16 8/24/1968

A one-hit wonder from Detroit, the Amboy Dukes became the starting point in the career of rock and roll wild man Ted Nugent. But he wasn’t the singer here, just the lead guitarist. He’d been in garage bands since the age of 10 and developed his own unique style. The group underwent numerous changes after this, with Ted the only constant. Nugent went solo in the 70’s and became one of the loudest concert acts around. I know. I saw him six times, and still have most of my hearing.