1967: The Crowd Called Out for More

 1 — The Royal Guardsmen: "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron"

 8 — The Seekers: "Georgy Girl"

 4 — The Buckinghams: "Kind of a Drag"

 7 — The Spencer Davis Group: "Gimme Some Lovin'"

 4 — The Supremes: "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"

 3 — Johnny Rivers: "Baby I Need Your Lovin'"

10 — The Beatles: "Penny Lane"

 3 — The Monkees: "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You"

 2 — Young Canada Singers: "Canada"

 4 — Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra: "Somethin' Stupid"

 9 — The Spencer Davis Group: "I'm a Man"

 6 — The Who: "Happy Jack"

 1 — The Happenings: "I Got Rhythm"

 8 — The Young Rascals: "Groovin'"

 5 — The Mamas and the Papas: "Creeque Alley"

 8 — Jefferson Airplane: "Somebody to Love"

 9 — The Turtles: "She'd Rather Be with Me"

 4 — Music Explosion: "Little Bit O' Soul"

 6 — The Association: "Windy"

 2 — The 5th Dimension: "Up, Up and Away"

10 — Jefferson Airplane: "White Rabbit"

 8 — Procol Harum: "A Whiter Shade of Pale"

 8 — The Monkees: "Pleasant Valley Sunday"

 7 — The Beatles: "All You Need Is Love"

 4 — The Young Rascals: "A Girl Like You"

 8 — Bobbie Gentry: "Ode to Billie Joe"

 3 — Eric Burdon and the Animals: "San Franciscan Nights"

 7 — The Box Tops: "The Letter"

 8 — Lulu: "The Boat That I Row"

 2 — Paul Revere and the Raiders: "I Had a Dream"

 4 — The Association: "Never My Love"

 6 — The Young Rascals: "How Can I Be Sure"

 5 — The Doors: "People Are Strange"

 9 — Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: "Your Precious Love"

 7 — The Cowsills: "The Rain, the Park and Other Things"

 4 — Bobby Vinton: "Please Love Me Forever"

 3 — Spanky and Our Gang: "Lazy Day"

 6 — The Monkees: "Daydream Believer"

 5 — The Beatles: "Hello, Goodbye"

1967 is yet another year of ups and downs. I suppose that's how we ought to describe every year really. But what's different about this crop of RPM number ones is that it's starting to feel inevitable, as though the big players were starting to turn away from singles in favour of albums, allowing the bubblegum pop groups to fill the void. The British Invasion acts have either moved on or they've faded away — or they found better things to be getting on with.

Significantly as well, it appears that The Beatles' dominance was beginning to wane. In '66, they had four number one hits, all with scores of either 8 or 9. They started off '67 with faculties intact and raging on the extraordinary "Penny Lane" but then began to decline with the anthemic but still rather ordinary "All You Need Is Love" and then closed out the year with their weakest single to date "Hello, Goodbye". While their albums still kept them well above the pack, their singles now had difficulty up against some seriously modest competition.

The American bubblegum boom carries over into '68 and beyond. With a couple of notable exceptions, I don't have high hopes for the year ahead. If anything, '67's rather sad average score of 5.59 might suddenly seem a little more impressive. Still, I'm open to being proved wrong. There is at least one entry coming that I haven't heard before which I am leaving until just prior to writing my review and perhaps it will be something of a banger. The bright side of not expecting much is there's not much chance I'll end up disappointed, right? Right???