It was a month prior to the now renamed Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's third Canadian number one hit on the bounce that the RPM singles chart had its fourth anniversary. During this time, no fewer than a hundred and sixty-nine singles topped the survey. (For the sake of comparison, there were a hundred and fifty number ones from the CHUM chart era, which went over a seven year span) Of them, only thirty-one managed a reign of longer than a week, a rate of less than twenty percent. The longest stay at the top was "Rag Doll" by The Four Seasons during the summer of '64. Until now that is. Puckett spent five long weeks at number one with his latest hit "Lady Willpower".
Yes, you read that correctly. For the first time since RPM became Canada's national singles chart, a number one hit remained on top for over a month. An impressive feat, if dampened slightly by the fact that only three hit parades were compiled during its reign. The staff at RPM seemed to get some summers and/or winters off and this was during one of their slack periods. Still, they were at the top of each hit parade so there's no taking it away from them.
Still, the question needs to be asked: why this? While far from the worst thing The Union Gap put out, it's a curious choice to have been on top for as long as it was. On the surface, it may seem like an unexpected summer smash but I have to wonder if there were simply a lot of horny teenage boys who could identify with Puckett's plea against celibacy while girls of around the same age could take it as a call to greater sexual empowerment. Having recently been at the top with the far more inappropriate "Young Girl", an effort seemed to have been made at finding a balance: guys want nothing more than to get laid and girls know it and can hold it over them. Admittedly, this is a generous take. His claim to be able to teach her all about the facts of life is super creepy and gives off a whiff that things aren't going to go well for her. That said, the very fact that he acknowledges that she's the one who has the power at the moment is progress of a kind.
Standards aren't exactly high but it must be said that this is comfortably Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's best effort to date. His nibs dialed back on the histrionics which is a definite plus and the Union Gap and an assortment of session aces give a tight performance. (Speaking of which, it's worth noting that the group had made an alternation to their name. Normally I scoff at bands changing from a 'The' to a '....and the...' but I'll overlook it in this instance. Puckett was the star and he was even credited as such in other territories so it's only right that he would the more prominent listing) It isn't anything special even in the grim wilderness of '68 but it is nevertheless a marked uptick from "Woman, Woman" and, especially, "Young Girl". For all I know, they would only continue to improve but that's irrelevant now since "Lady Willpower" would end up being their final Canadian number one. Good to go out on a high note, boys!
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