4 No. 1 Hits Released in 1968 From Artists Who Never Approached That Level of Chart Success Again

Some amazing artists have never managed to hit the top of the pop charts. Only a handful of songs reach that pinnacle each year. As such, it’s an achievement to be honored, even when the artists who do it don’t ever quite return to that level again. The following four hits made it to the top of the charts in 1968, an amazing time for pop music. It’s no shame that the artists who delivered them never again entered such rarefied air.

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“Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” by John Fred & His Playboy Band

As psychedelia was all the rage circa 1968, it made sense that some folks would try to parody the excesses of the genre. John Fred & His Playboy Band, who hailed from Louisiana, made the most of that approach on “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)”. Written by Fred and bandmate Andrew Bernard, the song features a title that’s a play on The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”. Meanwhile, the lyrics take aim at some of the stream-of-consciousness poetics that songwriters at the time often used. Parodies can be tricky to follow successfully. John Fred and company found that out, as they never again hit the Top 40.

“Green Tambourine” by The Lemon Pipers

As opposed to John Fred and company, The Lemon Pipers took a far more earnest stab at psychedelic pop on the song “Green Tambourine”. Lyricist Shelley Pinz based the words on a street musician that she saw in New York City. Paul Leka, who wrote the music, also produced the track, ladling on some swirling sound effects to add to the trippy vibe cultivated by the sitar-like guitar part of Bill Bartlett. Ivan Browne delivered the mesmerizing lead vocals for the band. The Lemon Pipers were extremely young guys when all this happened. As they tried to take more charge of their musical direction, their level of success dropped. Their highest chart placing after “Green Tambourine” was a modest No. 46 with the novelty song “Rice Is Nice”.

“Grazing In The Grass” by Hugh Masekela

Instrumentals held a lot more sway back in 1968 than they do today. Many of the big instrumental hits had tie-ins to movies or television. Not so “Grazing In The Grass”. South African musician Hugh Masekela, who performed the song, mostly dealt in jazz music for the bulk of his career, which is why this was his only real pop shot. There are some fun facts associated with this one. Bruce Langhorne, known for inspiring Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”, played guitar on this session. And the song followed up “This Guy’s In Love With You” as No. 1 on the US charts. The latter song was sung by Herb Alpert, who, like Masekela, usually made his mark by playing the trumpet.

“Harper Valley P.T.A.” by Jeannie C. Riley

When you start your career off with a song as distinctive as “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, it’s always going to be difficult to follow that up with anything as substantial. Tom T. Hall, who, at that point, was more of a cult songwriter, wrote the song, which features a narrator calling out the hypocrisies of the townsfolk. In the case of Hall, the song acted as a coming-out party, helping to forge his own path as a singer-songwriter. But Riley couldn’t quite make it back to the pop charts, although she did enjoy a little country success in the wake of “Harper Valley P.T.A.” Still, the song wouldn’t have done as well as it did without her righteously sassy performance.

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