British Chartbusters of the 60s & 70s

1968

The British charts of 1968 still feature the Beatles and Englebert with strong showings from Love Affair and the amazing Satchmo.

Number one act for the year are the Beatles once again. They had two number one single hits, "Hey Jude" (top hit of 1968) and "Lady Madonna". Their "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album continued both to sell and to capture awards and it was followed by "The White Album" at the end of 1968 - another big selling number one album.

The Beatles, 1967-1970 (Blue Album), double CD 28 tracks

Buy the Greatest Hits

UK band Love Affair were at number two for 1968. Their big number one "Everlasting Love" was followed by two top five hits "Rainbow Valley" and "A Day Without Love ".

Love Affair, The Best of the Good Times, 19 tracks

Buy the Greatest Hits

In third place for the year was Engelbert Humperdinck who failed to get a number one single but was consistently high in the charts with three top five hits "Am I That Easy to Forget", "A Man Without Love" and "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize".

Greatest Hits - Englebert Humperdinck, 14 tracks incl Release Me & Last Waltz

Buy the Greatest Hits

Number four act of 1968 was Manfred Mann. In a year when no-one seemed to able to put together a string of hits they had a number one with Dylan's "Mighty Quinn" and top ten winners with "My Name is Jack" and "Fox On The Run".

Manfred Mann The Greatest Hits, 22 tracks

Buy the Greatest Hits

Fifth spot for the year went to Gary Puckett and The Union Gap. The US band had a big number one with "Young Girl" (number four of the year) and followed this up with a top five hit "Lady Will Power".

Gary Puckett & Union Gap Super Hits, 10 tracks incl Young Girl & Lady Will Power

Buy the Greatest Hits

The performers with the biggest singles of the year included Des O'Connor who started the year with his 1967 release "Careless Hands" still well placed and followed this with chart topper "I Pretend" (a slow burner that was number five single of the year) and then "1-2-3 O'Leary", a top five hit. Also hitting it big was Mary Hopkin whose number one, "Those Were the Days", was produced by Paul McCartney and became the second biggest single of 1968.

Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkin, 17 tracks

Buy the Greatest Hits

Among the other acts of 1968 was the amazing Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, at the age of 67. His single "What a Wonderful World" was a number one for a month and third biggest single of the year. Although Bob Dylan released no singles that year, his "John Wesley Harding" was one of the outstanding albums (although unable to topple the perennial "The Sound of Music" now in its fourth consecutive year as top UK album). Another perennial was Cliff Richard who returned to the top of the charts with "Congratulations".

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding, 12 tracks

Buy the Greatest Hits