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List of Billboard Easy Listening number ones of 1968

A group of five young men, two with blond hair and beards, two with blond hair and no beard, and one with dark hair and no beard
Harpers Bizarre began the year at number one with their version of the 1941 song "Chattanooga Choo Choo".

In 1968, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the easy listening market. The chart, which in 1968 was entitled Easy Listening, has undergone various name changes and since 1996 has been published under the title Adult Contemporary.[1] In 1968, 13 songs topped the chart based on playlists submitted by easy listening radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.[1]

In the issue of Billboard dated January 6, the number one spot was held by Harpers Bizarre with their version of Glenn Miller's 1941 song "Chattanooga Choo Choo", which climbed from number 3 the previous week.[2][3] It would prove to be the only time that the sunshine pop band topped the Easy Listening chart, and after 1968 they would achieve no further entries on the listing at all.[4][5] Other acts to top the Easy Listening chart for the first time in 1968 included the Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Mendes, who achieved the feat with a version of "The Fool on the Hill", originally recorded by the Beatles.[6][7] After a lengthy period without further major success, Mendes would achieve a second number one 15 years after the first when he made a comeback in 1983 and took his version of "Never Gonna Let You Go" to the top spot.[6][7]

The longest-running number one of 1968 was the French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat's instrumental version of a song which had originally been Luxembourg's entry to the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest,[8] "Love is Blue". Mauriat's recording spent 11 consecutive weeks in the top spot, setting a new record for the longest run at number one on the chart which would stand for 25 years until Billy Joel spent 12 weeks in the peak position with "The River of Dreams" in 1993.[9] "Love is Blue" also topped Billboard's pop chart, the Hot 100, although it would prove to be Mauriat's only number one on either listing.[10][11] "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro and "This Guy's In Love With You" by Herb Alpert also topped both charts in 1968.[12] The final Easy Listening number one of the year was "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell, the first time he topped the listing; after achieving his first three Easy Listening number ones within a 12-month period he would not return to the top of the chart until "Rhinestone Cowboy" reached number one in 1975.[13]

  1. ^ a b Whitburn 2007, p. vi.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference J6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Warner 2006, p. 50.
  4. ^ Inman, Davis (November 14, 2011). "Van Dyke Parks, 'Come to the Sunshine'". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Whitburn 2002, p. 111.
  6. ^ a b Whitburn 2002, p. 168.
  7. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Sergio Mendes Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  8. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Paul Mauriat Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  9. ^ Whitburn 2002, pp. 342–348.
  10. ^ Whitburn 2002, p. 162.
  11. ^ Whitburn 2005, p. 452.
  12. ^ Whitburn 2005, p. 989.
  13. ^ Whitburn 2002, pp. 43–44.

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