6 of the 60s: 4/16/14 (1968)...

It's humpday 60s madness, and this week I travel back to 1968, the year 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in Washington...

Richard Harris - "MacArthur Park"
from the album A Tramp Shining (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2
Songwriter: Jim Webb

No wonder the gay community rallied around Donna Summer's disco-fied treatment of this break-up song from the man who wrote for the likes of Glen Campbell - you don't get more overdramatic than this 7 minute whirlpool of emotion that turns to despair that nobody really knows what's going on. But Richard Harris - who I'm sure William Shatner thought himself to be but wasn't, "got" it.

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Jose Feliciano - "Light My Fire"
from the album Feliciano! (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3
Songwriters: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison

Only a year after the Doors topped the charts with their sultry come-on, the Puerto Rican guitarist commanded a "Latin Invasion" of his own, spending over a year on the album chart with the record that included this song.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - "The Fool On The Hill"
from the album Fool On The Hill (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6
Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney (act. Paul)

The Latin collective covered this album cut from Magical Mystery Tour and made the top-10 after Mendes replaced most of the members of the group from his last outing.

The Small Faces - "Itchycoo Park"
from the album There Are But Four Small Faces (1967)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16
Songwriters: Ronnie Lane, Steve Marriott

The unassuming soft-rock song was actually a recording cornerstone, using the then-new "flanging" effect to the bridge to provide a harmonic backdrop...

The Who - "Magic Bus"
from the album Magic Bus: The Who On Tour (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25
Songwriter: Pete Townshend

The iconic British hard rockers fused Latin Rhythms with call-and-answer blues/gospel to made this perfect road-trip song.

The Balloon Farm - "A Question Of Temperature"
from the album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (1998 Box Set)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37
Songwriters: Mike Appel, Don Henny, Ed Schnug

This obscure New Jersey garage rock band included Mike Appel, who co-wrote the song and would eventually become the first manager for another up and coming rocker from the state, Bruce Springsteen.

Tomorrow I'll serve up seven more from 1978 and 8 from 1988...