Jan '68
Jan '68
Steppenwolf release their debut album including the single "Born to Be Wild" which charts at #2 in the US.
Jan '68
The Beatles are #1 in Jan with "Hello Goodbye". In London they launch their own company, Apple Corps, with a store, a recording studio and record label.
Jan '68
John Fred knocks the Beatles from the top spot with his parody of the Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds". (more)
Feb '68
The Beatles, Donovan, Mia Farrow and others travel to India to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (more)
Feb '68
Pink Floyd lead singer and song writer Syd Barrett is checked into a psychiatric hospital and the band replaces him with David Gilmour. (more)
Feb '68
Manfred Mann have a UK #1 and US #10 with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn)".
Feb '68
Fifties doo wop sensation, Frankie Lymon dies of a heroin overdose at age 25. (more)
Mar '68
Otis Redding has a posthumous #1 hit with "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay". (more)
Mar '68
The Monkees have their sixth top ten hit with "Valleri". It would be their last top ten single. (more)
Mar '68
Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East concert venue in an abandoned New York City theatre. (more)
Apr '68
Bobby Goldsboro scores in the teen tradegy genre with the melodramatic "Honey" which tops the charts for five weeks.
Apr '68
Simon and Garfunkel release the album Bookends which goes to #1 in the US and UK. The single "Mrs. Robinson" would go to #1 in June helped by the movie - The Graduate.
Apr '68
The musical Hair opens on Broadway for the first of 1,750 performances. It would spawn several Top 40 hits including Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine and Hair. (more)
Jun '68
May '68
May '68
Janis Joplin goes solo, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, The Yardbirds, and The Animals disband, The Temptations fire lead singer David Ruffin.
Iron Butterfly release the album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, considered to be one of the earliest examples of the emerging rock genre of Heavy Metal. (more)
Jun '68
Jul '68
California's Credence Clearwater Revival release their debut LP which contains the #11 single "Suzie Q". (more)
Aug '68
American band Tommy James and the Shondells have a #1 hit in the UK with "Mony Mony" it goes to #8 US.
Oct '68
Aug '68
Aug '68
Oct '68
The Doors have their first #1 album and their second and last #1 single with "Hello, I Love You". (more)
The Beatles release their first single on their own Apple label "Hey Jude" backed with "Revolution". The over 7 minute song went to #1 in the US and UK.
Nov '68
Joe Cocker has a UK #1 with his cover of the Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends". (more)
Dec '68
NBC airs the Elvis comeback special - featuring Presley and his original backing band playing live, acoustic versions of his own songs and favorites in front of a studio audience.
Dec '68
Motown holds the top spot in Dec. with #1 hits from Marvin Gaye "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Love Child" from the Supremes.
Nov '68
Van Morrison releases his second solo album Astral Weeks to significant critical acclaim, but modest sales. (more)
- R o c k M u s i c T i m e l i n e -
1968
1968
- R o c k M u s i c T i m e l i n e -
1968
1968
On This Page In
Rock and Roll History
1968:
Johnny Cash
Steppenwolf
The Beatles - Hello Goodbye
Judy In Disguise
Syd Barrett
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Manfred Mann
American Breed
The Lemon Pipers
Frankie Lymon
Otis Redding
The Monkees
Fillmore East
Bobby Goldsboro
Simon & Garfunkel
Hair
The Union Gap
Janis Joplin
Iron Butterfly
Rolling Stones
Credence Clearwater Revival
Donovan - Hurdy Gurdy Man
Mason Williams
Tommy James
& The Shondells
The Doors
The Rascals
Mary Hopkin
Van Morrison
Joe Cocker
Elvis TV Special
Marvin Gaye
The Supremes
US #1 Hits of 1968
UK #1 Hits of 1968
US #1 Albums of 1968
UK #1 Albums of 1968
 | ||||
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Listen to the Music
From 1968
Press Play To Hear It !
"I never listened to radio, I didn't never get into that rock-and-roll trip. I just listened to blues. It seemed real. The other stuff seemed so tacky, teenagey. It didn't seem to have any truth in it or something. From the first moment I ever heard [the blues] that was my music." Janis Joplin
Now for the first time ever you can get an Ipod Classic preloaded with every Top 40 Hit Tune from 1955-1989. That's over 7200 songs spanning the First 35 years of
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Houston, TX based R&B band Archie Bell & The Drells go to #1 with their single "Tighten Up". (more)
Feb '68
Feb '68
Oxford, Ohio band The Lemon Pipers score a #1 with the psychedelic pop single "Green Tambourine" on Buddah Records. (more)
Cicero, IL rockers, American Breed, go to #5 with "Bend Me, Shape Me". (more)
May '68
May '68
Canadian Irish folk band The Irish Rovers break into the top ten with "The Unicorn". (more)
Scottish folk rocker, Donovan, comes out with a heavier sound on the psychedelic single "Hurdy Gurdy Man" which peaks at #4 UK, #5 US. (more)
Jul '68
Aug '68
Classicql guitar with orchestral backing make for an unlikely #2 instrumental hit for American guitarist Mason Williams. (more)
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