JANUARY
Top hit
Hello Goodbye · The Beatles
Top album
Magical Mystery Tour (Soundtrack) · The Beatles
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Turmoil and truth-telling
1968
Assassinations and unrest bleed into the charts as soul grows fiercer, rock grows heavier, and even pretty pop carries the evening news.
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Assassinations, war footage, and city streets on fire bleed into the music — the charts carry weight they didn't ask for and can't put down. Soul grows fiercer, rock grows heavier, and even the prettiest pop single sounds like it's arguing with the evening news. The year doesn't offer escape so much as a mirror held up at full volume.
- social unrest
- soul
- heavy rock
- protest
- late sixties
- Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations
- The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' becomes a communal singalong
- Jimi Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland' pushes guitar into new territory
- Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' dominates soul radio
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
Green Tambourine · The Lemon Pipers
Top album
Magical Mystery Tour (Soundtrack) · The Beatles
MARCH
Top hit
Love Is Blue (L'amour Est Bleu) · Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra
Top album
Blooming Hits · Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra
APRIL
Top hit
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay · Otis Redding
Top album
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MAY
Top hit
Honey · Bobby Goldsboro
Top album
—
JUNE
Top hit
Mrs. Robinson · Simon
Top album
—
JULY
Top hit
This Guy's In Love With You · Herb Alpert
Top album
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AUGUST
Top hit
Hello, I Love You · The Doors
Top album
Wheels Of Fire · Cream
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
People Got To Be Free · The Rascals
Top album
Waiting For The Sun · The Doors
OCTOBER
Top hit
Hey Jude · The Beatles
Top album
Waiting For The Sun · The Doors
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Hey Jude · The Beatles
Top album
Cheap Thrills · Big Brother And The Holding Company
DECEMBER
Top hit
Love Child · Diana Ross
Top album
Cheap Thrills · Big Brother And The Holding Company
Voices of the year
Albums that mattered
- Magical Mystery Tour (Soundtrack)The Beatles
- Cheap ThrillsBig Brother And The Holding Company
- Blooming HitsPaul Mauriat And His Orchestra
- Wheels Of FireCream
- Waiting For The SunThe Doors
- Electric LadylandThe Jimi Hendrix Experience
Time Peace/The Rascals' Greatest HitsThe Rascals
Wichita LinemanGlen Campbell