In the mood to go back to the late 1960s? While the Summer of Love in 1967 tends to hog all the music history attention, the year 1968 was also a great year for music. And the following fantastic songs from 1968 have been more or less forgotten today. They really shouldn’t be, though. So, let’s refresh your memory! These tunes are all cover songs of older hits, so bonus points if you remember the original songs from before 1968!

“I Love You” by People!

“I Love You” by People! is one of many amazing psychedelic rock songs from 1968, but I feel like it tends to be forgotten. It shouldn’t be, though. The 1965 beat version by The Zombies is fantastic, and People!’s 1968 psych-rock cover of the tune is similarly addictive. “I Love You” was People!’s only major hit, and they are often referred to as one-hit wonders today.

Fun fact: A few years after the original song was released, a Japanese-language version of the tune was released by The Carnabeats and charted even higher in Japan than the original version did.

“The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” by Hugo Montenegro

Everybody knows the theme song from the classic Western film The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. It might seem like an odd song to cover and find chart success with, as it’s an instrumental work. However, that’s precisely what composer Hugo Montenegro did. 

Montenegro recorded his version of “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” and released it in early 1968 to much fanfare. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And to be honest, after listening to the original 1966 version used for the film and Montenegro’s version, I’d have to say the latter is my favorite.

“Love Is Blue” by Paul Mauriat

“Love Is Blue” by famed French orchestra conductor Paul Mauriat was quite a hit in early 1968. The original song, titled “L’amour est blue”, came out just a year prior and was a similarly successful hit for Vicky Leandros. Mauriat’s version, though, topped the Hot 100 chart that year. In my opinion, this song has been somewhat forgotten, but it’s one of the best instrumental songs of 1968.

Another fun fact: Mauriat was the only French artist to top the Hot 100 for decades until Daft Punk collabed with The Weeknd for the 2017 song “Starboy”.

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