1967 Music Hits: Soul, Psychedelic Rock, Motown, Pop, and the Summer of Love

1967 music hits captured one of the most famous years in pop history, with soul, Motown, psychedelic rock, British Invasion bands, sunshine pop, and folk-rock all fighting for radio space. It was the year of the Summer of Love, but the charts were not just flowers and incense. Songs like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Respect, Brown Eyed Girl, Light My Fire, Strawberry Fields Forever, and Purple Haze showed just how wide the musical map had become.

This was also the year of Daydream Believer, All You Need Is Love, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Soul Man, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Happy Together, To Sir with Love, Incense and Peppermints, and A Whiter Shade of Pale. Pop could be romantic, rebellious, psychedelic, soulful, theatrical, or pure bubblegum, often before the next commercial break.

The songs below mix Motown, Stax soul, classic rock, psychedelic pop, sunshine pop, folk-rock, British Invasion survivors, country crossover, and movie themes. 1967 was not just a year in music; it was a cultural pivot point. The jukebox wore beads, but it still had a business meeting with Motown at noon.

Top 10 Songs of 1967

1. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
2. Respect – Aretha Franklin
3. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
4. Daydream Believer – The Monkees
5. Jimmy Mack – Martha & The Vandellas
6. All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
7. I Second That Emotion – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
8. Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group
9. I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & The Pips
10. Light My Fire – The Doors

1967 Music Hits by Style

Soul, Motown, R&B, and Funk

Soul and R&B were at full strength in 1967. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough became one of Motown’s defining duets, while Aretha Franklin’s Respect turned an Otis Redding song into a cultural anthem. Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Four Tops, The Supremes, and Jackie Wilson all gave the year major vocal power.

Stax and Southern soul were just as strong. Sam & Dave’s Soul Man, Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music, Wilson Pickett’s Funky Broadway, Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness, and King Curtis’ Memphis Soul Stew helped make 1967 a landmark year for groove, grit, and brass-section confidence.

• Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
• Respect – Aretha Franklin
• Jimmy Mack – Martha & The Vandellas
• I Second That Emotion – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & The Pips
• Soul Man – Sam & Dave
• (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson
• It Takes Two – Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston
• Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley
• Expressway to Your Heart – The Soul Survivors
• Baby I Need Your Lovin’ – Johnny Rivers
• Bernadette – Four Tops
• Try a Little Tenderness – Otis Redding
• With This Ring – The Platters
• Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
• The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game – The Marvelettes
• 7 Rooms of Gloom – Four Tops
• Standing in the Shadows of Love – Four Tops
• Cold Sweat (Part 1) – James Brown
• (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin
• Reflections – Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Tell It Like It Is – Aaron Neville
• Boogaloo Down Broadway – The Fantastic Johnny C
• Funky Broadway – Wilson Pickett

Classic Rock, Garage Rock, and British Invasion

Rock music in 1967 had already moved far beyond simple teen-pop formulas. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Monkees, The Hollies, The Byrds, Traffic, Buffalo Springfield, and The Animals all helped shape a year where rock was more adventurous, more socially aware, and often much louder.

Some songs still had British Invasion polish, while others leaned toward garage rock, blues rock, and early hard rock. Gimme Some Lovin’, Light My Fire, I Can See for Miles, Ruby Tuesday, For What It’s Worth, and So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star showed rock stretching into new territory. The guitars were getting bolder, and so were the haircuts.

• Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
• All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
• Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group
• Light My Fire – The Doors
• C’mon Marianne – The Four Seasons
• The Letter – The Box Tops
• Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
• I Can See for Miles – The Who
• Penny Lane – The Beatles
• Ruby Tuesday – The Rolling Stones
• I’m a Man – The Spencer Davis Group
• Hello, Goodbye – The Beatles
• (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone – The Monkees
• Let’s Spend the Night Together – The Rolling Stones
• People Are Strange – The Doors
• Happy Jack – The Who
• When I Was Young – Eric Burdon & The Animals
• Heroes and Villains – The Beach Boys
• Baby, You’re a Rich Man – The Beatles
• Friday on My Mind – The Easybeats
• So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star – The Byrds
• Paper Sun – Traffic
• Carrie-Anne – The Hollies
• For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

Psychedelic Rock, Summer of Love, and Counterculture Pop

1967 was one of the core years of psychedelic rock. The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever and I Am the Walrus, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Purple Haze, Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit and Somebody to Love, and Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale helped define the year’s dreamlike, experimental sound.

The counterculture influence also came through in songs by Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Electric Prunes, The Seeds, The Left Banke, The Grass Roots, The Turtles, The Young Rascals, and The Beach Boys. Incense and Peppermints, I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), Pushin’ Too Hard, and Groovin’ all helped make 1967 feel like a radio station broadcasting from inside a lava lamp.

• Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
• Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Incense and Peppermints – Strawberry Alarm Clock
• Groovin’ – The Young Rascals
• I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) – The Electric Prunes
• Pretty Ballerina – The Left Banke
• White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
• I Am the Walrus – The Beatles
• A Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
• Pushin’ Too Hard – The Seeds
• Let’s Live for Today – The Grass Roots
• Windy – The Association
• How Can I Be Sure – The Young Rascals
• Somebody to Love – Jefferson Airplane
• Can’t Seem to Make You Mine – The Seeds

Pop, Sunshine Pop, and AM Radio Favorites

Pop radio in 1967 was packed with bright, catchy songs that could sit beside rock, soul, and psychedelia without sounding out of place. The Monkees’ Daydream Believer, The Turtles’ Happy Together, Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Lulu’s To Sir with Love, The Association’s Windy, and The 5th Dimension’s Up, Up and Away all became major pop landmarks.

Sunshine pop and polished AM radio were also in full bloom. Spanky and Our Gang, Harper’s Bizarre, The Seekers, Petula Clark, Herman’s Hermits, Jay & The Techniques, and The Tremeloes all gave the year songs that were cheerful, melodic, and sometimes aggressively pleasant. 1967 had serious counterculture moments, but it also had harmonies wearing a pressed shirt.

• Daydream Believer – The Monkees
• Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
• Happy Together – The Turtles
• The Look of Love – Dusty Springfield
• To Sir with Love – Lulu
• Kind of a Drag – The Buckinghams
• The Beat Goes On – Sonny & Cher
• Sunday Will Never Be the Same – Spanky and Our Gang
• I Think We’re Alone Now – Tommy James & The Shondells
• Tiny Bubbles – Don Ho
• Don’t Sleep in the Subway – Petula Clark
• Massachusetts – Bee Gees
• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel
• Little Bit o’ Soul – The Music Explosion
• She’s My Girl – The Turtles
• Holiday – Bee Gees
• Up, Up and Away – The 5th Dimension
• Silence Is Golden – The Tremeloes
• Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie – Jay & The Techniques
• Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees
• A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You – The Monkees
• There’s a Kind of Hush – Herman’s Hermits
• Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye – The Casinos
• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Harper’s Bizarre
• She’d Rather Be with Me – The Turtles
• Georgy Girl – The Seekers

Movie, Stage, and Pop Culture Songs

Movie and stage-related songs had a strong place in 1967. Lulu’s To Sir with Love came from the film of the same name, while Dionne Warwick’s Alfie kept Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s sophisticated pop presence alive on the charts. Dusty Springfield’s The Look of Love also came from the James Bond spoof Casino Royale, giving 1967 one of its most elegant soundtrack moments.

The year also had musical-theater flavor through Georgy Girl, This Is My Song, and Release Me, plus plenty of TV-friendly pop from The Monkees and The Partridge-adjacent teen-idol lane that would soon grow bigger. The charts were already learning that film, television, and pop radio could feed each other very nicely.

• To Sir with Love – Lulu
• The Look of Love – Dusty Springfield
• Georgy Girl – The Seekers
• Release Me – Engelbert Humperdinck
• This Is My Song – Petula Clark
• The Happening – Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Alfie – Dionne Warwick

Country, Folk, and Adult Contemporary Crossovers

Country, folk, and adult contemporary songs also had a strong place in 1967. Glen Campbell’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Petula Clark’s Don’t Sleep in the Subway, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Release Me, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra’s Somethin’ Stupid all reached mainstream listeners with smooth, polished songs.

Folk-pop also remained visible through Simon & Garfunkel, Harper’s Bizarre, Buffalo Springfield, and The Byrds. Songs like The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) and For What It’s Worth showed two very different sides of the folk-rock influence: sunny calm on one hand, social tension on the other.

• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel
• By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell
• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Harper’s Bizarre
• Somethin’ Stupid – Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
• Release Me – Engelbert Humperdinck
• For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
• Alfie – Dionne Warwick

Classic Pop Veterans and Legacy Artists

1967 still had plenty of major established artists shaping the charts. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, The Supremes, Bee Gees, Petula Clark, Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra all had songs in the year’s broader pop mix. Some were rooted in early-’60s pop, while others were adapting to psychedelic, soul, and more sophisticated studio-era sounds.

This overlap helped make 1967 especially interesting. The old guard had not left, but newer artists were changing the vocabulary fast. Pop music was getting more experimental, more political, more soulful, and, in some cases, much more likely to mention walruses.

• All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
• Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
• Penny Lane – The Beatles
• Hello, Goodbye – The Beatles
• Baby, You’re a Rich Man – The Beatles
• I Am the Walrus – The Beatles
• Ruby Tuesday – The Rolling Stones
• Let’s Spend the Night Together – The Rolling Stones
• Heroes and Villains – The Beach Boys
• The Happening – Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Somethin’ Stupid – Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra

Instrumentals, Groove Records, and Left-of-Center Sounds

1967 also had room for instrumentals, groove-heavy tracks, and records that did not fit neatly into one category. Booker T. & The M.G.’s gave the year Hip Hug-Her, while King Curtis served up Memphis Soul Stew. These songs highlighted musicianship, rhythm, and studio feel without needing the usual pop-song structure.

Traffic’s Paper Sun, The Easybeats’ Friday on My Mind, The Left Banke’s Pretty Ballerina, and The Electric Prunes’ I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) also show how much stranger and more adventurous pop had become. The line between pop single and experiment was getting pleasantly blurry.

• Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
• Hip Hug-Her – Booker T. & The M.G.’s
• Paper Sun – Traffic
• Friday on My Mind – The Easybeats
• Pretty Ballerina – The Left Banke
• I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) – The Electric Prunes

Bubblegum, Novelty, and “Only in 1967” Songs

Some 1967 songs became memorable because they were playful, odd, or simply very hard to forget. Don Ho’s Tiny Bubbles, The Association’s Windy, The Music Explosion’s Little Bit o’ Soul, and Jay & The Techniques’ Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie gave the year a light pop side that balanced the heavier psychedelic and soul records.

The Monkees were also everywhere, which made perfect sense in 1967. They were a TV band, a real pop phenomenon, and a reminder that music history sometimes arrives wearing matching shirts. The serious stuff mattered, but so did the songs people could hum after one listen.

• Tiny Bubbles – Don Ho
• Little Bit o’ Soul – The Music Explosion
• Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie – Jay & The Techniques
• Windy – The Association
• Daydream Believer – The Monkees
• A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You – The Monkees
• Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees

Overlap note: several 1967 songs naturally fit more than one style. Respect belongs with soul, R&B, pop, civil rights-era cultural history, and Aretha Franklin’s permanent crown. Light My Fire fits rock, psychedelia, pop, and organ-solo bravery. All You Need Is Love works as Beatles history, pop anthem, Summer of Love statement, and proof that a simple message can still be very hard to argue with.

PCM’s 1967 Top 100 Music Hits Chart

1. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
2. Respect – Aretha Franklin
3. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
4. Daydream Believer – The Monkees
5. Jimmy Mack – Martha & The Vandellas
6. All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
7. I Second That Emotion – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
8. Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group
9. I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & The Pips
10. Light My Fire – The Doors
11. Soul Man – Sam & Dave
12. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson
13. I Say a Little Prayer – Dionne Warwick
14. C’mon Marianne – The Four Seasons
15. It Takes Two – Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston
16. The Letter – The Box Tops
17. Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley
18. Expressway to Your Heart – The Soul Survivors
19. Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
20. Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
21. Baby I Need Your Lovin’ – Johnny Rivers
22. I Can See for Miles – The Who
23. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
24. Penny Lane – The Beatles
25. Ruby Tuesday – The Rolling Stones
26. I’m a Man – The Spencer Davis Group
27. Bernadette – Four Tops
28. Happy Together – The Turtles
29. Hello, Goodbye – The Beatles
30. (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone – The Monkees
31. The Look of Love – Dusty Springfield
32. Let’s Spend the Night Together – The Rolling Stones
33. To Sir with Love – Lulu
34. Try a Little Tenderness – Otis Redding
35. With This Ring – The Platters
36. Kind of a Drag – The Buckinghams
37. The Beat Goes On – Sonny & Cher
38. Sunday Will Never Be the Same – Spanky and Our Gang
39. I Think We’re Alone Now – Tommy James & The Shondells
40. Tiny Bubbles – Don Ho
41. Don’t Sleep in the Subway – Petula Clark
42. Massachusetts – Bee Gees
43. People Are Strange – The Doors
44. Happy Jack – The Who
45. Incense and Peppermints – Strawberry Alarm Clock
46. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel
47. Little Bit o’ Soul – The Music Explosion
48. She’s My Girl – The Turtles
49. Groovin’ – The Young Rascals
50. Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
51. When I Was Young – Eric Burdon & The Animals
52. The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game – The Marvelettes
53. 7 Rooms of Gloom – Four Tops
54. Heroes and Villains – The Beach Boys
55. Holiday – Bee Gees
56. Up, Up and Away – The 5th Dimension
57. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) – The Electric Prunes
58. Pretty Ballerina – The Left Banke
59. To Love Somebody – Bee Gees
60. Hip Hug-Her – Booker T. & The M.G.’s
61. Silence Is Golden – The Tremeloes
62. By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell
63. Words – The Monkees
64. Baby, You’re a Rich Man – The Beatles
65. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
66. Standing in the Shadows of Love – Four Tops
67. Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie – Jay & The Techniques
68. I Am the Walrus – The Beatles
69. A Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
70. Pushin’ Too Hard – The Seeds
71. Cold Sweat (Part 1) – James Brown
72. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin
73. Friday on My Mind – The Easybeats
74. Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees
75. Let’s Live for Today – The Grass Roots
76. Windy – The Association
77. A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You – The Monkees
78. There’s a Kind of Hush – Herman’s Hermits
79. Reflections – Diana Ross & The Supremes
80. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye – The Casinos
81. So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star – The Byrds
82. Tell It Like It Is – Aaron Neville
83. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Harper’s Bizarre
84. She’d Rather Be with Me – The Turtles
85. How Can I Be Sure – The Young Rascals
86. Paper Sun – Traffic
87. Boogaloo Down Broadway – The Fantastic Johnny C
88. Georgy Girl – The Seekers
89. San Franciscan Nights – Eric Burdon & The Animals
90. Carrie-Anne – The Hollies
91. Somebody to Love – Jefferson Airplane
92. Funky Broadway – Wilson Pickett
93. Somethin’ Stupid – Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
94. Release Me – Engelbert Humperdinck
95. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
96. This Is My Song – Petula Clark
97. The Happening – Diana Ross & The Supremes
98. Can’t Seem to Make You Mine – The Seeds
99. 98.6 – Keith
100. Alfie – Dionne Warwick