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3 Top 10 Hits From 1968 That Every 60s Kid Alive Still Remembers Today
The article revisits three songs that reached the US Top 10 in 1968: Dionne Warwick’s “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”, Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and The Doors’ “Touch Me”. It highlights their lasting recognition and the different paths each song took within its performer’s career.
Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote Warwick’s song, which earned her first Grammy despite her initial reluctance to record it; it was later covered by artists including Connie Francis and The Carpenters. Cream’s first Top 10 single, “Sunshine of Your Love”, was written by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, while “Touch Me”, written by Robby Krieger, was The Doors’ only hit single from their album The Soft Parade.
In short
- Three 1968 Top 10 hits remain familiar decades later.
- Warwick initially did not want to record “San Jose”.
- “Touch Me” was The Doors’ only hit from The Soft Parade.
Explained simply
In the late 1960s, the US charts brought together singers and bands working in very different styles, from polished pop to blues-influenced rock. A place in the Top 10 meant a song had reached a large radio and record-buying audience.
Dionne Warwick recorded “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; it won her first Grammy. Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”, written by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, was the group’s first Top 10 single. The Doors’ “Touch Me”, written by guitarist Robby Krieger, was the only hit single from their album The Soft Parade.
The songs also took different paths after their chart success: Warwick’s was later recorded by other artists, while the Cream and Doors tracks became notable entries in their bands’ catalogues. Their continued recognition reflects how songs can outlast the chart run that first brought them to a broad audience.