American Songwriter has put together a shortlist of four songs from 1968 that it says remain instantly recognisable to baby boomers. The piece is a nostalgic look back at the year's radio hits rather than a news story, but it highlights how varied the charts were at the time, spanning rock, soul, film soundtracks and psychedelia-turned-pop. It underlines the enduring cultural pull of that era's music, decades after it first aired.

The list includes The Beatles' "Lady Madonna", a boogie-woogie departure from their psychedelic period that reached No. 4 in the US and No. 1 in the UK; Hugo Montenegro's instrumental cover of "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" theme, which peaked at No. 2; Archie Bell & The Drells' "Tighten Up", which topped both the US R&B and Hot 100 charts; and The Doors' "Hello, I Love You", a commercially polished track that some fans felt strayed from the band's usual sound but which still reached No. 1.