These are the billboard hits from my first full year at Strongsville High School. The ranking reflects their relative cumulative positions for Billboard's calendar year. There is some real puke-worthy garbage on this list, disproportionately represented by the songs near the top of the charts.
On the other hand it was undeniably a great year for music.
Endless hours of cruising with the AM radio on permanently imprinted almost all 100 of these on my troubled brain. As a measure of how staggeringly depressed I was during this period, when I hear most of these today they prompt a flash of negativity within the first three notes. Although the interesting thing is that a surprising number of these somehow transcend their association with Strongsville and I like hearing them, which might be the most objective measure possible of the quality of a song. And some like "Soul Man" and "It Must Be Him" provided so many mockfest moments that I think good thoughts when I hear them.
Not included is this song which I would put up against almost anything on the list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fayL1WTR1Go
Other absolute classics are "To Sir With Love" (for its awesome lyrics and its association with the film), "Ruby Tuesday", "Brown Eyed Girl", "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)", "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)", "Georgy Girl", "Carrie Ann", "White Rabbit", "For What It's Worth", "Daydream Believer", and "I Can See For Miles". At the time "I Can See For Miles" was my favorite and I have never tired of "Brown Eyed Girl".
Some like "Light My Fire", "Incense and Peppermints" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale" are unquestioned classics but not special favorites of mine.
Some like "Western Union", "I Think We're Alone Now", "The Rain - The Park & Other Things", "Come On Down to My Boat" and "Little Bit O'Soul" were catchy tunes but drive you crazy if played repeatedly.
Some like "California Nights" were not great songs but provide pleasant Baby Boomer stuff like this:
ClickHereForLesleyGoreOnBatman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzhRu1hxpX0
Anything not mentioned so far was pretty dreadful and of interest only for its inexplicabe popularity. For me most of these manage to combine a fundamentally lousy song with a negative Strongsville association, producing a genuine less than zero quality. Appropriately several of the are by "The Association". Eliminate the Strongsville downer and the majority of these would still be hopeless garbage.