Mary Hopkin was only eighteen years old when her debut single "Those Were the Days" entered the UK top 10 in September 1968 and spent six consecutive weeks at number-one, becoming the longest-running chart topper of the year.Louis Armstrong secured his only UK number-one single this year with "What a Wonderful World"/"Cabaret", which topped the chart for four weeks. At 66 years and eight months old, Armstrong was, at the time, the oldest artist to have a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart.
The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom.[1] Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical singles.[2][3] This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 1968, as well as singles which peaked in 1967 and 1969 but were in the top 10 in 1968. The entry date is when the single appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
Forty-nine artists achieved their first top 10 single in 1968, either as a lead or featured artist. Of these, four went on to record another hit single that year: Amen Corner, Don Partridge, Marmalade and Status Quo. Love Affair had two other entries in their breakthrough year.
The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single.
Until 1970 there was no universally recognised year-end best-sellers list. However, in 2011 the Official Charts Company released a list of the best-selling single of each year in chart history from 1952 to date. According to the list, "Hey Jude" by The Beatles is officially recorded as the biggest-selling single of 1968.
Top-ten singles
Key
Symbol
Meaning
‡
Single peaked in 1967 but still in chart in 1968.
♦
Single released in 1968 but peaked in 1969.
(#)
Year-end best-selling single.
Entered
The date that the single first appeared in the chart.
Peak
Highest position that the single reached in the UK Singles Chart.
In 1968, husband and wife duo Esther & Abi Ofarim became the first and only act from Israel to achieve a UK number-one single with "Cinderella Rockefella", which spent three weeks at the top of the chart.Joe Cocker earned his first top 10 hit this year with his cover version of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", which reached number-one for one week in November.
The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 1968, including singles that reached their peak in 1967 or 1969. The figures include both main artists and featured artists. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 1968 is also shown.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
