4 Top 40 Hits From 1968 That Stay on Repeat in My Car

When it comes to the music I keep on repeat in my car, I follow the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra. As a music writer and musician, most of my professional life involves some form of musical discovery. Keeping my favorite songs on repeat while I’m on long drives helps me stay focused on the road by giving me energizing, feel-good background music that I can listen to on autopilot. That’s why in my vehicle, lovingly named Rhonda the Honda, you can expect to hear these four Top 40 hits from 1968 on heavy rotation.

“Harper Valley PTA” by Jeannie C. Riley

A grooving country song about telling nebby neighbors to shove it? Be still my beating heart. Jeannie C. Riley’s 1968 one-hit wonder is the perfect long-form narrative for listening to while driving. When you have the time to sit and listen to the whole thing, including every single spot-on diss this fed-up mother lobbed at the Harper Valley PTA meeting, the final verse about the day the narrator’s “mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA” is all the more satisfying.

“Spooky” by Classics IV

Some Christmas-obsessed people like listening to Christmas music year-round. I am a Halloween-obsessed person who likes listening to Halloween music year-round. Luckily, songs like Classics IV’s “Spooky” are just vibey enough to work for all months of the year, not just October. While I’m a big fan of Dusty Springfield’s version, I’ll always be partial to the original because of the line “just like a ghost, you’ve been a-haunting my dreams, so I’ll propose on Halloween.”

“Lady Madonna” by The Beatles

“Lady Madonna” captures one of my favorite eras of The Beatles. Their rock music had a tinge of grungy psychedelia. They were so well-established that they weren’t afraid to experiment harmonically and structurally. And most importantly, their songwriting was catchy in a way that was markedly different from their teeny-bopper early years. The turnaround from the chorus back to the verse is always a fun one to drum along to on the steering wheel.

“Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf

Of all the songs that would inadvertently cause me to have a lead foot, “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf has to be in the Top 5. (For legal purposes, I’ll add that I always drive the speed limit, of course.) Anyway, “Born To Be Wild” is the ultimate road-dog song, making me feel like I’m driving something that produces some serious “heavy metal thunder” and not, you know, a little Honda Civic.

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