Buckinghams – "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (1967)

My baby, she may not look

Like one of those bunnies

Out of a Playboy Club

(Having seen your girlfriend, I have to agree with you.)

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Chris Carter featured music from 1967 on his most recent show on the Sirius/XM “Underground Garage” channel . . . which got me thinking.

There were an amazing number of great records released that year.  To show you what I mean, here are the records that topped the Billboard “Hot 100” singles chart this week in 1967:

10.  “A Girl Like You” – Young Rascals

  9.  “Carrie-Anne” – Hollies

  8.  “Windy” – Association

  7.  “A Whiter Shade of Pale” – Procul Harum

  6.  “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli

  5.  “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – Buckinghams

  4.  “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Monkees

  3.  “I Was Made to Love Her” – Stevie Wonder

  2.  “All You Need Is Love” – Beatles

  1.  “Light My Fire” – Doors

There are no bad apples to spoil that barrel of singles, boys and girls – the worst of them are pretty good, and the best of them are great.

Let’s contrast that top ten list with the current Billboard top ten:

10.  “Too Sweet” – Hozier

  9.  “Lose Control” – Teddy Swims

  8.  “Please Please Please” – Sabrina Carpenter

  7.  “Birds of a Feather” – Billie Eilish

  6.  “Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan

  5.  “Million Dollar Baby” – Tommy Richman  

  4.  “Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter

  3.  “Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar

  2.  “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (ft. Morgan Wallen)

  1.  “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey

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Res ipsa loquitur is legal term that means “the thing itself speaks.”  It is used to describe a situation where the very nature of an incident makes things so clear that you don’t need any additional evidence to support a legal finding.

For example, imagine that you have acute abdominal pain after having your appendix removed.  X-rays show that there was a scalpel left behind in your abdomen when that surgery was performed.  The mere fact that the scalpel is there is res ipsa loquitur proof of negligence on the surgeon’s part – it speaks for itself.

After comparing the 1967 top ten list to the current list, I immediately concluded that the superiority of the 1967 top ten was so clear that we had a case of res ipsa loquitur.

I came to that conclusion despite the fact that I had never listened to any of the records currently in the top ten.  That didn’t really seem fair on my part, so I decided to give the current top ten list a listen.

I was only able to make it about halfway through that list before I had to quit.  I simply couldn’t stand to listen to the entire list – each record was worse than the one before!  And I’m just a man – mere flesh and blood . . .  

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“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” was first recorded by jazz saxophonist “Cannonball” Adderley in 1966.  His instrumental version made it to #11 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Later that year, the Buckinghams had a #5 hit with a cover of the song that featured lyrics written by Gail Fisher.  I remember Gail Fisher as the Emmy-winning actress who portrayed Joe Mannix’s secretary on the Mannix TV series from 1968 to 1975, but it turns out that she was a successful jazz lyricist as well as an actress.

The Buckinghams had five hit singles in 1967 – “Kind of a Drag” made it all the way to #1 – but never cracked the top forty again.  That may have been because the group parted company with producer James Williams Guercio in 1968.

Guercio is best known as the producer of Chicago’s first eleven studio albums, but also produced Blood, Sweat & Tears’ second album, which won the “Album of the Year” Grammy in 1969.

Click here to listen to “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.”

Click here to order that recording from Amazon.