THE HIT HAMMER: The Association's "Cherish"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)

The Association - "Cherish"

Hit Number 1: September 24, 1966

Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks

1966 proved to be a very progressive year as far as music goes. After the wave of the British Invasion, we were left with a lot of garage rock, and harder rock that the music-listening public had never heard before. Also, psychedelic rock started making its debut on the charts, which turned the 1960s upside down. Then in the middle of all that, there's a song like "Cherish"; a gloopy soft rock song that could also be labeled as "folk rock" or just your generic "classic rock". Either way, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the midst of this era, in a time where no one would expect something like this to be a #1 hit.

The Association were a band who usually used two lead singers in all of their songs, with the rest of the group members playing their respective instruments and adding in harmonies. I'm not gonna lie, six guys harmonizing with each other makes for a pretty unique and cool sound. That was the Association's forte, and "Cherish" was the first of their big hits. It was written by one of the lead singers, Terry Kirkman, and recorded at a converted garage studio that was owned by Gary S. Paxton, the guy who helped bring us two former #1 hits in "Alley Oop" and "Monster Mash". At that time, it was extremely rare to find songs that went above three minutes, since radio stations didn't like to play songs that went above that mark, but "Cherish" initially ran for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Producer Curt Boettcher was able to cut the song down a little bit, but it still ran over 3 minutes. Instead of continuing editing, he listed the song as exactly three minutes. He cheated the system I guess, but it worked out.

After the release of "Cherish", the song blew up, staying at #1 for three weeks, and being named the #2 song of the year. (Behind of course, "Ballad of the Green Berets") The song does have some cool features to it, featuring the six-part harmony and mellow guitar strums, but unfortunately in my opinion, "Cherish" is a pretty forgettable song. There's something missing from it, and I can't quite put a finger on what that is. It sounds like a rough draft of a song, and a group that had a pretty good idea on what they were doing, while still trying to figure it all out. It's not a bad song at all, it's just one of those songs you'd hear in a grocery store, without giving it a second thought. Either way though, a lot of people clearly loved it at the time in 1966, and it propelled the Association into a brief stint of super-stardom. They would become regulars on the charts for a couple years, and they will appear in this blog again.

GRADE: 5/10

10 ALERT!!!:

Somehow, I managed to be forgetful. The Beach Boys' sunshiny masterpiece "Wouldn't It Be Nice", which came from their immortally great album "Pet Sounds", peaked at #8, but behind "You Can't Hurry Love" rather than "Cherish". I need to point out, that it's a 10.