(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 - "Windy"
Hit Number 1: July 1, 1967
Stay at Number 1: 4 Weeks
Songs didn't make much sense during the Summer of Love, but they didn't need to. Sometimes, a monster hook, and some happy sounding melodies were enough. You aren't going to find much meaning in a lot of these songs. Well, the Association were a group that took full advantage of that. They already had one chart-topper in 1966 ("Cherish"), and they used a lot of the same close harmonies and innocent nature that helped them in "Cherish", to yield them their second #1 hit in "Windy".
Some rumors claim that the song, in songwriter Ruthann Friedman's original lyrics, was about a man instead of a woman. However, Friedman denied those rumors on her website, and stated that the song is indeed about a woman in her original version, though the woman does not exist, and she strictly used the name "Windy" because it popped into her head one day. She thought the name would be a cool name to use in a song. The Association were the ones to record her song, and the group invited her to help provide harmonies for them in the chorus fading out. Just like in "Cherish", the backbone of "Windy" is the many voices weaving around each other, producing a cool harmonic sound that you don't hear a lot in other songs.
This "Windy" girl, though, sounds like a magical urban legend rather than a human being. According to the pre-chorus, she has "stormy eyes that flash at the sound of lies" and has "wings to fly above the clouds". Again, this is the heart of the Summer of Love. Everyone was intoxicated by all kinds of foreign substances, people were protesting the Vietnam War and calling for the end of violence, along with the still-growing Flower Power Movement. It was an interesting time in America's history, and songs like "Windy" were evidence of that.
Musically, "Windy" isn't anything that will blow you away. (I SWEAR, that pun was not intended) It's got the harmonies, but the thing that sticks out the most about it is that monster hook that will lodge itself in your brain whether you want it to or not. The Association recognize just how maddening that hook can be, so they keep doing it over and over until the song fades out. They want you to know how amazing this Windy person is, and they do it in the most maddening ways possible. But even with that, "Windy" is a song that has never bothered me too much. I see it as an innocent jingle; one that could be used as the anthem for the Summer of Love. There's nothing offensive about it, but there's nothing great about it either. It's a song with an abundance of cheeriness and an irresistible hook that is liable to drive its listeners insane. Whatever it takes to make people remember your song I guess.
GRADE: 6/10
JUST MISSED:
The Music Explosion's catchy and fun "Little Bit O' Soul" was kept out of the #1 spot for two weeks by "Windy". It's a 7.
10 ALERT!!!:
Frankie Valli (who appeared in this blog a few times with his band the Four Seasons) had his masterpiece "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" peak at #2 behind "Windy" as well. It's just too good to be true, but it's still VERY true that it is a 10.
SONG REFERENCED:
The Association - "Cherish"
MY INSPIRATION / MORE INFORMATION:
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