"Mellow Yellow" by Donovan

Here's a catchy tune from Donovan. No, you cannot get high off smoking dried banana skins. But staring at the yellow sun will mellow your eyes to blindness.

Lite-Brite

Now that the Christmas shopping season is in full swing, I have switched my focus to popular products in 1967. The best-selling toy then was the Lite-Brite, which debuted by Hasbro that year. Incidentally, the Lite-Brite was one of my favorite childhood toys, especially around the Christmas season.

Superbowl I

In January 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in the first Superbowl. This is the third link that makes 1967 special to me--music (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band), television (Star Trek & The Monkees), and sports (The Green Bay Packers). All of these elements were my favorites in some point in my childhood and early adulthood.

My dedication as a fan to the Green Bay Packers ended in 1998 when the Packers lost against the Broncos in Superbowl XXXII. Their perfect record was tarnished and Mike Holmgren left for Seattle. But the Packers meant a lot to me from 1988 to 1998, a good decade. I will never be that obsessed with sports again.

If I were alive in 1967, I think I would be too distracted to take all of my favorite things. And I also may be too anxious about the thought of being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Perhaps 1967 is better in retrospect.

The Jungle Book

Here is "The Monkey Song" from The Jungle Book, the best Disney cartoon movie according to me. It's one of the few Disney films with a jazzy soundtrack. It also has a lot of hep beatnik jungle animals. Straight from popular culture are the Beatlesque vultures not shown in this video.

The Graduate

Although I believe 1968 was the better year for movies (because they were made in 1967), this is my favorite movie released in 1967. I tried to find a high quality trailer but I guess the copyright has got it locked up tight, so here's the movie's most famous image of Dustin Hoffman looking at Anne Bancroft's leg. "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."

Cool Hand Luke

According to critics, this was the best film of 1967.

The Andy Griffith Show, season 8

The #1 ranked television show of 1967 was The Andy Griffith Show, which entered its 8th and final season of the series. This show has been a favorite of my brother Lee and my friend Justin.

Star Trek, season 2

Not only did the Monkees enter its second season, so did Star Trek. These two shows formed a lot of my childhood identity, and therefore led me to my fascination with 1967 when I began to notice I liked many things from that year. Just like the Monkees, the second season was better than the first.

The Monkees, season 2

The second season of The Monkees television show started in 1967. I believe the better episodes were aired during the second season. This is the first episode of season 2 called "A Nice Place to Visit."

Yeye

Here's a Japanese commercial from 1967 displaying the mod styles imported from London, England. Twiggy could easily wear what the Japanese are advertising here.