DAILY DIRT: ‘Midnight Confessions’ made 1968 a special year

So did “Love Is Blue,” “Cry Like A Baby” and “I Wish It Would Rain” … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 816 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s day four of our countdown of the best five years of pop music, all from the 1960s. Today the focus is on 1968.

Sit down, strap in and enjoy the memories. Here’s our top 10 from the year Bob Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA:

• 1. “Midnight Confessions,” by the Grass Roots: What made the Grass Roots so special in the late 1960s and early 1970s was the use of two lead singers — Rob Grill and Warren Entner. Grill died at age 67 in 2011. Enter is still involved in the music industry at age 79.
• 2. “Love Is Blue,” by the Paul Mauriat Orchestral: The best instrumental — ever.
• 3. “Cry Like A Baby,” by the Box Tops: The Box Tops’ finest effort held the No. 2 position on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks this year, denied the No. 1 position it so deserved by Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey”.
• 4. “I Wish It Would Rain,” by the Temptations: With the magnificent David Ruffin singing lead.
• 5. “Love Is All Around,” by The Troggs: “I feel it in my fingers … I feel it in my toes … “
• 6. “This Guy’s In Love With You,” by Herb Alpert: Herb should have put that trumpet down and sang more of ten. This was  a great song.
• 7. “White Room,” by Cream: One of two monster hits this year for the group anchored by Eric Clapton. The other was “Sunshine of Your Love.”
• 8. “Time Has Come Today,” by the Chambers Brothers: There’s both a long and short version of this classic. Each is well worth the listen.
• 9. “Nobody But Me,” by the Human Beinz: One of those great one-hit wonders from this period of pop music.
• 10. “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,” by the Ohio Express: FYI — this group had its roots in Mansfield, Ohio, where I went to high school.

2. A conversation of love?

Her: “If I said I love you, would you say it back?”

Him: Yes.

Her: “I love you.”

Him: “It back.”

3. Here’s our updated NFL rankings, which are led again by the San Francisco 49ers:

1. San Francisco (11-3): Brock Purdy or Christian McCaffrey the NFL’s MVP?

2. Baltimore (11-3): Is John Harbaugh the most overlooked NFL coach of the current era, when it comes to receiving the overall acknowledgement he deserves?

3. Miami (10-4): Speaking of coaches, is there a hotter ticket right now than Miami’s Mike McDaniel?

4. Dallas (10-4): Do you just have a feeling that Dallas is going to somehow screw up what has been — for the most part — an extremely successful season?

5. Cleveland (9-5): Are Joe Flacco and the Browns a team of destiny?

This week’s marquee matchups:

(Sunday) Dallas (11-3) at Miami (10-4): Cowboys need to make a statement after last week’s debacle … Prediction: Miami 27, Dallas 24: … but the Dolphins seem to be peaking at the right time.

(Monday) Las Vegas (6-8) at Kansas City (9-5): Ahhh … the old AFL rivalry is renewed once more. Prediction: Kansas City 31, Las Vegas 17: It’s crunch time for the Chiefs, and the Raiders will be no match for what awaits at Arrowhead.

(Monday night): Baltimore at San Francisco: What would the late Keith Jackson say about a matchup like this? I believe it would be something like “Whoaaa Nellie!”. Prediction: San Francisco 34, Baltimore 31: This should be a lot of fun to watch on Christmas night.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — My favorite songs from the Ohio Express were “Chewy Chewy” and “Mercy Mercy,” which were released following “Yummy Yummy Yummy”. Yes, there seemed to be a trend with the group’s songs, eh?

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Take the over on Cowboys/Dolphins.