The Beatles were the only artists in 1968 to have a number one in both countries. They started the year with “Hello Goodbye” in both charts and the other record which topped was their first release on Apple “Hey Jude” which was over seven minutes long. They reached number one in the U.K. charts in March 1968 with “Lady Madonna” and they wrote the song which was top in November for Joe Cocker “With a Little Help From my Friends” which was taken from the Sergeant Pepper album.
In America the psychedelic group the Lemon Pipers had a number one record in February written by Shelley Pinz & Paul Leka “Green Tambourine”.
A few days before his untimely death, Otis Redding had recorded the song he wrote with Steve Cropper “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” this reached number one in the U.S. in March 1968.
Paul Simon composed the song “Mrs Robinson” which took Simon & Garfunkel to the top in June. He wrote the song for the film The Graduate.
The Doors self penned record “Hello, I Love You” reached number one in
August.
Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield composed the final number one of 1968 in the U.S. “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” recorded by Marvin Gaye.
In the U.K. In February the “Mighty Quinn” written by Bob Dylan was a hit for Manfred Mann.
Louis Armstrong topped the charts with a ballad written by George Douglas & George Weiss “What A Wonderful World”.
In June the Jagger & Richard composition “Jumping Jack Flash” took the Rolling Stones to Number One.
The Bee Gee brothers Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb reached the top in September with their self penned “I’ve Got To Get A Message To You”.
The Scaffold had the final number one of 1968 in the U.K. with “Lily The Pink” they were a comedy/avant-garde group consisting of Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney who is the brother of Paul McCartney), Roger McGough and John Gorman.