What song was number one when BBC Radio 1 started in 1967?

What song was number one when BBC Radio 1 launched in 1967? From the first broadcast of the BBC's long-running Radio 1, the corporation was eager to avoid another lapse into cultural irrelevance. The times were changing, and fast. Much to the dissatisfaction of a new, swinging youth, the 1960s seemed to charge well ahead of Auntie Beeb like a countercultural whirlwind, the latest innovations in rock and pop scoring the cutting-edge playlists of the pirate Radio Caroline and Radio London stations operating offshore and outside UK jurisdiction. And where was the BBC amid the youthquake upheaval? Still mired in the dreary, family fodder of the mothballed Light Programme scheduling. Everything about the broadcaster's flagship station was at odds with the zeitgeist. Caroline and London spun records 24/7, ran US-style top 40 countdowns, played the latest singles from artists the kids actually cared about, and invented the fine art of radio DJ jabber and banter with listeners, courtesy of pirate characters like Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett, and John Peel. In tedious contrast, the BBC Light Programme was guided by stuffy scripts, bland playlists catering to light entertainment, commercial restrictions on playing pop music, and the 'needle time' agreement between labels and unions curbing how much recorded music could be played. It was a no-brainer which station to tune into. It took the BBC long enough to finally wise up. Long after the beat boom, the British invasion, and even psychedelia's 'Summer of Love' peak, the corporation made the enduring decision to axe the Light Programme after over 20 years of broadcasting into the BBC Radio 1 and 2 offshoots. The latter served as the predecessor's spiritual home, but Radio 1 was the BBC's bold step to challenge pirate radio's pop supremacy. Nabbing Blackburn from Caroline to announce the launch, the then-hip DJ personality announced Radio 1's launch shortly after the American-style jingle from Texas' PAMS company at 07:00 September 30th, 1967, with the opening sentence: 'And, good morning, everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1'. So, what was number one when Radio 1 launched? In the BBC's eager embrace of the trendy new sounds of the pop charts, naturally, some careful curation had to be exercised by the schedulers. The very first song played on the newly launched Radio 1 was Roy Wood's pre-Wizzard and ELO outfit, The Move, whose 'Flowers in the Rain' was riding high at number two on the singles chart, serving as a decent reflection of the pop pickers' taste and an aptly psychedelic tune to herald the cool new station's arrival. Who was number one, though? Upon Radio 1's launch, Engelbert Humperdinck was actually top of the UK charts, his easy-listening 'The Last Waltz' crooner enjoying a whopping five consecutive weeks at number one. Such drippy fare wasn't going to cut it at Radio 1, though. While Top of the Pops were obliged to host him, Radio 1 swerved straight past Humperdinck in its commitments to the station's grab at street cred, setting a precedent for the channel's rocky orbit with the ever-shifting trends of pop and youth culture that have seen the BBC's central radio station soldier on for the next nearly 60 years.