The Mamas and Papas song was not an immediate breakthrough… a radio station in Boston broke the song nationwide… peaked at number 4 in March on both the Billboard Hot 100, lasting 17 weeks, and Cashbox, lasting 20 weeks… certified as a Gold Record (single) by the RIAA… inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001… also reached number 23 on the UK charts upon its original release… is #89 in Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time… became a signpost of the California Myth and the arrival of the nascent counterculture era.
“Christmas in New England” is The ’60s Invasion’s Currier and Ives take over the river and through the mall.