A (half) Century of Music

[General Havoc]

You didn't mention Eleanor Rigby for 1966. How could you not mention Eleanor Rigby? Neither it nor Yellow Submarine topped the charts, but they're easily the best two songs in Revolver, and frankly Eleanor Rigby is by far the more notable of the two because of how different it was not just from other stuff the Beatles had done, but from everything that everyone else was doing. Granted they didn't make a movie out of Eleanor Rigby, but it's in the movie, and it's still the better song.

Incidentally, my favourite Beatles' album is the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. In fact, that movie was my real introduction to the Beatles. I add the "real" qualifier because when I was little my father would sing Beatles' songs translated into Spanish to me and my sister as bedtime lullabies. Which is, in fact, why I impulsively chose to rent the movie on sight: Yellow Submarine was one of those songs.

I still say Eleanor Rigby is more worthy of mention.

I'll be damned...

I scoured that year-end list four or five times, and Eleanor Rigby isn't on it, which makes no sense at all given that it supposedly was number 11 that year. I even went back to the source charts from Billboard, and there's nothing whatsoever. I missed the song because I simply didn't see it.

But I can fix that now:


Supplemental Songs, 1966, Addendum

The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
1966 Billboard Top 100 position: 11 (I think?)


Havoc's Grade: A
This is the greatest song the Beatles ever produced, dark and dour and string-and-minor-chord laden. Pete Townsend (of The Who) credited it for being the reason he got into music. It's a fascinating song, the hinge point after which the Beatles would never again be simply another pop band. Songs like this were simply not made by major pop acts in 1966, and its legacy endures to this day.

Fun fact: George Marin (who arranged the string quartet that accompanied the Beatles on Eleanor Rigby) based the sound of the chorus off the soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Listen to it again, and you'll hear it.

[Lys]

Yaaaaay! ^_^

Eleanor Rigby is definitely among the best songs produced by the Beatles, but as much as I like it, there is one particular flaw that keeps me from assigning it the #1 spot: it's too short. I still give it an A grade, there's absolutely no question of that, but the miserable 2 minutes 6 seconds duration always left me feeling like it was a preview to a greater song that never happened. There's just not enough of it to really get emotionally invested, and while it takes well enough to looping it doesn't change the fact that it's still barely two minutes long. Again, I must stress that I believe Eleanor Rigby is truly a magnificent work, one of the greatest songs ever made, but perfect it is not.

[General Havoc]

It is a short one, I'll grant you that. I'm always sort of surprised when it ends. But in that short run time, the Beatles really managed to do something special, and while I don't play it on repeat a lot, I do come back to it semi-constantly, which is a bit odd given how much of a downer the song really is. Not perfect, no, but in my mind an easy A.

I await your verdict on the much less impressive 1967...

[Lys]

I'm a Believer by The Monkees belongs in 1967, it accounted for the entirety of January and half of February, but was only in 1966 for one day. Not putting it in its correct year drags down the 1967 GPA. For that matter, Hello, Goodbye also arguably belongs in 1968, which would also slightly increase the 1967's GPA.

[General Havoc]

Way ahead of you Lys. If a song bridges two years, I count the weeks separately for each year when it comes to the calculation. I'm a Believer's six week run in 1967 is indeed reflected in 1967's GPA, not in 1966's. Similarly, only one of Hello, Goodbye's three weeks is being used for 1967's GPA. The other two will form part of 1968's.

I put the songs in the first year where they appear because they have to go somewhere, but I assure you, the scores are accurate to the music that was on top of the charts for every one of the 52 weeks of the year in question, no matter where the song actually originated.

[Hotfoot]

That song manages to hit one of my biggest pet peeves in music, but it otherwise well constructed. That said, there is no way I would give it an A as a result. Lys said it more diplomatically than I would, but it boils down to basically the same thing. It doesn't GO anywhere. It has a slight uptempo bit towards the beginning and then slows back down. There's a lot of buildup and no payoff. If this were leading into a grander song, I would forgive it that, but I am not aware of one. That said, I haven't listened to Beatles albums front to back as one might do.

Such is my hatred for such musical sins, I would give that song alone a C. Any other song might get an F just right away, because it actually manages to create negative enjoyment of the musical piece. There is a song coming, I believe, that will warrant my full attention as a result of just this sort of thing, because despite it having one of the greatest heavy metal riffs of all time, it DOES NOTHING WITH IT.

I'm going to come back to this list later and further inform Havoc in every way he's wrong, but we pretty much listened to most of this stuff at the same time when he started and we didn't really diverge until the late 60's early 70's, and most of the things we agree upon.

[General Havoc]

Could not disagree with you more, Hotfoot. Eleanor Rigby is a milestone song, expertly crafted, which does not build to some soaring crescendo because that is not the point of the song. It's an incredibly tightly-produced work, evocative and emotional in a dour sense. I regard it as the best work the Beatles ever did, and the Beatles, despite my belittling of their hits, did some fine, fine work.

[Hotfoot]

Now to deal with the downright CRIMINAL negligence of the supplementals from 1958 and 1959. First off, you have neglected Buddy Fucking Holly, you degenerate filth.

I mean honestly, the Day the Music died was in 1959 and he was one of the Trinity.

So, for 1958, Hotfoot's Supplemental, in no particular order. Some of these will have missed Havoc's list due to timing, but many of them did hit the #1 spot for either sales, radio play, or jukebox play. I'll be using direct Youtube Links to avoid clogging the thread.

1. Peggy Sue, by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
While not my favorite Holly song, you can feel the energy waiting to break out here. The drums are strong and driving, the electric guitars light up for one of the first times in musical history, and while Holly is singing high and sweet, you can hear the traces of the range and power he could unleash.

2. Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis
While he was a bit of a degenerate, this is one of the most exciting songs of the decade, and one the better songs to use an aggressive piano in rock and roll. While it's been overused in a million ways, there's a reason to why it has been.

3. Tequila by the Champs
Not much to say about this one, other than it's one of the most distinctive songs of all time and has been used all over the goddamn place. There's only one word spoken, and that's to it's benefit, because sometimes instrumentals don't need lyrics to back them up. This song is loud, brash, and for the time, wild as hell. You can just imagine people at a party dancing to this and taking a shot of tequila each time the word was uttered.

4. Oh Boy by Buddy Holly and the Crickets
This one is a little bit of a cheat, but as far as I can tell, it did peak in 1958. This is a cover, but it's a damn good one and one of Buddy Holly's best songs. The speed, the tempo, hell, the subject matter, and the way he sings it. That roughness he gets in his verse is the beginning of the melodic howlers of metal, and far more advanced than anything that would come for years. This is what set him apart from so many crooners of the era. Had he a few more years to work it into more of his acts, we could have seen a phenomenally powerful and even primal type of singing come from Buddy Holly. That's all speculation, of course, and Buddy Holly was only one of the greats of this decade...

5. La Bamba by Ritchie Valens
Another one of the Trinity, Ritchie Valens was the youngest of the three, being only 17 when he died in 1959. Here is a kid with a massive hit and iconic song at the age of 16. In Spanish. In 1950's America. It's criminal this one only peaked at #22, but still. This song is fast paced, happy, and just fun.

6. Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper
This one's an honorable mention, because the Big Bopper was the last member of the Trinity here. This song is itself nothing special, except for the opening line of "Hellllooo BAAAABY". There are parts where he tries to do some interesting vocal tricks like Holly does, but it sounds more comedic than serious.

7. Hard Headed Woman by Elvis Presley
I almost don't want to include this song, but even the Jester deserves a spot on here for a good song. This one JUST missed the cut of Havoc's list by a week, hitting #1 in sales and DJ play just before Billboard changed their system. Clearly, the early Billboard system was...lacking.

I don't mention Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper as the Trinity just to be sacrilegious, just as I refer to Elvis as the Jester for a good reason as well. Very soon, Havoc will hit upon a very specific song, and I want the groundwork laid because even if he doesn't, I'm going to go into it in some detail.

But for now, that's my supplemental list for 1958, even if I did cheat a little.

[General Havoc]

I did not produce supplemental lists before 1960. This is mostly because if I had to listen to another song from the 1950s, I was going to kill someone. But since Hotfoot has been kind enough to do the research that I was simply not up to doing, here are my grades on the songs in question:

1. Peggy Sue, by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
While not my favorite Holly song, you can feel the energy waiting to break out here. The drums are strong and driving, the electric guitars light up for one of the first times in musical history, and while Holly is singing high and sweet, you can hear the traces of the range and power he could unleash.

Havoc's Grade: C
There is a sort of pent-up energy here, but the song never really lets it loose, as even the electric guitar breakdown seems to be rather restrained. The lyrics are about on par for 1950s songs, but I find Holly's singing annoying in this case, especially when he segues into a Jerry-Lewis-style "funny voice". Honestly, were it not for the history of this song and an excellent drumline, I'd give it worse than that.

2. Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis
While he was a bit of a degenerate, this is one of the most exciting songs of the decade, and one the better songs to use an aggressive piano in rock and roll. While it's been overused in a million ways, there's a reason to why it has been.

Havoc's Grade: C
Speaking of Jerry Lewises, the Killer was never a great singer, but there's a tremendous energy to this song, and just frantic piano work, as though Lewis were trying to put fires out with it. It has lost some of its impact with the passing of decades, but still remains one of the highlights of the late 50s, an era which produced few such things.

3. Tequila by the Champs
Not much to say about this one, other than it's one of the most distinctive songs of all time and has been used all over the goddamn place. There's only one word spoken, and that's to it's benefit, because sometimes instrumentals don't need lyrics to back them up. This song is loud, brash, and for the time, wild as hell. You can just imagine people at a party dancing to this and taking a shot of tequila each time the word was uttered.

Havoc's Grade: D
I'm sorry, this is a song that proves just why instrumental tracks need to be carefully crafted, as well as why I never liked the dirty-sax style of sax playing. It's a noodling big-band-style ditty that simply rambles on, and while I do grant it's got a vibe unlike most of the rest of its decade, I still can't muster up enthusiasm for it. It just seems to peter out at the end, and today resembles the sort of thing you'd hear playing over the ambient speakers of car dealership showrooms.

4. Oh Boy by Buddy Holly and the Crickets
This one is a little bit of a cheat, but as far as I can tell, it did peak in 1958. This is a cover, but it's a damn good one and one of Buddy Holly's best songs. The speed, the tempo, hell, the subject matter, and the way he sings it. That roughness he gets in his verse is the beginning of the melodic howlers of metal, and far more advanced than anything that would come for years. This is what set him apart from so many crooners of the era. Had he a few more years to work it into more of his acts, we could have seen a phenomenally powerful and even primal type of singing come from Buddy Holly. That's all speculation, of course, and Buddy Holly was only one of the greats of this decade...

Havoc's Grade: B
This is a very borderline case, but I think the song makes the B grade simply through display of craft. This song sounds at least ten years ahead of its time, despite the 50s-style breakdown in the middle of it. Holly's singing is the tightest it probably ever got, and while I'm not sure I hear the antecedents of Metal in it, it definitely carries the scraped vocals that bands as diverse as the Righteous Brothers and half of Motown would later use to great effect. All in all a well-crafted song, one which showcases why Holly was such a big deal before and after his untimely death.

5. La Bamba by Ritchie Valens
Another one of the Trinity, Ritchie Valens was the youngest of the three, being only 17 when he died in 1959. Here is a kid with a massive hit and iconic song at the age of 16. In Spanish. In 1950's America. It's criminal this one only peaked at #22, but still. This song is fast paced, happy, and just fun.

Havoc's Grade: A
A stone classic. La Bamba is a song that shot to the top by virtue of pure rock power. Neither language barrier nor racism nor any other thing could keep this song down, and it's one of the few rock-pop songs whose bridge is stronger than its verses. Some years ago, Rolling Stone compiled their list of the 500 greatest Rock & Roll songs of all time, and this was the only song on the list that wasn't in English.

Incidentally, the version Hotfoot linked to is actually a remake from 1987 by Los Lobos. The original Vallie version can be found here. But don't worry. We'll be seeing the other one again.

6. Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper
This one's an honorable mention, because the Big Bopper was the last member of the Trinity here. This song is itself nothing special, except for the opening line of "Hellllooo BAAAABY". There are parts where he tries to do some interesting vocal tricks like Holly does, but it sounds more comedic than serious.

Havoc's Grade: D
Gimmick song, and a poor one at that. The gimmick wears itself out early and seems to have nothing to do with the song itself. The Big Bopper was simply not that interesting, at least in the limited work he did before the crash, and this song would be totally forgettable were it not for his profile.

7. Hard Headed Woman by Elvis Presley
I almost don't want to include this song, but even the Jester deserves a spot on here for a good song. This one JUST missed the cut of Havoc's list by a week, hitting #1 in sales and DJ play just before Billboard changed their system. Clearly, the early Billboard system was...lacking.

Havoc's Grade: C
This one's also a borderline case, but in the other direction. I almost made this a D, but it's high energy enough to be worth a listen. Frankly, I've just never been the biggest Elvis fan, and this song didn't change my mind.

[General Havoc]

1968
Yearly GPA: 1.692



1968 was a rocky year, comprised mostly of crap with a couple of good songs interspersed. I suppose this describes many years, frankly, but in '68 the songs that were good got BIG. One song in particular almost singlehandedly saved the year from obscurity, you'll know it when you see it. As with many musical revolutions, the sixties were at this point struggling to maintain their momentum, and the lack of quality followthrough allowed for that eternal sign of a bored music industry to appear, the non-pop-songs-on-the-pop-charts. It wasn't that people were tired of the sixties, so much as tired of the flower power anthems that had tided them over until now. The world was looking for new things. And it was up to those who had conquered the fifties to provide them.



John Fred & His Playboy Band - Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)
Number 1 song from January 20th-February 2nd, 1968 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
I confess that I have no idea what this song is supposed to be. Theoretically it was made as an attempted ripoff of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, in which case... well fair enough. It's almost weird enough to qualify for a higher grade, but frankly, when you get past the title, it's just harmony-free big band nonsense with an orgasm breakdown. Maybe impressive for the day, I don't know, but nothing I want to listen to again.



The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine
Number 1 song from February 3rd-9th, 1968 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: D
Someone in my research called this the first bubblegum pop song. I have no idea what it was that they were listening to, but this song is nothing but sitar music over stupid innuendos. Next.



Paul Mauriat - Love is Blue
Number 1 song from February 10th-March 15th, 1968 (5 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
INSTRUMENTAL SONG ALERT!!!

Believe it or not, you're listening to an instrumental version of Luxemburg's entry in 1967's Eurovision Song Contest. Instrumental ballads have to be your thing or it's completely wasted, and I have no idea what it's doing on the pop charts, but honestly, I've heard far worse instrumental pieces, and at least it has the decency to not overstay its welcome. The original version is in French, and contains lyrics so incipit I refuse to translate them. The decision to strip them in favor of the underlying melody was a good one.



Otis Redding - Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay
Number 1 song from March 16th-April 12th, 1968 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: B
This is, in many ways, Otis Redding's swan song. Three days after recording this song, he died in a plane crash in Lake Monona, Wisconsin. There exist no recordings of Redding performing this song live, and the whistling that follows the song out was actually a placeholder, as Redding had not yet composed the lyrics that were intended to replace it. The song is one of the most melancholy, and yet also relaxing songs ever made, and while it's not one of my personal favorites, I respect it too much to give it a lower grade than this. Many covers were made of Dock of the Bay, including an infamous one by pre-ironically-funny Michael Bolton, but fortunately, none of those hit number 1.

Oh, and by the way? Redding composed this song on a houseboat in Waldo Point, Sausalito. The dock of the bay he is referring to is San Francisco Bay, not anything on the East Coast. Anyone who claims this is supposed to be about the Chesapeake or any other East Coast body of water is full of it.



Bobby Goldsboro - Honey
Number 1 song from April 13th-May 17th, 1968 (5 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: F
There are all manner of wild theories on offer for why this song was so popular, for it's manifestly terrible. An epically bad song, topping many of the worst-songs-of-all-time charts for its saccharine, insulting, stupid, boring lyrics capable of delivering diabetes to its listeners. This song was number 1 when Martin Luther King was murdered. Maybe people were desperate for something stupid and nice?



Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up
Number 1 song from May 18th-31st, 1968 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: F
What the hell was that? This barely qualifies as a song at all, let alone a good one. It's just jazz noodling underneath a voiceless asshole rambling at unseen bandmembers that never does anything. To hell with this song.

Yes, this is the first back-to-back F on our list. It won't be the last.




Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson
Number 1 song from June 1st-21st, 1968 (3 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: B
Simon & Garfunkel to the rescue. I'm an unabashed fan of the greatest harmony duet in history, and while Mrs. Robinson isn't my favorite song of theirs, it's still an extremely solid piece, wistful for days gone by, and mysterious in meaning without appearing completely nonsensical.




Herb Alpert - This Guy's In Love with You
Number 1 song from June 22nd-July 19th, 1968 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
Easy Listening lounge crap. Meandering and deathly boring. Useless.



Hugh Masakela - Grazing in the Grass
Number 1 song from July 20th-August 2nd, 1968 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
INSTRUMENTAL SONG ALERT!!!

Well... now we know where all the Cowbell was being stored, don't we?



The Doors - Hello, I Love You
Number 1 song from August 3rd-16th, 1968 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
I remain endlessly confused as to how the Doors got so popular. Even at their best, they never elevated themselves above droning stoner-music. Though perhaps I just answered my own question.



The Rascals - People Got to be Free
Number 1 song from August 17th-September 20th, 1968 (5 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
Fine message I suppose, but the song sounds like a ripoff of the Osmonds. Generic and poorly sung, this 60s anthem is best when covered.



Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA
Number 1 song from September 21st-27th, 1968 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: D
This song mystifies me. Don't let the short time on top fool you, it was massive in 1968. This song spawned a movie and a television series. It stayed atop the country charts for five months. And yet I can't for the life of me figure out what even the theoretical appeal of this song is? It sounds twenty years out of date.



The Beatles - Hey Jude
Number 1 song from September 28th-November 29th, 1968 (9 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: B
This song was the salvation of 1968, a showcase for just how musically complex the late Beatles actually were. I've never really regarded this as a Beatles song as much as a McCartney one, but whoever you credit it to, this song dominated 1968, sitting at number 1 for nine weeks, a record that would stand for nine years. It's not a perfect song, as that four minute coda begins to sound pretty self-indulgent after a while, but the first half of this song is better than most artists ever achieved in their entire careers.



The Supremes - Love Child
Number 1 song from November 20th-December 13th, 1968 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
My tolerance for the Supremes is always limited, and the longer the group stayed around, the less I enjoyed them. This is quintessential late-Supremes stuff, polished, soulless, pre-packaged by the engineers at Motown, and totally without musical value.



Marvin Gaye - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Number 1 song from December 14th, 1968-January 31st, 1969 (7 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: B
A soul classic if ever there was one, Marvin's Gaye's version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine was the subject of a power struggle within Motown between Producer Norman Whitfield, who wrote the song, and Motown founder Berry Gordy, who thought it wasn't strong enough to stand as a single. Time has proven Whitfield the wiser man in this case. I can't say I have this one queued up on my iPod a lot, but it's a classic song, one of the smoothest ever written or sung. This arrangement is just killer, from the rattling tambourine at the beginning, to the noodling piano playing us out. And who can possibly question Marvin Gaye's voice.






Supplemental Songs

Very slim pickings for the supplemental list this year, in fact I was only able to find one song solid enough to warrant inclusion. Other suggestions are welcome, but for me, this really sums up 1968 in a nutshell. There just weren't many bands who had any idea where to go from the high point of 1966, and the new bands who would dominate the 70s were yet to arrive:


Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
1968 Billboard Top 100 position: 31


Havoc's Grade: B
I gotta be honest, this song only made this cut by the skin of its teeth, but history and respect count for something in edge cases, and so I'm including it on the supplemental list. This song exemplified another side of the sixties movement, the deep counterculture, who embraced it as a sort of anthem.



Other noted songs from 1968:
Hugo Montenegro - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Sly & The Family Stone - Dance to the Music
Merilee Rush - Angel of the Morning
The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues
The Beatles - Lady Madonna
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
Simon & Garfunkle - Scarborough Fair
Aretha Franklin - Say a Little Prayer

[General Havoc]

1969
Yearly GPA: 1.615



By the end of 1969, we have a good picture of what the sixties consisted of. Like water, music found its own level, a level visibly superior to that of the fifties that preceded it, but still a level in which much mediocrity could still thrive. The reason this year didn't score higher, frankly, was timing. Most of the best songs on this list charted for a week or so and vanished, while the crap stuck around for months on end. Still, even a middling year from the 60s is better than any year from the 50s, and now we get to see what the 70s have in store for us.



Tommy James & The Shondelles - Crimson and Clover
Number 1 song from February 1st-14th, 1969 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
Not something I'm going to listen to again and again, but this is a surprisingly good song, with an easy vibe and excellent singing. It does go on forever, but it's plainly intended to.



Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People
Number 1 song from February 15th-March 14th, 1969 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
An iconic song, if a bit slow. This song supposedly invented slap bass as a technique, and represents a much more mainstream, less-funk oriented turn for The Family Stone. I'm not a massive fan, but I can't point to anything wrong with it.



Tommy Roe - Dizzy
Number 1 song from March 15th-April 11th, 1969 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
This song changes key eleven times. I counted. Slower than molasses in January, this song just meanders along until the audience is as dizzy as the title character. No thank you.



The 5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
Number 1 song from April 12th-May 23rd, 1969 (6 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
One of the most quintessential songs of the sixties, this medley comes to us courtesy of the musical "Hair". I've not seen it, so perhaps it works better in context there, but this song is just a mess, sixties at its purest form in all the wrong ways. Shallow hippie astrology crap mixed with boring, off-kilter singing and music. It does improve when we get to the second half of the melody, but we're grading harshly here, and the first half of the song is enough to give it a pass.



The Beatles - Get Back
Number 1 song from May 24th-June 27th, 1969 (5 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
A very tightly-crafted, somewhat funky (for the Beatles) little number, the story goes that McCartney composed this one as a reference to Yoko Ono. Whether that's true or not, I can't possibly speculate, but the song is one of the Beatles' most well-documented compositions, showcasing the methods they used to create the greatest albums of their careers, including the one this came from, Let it Be.



Henry Mancini - Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet
Number 1 song from June 28th-July 11th, 1969 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: F
I always thought Henry Mancini was a mattress salesman. Regardless, this instrumental and choral ballad from the 1968 version of Romeo & Juliet (one of the better film adaptations) somehow forced its way onto the pop charts despite being made of suck. Listen to this song if you wish to fall asleep. Otherwise move right along.



Zagar and Evans - In the year 2525
Number 1 song from July 12th-August 22nd, 1969 (6 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
The sixties were a millenarian era, when you stop and think about it, and this song exemplifies that trend better than most. It's one of the most dated apocalyptic songs I've ever heard, as its fundamental message is one of ludditism and human extinction by means of science and technology. If the lyrics to this song had been taken from a Jack London story, I would not be surprised. Musically, it sounds like a bad mariachi band playing an accompaniment of poorly-understood hippie philosophy. It might have captured the tenor of the times, but I'll remind you all, Neil Armstrong landed on the moon while this song was at number 1. Throw out your machines indeed.



The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women
Number 1 song from August 23rd-September 19th, 1969 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
A light little song that represents the Stones' foray into country music, electrified and rocked up. I wouldn't call it the best song of any particular category, but it's a neat little ditty that reminds me, weirdly enough, of some of ACDC's work. Not bad at all.



The Archies - Sugar Sugar
Number 1 song from September 20th-August 17th, 1969 (4 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
Yes, I know the pedigree of this song, but honestly, listen to it again, it's just a good song, regardless of who sang it. One of the better bubblegum offerings of the late sixties. Not gonna win any awards, but a really solid song. The story goes that they had to sell DJs on this song by refusing to tell them who had sung it until after they'd already heard the song. I'm not exactly surprised.




The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
Number 1 song from October 18th-30th, 1969 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: C
You can hear the beginnings of both funk and disco in this song, if you squint your ears that is. This is a borderline case, to be honest, as I don't really care for this song, but there's nothing really wrong with it enough to warrant demoting it to a D. The Temptations get a break.



Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
Number 1 song from November 1st-7th, 1969 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: C
I gotta be honest, I didn't expect to like this song at all. But to be frank, this is one of Elvis' better number one hits. Maybe it's the soulfulness of his singing, maybe the restrained production that highlights his voice very well, maybe the simple emotionality of the song shines through, who knows. The ending coda, complete with fake-fadeout, goes on waaaaaaay too long, but even so, if more of Elvis' songs sounded like this, I might have been a fan.



The Fifth Dimension - Wedding Bell Blues
Number 1 song from November 8th-28th, 1969 (3 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
This is a strange song. Frankly, I just don't like the way it lilts about without any conception of where it's going. It sounds like someone tried to cross a Christmas song with big-band-style lounge music. I just have no use for it whatsoever.




The Beatles - Come Together
Number 1 song from November 29th-December 5th, 1969 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: B
What a wonderful bass beat this song has. Come Together is one of the Beatles' best songs, a cryptic staccato blues-heavy piece that for once, doesn't sound confused so much as artistic. Musically-speaking, this is one of the most inspired pieces that the Beatles ever came up with, a total rejection of the I Wanna Hold Your Hand Boy-band days. Tragically, this came at the very end of the Beatles' run.



Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Number 1 song from December 6th-19th, 1969 (2 weeks)


Havoc's Grade: D
When Bananarama's cover has more style than your version, you may be in trouble. There is no reason to listen to this song for longer than the five second sample played at sports games.



Peter, Paul, & Mary - Leavin' on a Jet Plane
Number 1 song from December 20th-26th, 1969 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: B
I don't give a damn what people want to say, Peter Paul & Mary were the sixties as far as I'm concerned. The harmonies they produced in songs as simple as this one or Puff The Magic Dragon, were like nothing else. Simplistic it might be, but this is an incredibly emotional song, and while I recognize why some don't like it, I will not call it anything but excellent.



The Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together
Number 1 song from December 27th, 1969-January 2nd, 1970 (1 week)


Havoc's Grade: D
Instrumentally, this song is fine, but Diana Ross' efforts to sound silky just come across as utterly fake. It's like she's only taking a peripheral interest in the song her backup singers are singing. Ephemeral and pointless, this song was the one to play out the 1960s. Fitting? You be the judge.






Supplemental Songs

Let it not be said that the sixties went out with a whimper however. The supplemental list for 1969 is one of the strongest I've ever seen, and includes several stone classics:


The Foundations - Build me up Buttercup
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 9


Havoc's Grade: B
This one just got unlucky. Scheduling mismatches kept it unjustly from the number 1 list. But that said, Build me up Buttercup is the best song the Foundations ever sang, a wonderful piece of late sixties harmonizing. I can't call it the best song ever or anything, but it's a personal favorite motown classic, and I'll defend its merits to any and sundry.



Credence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 19


Havoc's Grade: B
Asshole though he may have been, John Fogerty was a musical genius, and this song, better known to most as 'Rollin' on a River', is one of his best. I far prefer it to the Tina Turner version for instance. Supposedly, it was written when Fogerty was discharged from the Army at the height of Vietnam, representing his joy at having been liberated.



Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 22


Havoc's Grade: B
Shut the hell up, I don't want to hear it. I love this song, and will not hear otherwise. Yeah, it's fashionable to dig at Neil Diamond because he was a cheesy crooner, but I'm not here to be a hipster and tell you all the same things you'll hear at a hundred music snob blogs across the world. Neil Diamond has some excellent songs, and I do not give a damn who thinks otherwise. And while this is not his best (yeah, you heard me), it's a fun, happy song, one that was written about the Kennedys during the age of Camelot. Mythological? Yes. But this is music, not history, and there's a reason this song was brought back out after the Boston Marathon bombings.



Credence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 24


Havoc's Grade: B
If you absolutely must write apocalyptic music, then write it like this. Bad Moon Rising is justly one of CCR's most famous songs, a rapturesque judgement day ditty infused with swamp rock and given a fun sound that makes judgment day out to be the thing the bible claims it to be, a day of wrath and fear and paradoxically of joy and anticipation. I don't care for apocalyptics, but this is one of the best examples thereof ever to be written.



Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 36


Havoc's Grade: B
One of the most classic Cash songs, like nothing else I've ever seen. It actually came closer to the number 1 list than I expected, but I understand why it never broke through. Still a stone classic, one of the best tales ever told by the man in black, and a particular favorite of his prison concerts.



Jay & The Americans - This Magic Moment
1969 Billboard Top 100 position: 56


Havoc's Grade: B
I almost gave this damn thing an A, I like it so much. A cover of the classic Drifters song from 1960, this song has been the staple of indie films ever since The Americans reworked it into a more crooner-style, bringing out the strange, ethereal qualities of the lyrics and music. Fifties music simply does not stand on its own anymore, by and large, and you need to modernize it for the songs to become listenable again. This is how you do just that.



Other noted songs from 1969:
Three Dog Night - One
Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime
Stevie Wonder - My Cherie Amour
Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
Oliver - Good Morning Starshine
Blood, Sweat, & Tears - You've Made Me So Very Happy
Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay
Cass Elliot - Its Getting Better
BJ Thomas - Hooked on a Feeling

[General Havoc]

Cyncat has informed me that there was a glaring omission on the top 100 list in 1969, a song that I have decided to veto the list and include in my own behalf. I suppose everyone was too busy listening to Mancini's Sleep World.


Supplemental Songs, 1969, Addendum

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
1966 Billboard Top 100 position: DNQ


Havoc's Grade: B
Though Gimme Shelter isn't my favorite song of the Stones', it may be their most expertly crafted one. Featuring legendary backup singer Merry Clayton, who may have suffered a miscarriage from the strain of screaming those high notes, it's a dour, claustrophobic piece, meant to evoke the uncertainty of the times at the end of the tumultuous sixties. The world was a scary place in 1969, and this was the song that captured that feeling better than a hundred thousand Luddite tracks that otherwise littered the year.

[Lys]

By the end of 1969, we have a good picture of what the sixties consisted of. Like water, music found its own level, a level visibly superior to that of the fifties that preceded it, but still a level in which much mediocrity could still thrive. The reason this year didn't score higher, frankly, was timing. Most of the best songs on this list charted for a week or so and vanished, while the crap stuck around for months on end. Still, even a middling year from the 60s is better than any year from the 50s, and now we get to see what the 70s have in store for us.

Uh, the 60s haven't ended yet. They don't end until after 1972, just like how the 50s didn't end until after 1963. I'd say the 70s were a short decade, only spanning 1973-1979, and roughly bookended by the Paris Peace Accords and Disco Demolition Night. Alternatively the 70s end with Reagan's election, in which case they're 1973-1980.

[General Havoc]

Actually, that's probably fair. The seventies sort of gradually came onto the scene, unlike the sixties or nineties, each of which had signal "moments" to announce their arrival overnight. Over the course of the next three years or so, we will see the seventies materialize, until they collapse with a bang at the beginning of 1980.

[frigidmagi]

What was the moment that started the 90s?

[General Havoc]

That would be the winter of 1991-92, with the simultaneous advent of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, Dr. Dre's Chronic, and Ice Cube's Predator. There had been alternative grunge-style songs and hardcore gangsta rap before these things, but these were the albums that not only went massive ultra-platinum, but singlehandedly abolished all of their predecessors from existence. Hair Metal, Pop-rap, Adult Light Rock, all of these were summarily consigned to the dustbin, and with the exception of the last of those, would never arise again. Between the end of 1991 and the beginning of 1993, music more or less turned over completely.

[Lys]

And so ended the heyday of metal and the greatest era of modern music. The 70s (as I defined them) are neat because that's when metal, which had been brewing since the late 60s (1968-1972), finally comes into its own. Bands like AC/DC, Styx, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Saxon, and others either formed or started to make it big in this era. The best stuff doesn't come until the 80s, but it's during the 70s that you see metal really start to bloom. I'd say I'm looking forward to it, but I have no idea if they'll even register at the peak of the charts.

(Note: I do not distinguish between hard rock and metal. I certainly do not distinguish between heavy metal and the thousand other kinds of metal.)

[General Havoc]

And so ended the heyday of metal and the greatest era of modern music. The 70s (as I defined them) are neat because that's when metal, which had been brewing since the late 60s (1968-1972), finally comes into its own. Bands like AC/DC, Styx, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Saxon, and others either formed or started to make it big in this era. The best stuff doesn't come until the 80s, but it's during the 70s that you see metal really start to bloom. I'd say I'm looking forward to it, but I have no idea if they'll even register at the peak of the charts.

(Note: I do not distinguish between hard rock and metal. I certainly do not distinguish between heavy metal and the thousand other kinds of metal.)

Well the prospect that they might not register at the peak of the charts is why I have the Supplemental List.

Indeed, I've also been looking forward to the 70s (the proper seventies), and the 80s, as they represent the best era of music in general. This is not to say that there will not be all sorts of terrible, indeed legendary crap on the charts (Olivia-Newton John, Debbie Boone, Starlight Vocal Band...), but the stuff that's good is likely to be SO good. It's not just the Metal, though there is that, it's also the classic rock, the funk, the good Disco (yes, there is such a thing), the 80s synth-pop, the New Wave bands, the orchestral rock, the hair metal, everything that was wild and crazy and awesome about two decades of excellent music. A final send-off before we enter the dour 90s and the utter abyss that was the 00s. For now though, we get to build for a few years towards the 70s, and hopefully listen to some damn good music along the way.

[Lys]

Yeah the other stuff is that's coming up is good too, and I look forward to those as well, but it is metal that left the deepest impression upon me. Though on the subject of disco, I don't understand all the hate for it. I know it was a big thing that rebervates to this day, but I don't get it. I don't see how it became a huge joke and object of ridicule but somehow hair bands didn't. Disco is coming up soon and it's going to be huge, and for some reason America collectively decided that this was a cultural embarrasment that, since it could not be forgotten, would forever more be the object of ridicule. Disco didn't even die, they just renamed it dance music and it econtinued to evolve as music does. The wierdest thing is that there are a number of disco songs that remain popular to this day, and many groups in the after the 70s made songs with strong disco elements, but for some reason everyone just sort of pretends it isn't disco. It just strange.

[General Havoc]

I confess, Lys, I don't know how to explain the Disco hate either. Yes, it was ubiquitous in 1979, to the point of massive oversaturation, and yes, it was cheesy and stupid and 99% crap. But those are all things that could be said about a dozen other styles of music, including Hair Metal. The answer to this lies beyond my expertise.

I'm sure we'll all be sick of disco by 1980, but we'll try to keep an open mind.

[LadyTevar]

Yes, the 70s.... Alice Cooper and ShockRock. AC/DC, Styx, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Saxon, 38 Special, Billy Idol, Bob Segar, Springsteen, Clapton
But also Queen, ABBA, Billy Joel, Barbara Streisand, Chicago, Elton John.

My favorites: Meatloaf, Kiss, Rick Springfield, and Jimmy Buffett.

[frigidmagi]

What's wrong with Queen?

[Lys]

Who said there was anything wrong with Queen? If someone did we ought to run them out of town.

[General Havoc]

For that matter, what's wrong with Elton John, Abba, or Billy Joel?

[Lys]

Guys, I'm pretty sure Lady Tevar was listing the good parts of the 70s.