And so we come to the last playlist of the 1960s! To my ears it is already starting to sound quite ’70s tinged, lets dive into that decade proper next week. But for now, let’s hear the sounds of December, 1969…
Songs of the month
- [new] “A Brand New Me” – Dusty Springfield
- “And When I Die” – “Blood Sweat And Tears”
- “Baby I’m For Real” – Originals
- “Baby It’s You” – Smith
- “Backfield In Motion” – Mel & Tim
- “Cherry Hill Park” – Billy Joe Royal
- “Come Together / Something” – Beatles
- [new] “Don’t Cry Daddy” – Elvis Presley
- “Down On The Corner / Fortunate Son” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- [new] “Early In The Morning” – Vanity Fare
- “Eleanor Rigby” – Aretha Franklin
- “Eli’s Coming” – Three Dog Night
- [new] “Evil Woman Don’t Play Your Games With Me” – Crow
- “Friendship Train” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
- “Going In Circles” – Friends Of Distinction
- [new] “Groovy Grubworm” – Harlow Wilcox And The Oakies
- [new] “Heaven Knows” – Grass Roots
- “Holly Holy” – Neil Diamond
- [new] “I Want You Back” – Jackson 5
- [new] “Jam Up Jelly Tight” – Tommy Roe
- [new] “Jingle Jangle” – Archies
- [new] “La La La” – Bobby Sherman
- “Leaving On A Jet Plane” – “Peter Paul And Mary”
- [new] “Midnight Cowboy” – Ferrante And Teicher
- “Mind Body And Soul” – Flaming Ember
- “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” – Steam
- “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” – B.J. Thomas
- “Smile A Little Smile For Me” – Flying Machine
- “Someday We’ll Be Together” – Diana Ross And The Supremes
- “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” – Crosby Stills & Nash
- “Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley
- “Take A Letter Maria” – R.B. Greaves
- “These Eyes” – Junior Walker And The All Stars
- “Undun” – Guess Who
- [new] “Up On Cripple Creek” – The Band
- [new] “Venus” – Shocking Blue
- “Wedding Bell Blues” – 5Th Dimension
- [new] “Wedding Bell Blues” – 5Th Dimension
- [new] “Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin
- “Yester-Me Yester-You Yesterday” – Stevie Wonder
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On the 4th “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”, the first feature film based on the Peanuts comic strip, was released to theaters for the first time.
And on the 17th the first widely publicised warning of climate change, caused by pollution, was delivered by physical scientist Joseph O. Fletcher of the Rand Corporation. Fletcher told the assembled scientists that “Very substantial changes have taken place during our lifetime” in the increase in temperature in the first part of the 20th century, resulting in the melting of the ice caps of the Earth; that carbon dioxide had been responsible for up to one half of the warming; and that although mankind’s influence on the warning had been small compared to natural causes, “within another generation, man will become important, the carbon dioxide pollution apparently being the most important” and that the world had “only a few decades to solve the problem. Still not solved it. Still debating it. Luckily, still here.
No video of this, but this “Men of the Year” video from 1969 did tickle me.
On the 25th, Seiko, the Japanese electronics manufacturer, introduced the world’s first quartz clock wristwatch, the Astron , at a press conference in Tokyo. The electronic timepiece was the most accurate wristwatch in the world at the time, guaranteed to be accurate within five seconds for every month of use, and began a new era in watch manufacturing. One historian of timepieces would later write that “Astron was the shot heard around the watch world, beginning an upheaval that radically rearranged that world. It shifted the balance of power to the Far East, toppled Switzerland as the world’s watch production leader, sent the Swiss watch industry into a two-decade-long tailspin (between 1970 and 1988 Swiss watch employment fell from 90,000 to 28,000), brought a quantum leap in watch accuracy, a quantum change in watch styling, and much more.”
What’d Sadie think?
Two weeks at the top for “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” by Steam before “Peter Paul And Mary” take the spot for a week with “Leaving On A Jet Plane” followed by “Someday We’ll Be Together” by Diana Ross And The Supremes.
Loved ’em
Between “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin and the debut “I Want You Back”, from the jackson 5, we’re definitely entering the ’70s!
- “I Want You Back” – Jackson 5
- “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” – “Crosby Stills And Nash”
- “Venus” – Shocking Blue
- “Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin
Liked ’em
- “A Brand New Me” – Dusty Springfield
- “Don’t Cry Daddy” – Elvis Presley
- “Evil Woman Don’t Play Your Games With Me” – Crow
- “Groovy Grubworm” – Harlow Wilcox And The Oakies
- “Heaven Knows” – Grass Roots
- “Jam Up Jelly Tight” – Tommy Roe
- “Jingle Jangle” – Archies
- “La La La” – Bobby Sherman
- “Midnight Cowboy” – Ferrante And Teicher
- “Up On Cripple Creek” – The Band
- “Wedding Bell Blues” – 5Th Dimenson
Leave ’em
- “Early In The Morning” – Vanity Fare
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.