The great 1960's countdown, week three

After a nice, pleasant walk with Mr. Beagle, and a jug of kool-aid (since pop is getting expensive), I darn near forgot it's Saturday and time to count off another twenty of my favorite sixties tunes! Perhaps the next one on the list will shed some light on the phenomenon.

260.  Friday On My Mind, the Easybeats.  I've got to admit, the line for Tuesday puzzles me (Coming Tuesday I feel better,/Even my old man looks good). But the chorus (Gonna have fun in the city,/Be with my girl she's so pretty) makes it worth it.

259. Questions 67 & 68, Chicago.  From their first album, when they were still the Chicago Transit Authority (before the CTA threatened legal action and stupidly cost themselves a ton of free PR). This was always my sister Sue's band.  Since it's not a song you might know by name (or number), here's a peek:





258. I'm A Believer, the Monkees.  The first of 5 times the boys make it onto my chart, this is another one of those ubiquitous tunes that (I think) you just can't have a sixties countdown without.  A Neil Diamond composition.  Just think how great he'd be if he'd just stayed away from Barbara Streisand!

257.  Young Girl, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.  Second time for Mr. Puckett and the Gap so far.  One of my top ten all time voices.

256. Batman, Jan and Dean.  Say you don't know this? Here's a treat for you.   We wore the grooves off this forty-five, which rose to a lowly #67 on the Billboard charts.



255. Valleri, the Monkees.  I told you we'd be seeing  a lot of the Monkees.  Unlike Laurie, who liked more of their album cuts, I like- no surprise- the hooky pop tunes.

254. Somebody To Love, Jefferson Airplane.  Darn near put "Starship" instead!  To me, Airplane wasted a lot of good vocal talent in Grace Slick by trying so hard to sound like the band down the street.  But sometimes- like here- it worked.

253. Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Though you gotta love CCR for their whole body of work (in such a short period), I put just three of them on my chart, and one's coming up real soon.  Of course, they are a crossover  band, and if you care to leaf through old Time Machines, you'll find Who'll Stop The Rain in my seventies list.  The other day I did the famous word change "There's a bathroom on the right" and my son (born 1989) said, "Is that really the words?"  God love the kids.

252. And When I Die, Blood, Sweat, And Tears.  Here also we'll see this group twice today, and that will be both their times on the list.  Love Horns!  Especially the soft rise in the last chorus.

251. Black Is Black, Los Bravos.  Hey, you just had a birthday! 45 years ago this week this song hit the hot 100.  Not a song I ever associated with the sixties though- I had always though that it was early seventies.

250.  On A Carousel, the Hollies.  A third band we'll get twice today, with the sweet vocals of Graham Nash.

249.  I'm Henry The Eighth, I Am, Herman's Hermits.  Can you handle a fourth band we'll have on twice?  This is really starting to add up!  I believe that this still holds the record for the shortest #1 song.

248.  I Can See For Miles, the Who.  I'd really be in trouble with my friend Rex if I didn't get the Who in here, though how I didn't squeeze I Can't Explain in here, I, uh, can't explain.

247.  Mirage, Tommy James and the Shondells.  Did you know that this song is the music track for I Think We're Alone Now played backwards?  Unlike most of the world, I like this a LOT better.



246. Darlin', Beach Boys.  The first of 13 Beach Boys entries on this chart.  This is the best American band. Period.

245. Look Through Any Window, the Hollies.  Sometimes I see this song as if I'm inside a dollhouse scene. "You can see the little ladies in their gowns, when you..."

244. Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter, Herman's Hermits.  The best thing about Peter Noone for me was the pronounced accent he sang with.  This song is kinda like Sylvia's Mother without the tears.

243. Devil With The Blue Dress On/ Good Golly Miss Molly, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.  Did anyone ever put as much energy into a song as these guys did?  I really wish I'd had room to cram Jenny Take A Ride! in too.  Plus another of the coolest names in rock'n'roll.  Hard to believe Mitch picked his name out of a phone book.  I wonder what THAT Mitch Ryder thought of them?

242. Proud Mary, Creedence Clearwater Revival.  I just mentioned on Time Machine that this is a song that got played at every wedding reception I can remember when I was a kid.  And don't mention Ike and Tina to me. BLASPHEMY!

241. Spinning Wheel, Blood, Sweat, and Tears.  For me, their very best.  And for some reason I always linked this song and Three Dog Night's Black And White.  It was years before I knew that was TDN and not BST.

Crap, we're at the end of this again!  This always goes way too fast for me.  As we sign out till next Saturday, here's another of the "ones that got away."  Enjoy!