Top of the charts in the UK on this day was ‘Sugar Sugar’ by The Archies.
Not one of David’s favourites, this, but equally annoying and slightly less grammatically irritating than the US sing-along-a-No.1 of this day 40 years ago, ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’ (by Steam). Remember that one?
I can’t bring myself to say a bad word about the wonderful Roy Orbison, so I’ll just quietly point out that ‘Penny Arcade’ was No.1 in Australia at the time and leave it to you to decide whether or not that nicely rounds off a hat trick of truly terrible chart-topping songs which paint 1969 a hideous, nauseating shade of ‘Fun’.
There were some classic stand-out tunes, though: ‘Albatross’ by (Peter Green’s) Fleetwood Mac, which obviously is one of David’s favourites, and ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ by Crosby, Stills and Nash, to name just two of them.
As we’ve been talking about him this week, ‘Give Peace a Chance’ by (John Lennon’s) Plastic Ono Band is another.
Great albums, too. All the best acts did well, I thought, and their record covers were often equally impressive: The Beatles’ Abbey Road (and Yellow Submarine); Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Neil Young’s first album with Crazy Horse; Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats; Leonard Cohen’s Songs From a Room…
Do note Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s Trout Mask Replica sleeve at this point, if you will. Words fail me each time I see it.
There were two records from Pink Floyd, of course: More and Ummagumma. I’d like to know which remain your favourite moments from those two, please.
So, your favourite songs from 1969. Hopefully this list of 100 will help start you off, and this just might jog a few memories.
Here are five of my favourite tracks:
- King Crimson, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’
- Elvis Presley, ‘Suspicious Minds’
- Rolling Stones, ‘Gimme Shelter’
- Stevie Wonder, ‘For Once In My Life’
- Neil Young, ‘Down By the River’
A special mention for Tommy‘s ‘Underture’, which is one of my most favourite instrumentals, but we can talk about that and those another day.
Until then, have a good weekend, everyone.
