Tomorrow I’ll be doing a live presentation and I’m going to be spending today rehearsing and getting ready for that. Since the last post was so long I decided it was time for a shorter and more fun post again. So, following along the lines of other musical posts I’ve done, I decided to share my top 5 favorite songs from the 60’s, which some of you have no recollection from, and the rest might have other songs to highlight instead.
Before that, though, I’d like to share some of my previous posts, in case you’re new to the blog or just missed them:
And now, on with my list, from #5 to #1:
5. Happy Together, The Turtles – I can’t even tell you why I always liked this song. Maybe it was the relatively simple melody. Maybe it was the fairly non-threatening lilt in the way Flo & Eddie (it was 2 guys by the way) sang together. I couldn’t tell you, but it makes my top 5.
4. Daydream Believer, The Monkees – I remember this song for many reasons. One, of course it was on the TV show. Two, it helped close out 4th grade for me, and man, was that a grade that just had to end! I remember a party at school near the end of the school year where this song played a few times and, because of the show, I could sing along with it and it brought comfort to me. Yeah, I missed the love song part of it, but so what. lol
3. Soul Man, Sam & Dave – My mother bought this album when we first came back to the United States from Japan back in 1966 and for the next 20+ years it was the first song she played every single Friday night; yup, you read that correctly. It was the first song on the album, and it was a great one; always made me smile, and still does.
2. Sugar Sugar, The Archies – This was a cartoon and on the cartoon the characters had put together a band. In the 3rd season of the cartoon they released their second album, and the main single from the show was this one, which ended up going all the way to number one.
1. I Want You Back, The Jackson Five – This was the first #1 song of 1970, but it was released in 1969. I’ve told this story before, but the day my dad left for Vietnam the Jackson Five showed up on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time and performed this song, and they and Michael Jackson himself were my favorites from that point on.
These are all good ones, but no Beatles? “Soul Man” is a good song, but I think I might lean towards Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” over that one. Of course I don’t know that song would make me smile as much as get kind of misty eyed.
It’s a hard choice. I think as soon as I thought of my five favorites, I’d think of five more that I like better. The 60s was a great decade for music.
Lee
Arlee, Otis’ song wasn’t one of the house favorites, so I never heard it until I was older. Beatles music wasn’t played in the house as well. I figure it all depends on our backgrounds and what we had the opportunity to listen to when we were growing up. Truthfully I only knew about the Beatles when I was young because I had The Chipmunks sing Beatles songs. lol And I was out of the country early in the decade so I didn’t hear any real music back then other than more Chipmunks classics; I was a kid after all. lol
That’s funny. “Chipmunks Sing the Beatles” is the album that led me to really start appreciating the Beatles–it’s one of the first albums I ever owned. After listening to that album I started listening to the real Beatles and I got hooked.
Lee
Arlee that’s so funny. My next album after that one was the Chipmunks sing Dr Doolittle. Lol
This is good music, Mitch. For sure a good way to learn more about you, will check the other articles again too. Good look on the conference, I am sure that you will do excellent presentation.
Thanks Carl. The conference went well.
Hi Mitch,
You’ve certainly got eclectic tastes in music. 🙂 I loved the Archies, J5, and some Sam & Dave. It was Monkeys time so I sang right along but I don’t know the Turtles songs. (Heard of them but don’t remember ever actually hearing them.)
Funny, I was listening to some 60s music when I dropped by to see what you were up to. Remember Bettye Swann? She’s one of my favorites. And here’s something I saw before I came over … You might like this Saturday Morning Cartoons infographic from the 70s. => http://nezami.in/share/world-of-cartoons-infographic/
This was a fun post. Thanks for getting my day started just right. 🙂
Wow Vernessa, the majority of those cartoons were after I stopped watching on Saturday mornings, but I did love some Mighty Mouse! Lol And I am surprised you never heard that Turtles song before. I didn’t know Betty Swann.
Hey Mitch, I had my decades mixed up on those cartoons. LOL Some were from an earlier time, but I went back and saw that many were from more recent years. I still like cartoons but only get to see them when visiting the grandkids or if one of my younger friends’ kids are watching while I’m around.
Vernessa, I have VHS tapes of lots of cartoons, and my wife and I buy more cartoon DVDs all the time, our favorites from way back mainly though we’ll slip in a Family Guy here and there.
What, no Elvis? You can’t tell me you didn’t play any Elvis in the household?
As for the Monkeys I liked I’m A Believer a whole lot more 😉
Sire, my house was a “no Elvis” zone. Turns out Dad hated Elvis, and wasn’t having any of it. I didn’t discover Elvis until around 1975; I’d never even seen any of his movies until that point.
I always love the Jackson 5,really! I still have the old record of the Jackson 5, and that is a memorabilia, you cannot find those records now. Thanks for featuring them.
The Jackson 5 was definitely one of my favorite as well, although honestly I never heard of your other choices Mitch.. I guess I haven’t been born at that time.. We still have a vinyl record of Jackson 5’s album, although I’m not sure what’s the name. Found it in my grandads turntable when we moved.
Sandraw, you folks are just so young! lol