Today it's supposed to be 50 degrees in Chicago ... and we might break 60 tomorrow!!! (Of course then the next five days we return to highs in the 30's ... with even a couple of chances of snow flurries!) ... but let me enjoy the next 48 hours while I can ... this has been, without a doubt, one of the most brutal winters ever!!!
So, inspired to celebrate (call it early spring fever), we decided to look back today and review ...
THE TOP 45 45's ...
FROM 45 YEARS AGO TODAY ...
THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING, 1969
#45 - Try A Little Tenderness - Three Dog Night
(their first chart hit)
#44 - I Can Hear Music - The Beach Boys
(a HUGE leap from #70 to #44 ... and one of my all-time favorites by them)
#43 - No, Not Much - The Vogues
(another great remake hit by these guys)
#42 - It's Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
(Their first hit in quite a while ... this one jumped from #93 to #42 ... that's halfway up the chart in a single bound!)
#41 - May I - Bill Deal and the Rhondels
(Another Forgotten Hits Classic)
#40 - Don't Give In To Him - Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
(Another in their on-going string of hits)
#39 - I Don't Know Why - Stevie Wonder
(Does ANYBODY remember this one?!?! I sure don't!)
#38 - There'll Come A Time - Betty Everett
(The Shoop-Shoop Girl with a '69 comeback hit)
#37 - Do Your Thing - The Watts 103rd Street Band
(Another one you might not recognize, even if by some miracle you heard it again!)
#36 - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose - James Brown
(Have you seen the previews yet for the brand new James Brown bio-pic? It looks absolutely AMAZING!)
#35 - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man- The Bob Seger System
(A HUGE hit here in Chicago, it didn't do as well nationally ... but for most of our our first introduction to this rock mainstay. Listen closely for a very young Glenn Frey on background vocals)
#34 - Sophisticated Sissy - The Meters
Slowly creeping up the charts
#33 - I'll Try Something New - DIana Ross and the Supremes with The Temptations - they had far greater success with their pairing on "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
#32 - You Showed Me - The Turtles
Still one of my favorites by these guys
#31 - Touch Me - The Doors
One of those songs that you STILL hear each and every day!
#30 - Mendocino - The Sir Douglas Quintet
#30 - Mendocino - The Sir Douglas Quintet
And one that would sound GREAT coming out of your radio six times a month. A much overlooked, long-forgotten classic that just feels good every time it comes on.
#29 - But You Know I Love You - The First Edition
Still pre-Kenny Rogers top billing ... their follow-up hit to "Just Dropped In"
#28 - Sweet Cream Ladies - The Box Tops
Everybody I know loves this song ... yet you NEVER get to hear it. In fact, most of their hits are radio-ignored other than "The Letter"
#27 - Twenty-Five Miles - Edwin Starr
Another great Motown / Soul Classic ... a year later he'd top the charts by declaring "War"
#26 - You Gave Me A Mountain - Frankie Laine
Another PERFECT example that shows how EVERYTHING fit on the radio back in the day. Frankie Laine?!?! Being played side-by-side with The Doors, James Brown and Bob Seger?!?!? And (still to come) Bubble Puppy, The Zombies, The 1910 Fruitgum Company and Tommy Roe?!?! Man, what an AMAZING time in music!
#25 - I Got A Line On You - Spirit
Another rock and roll classic
#24 - Only The Strong Survive - Jerry Butler
The Ice Man cometh
#23 - Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon - Paul Revere and the Raiders
How come we never get to hear this one?!?!
#22 - Hot Smoke And Sassafrass - (by the aforementioned) Bubble Pupply
Psychedelic Rock at its finest!
#21 - You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat and Tears
First major hit after the David Clayton Thomas take-over
#20 - Rock Me - Steppenwolf
We featured this one just the other day in Forgotten Hits!
#19 - The Weight - Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul covering The Band's classic ... perhaps a venture better left undun!
#18 - This Magic Moment - Jay and the Americans
#18 - This Magic Moment - Jay and the Americans
One of their very best ... and still one of my all-time favorite performances
#17 - Baby, Baby Don't Cry - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
One of Smokey's finest
#16 - Things I'd Like To Say - The New Colony Six
The boys from Chicago scoring nationally with this one!
#15 - I've Gotta Be Me - Sammy Davis, Jr.
See what I mean about chart-diversity?!?!?
#14 - Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In - The Fifth Dimension
From the Rock Musical "Hair" ... it would go on to become one of the biggest hits of 1969
#13 - My Whole World Ended - David Ruffin
Bounced from The Temptations, David scored his first big solo hit with this one.
#12 - Games People Play - Joe South
The recently-departed South wrote quite a few hits in the '60's for other artists ... this was the biggest one he kept for himself
#11 - Galveston - Glen Campbell
Country, Pop, Soul, Funk, Bubblegum, M.O.R., Psychedelia, Folk Rock, Tex Mex ... all these genres sharing space on this week's chart ... and played side-by-side on the radio without a single hesitation ... not like the "segregated radio" we're force-fed today
#10 - Run Away Child, Running Wild - The Temptations
Man, these guys are ALL over the chart this week!
#9 - Crimson And Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells
And psychedelic pop! One of their absolute finest ... and a revolutionary record at the time
#8 - Everyday People - Sly and the Family Stone
And so on and so on
#7 - This Girl's In Love With You - Dionne Warwick
Scoring a Top Ten Hit with her remake of the #1 Herb Alpert Hit from the year before ... only this time from a woman's point of view
#6 - Time Of The Season - The Zombies
The Zombies had already split up by the time this record was racing up the charts!
#5 - Indian Giver - The 1910 Fruitgum Company
A great bubblegum hit
#4 - Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
Still a popular radio hit, discovered and embraced by a whole new generation. (Hey, what's that in your hair???)
#3 - Traces - The Classics IV
Another beautiful ballad by the beautiful voice of Dennis Yost
#2 - Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
One of their most popular tunes ever ... these guys could do no wrong in 1969 ... they had seven charted hits that year!
#1 - Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Our Forgotten Hits Buddy Tommy Roe tops the chart with the biggest hit of his career.
