Top Ten Tunes- 1969
Every Friday, I’m publishing my top ten songs from a single year and this week it’s the turn of 1969.
For previous top ten tunes, please click on the year: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
In 1969, the Space Hopper toy and the Raleigh Chopper bike were introduced to the UK, the Beatles perform for the final time on the rooftop of Apple Records, the very first flight of Concorde takes place, Ronnie & Reggie Kray are imprisoned for life, John Lennon & Yoko Ono marry, Paul McCartney marries Linda, Lulu representing the UK came joint first in the Eurovision Song Contest, the voting age is lowered from 21 to 18, rioting takes place in Derry, Northern Ireland, Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired it’s first episode on the BBC and Sesame Street also airs for the first time, regular colour television is broadcast on the BBC and ITV, the first man- Neil Armstrong- lands on the moon (or did he?), the music festival Woodstock takes place, the Beatles record their final album Abbey Road together, members of a cult led by Charles Manson kill 5 people, Richard Nixon becomes President of the US, former Rolling Stones guitarist Brain Jones is found drowned in his swimming pool and the films Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Italian Job, Hello Dolly!, Kes and Sweet Charity are all released.
Times are a’changing. You can really see a shift in music style now as we reach the end of the 60s (sniff). We also see a baby David Bowie for the first time and miraculously there’s the Rolling Stones this week! Here’s my favourites from 1969, in no particular order.
1. I Want You Back by The Jackson 5 (this video will make you happy- I promise)
2. Wonderful World, Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff
3. My Cherie Amour by Stevie Wonder
4. Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin
5. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
6. Come Together by the Beatles
7. The Israelites by Desmond Dekker
8. Spinning Wheel by Peggy Lee
9. Space Oddity by David Bowie
10. My Way by Frank Sinatra (this recording of Frank was done a little after 1969, but I thought you’d appreciate it anyway)
It’s almost a 4 way tie between The Beatles, Peggy Lee, The Jackson 5 and Bowie this week, but I’m going to pick Bowie as my favourite.
See you next week for 1970!