I knew it the moment I got up today, and the problem has yet to clear up, but I know that it will by the time I drive to work.
I have always had really bad allergies, and I consider it to be a curse that I was laden with, and happily. my kids, at least right now, don't have this malady.
Maybe the whole thing will stop with me.
And yes, thinking back, I had these terrible allergies way back in 1969, 50 years ago.
I became 12 years old in 1969, one of the great years of my generation.
We both landed on the moon and the Mets won the World Series--go figure both events happening on top of each other.
As an American, I was proud that we put our flag on the moon; as a Yankees fan, I hated it that the Mets won anything.
But so be it.
What were we listening to on the radio way back when> What were the hottest singles in the country on this day, 50 years ago?
Well, according to the Billboard Hot 100 for January 25, 1969, the hottest single in the country right now was the epic Tamla Motown tune "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye. The No. 1 song was in its seventh, and final week, in the top spot this week, making it one of the top singles of the entire decade of the 1960s.
In the No. 2 spot was another certifiable classic, Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," which would take over the No. 1 spot on the chart next week, and stay at the top for two weeks. The song would catapult James to further heights, making him and his band one of the few previous AM-ready bands to fully cross over to being played on the FM dial.
At No. 3 was another Motown classic, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" from the combined supergroup of Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations, with the number four song being the instrumental "Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited.
Rounding out this week's top five was "Everyday People," the future No. 1 song by Sly and the Family Stone, which would eventually succeed "Crimson and Clover" as the chart's No. 1 song in a few weeks time.
This was a truly All-American top 10, a real rarity back then with the next Beatles' hit usually just around the bend, but one of just two non-U.S. acts hit to make the Top 10 this week was the Australian-via-England Bee Gees' "I Started a Joke," which came in at No. 9.
Rounding out the Top 10 was another non-U.S. act, Dusty Springfield, who went to Memphis and churned out the classic "Son-of-a Preacher Man."
The highest debuting single on this week's chart was the soon-to-be controversial "I'm Livin' In Shame" by Diana Ross and the Supremes, which entered the Hot 100 at No. 47. The song, which was banned by some stations because of its content, still managed to reach the No. 10 spot in a few weeks time, and interestingly. some pressings of the song list it as "I'm Living In Shame," not dropping the "g" on "Livin'" for some unknown reason.
The biggest moving single on the chart--the single that moved up the most places from last week to this week--was Tammi Terrell's version of "This Old Heart of Mine," which jumped from No. 97 on last week's chart to No. 67 this week. This old Motown chestnut, however, stalled at that number, one of the numerous solo chart singles that Terrell had during her chart run that paled in comparison with her work with this week's chart topper Marvin Gaye.
So that is what we were listening to 50 years ago, way back when in 1969.
And you can bet that as these songs were coming out of my family's kitchen radio from WABC way back when, I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast cereal and probably suffering as much then as I am doing today.
Such is life, I guess.
Speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend.
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