Rant #2,437: Sweet Caroline' Put a Little Love In Your Heart with Sugar Sugar and a Boy Named Sue Was Among the Honky Tonk Women

Nothing new to report about me. I felt bloated a good portion of yesterday, but now that that feeling is gone, I am still awaiting test results, and with the holiday weekend before us--for some of us, at least--I don't expect to find out what is up with me until Tuesday.

So let's move on from talk of sickness to talk of something a bit more fun.

Let's go back to 1969, 50 years ago.

I was 12 years old, did not know a kidney stone from a Rolling Stone, and seemingly, did not have a care in the world.

And what was I listening to on the radio? Probably these hits, for the week of August 30, 1969, exactly 50 years ago.

Coming in at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for this week 50 years ago was "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells. James and his band were one of the few acts to successfully move from AM radio hitmaker to FM radio darling, and this was one of the tunes that helped them do it.

Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" was at No. 9. The song was supposed to be on the "Midnight Cowboy" soundtrack, but was delivered too late for its inclusion, but it stands as one of Dylan's biggest radio hits.

A former No. 1 song, Zager and Evans' "In the Year 2525," turned up at No. 8 for this week, with one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's numerous hits during this period, "Green River," coming in at No. 7. They would have numerous two-sided hits over the next few years.

The Youngbloods' "Get Together" was the sixth most popular song of the week. If the Monkees' success did not convince you that TV exposure was a way to sell records, then this song had to do the trick. It was released some time earlier, stiffed big time, but when it was included in a popular public service announcement that was seen across the country, it finally hit.

Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" hit at No. 5 on this week's chart. The song has since been used as a rallying cry at Boston Red Sox games, kind of odd since the song--supposedly about then 12 year old Caroline Kennedy--was written by Diamond, a native of Brooklyn, New York.

Like Diamond, songwriter Jackie DeShannon was also an accomplished singer, and she had one of her biggest hits with "Put a Little Love In Your Heart," which charted at No. 4 this week.

When Don Kirshner was dismissed by the Monkees, he decided that he would helm another group as its musical director, but since he didn't want any talk back this time, the group was a fictional one in cartoon form that also used television to promote its records. The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" was the biggest hit of Kirshner's long career, charting this week at No. 3 but eventually getting to No. 1, where it would eventually spend a month at the top spot.

Johnny Cash's novelty gender-bending hit "A Boy Named Sue" was at No. 2 this week, and this live recording was the biggest hit of his long career.

And at No. 1 this week, one of the aforementioned Rolling Stones' biggest records of all time--

"Honky Tonk Women," which would eventually spend a month in the top spot, upending "In the Year 2525" and then being upended itself by "Sugar Sugar."

The highest debut record, at No. 63 on this week's chart, was "What's the Use of Breaking Up" by chart veteran Jerry Butler. The tune would eventually reach the No. 20 on the Hot 100, one of his many hits which he continued to have into the 1970s.

The chart's biggest mover, the song that jumped the most places from last week to this week, was Marvin Gaye's "That's the Way Love Is," another Motown hit for the singer. The song would eventually reach the No. 7 spot on the charts.

So there you have it, what I was listening to 50 years ago, and what you were probably listening to too.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you on Monday ... yes, on Labor Day.

You see, I am one of those people who labor on Labor Day.

Lucky me!