Usually, we go over the top 10 songs of the week on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during the final Friday of the month, but this week, we are going to push up by a week our look back at what we were listening to on the radio 50 years ago because next week is the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday period, and I will be taking a break from writing this column then, as I always do, working or not working.
So without further ado, here are the top 10 songs on that Billboard chart from 50 years ago, during the week of November 22, 1969:
Coming in at the No. 10 spot on the charts 50 years ago to the day was a real Motown classic, the Temptations' "I Can't Get Next To You." The song continued their string of forceful hit songs overseen by producer/writer Norman Whitfield.
The No. 9 song on the charts was one of the last big hits for Elvis Presley, "Suspicious Minds." It was also his final No. 1 song of his many that topped the chart in the 1950s and 1960s.
Another Motown song came in at No. 8 for the week. Stevie Wonder's "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" jumped up 14 places, from No. 22 the previous week, to attain this lofty perch on the chart.
Another former No. 1 song, the Beatles' "Come Together," fell to No. 7 this week. I remember hearing this song every Sunday morning when I was driven to the bowling alley to bowl in the Rochdale Village Athletic League's bowling league in Brian Canner's car. What a memory!
A future No. 1 tune, the one-hit Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" was at No. 6 this week. The song has lived on in perpetuity as the "goodbye" song in sporting events, sung at home to taunt the losing visiting team.
Another song from a one-hit wonder, the Flying Machine's "Smile a Little Smile For Me," came in at No. 5 this week 50 years ago. This song ended up being placed on more compilations of late 1960s music than any song I can think of.
Blood, Sweat and Tears' cover of a Laura Nyro song, "And When I Die," was the fourth most popular song on the chart this week. The band made it their own with their jazz/rock leanings and the voice of David Clayton Thomas.
Even five years after they debuted on the American scene, the Beatles were as hot as a pistol, and this was thoroughly demonstrated by the strength of the single I just mentioned, "Come Together," the former No. 1 which was slipping as this week came around. So with the "A" side falling, radio stations began playing the "B" side heavily, and George Harrison's "Something" made it up to No. 3 this week. Few bands consistently placed both "A" and "B" sides on the Hot 100 chart, but the Beatles did it here, making this entire single one of their biggest in America.
A singer who placed a few singles on the Hot 100 has his biggest hit this week. R.B. Greaves' "Take a Letter Maria" moved up eight places on the chart to No. 2, just short of the top spot.
And the No. 1 single for this week, 50 years ago, was ...
"Wedding Bell Blues" by the 5th Dimension. This was another Laura Nyro song, that was "popped up" by the California-based singing quintet, led by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. Funny, how did Nyro know that McCoo and Davis would soon marry? "Bill! I love you so, I always will ... ." And the song still resonates today, one of the group's biggest hits.
The highest debut on this week's chart was one of nearly 100 singles placed on the Billboard Hot 100 by James Brown, "Ain't It Funky Now, (Part One)" which came in at No. 71. Brown was known as "Soul Brother No. 1," but the song only reached No. 24 on the chart.
The "Biggest Mover" of the week, the song that rose the most places from one spot to another on the Hot 100, ended up being one of the decade's biggest hits, and one of the Hot 100's biggest hits overall in its history. "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," by B.J. Thomas, the song from the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," jumped from No. 62 to No. 37 this week, on its way to No. 1 during the first week of 1970.
So there you have it--a little pop, a little rock, a little Motown, some one-hit wonders, and the Beatles continuing to make their mark on the Billboard Hot 100.
What more can you ask for?
Have a great weekend, and speak to you again on Monday.
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