Someone asked me to list ten songs from the sixties – the 1960s, I assume – that epitomize the decade. This is a ridiculous question, of course, but that never stopped me before.
1. The Twist – Chubby Checker. #1 in both 1960 and 1962. It represents all those dance crazes.
2. Runaround Sue – Dion (1961). A performer from a group, The Belmonts, goes solo.
3. The End Of The World – Skeeter Davis (1963). It went Top Four on all four Billboard charts, the ONLY song of the decade to do so. There have been several country songs that have crossed over, from Roger Miller to Glen Campbell to Jeannie C. Riley’s Harper Valley PTA.
4. Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (1964). I picked this specific song for two related reasons. This was the first single from their first movie, A Hard Day’s Night. And it was #1 when the group held the top five slots on the Billboard pop charts.
5. Stop! In The Name Of Love – The Supremes (1965). Their fifth straight #1 hit, showing the group was no fluke. Also, the hand gestures were a bit of Motown choreography. The song was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who penned many hits for them, The Four Tops, and other artists.
6. Mr. Tambourine Man – The Byrds (1965). A folk-rock classic that also represents the songwriting of Bob Dylan.
What you want
7. Respect – Aretha Franklin (1967). It is an empowerment anthem and a song that was much more successful than the original, in this case, from Otis Redding. Good Lovin’ (Young Rascals), Go Now (The Moody Blues) – heck, here’s a whole list of artists pulling this off.
8. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield (1967). It is almost a sixties cliche in that it appeared on many of the era’s compilations. Springfield and the Byrds helped birth CSNY, one of the first of the so-called supergroups.
9. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf (1968). There have been songs from movies that have appeared on the pop charts for a long time. But this is one of the first times someone took extant music and used it as the soundtrack, in this case, Easy Rider (1969). Subsequently, this has occurred in films from American Graffiti to American Hustle to every Tarantino flick.
10. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin (1969). The New Yardbirds morphed into a sound that helped define the NEXT decade.
But what about… Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, the Rolling Stones, the Ronettes, Cream? Perfectly good choices. Put them on YOUR list of ten.
For me, the Supremes’ “Love Child” epitomizes the ’60s for that band, because it’s such an anachronistic song that could only be possible in the ’60s or earlier. By the ’70s, even, it feels like it’s out of step with reality. It cracks me up whenever I hear it, because it makes no sense anymore.
I agree that Love Child is cringeworthy. But I don’t think it represents the Supremes because they weren’t singing H-D-H, who also produced the group early on. By then, they were DIANA ROSS and the Supremes, and the other Supremes weren’t even on all the tracks.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I still love the song!
I’ve been thinking about this one since you posted it. A fun question. I think Gregory makes a good point in considering songs/sounds that clearly ONLY could have come from the ’60s and date it accordingly . . . through that lens, and including only songs that are actually in my music collection, I came up with these ten as my most personally pleasing list:
1. “A Taste of Honey” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
2. “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones
3. “The Girl from Ipanema” by Gilberto/Getz
4. “Tomorrow Never Knows” by The Beatles
5. “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys
6. “Are You Experienced?” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
7. “All Tomorrow’s Parties” by The Velvet Underground
8. “White Rabbit” by The Jefferson Airplane
9. “98.6” by Keith
10. “My Generation” by The Who
I don’t disagree with any of these, esp TJB and Gilberto/Getz. But I don’t think I actually own 98.6!