The first installment in my year-long series on my favorite and least favorite songs of all-time. I think I edited and checked my full list at least twenty times over the past month, but I finally settled on my final lists and I am happy with all of the songs that I will be presenting each week.As promised, I am starting with the Psychedelic Sixties. Out of my Top 500, 19 songs will come from this decade. It's less than 4% of my entire list, but I'm willing to bet that it's still more than any of you thought would be on my list. You'll get nine songs tonight and then my top ten of the 1960s next Friday night.
Without further ado, let's do this!
#19. Standing in the Shadows of Love, the Four Tops (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oSYhNVaHwY
#18. Spinning Wheel, Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFEewD4EVwU
#17. Dream a Little Dream of Me, Mama Cass Elliott (1968)
Ozzie Nelson (yes, that Ozzie Nelson) first made this song a hit way back in 1931. At least ten cover versions were recorded in the 1950s, including ones by Doris Day and Frankie Laine. But the Mama Cass version (either with or without the rest of the Mamas and the Papas) has since become the highest-charting and the most memorable one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4T3tMkjRig
#16. Sunny, Bobby Hebb (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubvYQxTXO3U
#15. I Can't Get Next to You, the Temptations (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1OBBO8tOkM
#14. I Want You Back, the Jackson 5 (1969)
Yes, I know. This song charted in 1970, but it was officially released in 1969. Therefore, I'm putting it in the 1960s list. Regardless of which decade you place it, you can't deny how iconic this song has become and how it launched Michael Jackson to superstardom (or infamy, depending on how you want to judge his life).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T5xWkO56GI
#13. Up, Up and Away, the 5th Dimension (1967)
Florence LaRue certainly didn't mind riding in a beautiful balloon... because she got married on a hot air balloon. When she appeared on a 1972 episode of I've Got a Secret, Bill Bixby discovered her secret in record time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-UQ0-8ktAM
Bonus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_oYTn1vVrs (the episode of IGAS featuring Bill Bixby's immediate solve)
#12. You Really Got a Hold on Me, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1962)
The oldest song on my Top 500. As you can see, Motown has been well represented in this first episode, so you already know which direction most of my 492 other favorite songs will tend to skew.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdDnqSFYXFs
#11. Build Me Up Buttercup, the Foundations (1968)
Mike d'Abo, former lead singer of Manfred Mann, co-wrote this #3 pop hit. If that last name looks familiar, that's because you remember his daughter as Fred Savage's sister on The Wonder Years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g240wict62A
I don't mess around. That's a stellar lineup to start the series. More hard hitters to come next Friday!
