Saturday, December 13, 2008

Then & Now


Sirius-XM has a channel called "'60s on 6" which plays - you guessed it - sixties music. Every so often they name the Top 6 songs on the Billboard charts for a given week in the 1960's. Yesterday, they did THIS week in 1967 - and I was especially impressed with the songs.

It's amazing how many hit songs from the sixties have since become enduring classics. There was something special about the decade that can't be attributed simply to nostalgia; the same cannot typically be said about the '70s or '80s (or even the '50s).

I like to play a game where I list the top songs from a particular week in the past, and compare them to the top songs from the current chart. Take a look at the classics from this week in 1967, and compare them to the top songs of today...

THEN:
6. Incense and Peppermint (Strawberry Alarm Clock)
5. The Rain, The Park, and Other Things (The Cowsills)
4. I Second That Emotion (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
3. Hello Goodbye (The Beatles)
2. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)
1. Daydream Believer (The Monkees)

NOW:
6. If I Were a Boy (Beyonce)
5. Whatever You Like (T.I.)
4. Just Dance (Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis)
3. Circus (Britney Spears)
2. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) (Beyonce)
1. Live Your Life (T.I featuring Rhianna)

Do you think we'll still be hearing "Live Your Life" forty years from now?