3 Hit Rock Bands From the 1960s That Disappeared With the Era

Rock music entered a world-changing evolution in the 1960s. The age of rock and roll began to give way to totally new subgenres, from hard rock to psychedelia. A few bands that launched in the 60s continued their success throughout the rest of the 20th century. Other rock bands, though, seemed to disappear from the mainstream charts as the 1960s came to a close. Let’s look at a few such bands and revisit what made them so good.

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The Youngbloods

Ah, The Youngbloods. This is the band that more than a few classic rock bands (and fans) have hailed as one of the most influential groups in folk and psychedelic rock. And yet, they only really had one hit in the 1960s. That hit was “Get Together”, a cover of a Chet Powers song that hit the Top 40 in the US. Sadly, by the time the 1970s came to be, they only enjoyed one more marginal hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Youngbloods disbanded in 1972 and reunited briefly in the mid-1980s.

The Cuff Links

This American pop-rock outfit was a studio band, and I can’t help but think they deserved a bit more love back in the 1960s. They only enjoyed one Top 10 hit in 1969 with the song “Tracy”, and what a gorgeous example of what bands were doing with vocal harmonies and recording studio tricks at the time.

Their follow-up single in 1969, “When Julie Comes Around”, and their first single of the 1970s, “Run Sally Run”, only enjoyed marginal success on the charts. It’s not abundantly clear when this group broke up, but it looks like their last release was in 1975.

Bubble Puppy

Remember this whimsical little psychedelic rock band from Texas? Bubble Puppy was active from 1967 to 1972, plus a handful of reunions through the years. They’re still together today, but their only charting hits came out at the tail end of the 1960s. “Hot Smake & Sassafras” and “If I Had A Reason” were pretty noteworthy acid rock hits back in 1969, as was their debut album A Gathering Of Promises.

Bubble Puppy has to be one of the most underrated rock bands from the 1960s, and after their handful of successes, they faded away as the 1970s came into view. Their sophomore album didn’t chart, and the band called it quits by 1972.

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