Tons of soul, disco, and rock smash hits were climbing the pop charts back in 1969, and many a baby boomer music fan got to enjoy a really great year for those genres. Let’s take a look back at just a few pop smash hits from 1969 that every baby boomer out there likely still remembers after all these years.
“Only The Strong Survive” by Jerry Butler from ‘The Ice Man Cometh’
Remember this proto-disco soul hit from Jerry Butler? This iconic song from 1969 ended up being Butler’s most famous and successful tune, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Only The Strong Survive” is something of a story song, one in which the narrator recounts a love affair that went wrong and the advice his mother gave him in the aftermath.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” by Marvin Gaye from ‘M.P.G.’
Marvin Gaye’s “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” was another soul song to reach the heights of the Hot 100, and he certainly deserved it. This soulful rock-leaning hit was an excellent early work from Gaye, dropped just several years before he made waves with What’s Going On in 1971. “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 and topped the R&B Singles chart.
“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival from ‘Green River’
Outside of “Fortunate Son”, this 1969 swamp rock classic from Creedence Clearwater Revival might be their most well-known song. And it was certainly a hit on the pop charts back in the day. “Bad Moon Rising” has a very catchy melody that few could forget back then, and I personally still get it stuck in my head all the time, even today. This John Fogerty-penned tune peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100.
“You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Blood, Sweat & Tears from ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’
How about a little bit of jazz rock? The late 1960s was a great time for the genre, so much so that a few jazz rock tunes made it to the pop charts. “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Blood, Sweat & Tears makes it to our list of baby boomer pop classics from 1969, and it was a hit at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
More The List
-
Wings' Paul McCartney. More than just another piece of music -
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images -
DEVO 1981 (Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage) -
Tears for Fears perform on stage, UK, 1989, Curt Smith. He plays a headless Steinberger-style bass guitar. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images) -
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith the Poplar Creek Music Theater on July 12,1986 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Illinois (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
Guitarist Pete Townshend performing with English rock group The Who in Felixstowe, Suffolk, 9th September 1966. Behind him is drummer Keith Moon (1947 – 1978). (Photo by Chris Morphet/Redferns/Getty Images) -
CIRCA 1958: Country singer Johnny Cash performs onstage with an acoustic guitar in circa 1958. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
