1969 Music Hits: Soul, Classic Rock, Pop, Psychedelia, Country Crossover, and AM Radio Gold

1969 music hits captured the sound of a decade as it reached its final act. Rock was getting heavier, soul and Motown were still powerful, country crossover was finding pop audiences, and bubblegum pop was cheerfully refusing to leave the room. It was the kind of year where Build Me Up Buttercup, Sweet Caroline, Proud Mary, Something, Sugar, Sugar, and Fortunate Son could all share chart space without anyone asking the DJ to explain the assignment.

This was the year of Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Son of a Preacher Man, My Way, Honky Tonk Women, Bad Moon Rising, Come Together, Suspicious Minds, Everyday People, Time of the Season, and Wedding Bell Blues. The late ’60s were still full of optimism, protest, experimentation, and big pop hooks, sometimes all within the same hour of radio.

The songs below mix classic rock, soul, Motown, country, folk-rock, psychedelic pop, bubblegum, gospel-influenced music, TV themes, and a few novelty records that could only have happened near the end of the 1960s. 1969 was not one clean sound. It was a record store with a lava lamp, a protest sign, a country jukebox, and a very suspicious puppet song in the corner.

Top 10 Songs of 1969

1. Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
2. Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
3. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam
4. More Today Than Yesterday – Spiral Starecase
5. Mah Nà Mah Nà – Piero Umiliani
6. Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
7. My Way – Frank Sinatra
8. Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Something – The Beatles
10. Sugar, Sugar – The Archies

1969 Music Hits by Style

Classic Rock, Blues Rock, and Guitar-Driven Hits

Rock music had a major year in 1969, with Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and The Guess Who all helping define the sound of the late ’60s. Creedence Clearwater Revival alone had a huge year with Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Down on the Corner, Green River, Commotion, and Fortunate Son.

The year also marked the arrival of heavier rock sounds that would shape the 1970s. Led Zeppelin’s Good Times Bad Times, The Who’s Pinball Wizard and I’m Free, Cream’s Badge and Crossroads, and MC5’s Kick Out the Jams showed rock growing louder, harder, and more album-focused. The guitars were no longer just plugged in; they were making policy decisions.

• Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Something – The Beatles
• Touch Me – The Doors
• Honky Tonk Women – The Rolling Stones
• Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Come Together – The Beatles
• Crimson and Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells
• Time of the Season – The Zombies
• Down on the Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Get Back – The Beatles
• Green River – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• These Eyes – The Guess Who
• Jingo – Santana
• Kick Out the Jams – MC5
• Kozmic Blues – Janis Joplin
• Something in the Air – Thunderclap Newman
• I Got a Line on You – Spirit
• Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Pinball Wizard – The Who
• Crossroads – Cream
• Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane
• Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin
• Badge – Cream
• I’m Free – The Who
• Laughing – The Guess Who

Soul, Motown, R&B, and Funk

Soul and R&B were central to 1969 pop music. The Temptations’ I Can’t Get Next to You, The Isley Brothers’ It’s Your Thing, Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amour and Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday, and Sly & The Family Stone’s Everyday People, Hot Fun in the Summertime, and Stand! helped make the year rhythmically rich and socially aware.

Motown, Memphis soul, and vocal-group R&B all had strong years. Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Temptations, The Friends of Distinction, The 5th Dimension, Edwin Starr, Mel & Tim, Barbara Acklin, and Young-Holt Unlimited all helped give 1969 a warm, stylish soul backbone. The grooves were sharp, the harmonies were bright, and the horn sections were very much on payroll.

• Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
• I Can’t Get Next to You – The Temptations
• Grazing in the Grass – The Friends of Distinction
• It’s Your Thing – The Isley Brothers
• My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder
• Hot Fun in the Summertime – Sly & The Family Stone
• Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Everyday People – Sly & The Family Stone
• Twenty-Five Miles – Edwin Starr
• You’ve Made Me So Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Wedding Bell Blues – The 5th Dimension
• Stand! – Sly & The Family Stone
• Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday – Stevie Wonder
• Put a Little Love in Your Heart – Jackie DeShannon
• I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations
• Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – The 5th Dimension
• Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Am I the Same Girl – Barbara Acklin
• Soulful Strut – Young-Holt Unlimited
• Backfield in Motion – Mel & Tim

Pop, AM Radio, and Mainstream Favorites

Mainstream pop in 1969 was bright, catchy, and wildly varied. The Foundations’ Build Me Up Buttercup, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, Steam’s Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Spiral Starecase’s More Today Than Yesterday, The Archies’ Sugar, Sugar, and B.J. Thomas’ Hooked on a Feeling gave AM radio a steady supply of singalong hooks.

This was also the era when pop radio could slide from Frank Sinatra to bubblegum, then over to folk-rock, then into a TV theme without apologizing. My Way, Love’s Been Good to Me, Everybody’s Talkin’, Suspicious Minds, Baby, I Love You, and Atlantis all fit different corners of the year’s mainstream sound. The format was flexible, and the audience apparently had excellent patience.

• Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
• Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
• Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam
• More Today Than Yesterday – Spiral Starecase
• Sugar, Sugar – The Archies
• Hooked on a Feeling – B.J. Thomas
• Traces – Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost
• Worst That Could Happen – Brooklyn Bridge
• Love’s Been Good to Me – Frank Sinatra
• Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ – Crazy Elephant
• Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James & The Shondells
• Baby, I Love You – Andy Kim
• Atlantis – Donovan
• This Magic Moment – Jay & The Americans
• Good Morning Starshine – Oliver
• Smile a Little Smile for Me – The Flying Machine
• Dizzy – Tommy Roe
• One – Three Dog Night

Country, Folk, Americana, and Story Songs

Country and folk-flavored pop had a meaningful presence in 1969. Tammy Wynette’s Stand by Your Man, Johnny Cash’s A Boy Named Sue, Kenny Rogers & The First Edition’s Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town, and Bob Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay all brought country and folk storytelling into the larger pop conversation.

Folk-rock and singer-songwriter sounds also helped define the year. Peter, Paul and Mary’s Leaving on a Jet Plane, Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer, Judy Collins’ Chelsea Morning, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express, and The Youngbloods’ Get Together all carried the reflective side of the late ’60s. 1969 had protest, peace, heartbreak, and harmonies that clearly owned at least one suede jacket.

• Stand by Your Man – Tammy Wynette
• Everybody’s Talkin’ – Nilsson
• A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash
• Lay Lady Lay – Bob Dylan
• Leaving on a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul and Mary
• The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
• Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Chelsea Morning – Judy Collins
• Marrakesh Express – Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Going Up the Country – Canned Heat
• Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town – Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
• Get Together – The Youngbloods
• Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show – Neil Diamond

Psychedelic, Counterculture, and Late-’60s Experimentation

1969 still carried plenty of psychedelic and counterculture energy. The Zombies’ Time of the Season, Tommy James & The Shondells’ Crimson and Clover, Spirit’s I Got a Line on You, Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers, Bubble Puppy’s Hot Smoke and Sassafras, and Zager & Evans’ In the Year 2525 reflected the stranger and more experimental side of pop.

The year also had a strong social and political current. John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band’s Give Peace a Chance, Thunderclap Newman’s Something in the Air, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son, and Sly & The Family Stone’s Stand! showed how pop music could carry protest, optimism, fear, and social commentary without losing its hooks.

• Crimson and Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells
• Time of the Season – The Zombies
• Give Peace a Chance – John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band
• Stand! – Sly & The Family Stone
• Israelites – Desmond Dekker & The Aces
• Something in the Air – Thunderclap Newman
• I Got a Line on You – Spirit
• Hot Smoke and Sassafras – Bubble Puppy
• In the Year 2525 – Zager & Evans
• Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane
• Get Together – The Youngbloods

Movie, TV, Novelty, and Pop Culture Songs

1969 had several songs tied to movies, television, stage culture, and novelty appeal. Piero Umiliani’s Mah Nà Mah Nà became a wonderfully odd pop-culture survivor, while The Ventures’ Hawaii Five-O turned a television theme into a surf-rock staple. Oliver’s Good Morning Starshine and The 5th Dimension’s Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In carried the influence of Hair into the charts.

Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, Johnny Cash’s A Boy Named Sue, and Steam’s Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye also gave the year its novelty and story-song personality. Not every 1969 hit was trying to change the world. Some were just trying to be memorable, and a few were very good at making themselves impossible to evict from your brain.

• Mah Nà Mah Nà – Piero Umiliani
• Hawaii Five-O – The Ventures
• Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam
• Alice’s Restaurant Massacree – Arlo Guthrie
• Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – The 5th Dimension
• Good Morning Starshine – Oliver
• A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash
• In the Year 2525 – Zager & Evans

Classic Pop Veterans and Legacy Artists

1969 also had major veteran artists and already-established stars in the mix. Frank Sinatra’s My Way and Love’s Been Good to Me, Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds and In the Ghetto, The Beatles’ Something, Come Together, and Get Back, and The Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Women all showed how older and current pop giants were still shaping the year.

The late ’60s were a turning point, but the previous generation had not vanished. Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Bee Gees, The Monkees, Roy Clark, and The Beach Boys all had a place in the larger 1969 sound. The decade was changing fast, but nobody had cleared the stage yet.

• My Way – Frank Sinatra
• Love’s Been Good to Me – Frank Sinatra
• Something – The Beatles
• Come Together – The Beatles
• Get Back – The Beatles
• Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
• In the Ghetto – Elvis Presley
• I Can Hear Music – The Beach Boys
• Listen to the Band – The Monkees
• Yesterday, When I Was Young – Roy Clark
• I Started a Joke – Bee Gees

Jazz-Rock, Horn Bands, and Instrumentals

Jazz-rock and instrumental music also had a noticeable role in 1969. Blood, Sweat & Tears helped bring horn-driven rock into the mainstream with You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, Spinning Wheel, and And When I Die. Herbie Mann’s Memphis Underground, Young-Holt Unlimited’s Soulful Strut, and The Ventures’ Hawaii Five-O showed that instrumentals still had room on pop radio.

This corner of 1969 helped connect pop, jazz, soul, and rock. It also reminds us that sometimes you did not need a chorus to make a hit. A strong groove, a horn line, or a TV theme could do plenty of damage on its own.

• Hawaii Five-O – The Ventures
• Memphis Underground – Herbie Mann
• You’ve Made Me So Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Am I the Same Girl – Barbara Acklin
• Soulful Strut – Young-Holt Unlimited

PCM’s 1969 Top 100 Music Hits Chart

1. Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
2. Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
3. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam
4. More Today Than Yesterday – Spiral Starecase
5. Mah Nà Mah Nà – Piero Umiliani
6. Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
7. My Way – Frank Sinatra
8. Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Something – The Beatles
10. Sugar, Sugar – The Archies
11. Stand by Your Man – Tammy Wynette
12. Touch Me – The Doors
13. Honky Tonk Women – The Rolling Stones
14. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
15. Hooked on a Feeling – B.J. Thomas
16. I Can’t Get Next to You – The Temptations
17. Come Together – The Beatles
18. Grazing in the Grass – The Friends of Distinction
19. Traces – Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost
20. Hawaii Five-O – The Ventures
21. It’s Your Thing – The Isley Brothers
22. My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder
23. Hot Fun in the Summertime – Sly & The Family Stone
24. Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross & The Supremes
25. Everybody’s Talkin’ – Nilsson
26. Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
27. Everyday People – Sly & The Family Stone
28. Crimson and Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells
29. Time of the Season – The Zombies
30. Down on the Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival
31. Twenty-Five Miles – Edwin Starr
32. Worst That Could Happen – Brooklyn Bridge
33. Love’s Been Good to Me – Frank Sinatra
34. Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town – Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
35. A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash
36. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ – Crazy Elephant
37. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears
38. Give Peace a Chance – John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band
39. Get Back – The Beatles
40. Wedding Bell Blues – The 5th Dimension
41. Alice’s Restaurant Massacree – Arlo Guthrie
42. Stand! – Sly & The Family Stone
43. Israelites – Desmond Dekker & The Aces
44. Green River – Creedence Clearwater Revival
45. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday – Stevie Wonder
46. Put a Little Love in Your Heart – Jackie DeShannon
47. These Eyes – The Guess Who
48. I Can Hear Music – The Beach Boys
49. Memphis Underground – Herbie Mann
50. Eli’s Coming – Three Dog Night
51. Lay Lady Lay – Bob Dylan
52. Jingo – Santana
53. Leaving on a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul and Mary
54. The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
55. I’ve Gotta Be Me – Sammy Davis Jr.
56. Kick Out the Jams – MC5
57. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations
58. Kozmic Blues – Janis Joplin
59. Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James & The Shondells
60. Something in the Air – Thunderclap Newman
61. I Got a Line on You – Spirit
62. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash
63. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – The 5th Dimension
64. In the Ghetto – Elvis Presley
65. Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat & Tears
66. Chelsea Morning – Judy Collins
67. Listen to the Band – The Monkees
68. Yesterday, When I Was Young – Roy Clark
69. And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears
70. Commotion – Creedence Clearwater Revival
71. Pinball Wizard – The Who
72. Am I the Same Girl – Barbara Acklin
73. Hot Smoke and Sassafras – Bubble Puppy
74. Marrakesh Express – Crosby, Stills & Nash
75. In the Year 2525 – Zager & Evans
76. Love (Can Make You Happy) – Mercy
77. Soulful Strut – Young-Holt Unlimited
78. Going Up the Country – Canned Heat
79. Baby, I Love You – Andy Kim
80. Crossroads – Cream
81. Atlantis – Donovan
82. Baby, It’s You – Smith
83. This Magic Moment – Jay & The Americans
84. Good Morning Starshine – Oliver
85. Smile a Little Smile for Me – The Flying Machine
86. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
87. Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane
88. I Started a Joke – Bee Gees
89. Dizzy – Tommy Roe
90. Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin
91. Mendocino – Sir Douglas Quintet
92. Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man – The Bob Seger System
93. One – Three Dog Night
94. Badge – Cream
95. Undun – The Guess Who
96. I’m Free – The Who
97. Get Together – The Youngbloods
98. Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show – Neil Diamond
99. Backfield in Motion – Mel & Tim
100. Laughing – The Guess Who