The George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick will present the 1969-set “A Walk on the Moon” from April 26 to May 21.
From April 26 to May 21, the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick will present “A Walk on the Moon” — a new musical set in upstate New York during the summer of 1969 — at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. It was an eventful summer, to say the least, with the Vietnam War and the protests against it, the moon landing and Woodstock — not to mention the and the great concerts documented in this year’s Best Documentary Oscar-winning “Summer of Soul,” The Mets’ thrilling pennant race, and Bryan Adams getting his first real six-string!
Having previously done this for the summer of 1967, I thought it would be fun — and helpful, in order to get in the mood for the play — to put together a Top 69 songs list for the summer of ’69.
I’ll follow the same rules for the previous post, considering only songs that were in the Top 100 at some point from June to September, 1969, using the lists on billboard.com as a reference.
For more on the “A Walk on the Moon,” visit georgestreetplayhouse.org.
Here are the songs, in order of preference, with a Spotify playlist below.
1. “Honky Tonk Women,” The Rolling Stones
2. “Everybody’s Talkin’,” Nilsson
3. “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly & the Family Stone
4. “Get Together,” The Youngbloods
5. “Share Your Love With Me,” Aretha Franklin
6. “Bad Moon Rising,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. “That’s the Way God Planned It,” Billy Preston
8. “More Today Than Yesterday,” Spiral Starecase
9. “Suspicious Minds,” Elvis Presley
10. “I Can’t Get Next to You,” The Temptations
11. “Feeling Alright,” Joe Cocker
12. “Get Back,” The Beatles with Billy Preston
13. “Sweet Caroline,” Neil Diamond
14. “Questions 67 and 68,” Chicago
15. “Green River,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
16: “The Boxer,” Simon & Garfunkel
17. “Something in the Air,” Thunderclap Newman
18. “Why I Sing the Blues,” B.B. King
19. “But It’s Alright,” J.J. Jackson
20. “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” The Beatles
21. “Marrakesh Express,” Crosby, Stills & Nash
22. “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” Marvin Gaye
23. “Israelites,” Desmond Dekker
24: “I Threw It All Away,” Bob Dylan
25. “I Want to Take You Higher,” Sly & the Family Stone
26. “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot),” Donovan with the Jeff Beck Group
27. “Pinball Wizard,” The Who
28. “Cissy Strut,” The Meters
29. “I’ve Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved,” David Ruffin
30. “That’s the Way Love Is,” Marvin Gaye
31. “Day Is Done,” Peter, Paul & Mary
32. “Wedding Bell Blues,” The 5th Dimension
33. “Soul Deep,” The Box Tops
34. “I’m Free,” The Who
355. “Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me),” James Brown
36. “A Boy Named Sue,” Johnny Cash
37. “These Eyes,” The Guess Who
38. “My Cherie Amour,” Stevie Wonder
39. “Hey Joe,” Wilson Pickett
40. “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” Tommy James & the Shondells
41. “Oh Happy Day,” The Edwin Hawkins Singers
42. “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” Jr. Walker & the All Stars
43. “The Windmills of Your Mind,” Dusty Springfield
44. “Simple Song of Freedom,” Tim Hardin
45. “Chelsea Morning,” Judy Collins
46. “Lay Lady Lay,” Bob Dylan
47. “Give Peace a Chance,” Plastic Ono Band
48. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” Jackie DeShannon
49. “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures),” The 5th Dimension
50. “Spinning Wheel,” Blood, Sweat & Tears
51. “One,” Three Dog Night”
52. “In the Ghetto,” Elvis Presley
53. “Atlantis,” Donovan
54. “Laughing,” The Guess Who
55. “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies
56. “Easy to Be Hard,” Three Dog Night
57. “Get Off My Back Woman,” B.B. King
58. “Commotion,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
59. “Willie & Laura Mae Jones,” Dusty Springfield
60. “I’m Gonna Make You Mine,” Lou Christie
61. “Never Comes the Day,” The Moody Blues
62. “It’s My Thing (You Can’t Tell Me Who to Sock It to),” Marva Whitney
63. “Runnin’ Blue,” The Doors
64. “In the Year 2525,” Zager & Evans
65. “Your Good Thing (Is About to End),” Lou Rawls
66. “Good Morning Starshine,” Oliver
67. “No One for Me to Turn To,” Spiral Starecase
68. “My Pledge of Love,” Joe Jeffrey Group
69. “Polk Salad Annie,” Tony Joe White
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