My Favourite 45s of the Year: 1969 Quiz

Answer: Bob Dylan

Suddenly out of the blue Bob Dylan went Country! In a complete change from his previous albums, on the "Nashville Skyline" album he became a country crooner, and track one on side two of the album, "Lay Lady Lay", demonstrates this perfectly. It went to number seven in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number five in the UK Singles Chart.

Once I'd got over the shock of hearing Dylan trying to duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl from the North Country" I really came to love this song, with its lovely loping melody and affecting lyrics. And of course it became an instant hot favourite for the "last dance is a slow dance" at Uni discos!

Answer: Oliver

The 1967 stage musical "Hair" featured a number of songs that went on to be chart hits when released as singles, such as "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" by the 5th Dimension" (a US number one in 1970). My favourite, however, was "Good Morning Starshine" by Oliver, despite the gibberish lyrics in the chorus! It went to number three in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number six in the UK Singles Chart.

Oliver had a strange career. "Good Morning Starshine" was his debut release, but it sold over a million copies and won him a gold disc. This was followed just a couple of months later by another million-seller and gold disc winner, the US number two hit "Jean". Sadly by 1971 the hits had dried up, but he stayed in the music business using his original name of Bill Swofford, recording a lot with folk artist Steve Goodman. He died at the age of 54 from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

It's a lovely song with great vocals by Oliver, but for me personally there's always a bit of sadness attached to it. I'd been seeing a really nice young woman for about 18 months, but by late 1969 the relationship had run its course. I still remember the last time I saw her: we were sitting in the car (my Dad's Ford Anglia!) listening to this song on the radio, with both of us knowing that we were finished but with neither of us being able to find the words to say "it's over". But say goodbye we did.

Answer: Cream

Cream broke up in early 1969, recording the album "Goodbye" as a farewell to their millions of fans. Eric Clapton and George Harrison were writing an as-yet untitled track for the album, and Harrison wrote down "bridge" on the sheet to indicate the guitar solo. Clapton misread this as "badge" and decided to use this as the name of the track.

So "Badge" wasn't quite like previous recordings by Cream: it was a lot quieter, with none of Ginger Baker's frantic drumming. However Clapton's guitar work is exemplary, while George Harrison chugs away on rhythm guitar. The lyrics are basically nonsense, being transcribed drunken conversations between Harrison and Ringo Star. It also ends in a very strange way on a kind of dangling chord - I'm not enough of a musicologist to describe it. Anyway, it was a good, almost hypnotic track and I loved it. Released after the band had broken up, it went to number 60 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 18 in the UK Singles Chart.

Answer: Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker was a tremendous showman with a great gravelly voice. I'd been impressed by his 1968 single, "Marjorine", which had preceded his massive UK number one "With a Little Help from My Friends". In 1969 he was touring in the US (playing at, inter alia, Woodstock) when he recorded his second album, "Joe Cocker", which included a track written by Leon Russell called "Delta Lady". I fell in love with this song the moment I first heard it, it was just so joyful and optimistic, and it went to number 69 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number ten in the UK Singles Chart.

All of this resulted in the famous "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tour of the US in 1970 - a band of 20-odd musicians, playing in 48 cities - "a big, wild party" that was filmed and recorded. The album is up there with The Who's "Live at Leeds" for excitement. Cocker continued touring and recording, and eventually had a huge US number one with a duet with Jennifer Warnes, "Up Where We Belong" - very well deserved.

Cocker was a 40-a-day man in terms of smoking, and sadly died of lung cancer at the age of 70 in 2014.

Answer: Thunderclap Newman

Thunderclap Newman was a band put together by Kit Lambert and Pete Townshend of The Who; the latter recorded and produced the band and played bass guitar on the recordings. Thanks to its "spirit of the times" lyrics and the wonderful barrelhouse piano solo performed by Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, it went to number 37 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one in the UK Singles Chart.

The record's success took everyone by surprise. Attempts were made to organise a tour, but the band only ever played a total of five live gigs. After one more single, "Accidents" (a seriously weird record!), the band broke up. Fifteen-year-old guitarist Jimmy McCulloch went on to play lead guitar with Paul McCartney & Wings, but died of a drug overdose at the age of 26.

I've vivid memories of this song. There was a pub in Exeter down near the station (The John Bull?) that was the haunt of the long-hair and paisley-insert loon pants brigade, probably due to the rough cider at a shilling (5p) a pint. I remember sitting on the pavement outside listening to this song being played on the pub jukebox and thinking about life, realising that I was about to metamorphose from a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed fresher to a jaded, cynical, man-of-the-world second year. I wondered what the future would hold for me after that.

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival have always been one of my favourite bands - they've written some great songs, always instantly recognisable as their work. I also think it's a bit sad that five of their records got to number two in the US but none ever made it to number one!

Their second album, "Bayou Country", had the usual quota of great "swamp rock" songs - my favourite was the seven-and-a-half minute long "Keep on Chooglin'", but "Proud Mary" was also a stand-out track. It went to number two in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number eight in the UK Singles Chart. It was ranked at number 155 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" lists of the 500 greatest songs of all time. And perhaps making up for it not hitting the number one spot, it's been covered over 100 times - most notable by Ike & Tina Turner.

Answer: The 5th Dimension

Laura Nyro was a great composer who never received the credit she deserved. She was just 18 years old in 1966 when she wrote and recorded "Wedding Bell Blues", which merely flirted with the lower reaches of the chart. But the 5th Dimension recorded a couple of her tracks in 1968 ("Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Sweet Blindness") with considerable success, so in early 1969 they picked up on "Wedding Bell Blues"; it went to number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number sixteen in the UK Singles Chart.

It's a terrific song, really uplifting - which makes it even more surprising that "Mr Moan" Morrissey (formerly of The Smiths) should choose to release a cover version in 2019!

Answer: Steam

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a great example of a hit song that happens by accident - a couple of studio musicians and a producer came up with a song for a b-side and the next thing they know the song has become an a-side and then that it's hit number one. The only problem is that there was no band to do live appearances, so they put together a group but omit to say that none of the its musicians actually played on the record. And that band carries on touring for 30 years, which is not bad for a one-hit wonder, except that as they didn't play on the record then technically they're a no-hit wonder! So that's what happened with this great pop record, which went to number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number nine in the UK Singles Chart.

Let's not forget the wonderful 1983 cover of the song by Bananarama which got to number five in the UK Singles Chart and to number 101 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Canadian band The Nylons also had success with a cover, an a cappella version which got to number 12 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1987.

For me this song means one thing and one thing only - football! It became a terrace anthem all around the UK, sung by the fans for their favourite players. So for me watching Southend United FC it was "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Bill Garner" - dedicated to our top-scoring centre-forward.

Answer: Peter, Paul and Mary

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" was written by John Denver in 1966 and released on a demo album, "John Denver Sings" - only a few copies were pressed, which he gave to friends as Christmas presents. Fortunately, the well-established folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary heard the song and recorded it for their 1967 album, "Album 1700". Eventually the record company released it as a single in September 1969, and it went straight to number two in the UK Singles Chart and number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart - in fact it was their biggest and last US hit. It's just a beautiful song about parting and separation - not very rock'n'roll, I know, but for an old romantic like me it was just enchanting.

An interesting factoid: in 1989 John Denver sued the British band New Order for basing part of their single "Run 2" on his song. The case was settled out of court with Denver being awarded a co-writer credit for New Order's song.

Answer: Crosby, Stills and Nash

The Hollies were one of my favourite bands, always turning out high-quality music. I particularly liked Graham Nash's voice, and so I was saddened when he left the band to go to the US. However he teamed up with Stephen Stills and David Crosby and very soon the group began releasing amazing music. "Marrakesh Express" was written by Nash while he was still with the Hollies, but they didn't want it so it became the band's first single release. It went to number 28 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

It's a great, jaunty song, recounting Nash's experiences on the eponymous train. Stephen Stills provided the excellent instrumentation, and the harmonies are terrific. With the further addition of Neil Young there were clearly great things in the future for the band.