1. The Archies – Sugar Sugar.  So the #1 hit in 1969 is by a fictional band.  Hyperreality is go!  As you might expect from a group of wholesome teenage comic book characters, the song is cute, catchy, vaguely British-Invasion-y and very lightweight.  And as you might expect from a group of session musicians, it does a really nice job with textures — highlights include the use of what sounds like a marimba doubling the recurring organ riff, the wide variety of backing vocal styles (Motown-ish repeated “honey”s, Beach Boys ba-ba-bas, and single-line interjections from Betty and Veronica), and the crunchy, buzzing organ that underlines the last couple of verses. 

2. The 5th Dimension – Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.  A medley of two songs from Hair.  The band somehow manages to sell the tremendously flaky lyrics of “Aquarius” (“Mystic crystal revelation / And the mind’s true liberation”) through sheer bravado and bombast, complete with rich vocal harmonies, a horn section and a string orchestra.  The complex melodies and chord progressions (does it get any more 1960s than the move from I to flat VII at the beginning of the chorus?) help too.  I’m intrigued by Florence LaRue’s voice, assuming that’s who I’m hearing in the right channel — somehow she sounds like a man singing in a high falsetto.  In “Let the Sunshine In,” the horns take over and the song becomes a hand-clapping, foot-stomping gospel anthem.  I’m not really that into hand-clapping, foot-stomping gospel anthems, but I guess it’s pretty good as far as that kind of thing goes.

The Temptations – I Can’t Get Next To You.  How have I gone so long without getting to know these guys?  I actually thought they were a girl group until I listened to this song.  Turns out they’re actually a funk band, and this song is unbelievably satisfying, from its bluesy piano intro to its ultra-crisp tambourines, from its crunchy muted guitar strumming to the wordless train-whistle crooning in the middle of the song, from Eddie Kendricks’ whooping falsetto vocals (calling the Jackson Five…) to Paul Williams ripping his vocal cords to shreds at the end.  The whole thing is played with an almost violent intensity that puts even other funk songs to shame.  My favorite part is the “uhhhhhNGYAH!!!” right before the drum solo.  

4. The Rolling Stones – Honky-Tonk Women.  There’s still something that bugs me about the Stones.  Maybe I’m being unfair, but I can’t quite shake the feeling that I’m listening to a bunch of people who are proud of being dumb and aggressive, people who would probably call me a fag and beat me up if I ran into them in a bar.  My favorite part of the song by a long shot is the instrumental break after the second chorus, in which country piano, low brass and a couple of layers of distorted guitars all crowd on top of each other;  other than that it’s a little dull.  Don’t tell the band I used a semicolon there.  I also think it’s funny that these four British guys are pretending to be from rural Southern America.  Although maybe it’s not so strange:  pretending to be a member of an ethnic group or nationality other than your own seems to be one of the well-established tradition in pop music.

5.  Sly & the Family Stone – Everyday People.  I’ve heard Sly & the Family Stone described as the creators of funk, but this isn’t nearly as funky as “I Can’t Get Next To You” (aside from the fact that it sits on the tonic chord for the entire song, something Parliament would do many times in years to come).  Actually, it sounds like something that might appear on Sesame Street, with its singsong melodies and wishful-shading-into-preachy lyrics about social harmony expressed through goofy color metaphors (“There is a blue one who can’t accept the green one…”).  And as a matter of fact, Sesame Street was launched just nine months after the song hit number one.  The song also contains the nonsense phrase “scooby dooby doo,” and sure enough, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! debuted just seven months later.  Did “Everyday People” accidentally spawn the entirety of 70s kids’ culture?  Apparently it popularized the phrase “different strokes for different folks,” too.  Honestly, I find the whole thing pretty annoying.  Fighting prejudice is great, but surely it doesn’t need to be done in such a dopey, wide-eyed way.