Top 69 songs of the Summer of '69 (LISTEN HERE)

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. (Note: The original “Marrakesh Express” is not available on Spotify so I substituted the version from the CSN 2012 live album.)

1. “Honky Tonk Women,” The Rolling Stones

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2. “Everybody’s Talkin’,” Nilsson

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3. “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly & the Family Stone

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4. “Get Together,” The Youngbloods

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5. “Share Your Love With Me,” Aretha Franklin

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6. “Bad Moon Rising,” Creedence Clearwater Revival

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7. “That’s the Way God Planned It,” Billy Preston

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8. “More Today Than Yesterday,” Spiral Starecase

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9. “Suspicious Minds,” Elvis Presley

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10. “I Can’t Get Next to You,” The Temptations

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11. “Feeling Alright,” Joe Cocker

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12. “Get Back,” The Beatles with Billy Preston

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13. “Sweet Caroline,” Neil Diamond

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14. “Questions 67 and 68,” Chicago

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15. “Green River,” Creedence Clearwater Revival

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16: “The Boxer,” Simon & Garfunkel

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17. “Something in the Air,” Thunderclap Newman

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18. “Why I Sing the Blues,” B.B. King

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19. “But It’s Alright,” J.J. Jackson

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20. “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” The Beatles

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21. “Marrakesh Express,” Crosby, Stills & Nash

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22. “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” Marvin Gaye

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23. “Israelites,” Desmond Dekker

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24: “I Threw It All Away,” Bob Dylan

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25. “I Want to Take You Higher,” Sly & the Family Stone

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26. “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot),” Donovan with the Jeff Beck Group

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27. “Pinball Wizard,” The Who

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28. “Cissy Strut,” The Meters

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29. “I’ve Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved,” David Ruffin

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30. “That’s the Way Love Is,” Marvin Gaye

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31. “Day Is Done,” Peter, Paul & Mary

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32. “Wedding Bell Blues,” The 5th Dimension

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33. “Soul Deep,” The Box Tops

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34. “I’m Free,” The Who

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355. “Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me),” James Brown

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36. “A Boy Named Sue,” Johnny Cash

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37. “These Eyes,” The Guess Who

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38. “My Cherie Amour,” Stevie Wonder

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39. “Hey Joe,” Wilson Pickett

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40. “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” Tommy James & the Shondells

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41. “Oh Happy Day,” The Edwin Hawkins Singers

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42. “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” Jr. Walker & the All Stars

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43. “The Windmills of Your Mind,” Dusty Springfield

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44. “Simple Song of Freedom,” Tim Hardin

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45. “Chelsea Morning,” Judy Collins

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46. “Lay Lady Lay,” Bob Dylan

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47. “Give Peace a Chance,” Plastic Ono Band

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48. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” Jackie DeShannon

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49. “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures),” The 5th Dimension

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50. “Spinning Wheel,” Blood, Sweat & Tears

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51. “One,” Three Dog Night”

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52. “In the Ghetto,” Elvis Presley

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53. “Atlantis,” Donovan

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54. “Laughing,” The Guess Who

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55. “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies

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56. “Easy to Be Hard,” Three Dog Night

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57. “Get Off My Back Woman,” B.B. King

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58. “Commotion,” Creedence Clearwater Revival

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59. “Willie & Laura Mae Jones,” Dusty Springfield

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60. “I’m Gonna Make You Mine,” Lou Christie

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61. “Never Comes the Day,” The Moody Blues

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62. “It’s My Thing (You Can’t Tell Me Who to Sock It to),” Marva Whitney

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63. “Runnin’ Blue,” The Doors

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64. “In the Year 2525,” Zager & Evans

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65. “Your Good Thing (Is About to End),” Lou Rawls

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66. “Good Morning Starshine,” Oliver

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67. “No One for Me to Turn To,” Spiral Starecase

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68. “My Pledge of Love,” Joe Jeffrey Group

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69. “Polk Salad Annie,” Tony Joe White

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