# 'Forgotten' songs from the 60's (i.e. 1964 to 1974ish) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992 "2019-06-24T21:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/81 "2019-06-25T14:54:38Z")
Middle of the road - Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep - the original [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGyPrmbgan0) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/82 "2019-06-25T15:45:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oliver’s “Good Morning, Starshine” I don’t recognize in the slightest. When I was in junior high (late '60s), I spent every weekend at the planetarium at the Minneapolis Public Library. “Starshine” was one of the music tracks they played pre-show, as people were coming into the chamber and getting seated. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it anywhere else (except maybe on\*\*\* Sesame Street\*\*\* around the same time). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/83 "2019-06-25T16:34:11Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU5OD2xRgl8) Tommy Roe - Everybody You know this one. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/84 "2019-06-25T17:02:47Z")
There are lots of well known Paul Williams songs (We’ve Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Evergreen) but several wonderful ones of his are undeservedly forgotten: “Save Me a Dream” Traveling Boy (It was covered by Art Garfunkel and Rumer) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j5pSd2b6078/hqdefault.jpg "PAUL WILLIAMS ~ TRAVELING BOY 1972") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5pSd2b6078) Here’s a Baker’s dozen thread with songs that people hadn’t heard recently. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21706724&postcount=66246](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21706724&postcount=66246) ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/85 "2019-06-25T17:13:44Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > [Dusty… Enough said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjydOI4MEIw) That album has several great songs. [I Don’t Want to Hear it anymore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGEBY59iGo) [Breakfast in Bed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fFE9lR56U) Harry Nilsson’s is often unappreciated. His Randy Newman cover album is great here’s [Cowboy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15dCBHGjx8I),the way it fades into Midnight Cowboy is genius ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/86 "2019-06-25T17:25:22Z")
In the early '80s we learned this dance in gym class. It was barely known then but [Pata Pata](https://youtu.be/lNeP3hrm__k) has been almost completely forgotten now. Famously sample/covered by Biz Markie’s Just a Friend, people should remember Freddie Scott’s [You Got What I Need.](https://youtu.be/PueK3Jz--r8) In the past I’ve lamented the passing of guitar rock. It morphed into metal and lost me. But I remember such hits as [Frankenstein](https://youtu.be/65XSHM3jlAY) and [Hocus Pocus](https://youtu.be/MV0F_XiR48Q) (by Focus, gotta add that part) were all the rage on the FM music making box. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/87 "2019-06-25T17:51:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > When I was in junior high (late '60s), I spent every weekend at the planetarium at the Minneapolis Public Library. “Starshine” was one of the music tracks they played pre-show, as people were coming into the chamber and getting seated. **I don’t think I’ve ever heard it anywhere else** (except maybe on\*\*\* Sesame Street\*\*\* around the same time). [my bold] Maybe the duet between [Leonard Nimoy and Monty Burns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlikAybIR-o)? That’s where I heard it first. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/88 "2019-06-25T18:03:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What was that awful song about three guys going down in the mine (I think) and only two come up when they’re rescued, the one that strongly implied cannibalism? I think I’ve heard that song exactly once on the radio, but apparently got reasonable airplay back in the day. [Timothy](https://youtu.be/DGNdvKvbxYQ) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/89 "2019-06-25T18:08:40Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > “Take a Letter Maria” - R.B. Greaves 1969. Sorry, can’t link to youtube at the moment. > > I need to find an oldies radio station that plays this stuff. Not sure one exists. Back when I was a kid these “oldies” were really only like 20 years old. Thank goodness I’m not aware of any “oldies” station playing stuff from 1999. I always sang “take a load of diarrhea and sent it to my wife…” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/90 "2019-06-25T18:17:24Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > In the early '80s we learned this dance in gym class. It was barely known then but [Pata Pata](https://youtu.be/lNeP3hrm__k) has been almost completely forgotten now. Really? I hear it all the time in TV when the pictures demand for “generic African party/dance song”. Indeed, I heard it just about two hours ago in a program about religious buildings. It was a scene of Ethopian Christians celebrating the baptizing of Christ, which seemingly is a happy party with song and dance, but what did the producers think was a good idea for background music?: “Pat Pata”, a secular dance song from 1960s Soweto :smack:. You know, Africa and party? “Pata Pata”! :rolleyes: It was like accompanying a documentary of Oktoberfest with Sami chants, because well, both Europe. But I disgress… Anyway, I also hear “Pata, Pata” often on oldie stations, and Miriam Makeba is somehow still a household name, but I’m in Germany, could be different in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/91 "2019-06-25T18:21:26Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Really? I hear it all the time in TV when the pictures demand for “generic African party/dance song”. Indeed, I heard it just about two hours ago in a program about religious buildings. It was a scene of Ethopian Christians celebrating the baptizing of Christ, which seemingly is a happy party with song and dance, but what did the producers think was a good idea for background music?: “Pat, Pata”, a secular dance song from 1960s Soweto :smack:. You know, Africa and party? “Pata, Pata”! :rolleyes: It was like accompanying a documentary of Oktoberfest with Sami chants, because well, both Europe. But I disgress… > > Anyway, I also hear “Pata, Pata” often on oldie stations, and Miriam Makeba is somehow still a household name, but I’m in Germany, could be different in the US. Here where I am I haven’t heard Pata Pata played publicly in, well, ever. About two years or so ago I asked about learning this dance right here on in IMHO and barely anyone knew what I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/92 "2019-06-25T18:33:19Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Here where I am I haven’t heard Pata Pata played publicly in, well, ever. About two years or so ago I asked about learning this dance right here on in IMHO and barely anyone knew what I was talking about. Then it’s really different. Miriam Makeba had a long and successful, pioneering career, but obviously not much in the US. Of course not everybody knows her (but I think everybody has heard her signature song some time), but for many she was the iconic figure for pop from Africa. I remember WDR2, a very popular FM station, doing a feature about her not very long ago in their daily segment “Zeitzeichen”, which covers a different historical event or person every day. She was also an important figure in the fight against apartheid and spent many years in exile. [Fascinating career.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Makeba) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/93 "2019-06-25T18:42:47Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > [my bold] > > Maybe the duet between [Leonard Nimoy and Monty Burns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlikAybIR-o)? That’s where I heard it first. That’s brilliant! I remember this episode of _ **The Simpsons** _ (vaguely), but not the duet. As for “Pata, Pata,” I used to go to Tuesday night folk dancing at the University of Minnesota back in the early '70s. It was definitely on the playlist and was requested quite often. It’s a fun dance; you get to flap your wings! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/94 "2019-06-25T18:55:25Z")
When was the last time you heard these? Carpenters, “Top of the World”: John Denver, "Back Home Again": My lost love and I would cuddle on her couch and sing these to each other. _It’s the sweetest thing I know of, just spending time with you._ Pretty pathetic, right? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/95 "2019-06-25T18:56:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > John Mayall’s [Room to Move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLp0AsKXMEs). It probably wasn’t going to be a hit, being from someone known for the blues, but damn it’s good. The groove on the album in our radio station turned white from overuse. > > Also, a very early example of what is now called beatboxing (he called it “mouth percussion”). Mayall probably wasn’t the first, but this really got attention. > > BTW, there are no drums on the album. The album is called “The Turning Point.” Not forgotten by me - I listen to it often. Look him up on YouTube. There are videos of him playing this song. Quite amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/96 "2019-06-25T18:59:53Z")
I hear The Carpenters frequently. Just today I heard Superstar and remarked on Karen’s so beautiful and clear as a bell’s voice. But then told hubby Luther’s version is much more heart rendering. He slowed it down and torched the hell out of it. But, yeah, The Carpenters get a lot of play on oldies stations. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/97 "2019-06-25T19:06:59Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > That album has several great songs. > > [I Don’t Want to Hear it anymore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGEBY59iGo) > > [Breakfast in Bed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fFE9lR56U) Yeah, those are definitely lesser played. “Son of A Preacher Man” was pretty well known in the 90s, due to the _Pulp Fiction_ soundtrack, and still gets decent play today. I was working at a wedding about ten years ago – a Millennial couple – and their first dance song was “Son of a Preacher Man” (the groom’s father was a deacon.) It’s literally the first song I think of when I think of “Dusty Springfield.” ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/98 "2019-06-25T19:45:38Z")
These may not be as obscure as some of the songs already named here, but it seems to me we don’t hear them much any more: [High Heel Sneakers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmbSC9c2ys) by Tommy Tucker [Smile a Little Smile for Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMYqZINk20w) by Flying Machine [Polk Salad Annie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBfMLmNjFn4) by Tony Joe White [The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLobfNN5X84) by O. C. Smith [Bottle of Wine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZynyHW2hfw) by The Fireballs [Yellow River](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxu5zyUnVzE) by Christie [Third Rate Romance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et6YPgxUdAo) by The Amazing Rhythm Aces [Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuccqN63I4I) - by Hurricane Smith Here are a couple from outside the era of 1964 through 1974: [Don’t You Just Know It?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT_Ymlsj4Kg) by Huey “Piano” Smith and the Clowns [Bad Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vYukWDMS0) by The Jive Bombers ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/99 "2019-06-25T20:50:06Z")
Freakin’ ninja-ed on Hurricane Smith ☹ [Ariel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGFW9jCFml4) – Dean Friedman ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992/100 "2019-06-25T22:08:52Z")
I’ll throw in a couple that were recorded and released at least twice: “He’s In Town” (I prefer The Rockin’ Berries’ version) and “Needles and Pins.” And who can forget, “Run, Baby, Run” by The Newbeats? Plus, I’ll second the mentions of Spirit’s _ **Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus** _. Finally, I’ll mention that I have a copy of every single from the Billboard Top 100 from 1960 through 1990 on my media server. (I have virtually all of the singles from 1950 to 1960, but they are usually the Top 40 or Top 50.) When I shuffle play them, I get most of the songs that have been mentioned in this thread. I’m in heaven. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-songs-from-the-60s-i-e-1964-to-1974ish/835992.md?page=6)