Challenged to reveal the five favorite tunes of the 1960s, no one topped Diana Ross and Supremes, but her biggest hits were not necessarily everyone’s favorite. This one was.
Something for those who aren’t moved by low-scoring basketball games and seven divisions of mediocrity, a reader who enjoys the stories behind the songs of youth challenged recently to reveal five of my favorite tunes of the 60s, what many believe to be the best decade, all-time, for popular music.
Donna, I know you’re reading, along with others who responded instantly to our first pick (One Fine Day) by the Chiffons.
And some research turned up few facts about our #2 favorite that might both surprise, and make you nod in agreement.
Diana Ross and the Supremes had a remarkable ten #1 Billboard hits during their incredible 60s run that actually outlasted the decade. And many people might rightly guess that the biggest-selling records of those ten were between Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Stop In The Name of Love, and You Can’t Hurry Love, songs that instantly vaulted the group into the spotlight of pop’s icons for the decade.
They sold millions of copies, yes. But of all of their #1s the one that seemed to have the biggest popular impact was one released in 1967 entitled, The Happening. Acclaimed by Dick Clark on American Bandstand to be the “happiest” dance tune ever produced, it shot to #1, permeated audiences world-wide, and became what some critics would claim as “the better example of Diana Ross’s performance personality”.
Written by Los Angeles song writer Frank De Vol, The Happening was recorded in and released in 1967 as the soundtrack to a movie by the same title. The movie flopped, the song went, in today’s vernacular, viral. In the heyday of pop AM radio, stations wore it out.
Billboard described the single as “light, bouncy, up-tempo, romp, and a sure fire chart topper.”
Another critic of the day simply called it…”fun”.
It, of course, sold a million copies, but while popular, it never had the lasting comparison with Ross and her more acclaimed recordings. It was just ‘fun’, a favorite reminder of the best decade in pop music. A song that people hummed, knew the words to, and enjoyed as a happier version of the Supremes – something that Ross never achieved again as a solo artist after she left the group in 1970.
One of our five favorites, and perhaps yours. Enjoy the recording by the Supremes, The Happening, from 1967.
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