Radiohead – "The Bends" (1995)

I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy

I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen

I bet you’ve been wondering when the new members of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME are going to be announced.

Wonder no more, boys and girls!  The next eleven 2 or 3 lines posts will feature our 2020 hall of famers.  (I see you shiver with an-ti-ci- . . . PAY-tion!)

*     *     *     *     *

Why do I induct eleven records into the my wildly popular hit singles hall of fame each year?

When I announced the first hall of fame class in 2018, the plan was for it to have ten members.  But after I had announced those ten members, I remembered a record that absolutely, positively had to be included.  

Leaving Richard Harris’s “MacArthur Park” out of the initial group of HOF’ers would have cut off my credibility as a pop music guru at the knees.  So I gave myself a mulligan.  All of the first ten inductees clearly deserved their status, so I couldn’t replace one of them with “MacArthur Park.”  That meant I had to follow a sort of baker dozen’s approach – buy ten, get one free.

*     *     *     *     *

Going with eleven songs instead of ten turned out to be a brilliant move.  So I did it again in 2019, picking “Fire” – that unforgettable stick of dynamite by the Crazy World of Arthur Brown – as inductee number eleven.

Fear not . . . this year’s group of hit singles that are going into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME will also include eleven records, not ten.  (As my grandmother used to say, “It if ain’t broke, leave the damn thing alone!”)

But before I announce the first member of the class of 2020, let’s take a moment to remember the first group of inductees:

Animals – “House of the Rising Sun” (1965)

Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)

Who – “I Can See for Miles” (19660

Association – “Along Comes Mary” (1966)

Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations” (1966)

Byrds – “Eight Miles High” (1966)

Steppenwolf – “Born to Be Wild” (1968)

Grass Roots – “Midnight Confession” (1968)

Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)

Richard Harris – “MacArthur Park” (1968)

Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son” (1969)

*     *     *     *     *

Take another gander at that list.  You’d best believe that every song on it is a winner, winner, chicken dinner!

But the second group of inductees – which were announced in 2019 – is just as good:

Four Seasons – “Rag Doll” (1964)

Beatles – “Eight Days a Week” (1965)

Rolling Stones – “Satisfaction” (1965)

Animals – “It’s My Life” (1965)

? and the Mysterians – “96 Tears” (1966)

Supremes – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (1966)

Turtles – “Happy Together” (1967)

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1967)

Doors – “Light My Fire” (1967)

Deep Purple – “Hush” (1968)

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – “Fire” (1968)

*     *     *     *     *

I originally defined the 2 or 3 lines “GOLDEN DECADE” as spanning the years 1964 to 1973.  But I’ve decided to tweak that definition slightly.  (My blog, my rules.)

From this day forward, the “GOLDEN DECADE” is officially declared to have commenced in mid-1964 and ended in mid-1974.  

Why?  Because those years represent the decade when the best pop music the world has ever known was released.  

It also covers the time period that spans my years in junior high school, high school, and college.  (I entered the 7th grade – not to mention puberty – in August 1964, and graduated from college in May 1974.)

(By the way . . . everyone thinks that the best music ever recorded was the music that was popular when he or she was a  teenager. I’ve got news for you: the best music ever recorded was the music that was popular when I was a teenager.  That’s a fact, Jack!)

All 22 of the records that have been inducted into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME to date were released in the sixties – before I graduated from high school.  But this year’s class is going to include some songs from my college years.

*     *     *     *     *

Radiohead’s frontman and chief songwriter, Thom Yorke – who was born in October 1968 – has been quoted as saying, “No, I don’t wish it was the fucking sixties.”  So I guess he didn’t mean it when he wrote the lyrics quoted at the beginning of this post.

Click here to listen to “The Bends.”

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: