The Top 30 Songs of the Psychedelic Era

    As promised, here is the list of 30 most-played songs over the past ten years on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era. You'll notice a shortage of songs from the top 20 artists list. Really, when you think about it, the reason for that is pretty obvious. When a band records literally dozens of great songs (the Beatles, for instance) no one song in particular gets played more than the others, even though the band itself get played practically every week. Still, not every song here is from a one-hit wonder. Check it out:

    30: Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine, by Country Joe & The Fish from their first LP, Electric Music For The Mind And Body
    29: Too Many People...the Leaves (their first single)
    28: Season Of The Witch. Over they years I've played three different versions of this Donovan song, including one by Vanilla Fudge and the Al Kooper/Stephen Stills extended jam from the Super Session album.
    27: She's My Girl, from the Turtles. One of several Turtles hits written by Gary Bonner and Al Gordon of the Magicians.
    26: I'm A Man (the Spencer Davis Group song covered by Chicago, not the Bo Diddley song covered by the Yardbirds)
    25: Dirty Water, by the Standells. The only garage-rock song to be regularly heard at sporting events.
    24: The Eagle Never Hunts The Fly, by the Music Machine. Not the only song from Sean Bonniwell's band to make the list, either.
    23: Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love-In), by the Chocolate Watchband.
    22: Magic Carpet Ride, by Steppenwolf. As noted elsewhere, the very first song played on our first syndicated episode back in 2010.
    21: White Room, by Cream.
    20: Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White, by the Standells. Their second appearance on the list.
    19: For What It's Worth (Stop! Hey, What's That Sound), by Buffalo Springfield. Frankly, I'm surprised this one didn't get played more often.
    18: Gloria, by Them and Shadows Of Knight. Yeah, I played both versions, but the Shadows were the ones who made it a hit, so....
    17: Somebody To Love, by Jefferson Airplane and Great Society. Both versions are worth hearing, but the Airplane's is a true classic.
    16: Summertime Blues, by Blue Cheer and the Who. Yeah, both versions got played, but Blue Cheer's is definitely the more psychedelic.
    15: (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet, by the Blues Magoos.
    14: Gimme Some Lovin', by the Spencer Davis Group.
    13: Eight Miles High, by the Byrds.
    12: Talk Talk, by the Music Machine. Notice how things are getting more intense as we move up the list?
    11: Rock 'n' Roll Woman, by Buffalo Springfield. There's just something about this song....
    10: White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane. People unfamiliar with the psychedelic era consider this the ultimate psychedelic song.
      9:  Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), by the First Edition. Who would have thought that Kenny Rogers would make the top 10 on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era? Anyone who was familiar with this song, that's who.
      8: Journey To The Center Of The Mind, by the Amboy Dukes. Say what you will about Ted Nugent, he sure plays a mean guitar.
      7: Time Has Come Today, by the Chambers Brothers. Too bad there wasn't time for the album version.
      6: Incense And Peppermints, by Strawberry Alarm Clock. Probably the biggest real-world psychedelic hit, topping the charts in 1967.
      5: 7&7 Is, by Love.

It was extremely close between the next four songs, with total number of plays ranging from 59 to 63 over a ten year period. In fact, the next two were tied, but because one of them includes a rather strange cover version, the Prunes tune got the nod.

      4: Psychotic Reaction, by Count Five, and Leathercoated Minds. Most of the plays were from San Jose's Count Five.
      3: I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), by the Electric Prunes.
      2: Pushin' Too Hard, by the Seeds. Yeah, this one gets played a LOT.

And finally we get to the top spot. Over the past 10 years, no less than seven different versions of Hey Joe have been played on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era. Five of them got played on the show itself, including versions by the Byrds (at David Crosby's insistence, since he claimed to have "discovered" the song in the first place), Tim Rose (who released the first slowed down version of the tune), the Shadows Of Knight (who psychedelicized it more than anyone else), the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Jimi was inspired to make Hey Joe his first single after seeing Tim Rose perform it in a New York coffee house), and the Leaves, who version was the only one to make the US charts. Other versions of Hey Joe I've played include Love's 1966 version from their debut LP, which was learned directly from David Crosby (Love member Brian MacLean having been a roadie for the Byrds) Deep Purple's extended slow version of the song from their Shades of Deep Purple album and, believe it or not, one from Cher. Hey, if it weren't for that one time Cher's version of Hey Joe was played (back in 2012), it would have been tied with Pushin' Too Hard for the most-played song on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era over the past ten years. As a final aside, I've also played Boy Buchanan's powerful version of the tune on our companion show, Rockin' in the Days of Confusion, a couple of times.

This week we start on our second ten years of Stuck in the Psychedelic Era. Will the show still be around in 2030? Will I still be around in 2030? Will radio still be around in 2030? Hell, will the human race itself still be around in 2030? I guess we'll just have to stick around to find out.