What song was number one when America landed on the moon in 1969?
It was one small step for man, and a giant leap for mankind, but did you know that on the day of the moon landings in 1969, Thunderclap Newman were there too?
Before anyone becomes concerned about historical accuracy, I should point out that I am, in fact, kidding, at least in a literal sense. Yet the fact remained that while the moon landings that took place on July 20th, 1969, still constitute one of the most significant events to have taken place in the history of civilisation, music was an integral part of that.
And sure, while most would have been glued to their television screens on that day, and the power of records seemingly took a backseat, there is reason to argue that the contrary was true. Take the example of a song like ‘Space Oddity’: David Bowie is largely credited with soundtracking the course of the entire event, without which the rest of his career wouldn’t have been propelled to new heights.
However befitting it might have been of the moment, though, it wasn’t actually the Starman who took the top spot on that enormous day in the summer of 1969. In the US, that prize went to ‘In The Year 2525’ by the one-hit wonder Zager and Evans, while in the UK it was ‘Something in the Air’ by Thunderclap Newman.
Given the momentous occasion at hand, both of those songs were surprisingly appropriate in their subject matter. It was almost as though somewhere, the moon and the stars had aligned to make sure that the charts were in strong order for their time on the world’s centre stage, while Neil Armstrong made the leap that no one else had before.
What made the number ones on the day of the moon landings so special?
For the part of Zager and Evans, their one-hit wonder stint lasted six weeks at the top spot in the US over the most important moment of their history. First scoring their chart-topper on July 12th and staying there well into August, they were a pair who may not have made much of a difference in the charts in other ways, but commanded it by the bucketload with ‘In The Year 2525’.
In many ways, their 7,000-year romp through time, starting in 2525 and ending in 9595, was eerily prescient in the moment, with the cheery acknowledgement that we’re all going to die and that technology will be the end of humanity. Now, why does that sound familiar? At a time when tech was taking society so far, it was almost Zager and Evans’ warning to pull the brakes.
Equally, over on UK shores, Thunderclap Newman were not the most long-lived outfit of all time, but the impact they made was notable nonetheless. Having been put together by Pete Townshend, their big hit being ‘Something in the Air’ was oddly serendipitous when the whole world was obsessed with looking to the skies.
Of course, the moon landings will always be remembered in their own right, but the music that soundtracked it should be held in similarly high regard too. Whether it was futuristic, existential visions or a rock song about a new energy being all around, life was charged with something new and exciting in July 1969, and everyone knew it.
