One of one hundred, 1969 

Songs that entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #100 are obviously at a huge disadvantage when it comes to getting airplay and selling records, but a few become unlikely success stories or just have an interesting narrative around them. Here are nine such records from 1969, listed by song title, artist and date it entered the Hot 100. 

Twenty-Five Miles – Edwin Starr (2/15/69). Journeyman Edwin Starr had a minor hit in 1965 with Agent Double O Soul but faced a long climb with Twenty-Five Miles. Eight weeks later the song rose to #6, making it the second-most successful single of the year to open on the charts at #100. 

Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show – Neil Diamond (2/22/69). After a nearly six-decade career that included some regrettable movie roles and duets with Barbra Streisand, it’s easy to forget that Neil Diamond was once “just” a singer/songwriter with a knack for writing great pop songs. This was his last record before breaking into the big time later in 1969 with Sweet Caroline. Diamond copped the title of his 1972 live album from Brother Love’s “hot August night” opening line. And speaking of regrettable, what’s up with the cover of that album? 

Hawaii Five-O – Ventures (3/8/69). Ironically, the Ventures’ best-selling record ever didn’t sound like the Ventures at all, twangy guitars buried under the weight of an orchestra. It hit #4 in June 1969 and without bothering to check, I’d venture (get it?) that it may be the most successful TV theme to chart. 

Idaho – Four Seasons (4/5/69). The Four Seasons changed their hairstyles and clothes, then recorded an unlikely trip into psychedelia and social commentary with the album The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, from which Idaho was taken. They were past their original expiration date at this point, but still years away from their 1975 disco comeback. 

Born To Be Wild – Wilson Pickett (5/10/69). Out of original material, Wilson Pickett took off on a second-wind career covering white rock artists like Steppenwolf, the Beatles (Hey Jude) and strangely, although he makes it his own, The Archies’ Sugar, Sugar. 

Tell All the People – Doors (6/14/69). As Jim Morrison’s behavior grew increasingly erratic and his interest in performing and songwriting diminished, The Soft Parade was the Doors’ lamest album. This was the lead cut from that record and just by virtue of debuting at #100 speaks to how far the band that recorded Light My Fire had fallen. 

Kool and the Gang – Kool and the Gang (9/13): Other songs with the performer’s name in the title: Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Bo Diddley, This is Radio Clash, Stray Cat Strut. 

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – Hollies (12/20): Charting as high as #7 in 1970, the title was the slogan for Boys Town, supposedly said by one of the residents while carrying another boy with polio up a set of stairs. (Actually, the slogan is “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother,” which I always hear in Leo Gorcey’s voice, “He ain’t heavy, faddah, he’s my bruddah.”) 

The Thrill Is Gone – B. B. King (12/27): B.B. King had three singles enter the charts at #100 in 1969; this is the one that stuck, going to #16 in early 1970, and earning him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. King hit the #10 spot on Billboard in 1996, in a fashion, when his voice was sampled for the Primitive Radio Gods’ Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth, released just in time before phone booths disappeared off the face of the earth.