December 18, 1969: I Was Born

December 18, 1969: Your sometimes-humble author is born at St. Barnabas Medical Center (shown) in Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey.

There's an old saying: "May you be born in interesting times."

Musically, the times couldn't have gotten much more interesting. The Number 1 song in America was by a group that, technically, did not exist: Steam, with "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." Or, as it's better known, by its chorus: "Na na na na... Na na na na... Hey hey hey... Goodbye!"

Number 3 was "Someday We'll Be Together," the last single of The Supremes with Diana Ross singing lead. Number 7 was "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday," by Stevie Wonder. Number 19 was "I Want You Back," the debut single of The Jackson 5. Number 20 was a great cover of The Guess Who's "These Eyes," by Junior Walker & The All-Stars. Number 53 was "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" by The Four Tops. Number 54 was "What You Gave Me," one of the duets by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Number 76 was "Point It Out," by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

So, with those 7 songs, it was a good week for Motown Records, and that's before knowing what Michael Jackson, then just 11 years old, would become. Oddly, despite 1969 being a great year for them, chart-wise, including "I Can't Get Next to You" hitting Number 1 in October, The Temptations did not have a song on the Hot 100 that week, not even that one.

Number 4 was the double-sided hit "Come Together" and "Something," by The Beatles. Number 17 was Aretha Franklin's cover of their song "Eleanor Rigby." Number 39 was "Cold Turkey," a solo hit for John Lennon. Number 83 was Joe Cocker's cover of The Beatles' "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window."

Number 5 was the double-sided hit "Down On the Corner" and "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the A-side a good-time jam; the B-side an anti-war, anti-greed, anti-conservatism screed.

Number 21 was "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. It would rise to Number 9, making it their biggest hit single in America. It's worth noting, though, that their most famous song, "Stairway to Heaven," was never released as a single.

Number 28 was "Suspicious Minds," which was on its way down. A few weeks earlier, it hit Number 1 for Elvis Presley. As "Come Together" had hit Number 1, this made the Autumn of 1969 the only season in which Elvis and The Beatles had Number 1 hits at roughly the same time. As it turned out, it was his last Number 1 hit. (In 1972, "Burning Love" hit Number 2.) Coming up the charts, at Number 36, was "Don't Cry Daddy."

And Number 82 was Frank Sinatra's cover of Teddy Randazzo's "Goin' Out of My Head," which had been a Top 10 hit for Little Anthony & The Imperials in 1964. So, when I was born, not only were they all actively recording, but Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Michael Jackson all had hit songs at the same time. At no other time in history was that possible.

Five months earlier, man walked on the Moon for the 1st time. Two months earlier, the New York Mets won the World Series. Their star pitcher, Tom Seaver -- who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps, so he was no Commie -- said, "If the Mets can win the World Series, the U.S. can get out of Vietnam." The President was Richard Nixon. He had a plan to get the U.S. out of Vietnam. By the time it was truly carried out, I would be 5 years old, and Nixon would no longer be President.

Mickey Mantle and Bill Russell had retired from their sports earlier in the year. But Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Carl Yastrzemski, Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, and the aforementioned Tom Seaver were then active in baseball. Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Deacon Jones, Gale Sayers, Joe Namath, and rookies Roger Staubach, O.J. Simpson and Mean Joe Greene were active in the NFL. Terry Bradshaw was still playing in college.

Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Walt Frazier and rookie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor) were active in the NBA. Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Jean Béliveau, Jacques Plante, Frank Mahovlich, Bobby Hull, Rod Gilbert, Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, and rookie Bobby Clarke were active in the NHL.

And active soccer legends included Pelé of Brazil, Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore of England, Billy McNeill of Scotland, John Charles of Wales, George Best of Northern Ireland, Eusébio of Portugal, Johan Cruijff of the Netherlands, Franz Beckenbauer of Germany, Gianni Rivera of Italy, and, in his final season, Lev Yashin of the Soviet Union.

Let's see what was on TV that night:

* ABC: 7:30, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir; 8:00, That Girl; 8:30, Bewitched; 9:00, This Is Tom Jones, a variety show hosted by the Welsh pop singer; 10:00, It Takes a Thief.

* CBS: 7:30, Family Affair; 8:00, The Jim Nabors Hour; 9:00, CBS Thursday Night Movie, in this case The Americanization of Emily.

* NBC: 7:30, Daniel Boone; 8:30, Ironside; 9:30, Dragnet 1969; 10:00, The Dean Martin Show.

Interesting times, indeed.

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December 18, 1969 was a Thursday, so there were no pro football games played on the day, not in the NFL, and not in the AFL, either. Nor were any college football games played, "bowl" games or otherwise. The Liberty Bowl had been played in Memphis on the 13th, with Colorado beating Alabama; and the Sun Bowl would be played in El Paso on the 20th, with Nebraska beating Georgia. But no bowl games were played on the 18th. It was baseball's off-season, so there were no games in that sport, either.

There were no games played in the American Basketball Association that day, and there was only one NBA game: The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 114-112, at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, on the Georgia Tech campus. The Hawks played at the "Thrillerdome" from their 1968 move from St. Louis until the 1972 opening of The Omni.

And there was only one NHL game played that day: The Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues played to a 3-3 tie, at the St. Louis Arena. Those same teams would oppose each other in that season's Stanley Cup Finals: On May 10, 1970, Bobby Orr scored in overtime of Game 4 to give the Bruins a sweep, and their 1st Stanley Cup in 29 years.