1-Hit Wonder Was #1 for 6 Weeks & Sold 5 Million…Then the Band VANISHED FOREVER! | Professor of Rock
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- čas přidán 17. 04. 2024
- Coming up, it’s a duo from Lincoln, Nebraska - Zager & Evans - who spellbound listeners everywhere with a prophecy that there will come a time when machines will completely take over…. humans won’t need teeth…legs…or eyes….that’s if man can even survive…
The story of “In the Year 2525” a truly strange song that foretold the future of mankind- more than 500 years from now that this band recorded in the middle of a cow pasture and sold out of the trunk of their cars that went to #1 for 6 weeks and sold 5 million copies. The craziest part is that after the massive success, it’s as if aliens abducted them because the band just vanished… Never heard from again. The story of Zager & Evans is next on Professor of Rock.
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#classicrock #60smusic #vinylstory #onehitwonder
Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock, always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If you remember when a payphone used to cost a dime! You’re going to love this channel of deep musical nostalgia make sure to subside below right now.
It’s time for another edition of our series Bottled Lightning where we celebrate a song or album that was king for a day. Here we honor artists and bands and that rocketed up the charts… but for reasons unknown weren’t able to sustain that success. Called by some ‘one hit wonders’, we celebrate them instead as lightning in a bottle… So I have two words for you... “Exordium & Terminus”….. A Latin phrase that means ‘beginning & end was attached as the mysterious parenthetical tag for one of the most fascinating bolts of bottled lightning baked into a disc of vinyl …..”In the Year 2525, by Zager & Evans: Written by Rick Evans, the ballad drew inspiration from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," painting a vivid picture of a future ensnared by humanity's reliance on technology. This dystopian narrative echoed themes of the Russian-born American, Ayn Rand's philosophy, portraying a bleak world where individuals' autonomy was STRIPPED AWAY!
In the grim reality of Rick’s song, behavior, words, and even thoughts, will be programmed into a daily pill, eliminating the very essence of free will and individual identity. You know, it's kind of surprising. Zager & Evans cooked up one of the most interesting singles of '69, but they never really became a big deal. Instead, they pulled off one of the greatest vanishing acts in the history of rock. They soared to the top of the charts with a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 that held strong for six weeks straight. But after that, they just sort of faded into obscurity and never returned to the Hot 100. So What happened?
Denny Zager and Rick Evans came from the land of the Cornhuskers…. Lincoln, Nebraska. The two met at Nebraska Wesleyan University in ‘61. Denny was searching for a guitarist for a group he wanted to assemble, named the Eccentrics. His vision for the band was something like a Simon & Garfunkel vibe. He saw Rick performing at a talent show at the University and invited him to be part of his new group. - Zábava
Poll: Straight up...What is your pick for the COOLEST One Hit Wonder of all time?
Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum
If I must pick one, I'll pick Come on Eileen--Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Derek and the Dominoes - Layla
Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
Santo and Johnny - Sleepwalk
Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525
In late 1969 or early 1970 we had a meeting in the music room at Louisville Nebraska grade school. Amazingly in walked Zager & Evans. They sang In the Year 2525 and Cary Lynn Javes, two songs from their album. It turns out our music teacher Mr. Rumbaugh was their vocal coach and they kindly came to our little town of 1200 people to sing for us. What an extraordinary day it was!
Nice!
Very cool
Sweet.
That is really cool. As an 8 year old when ‘In The Year 2525’ came out, the song kinda creeped me out, but I still loved it. One of my favorites from my childhood.
Wow! Very cool.
I won a bucket of Kentucky fried Chicken on AM radio in "69" at 11 yrs of age. The DJ said "I'll take the first caller who can tell me who sings In The Year 2525" I Got It 🎉
Cool!
I wonder how many people guessed Simon & Garfunkel.
That's cool
@@scottmcneely1927 🤣🤣🤣
VERY COOL! I would have gotten it too.
I remember hearing Art Bell often playing this song on his radio show Coast to Coast - It was a perfect song for his show!
“Down in a spin
I gave you love, I thought that we
Had made it to the top
I gave you all I have to give
Why did it have to stop?”
I miss Art Bell so much…
As far as "one hit wonders" go; this and "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum will always be with me. I was eight when this came out and I couldn't get enough of it on the AM radio. Thank you Zager and Evans!
I agree. Good call!
@@ProfessorofRockI love this song! My favorite version was record by The Stovall Sisters, the background singers from the original.
The Stovall Sisters will take you to church!
Have a look at Evol Walks awesome cover of Spirit In The Sky if you haven't already.
You could add: Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie. In the Gadda da Vida. Let it Be. Sympathy for the Devil. There were a few more.
Yes!
First time I heard “2525” I was over in Viet Nam. The ship I was on was docked in Da Nang harbor. I had a transistor radio I was listening to and all of a sudden this song came on and I was mesmerized by the way it started and then the tempo increased and they started to sing. I was glued to the radio, listening to every word they sang and the structure of the chords they played. Playing the guitar myself, I tried playing the chords. Never could get them, though. So, when we came back to the states after the tour was over, I went to a music store and purchased the sheet music. I learned the song. After fifty+ years of playing the guitar, every once in a while I will pull the sheet music (which I still Have) out and play that song. It is one of my top songs I love to hear. I just wish I could afford one of Denny’s guitars. He’s been a luthier since 1969. Recently he handed the company over to his son and he is retiring from the business, it would be awesome to play “2525” on a Zager guitar.
Were you a Marine on LST 1167?
Welcome home!
@@Sechott12 I have an LST story! Many years ago I was friends with a man named Walter Riter who was in the Navy way before World War 2 and after World War 2. He was the captain of LSTs in WW2. I wrote a paper about his exploits. Here is one story.
The LST was designed by Great Britain, and the Navy sent Walter to Richmond CA to inspect them being built in the USA.
Walter studied the plans and asked the contractor: "What space is this?" The contractor replied by saying "The pub sir."
Walter replied "We don't have pubs on Navy ships, make it a break room."
My wife, who is from Vietnam, we are going to retire to Cam Rahn Bay in a couple of years. The move will be permanent. We have some land near the Vietnamese naval station, which used to be ours during the Vietnam war.
No Marine. I was in the Navy and I was a Third Class Quartermaster. That’s navigation of the ship and not a supply officer, like the other services.
Thank you for doing this! I am 70 years old and I was 16 years old when this song came out… Still one of my favourite songs of all time. Definitely deserves a lot more respect than it gets. Again thanks so much.
As soon as you said " That's if man could survive", I instantly thought of this song. One of those really eclectic songs that if you know about it, you never forget it. I also love that Futurama did a tribute to it in one of their episodes (The Late Philip J. Fry).
Great pick, Professor!
I forgot to mention that! Ugh. Sorry.
@@ProfessorofRock No worries. I always love when that episode shows up.
I used to watch Futurama!
Greatest one hit wonders ever. Better yet, a song unlike any other #1.
NO song like it. Exactly right!
It kinda freaks me out as he gets further & further into the future, knowing we will be gone for THOUSANDS of years at that time... and the reverb & just the atmosphere of his vocals are chilling. 😧
Something In the Air by Thunderclap Newman (UK nr. 1) also comes to mind...
Greatest ever? Bit of a stretch.
Considering how unique and timeless this piece has to be, I would have to disagree with you. @EricMySelf990
I was 12 in 1969 and bought this on a 45. Loved it then, and still do 😊 at 67! And the bleak dystopian times were not back in 1969, but now, in 2024😮!
To hold #1 for 6 weeks, 11% of the year 1969- with so many, many historic songs released, is beyond spectacular. I wish there was a way to convey the mood of America when Woodstock was put on. The divisiveness, the optimism mingled with despair, the dawning of a new era while still in the old. When I went to school, the other students spoke of 'when we overthrow the establishment', as if it was a foregone conclusion; cities being burned while the radio played, in my opinion, the most innovative, original music; while technology just put a man on the moon . . . it was bizarre. 2525 was a 'hub' song of that year, the song that encompassed the dark side of technology in a warning that tech does not always lead to bigger/better/best. What a year, I don't think there will ever be another like it.
That’s because they created a song that is so memorable that people will remember it until the day they die.
Bizzare. Not a bazar.
Bizarre
yeh hard to believe was no 1 that many weeks 69 more than the beatles of the many hits they had equally eerie prediction in britain mag. special 2000 millineum edition arthur c. clarke talks about how the internet will change everything as it progresses and the rise of a.i. already in military capabilities once into ordinary civilian life will determine the future of technology in all sectors of life as we know it he wrote 24 years ago
@@matthewkern3619 Thanks, but have you ever BEEN to bazar . . .
This is such an amazing song. Always loved it and the ominous prophecy it tells.
Thank you for choosing this song Professor!
Thanks for watching my friend!
I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s 40 miles from Lincoln and went to school there in the early 80’s and had no idea these guys were from Lincoln.
Isn't that cool? The more you know!
Thanks, Adam. I always learn things from this site. Keep up the great work!
I would have never guessed.
I won’t lie when I say that some of the lyrics make my blood curdle a little bit anytime I hear it. But, I still think it’s one of the most well written songs of 1969 in my opinion.
Thanks Evan!
In reality the song POF'S Description was written closer to early 1960's late 1950's had just rolled by. This is a stronger achievement. How much we acquire each year, decade.
Same.
This song came out when I was 9 years old. I thought it was fascinating and it got me interested in reading science fiction. Zager & Evans are responsible for my delving into the works of Ray Bradbury, Arthur Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon and many others. Thanks, Professor, for your lovely tribute to the song and its prescient creators.✌🏻
As a science-fiction-reading kid in the late 60's, I memorized this song from listening to the 45 over and over and over and over and over... :-)
How about the one hitter 'Classical Gas', by Mason Williams? That was a pretty big hit and I think it was a one hitter and Williams won three Grammy's for it!!
There are youngsters right now asking: Pay phone? What's that?
Several years ago, I asked a flight attendant if the airport still has a payphone. She scribbled on piece of paper, asked me "Explain what is paid phone?" and handed me the paper on which she had written "paid phone."
Clark Kent changed his clothes in a phone booth and became Superman.
Jim Croce referred to the 10 cent phone call in his song Operater 😊
@@catherine6653The Turtles also referenced investing a dime in Happy Together
😊 @@Lam_3-22-23
@@catherine6653 The Turtles' "Happy Together" (which was featured by POR) includes the lyric "if I should call you up, invest a dime..." P.S. Sorry, Lam, I posted that before seeing your reference to that!
I remember hearing this as a little a little kid when it came out and it had such a haunting sound. Great song.
Thanks Michael!
I remember hearing this on the radio when I was little too. I’d sing along but it was so melancholy, ominous
It is very unsettling.
I remember hearing this song on a program called Psychedelic Sunday, in 1985 when I was about 12 and I like how the numerals go up, with each verse. Of course, the key modulation also helps increase the intensity and urgency of the song as it goes on.
When I was little (late 70’s) there was an oldies station that would play this song pretty often. I loved it. It fit right into my sci-fi loving brain. Years later, I read Brave New World and immediately thought of this song. I had no idea there really was a connection.
I have not heard this song for DECADES! 😮
Likewise! :D
...just wait 501 more Years, it'll be EVERYWHERE! ...ha-HAA!
Go listen! It's awesome!
@@RBS_ Ha ha!
@@RBS_ - I don't doubt it; we remember Prince's song "1999", In The Year 1999, right? 😄
I guess after 5-6 centuries, knowledge and memory of the song could wain and be forgotten, unless technology is so stupidly good that they find a way to bring all those old songs/movies/video games/etc. back. They'd probably have a lot of fun there! ...Unless the machines are doing the fun for them...
I mean, look at A.I. and look at social media. We gotta be careful.
In 1969, I was 16 years old and what a time to be alive. The world really was always seconds from destruction. As Barry McGuire said Eve of Destruction. Books like Brave New World and 1984 were must reads.
I was 15, and this song was kinda scary. It made me wonder about the future, anyway. It brings to mind the episode of Doctor Who at the end of the universe.
One of the GREATEST songs of all time.
Same with Games People Play by Joe South
Or Let’s Make the Water Turn Black by Frank Zappa
I haven't heard this song in years, but I always love to hear the story behind some of these classics. "In the Year 2525" is a very unusual song. The period between the 1960s and 1980s was a fascinating time in world history and it seems musicians were very philosophical and deep in their outlook - can we honestly say that about any of today's singers and songwriters?
Love this episode. I was just a child when I first heard this song. I was in to The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits and love the eerie, moody style of this song. Definitely a classic! It should be played much more often on classic rock stations.
Same thing here
Do stations still take requests?😉
restaurant today had on classic rock station on by coincidence came on
If you remember staring at your KISS records for hours as you played them over and over, you might like this channel.
Shit, I still do that!
Nah..The monkeys…❤
I hated Kiss!
@@jeffreyklebert4106 they were my generations marvel comic characters that rocked.
Was born in 64, can't recall when I first heard it (6yrs?) but it freaked me out a little. For some reason I understood exactly what they were talking about.
Now, w/AI and robotics, and kids raised on smartphones, their vision may come well ahead of 2525
I couldn't think anything when I first heard this on the radio when I was a country kid in the 70s, it was like being swept up by a UFO. The frantic increase in pitch and tempo of the song as the millennia whirled by and technology detached us further and further from our organic roots. The crescendo of human disbelief and agony in the lyrics, damm, it was too real to even call it "science fiction". This wasn't lightning in a bottle, more a thunderstorm with tornado warnings in a bottle, One of my all time favorite and memorable first-listen experiences !
I was 10 yrs old and remember this song being so haunting. And I wanted to know every word! It was truly a thrilling time to be alive.
So did I then not long after in 1976 Logan’s Run Sci Fi movies, Ray Bradbury I ate it up.
I was 12 when this came out. My cousin's and I were fascinated by the lyrics. They were ahead of their time.
I live in Lincoln and so do my parents. My mother told me that she was eating at a local restaurant and my dad pointed Denny Zager out to her. I was hoping you would eventually cover this song. I think its surprisingly relevant for what is going on in the world today.
For sure!
I've been a HUGE SciFi fan all of my life. When that song came out it felt like it was written for me and all of the other nerds. I don't think anyone has or ever will do anything even close.
Me too! Even at 65 I wish their were off the rack “space clothing” you can wear daily.
@@beekeepermariadelgado6806 YES!! Space Family Robinson Eveningwear! Ooohhhh.......Shiney.........
Released July 1969 i was between 8th and 9th grade. I remember this song!
July 16th Apollo 11 took off for the moon. I was with my mom, dad & brother in Florida . We watched it liftoff on my cousin's color tv. We were 50 miles away from Cape Kennedy. We ran out into the front yard & saw the flame of Apollo 11 fifty miles away.
10th grader here. Key song for our generation
That is so cool! Seeing the Apollo 11 IRL.
I had just celebrated my 15th birthday and was looking forward to my Junior year of h.s. Our family watched the launch on our black&white TV, and the “one small step for man….”
That was amazing to think they were actually on. the. moon!
@@marylamb7707 Loved your lamb. It's white as snow. I mentioned above, we protested Kamchitka testing, remember that? Up in the Aleutians.
That summer was a very historic time.
If you saw Apollo 11 take off live, even from a distance, you were very lucky. I live in Shipley, Yorkshire, England, and remember watching the moon landing on a TV in a shop window by a bus stop in the market square, on a rainy evening, going home from college. 2525 was haunting and a bit scary. It was played all over. I think his voice is beautiful, and always wondered what happened to Zager and Evans. What a great recording from a cowshed!
.
This song scared the hell out of me when I was growing up. Those dates seemed so much closer when I was a kid, and the phrase, "If man is still alive," terrified me. Yet I loved the song.
Ha ha! Thanks for sharing my friend.
That line worries me as we will eventually become extinct!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Right?? It's not like we'll be there, but still.
You’re a great story teller. I enjoy someone who can talk about the music from my era (65-75) acurately and enthusiastically. Keep doing it
I was a small kid when that song came out. My parents played it a lot. Always scared the crap out of me. I played it to my daughters when they were small. It struck them as well. Glad I was able to pass this gem down.
When I was a kid in the 70's my parents had this record on a 45 rpm single.. I remember hearing it many times.. I was surprised to hear you cover this almost forgotten tune.. Thank you
Might very well be the most classic "one hit wonder" of all time! I really liked this song when it came out, despite it's very bizarre and "creepy" vibe. A few years ago, this song popped back into my head, and I did a little CZcams dive to listen to it again after all these years. I found the lyrics to be amazingly and disturbingly prescient, these guys were truly ahead of their time.
Reminds me of That Thing You Do! The Wonders
The lyrics are really stark to this day.
From Wikipedia:
Zager now builds custom guitars at Zager Guitars in Lincoln, Nebraska.[6][7]
Evans largely retired from public life but he continued to chat online with Dalton and his best friend, Nashville producer Gary Earl, until his death in February 2018.[citation needed]
Drummer Dave Trupp died in November 2015 at the age of 72.[8]
Mark Dalton still performs on bass in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.[
This song and a Boy Named Sue will forever be tied to the week I spent in New Hampshire fishing off the coast with my uncle and cousin I was 11 at the time. Those two songs were constantly being played on the radio while we were fishing. Every time I hear it I’m reminded of that very special week.
I remember my mom saying she thought this song to be inappropriate for kids of my age! It was a difficult song to wrap my head around. At the age of 8 thinking that time would pass, with or without permission and our ingenuity driving it foreword. Years later I saw my dad close his Motorola flip phone and realized that action I had seen on Star Trek years earlier, I knew this song was indeed on point albeit a little slower in progression than this song proposes! I see all of the science fiction as “possible”! Love the music, love the show! Keep on rockin!!!
This tune has to represent the pinnacle of an era.
I remember hearing this song for the first time as a kid. My father always had the "oldies" station on the radio. The first time I Heard this, it scared me to think of time and technology that way. I was too young to really comprehend but old enough that the song made me think about it!
Needless to say, I was hooked ever since! I would wait to hear it again and again. When it came on, I would stop what I was doing and let the song take me on that journey of a future that might be! Considering what they were singing and trying to imagine a world like that. Scary stuff, but I couldn't help but listen! And I still do. And I still imagine. And it still scares me.
I was 9 and obsessed with this song! Also, somewhere around that time we went to a fair in Leo, Indiana where we bought They're Coming to Take Me Away directly from Napoleon XIV and ... the trunk of his car!I Always on my bike, the year before I came across the Ohio Express practicing their Yummy Yummy song in the open garage of a nearby house.
A song that stands alone, for its lyrics envoking the listener to think. Very catchy tune makes your toe tap and listen closer to the words so you can sing along. I was born in 68 so too little to remember it coming out but from the first time I heard it on the radio I loved it !
It makes us think of what’s gonna happen in a few decades!
Man, it's been a long time! When I was a teen in the 80s I used to be so proud of myself for knowing all the words.
Did you write them down or just memorize it?
@@ProfessorofRock I just listened to it so many times I knew it by heart!
Did the vinyl sleeve come with lyrics?
Denny Zager used to sell easy fret Zager guitars. My son wanted one, but I was never able to afford one.
He still sells them.
My mom had the original 45 record from the 60s. I used to go through her collection and listen to everything and stumbled upon this gem around 1978. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard and I used to listen to the song over and over. Truly a one-of-a-kind hit.
I also liked digging through my parents' record collection and kept a stack of the ones I listened to most often. I just checked and yep, "In the Year 2525" is there, sandwiched between "Eve of Destruction" and "Sounds of Silence." What a melancholy trio.
I knew right away from your description that is under the video what song you were talking about before you began to speak. It's kinda scary when you think about how close to truth these lyrics have come so far. I have a LOT of one hit wonders in my music, but this is my #1. There are some that are close, but this one is hands down a great song. We will all be long dead when 2525 rolls around. I wonder what the world will be like in that year. Maybe we're better off not knowing. I had to check when this came out, and in 1969 I was 10.
As always, PROFESSOR, you are....SPOT ON!!! I remember hearing this song during the movie Gentlemen Broncos and I was like "What the hell is that song?!?!" and then listened to it on CZcams about a thousand times and thought..... "That is kind of AWESOME...."....
I think I was 42 at the time.
Good music gets you when it can ..... and you never know when that is!!
Only 500 years before it’s time. Something tells me they knew the date, but changed 2025 to 2525 because it flows better.
Consider that possibility, then prophetic nature of the song becomes very real and timely.
As a kid, I took this song seriously. It still has that eerie, haunting resonance it did back in the day.
Good point.
Right!
Have all three Zager and Evan’s albums! They’re awesome!
How well I remember how this song took the world by storm in '69, surely a year of impact, as you so aptly stated. So I had to buy the album as soon as it came out, and I still listen to it often. The production and arrangements are spectacular. Thanks for this!
Thanks for watching!
The song is just so eerie!
Wow Zager & Evans!!!!!
There it is! You a fan?
That one still puts a chill down my spine. Thanks Professor
Thanks for watching!
14 when the song hit the charts, now I am 67, yet all these years later the song, "2525," still reverberates in my mind as I ponder the future, and where we are headed.
I have loved this song since I was a child. The melody mesmerizes me, and the lyrics are profound. I knew nothing of the band and really enjoyed your sharing their history with us.
I've always appreciated how this track manages to include sci-fi concepts but is too catchy to be classified as a novelty. Definitely not forgotten since it was parodied very well by Futurama a few years ago.
"In the year one million and a half, humankind is enslaved by giraffe.
Man must pay for all his misdeeds. When the treetops are stripped of their leaves whoaaaa ohhhhh"
I am shocked. I am an avid music lover, but this is a #1 song that I have never heard in my life. I didn't just forget it, either. I remember a lot of oldies - including deep cuts that most forget. I am 51 yrs old, so maybe they didn't play it on the oldies stations by the time I was growing up. It's certainly an interesting song.
Oh man I had completely forgotten about this song. It’s so weird. I love it.
Hope you enjoy it!
Wow. This is a great episode. Been a long time since I've heard this one. Definitely prophetic. The 60s had some amazing songs. Thanks for the background on this one.
I loved that song when it was on the radio. So mod and futuristic.
Epic song. It got everyone's ear and imagination.
I’m from Lincoln, Nebraska and Zager and Evans were awesome! Local boys that did well. I don’t know what ever happened to Rick Evans but Denny Zager lives here in Lincoln and makes acoustic guitars, Zager Easy Play Guitars.
I believe that Zager and Evens tune 2525 came well before its time, seeing what is happening today, it is more fitting. It's a song that deserves to be remembered, I'd almost forgotten it. Thanks for bringing it back.
When I hear this song it reminds me of several other tunes from that time period, 1964 thru 1970.
Barry McGuire's tune "Eve of Destruction"
Quick Silver's cover of "Pride of Man" especially in reference to 2525
Steppenwolf's song "The Ostrich"
Buffalo Springfield's "For what it's Worth".
All of these tunes had both prophetic, spiritual, and political thrust.
What the future holds is unknown. Some of what was said in these tunes has come to pass, others, not yet, others maybe never. And so, let's hope, as they said; "Maybe somewhere it's only yesterday", not 9595.
Thanks Adam. I've been trying to forget about that song for decades and had finally succeeded. Until this morning. Argh!!!
RIP Dickey Betts!
You don’t like this song?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 As a youngster, I read every Sci Fi author I could get my hands on. That stuff was thought-provoking. This song was an insult to all of that. Not to mention that nearly all the topics covered in this pop nonsense are here now or coming in the next century or so. At least they would be, except Climate Change will end our species before then.
So, in short, my dear friend, Lilly, no. I detest it. Sci Fi makes lousy "pop music"
@@jstnxprsn I agree. We won’t live to 2525.
@@jstnxprsn Did someone pee in your Cheerios (TM) the day you were born, or what? Gloomy dude!!
I remember hearing this song in the car and was just mesmerized. I was a very young girl who's soul and heart was deeply touched. My imagination went wild as if transported to another world then brought back home.
Wow, learning he wrote this in 1964 and not 5 years later makes it even more intriguing. I wasn't even born yet when this came out but I feel like I'm living in that year when I listen. Like a time capsule song that's still scarily relevant today amongst the rise of nanny car tech and AI.
Thank you for covering this song. I loved it as a kid and it still sounds great 55 years later...wow!
I ran into Rick Evans in a University of Nebraska soriority house in the spring of 1973. He was appearing locally with his girl friend, Pam Herbert, and was planing to record an LP with her in Nashville. Zager founded a guitar company that seems to have been fairly successful.
So cool you ran into him!
That’s cool! Was he nice?
With my 1st hearing in 1969, I fell in love with "In The Year 2525". It was completely different than what was being released. I didn't consider it Rock but then didn't know how or where to place it. It's been years since I've heard it ... thank you, Professor, for rekindling this old gold!
This song brings me all the way to the summer of 1969, when I started my radio career. I loved that song so much that it has stayed in my memory ever since. Simply beautiful.
Thank you Adam! Once again you’ve come across a song that most people have never heard of. It’s amazing how a song that was such a huge hit has been all but forgotten. I loved this song from the first time I heard it. I just don’t think the world was ready for this style of music at that time. It’s definitely one of the most unique pieces of music I’ve ever heard. I had just finished reading Orwell 1984 when I first heard this song and it scared the 💩 out of me at the time. Funny how some things are starting to happen in today’s society.
Thanks!
I love This song! Creepy and cool all at the same time.
Just the fact that you know about this song is a testament to your profession! I've never even heard of this song and I'm usually very good at music trivia! I'm getting ready to listen to it for the first time.
When I heard it on the radio sometime in the 80s, it found a place in my nerdy scientific, science fiction soul.
Thank you for reminding me about this haunting masterpiece.
This always scared the crap out of me when it was played on an oldies radio station.
I can't remember the first time I heard this song at 12 years old, but I certainly remember how it made me feel at such an early age. I was a huge Star Trek fan from the age of 8 or so. This song and Star Trek is the reason I'm such a huge fan of culture, the future and science fiction involving space travel. They both took me to places that I could only dream of. And they both covered deep cultural subjects, one in a positive way and one in a terrifying way. They made me think a lot about people and how to get along with each other. When I think about it, it's incredible how much they shaped who I am today.
I immediately knew the song you were talking about and it brought back great memories of that time of my life. Thank you for covering it and thank you for giving them the tribute they deserve!
What a great song. It’s one of the first two 45’s I ever bought at the local Sears store as an 11 year old. I think my daughter got my copy and is playing it for my grandkids now.
I LOVED this song as a little kid when it came out
SO cool.
Yeah i was only 8 at the time but this song had a different feel compared to something like Sugar Sugar which was always on my little transistor radio that summer. Although i was a bit too young to totally grasped all of the lyrics this catholic boy knew most songs never mentioned God or the judgement day in such a eerie way. Always loved this song.
Ah! Ah! You listened! You finally covered it!!!
I did.
Sounds like I need to thank both of you!
In the Year 2525 is quite possibly my favorite song of the 60's. It is also more prevelent today than ever,
thanks to A.I.
I think this is the only #1 Song of the last 55 years that I am certain I have NEVER heard or heard of...I'm really stunned by the fact it was #1 for 6 weeks.
Their time travel visa expired shortly after the single, and they were forced to return to the future.
No better way to explain it!
Haha, that’s right!
Denny Zager has his own guitar company now.
A very successful one! Did you see it in a the video?
So we can buy guitars from him?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 There ya go. 😉
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980Zager Guitars.
It is fun to think that the concert attendees at Woodstock in 1969 weren't listening to Woodstock concert bands on the radio like Santana, The Grateful Dead, CSN&Y, Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, etc., etc., etc., they were listening to Zager and Evans and "In The Year 2525".
It makes we wonder how many other truly inspirational song ideas wafted into obscurity due to the creators lacking the conviction (and tenacity) to see the ideas reach vinyl.
Love that tune !
Someone put together a really good video. I watch it at least once a month.
Can you post a link?
Which one ? A music video?
What video?
2020 was the halfway point between 1515 and 2525. With 2020 being the Nightmare it was, and with 2525 being suggested as it was, I gotta wonder what 1515 was even like!
(just a Chris thought)
The plague?
Henry VIII of England was still a handsome young man, he and Catherine of Aragon were still happy and hoping for a son, after sadly losing their first, a teenage Anne Boleyn was being educated in Burgundy and possibly reading books which criticised the Catholic Church, in Germany, Martin Luther definitely was reading those books, but it was 2 years before he nailed his protests to the church door, Thomas Cromwell had just arrived back in England from the Continent, Thomas More was training as a lawyer, and Christopher Columbus was exploring that strange new world over the Atlantic. The Cabots were in Canada and Spain and Portugal were racing to find the riches of South America. There may have been plague, it was always somewhere then.
Thanks Professor...I've been waiting for this edition!
This song is brilliant in every way. I've played this song many times to younger generations and they always ask what it is. It certainly stands out on originality.
The way AI is going in 2024, I’d say by 2525 we’ll be at least at the place the song describes-if not farther.
I don't think we'll make it that far!
And then a billion years after that the earth will be no more.
Probably in the next 20 years AI will have taken over!
The lyrics are crazily prophetic. Maybe they were from the future to give us a warning....
Best comment ever. I think you are correct.
@@auntieclara1811 Well, the Prof did say they disappeared after.
Right?
It sounded like it.
Thanks Adam - I've finally got round to commenting on one of your videos! They're all very good; and I appreciate that you never hold back on expressing your emotions, when discussing songs and artists. Music evokes so many emotions. And I'm not ashamed to say, I often tear up when watching your videos - because of the music, your heartfelt words, and the sometimes tragic fates' of the performers being discussed.
And this song evokes so many emotions for me - particularly because it was still in the Australian top 20 when I was born, in October 1969. I specifically remember hearing it for the first time, when I was 4 or 5; but I'm sure I heard it when I was an infant. And, like many songs from the late-60s and early 70s, it evokes memories of my early childhood. "In the Year 2525" was a staple of AM radio down here, throughout the 1970s; and I heard it many times, from the backseat of a car, as my family drove around the then-sleepy suburbs of Melbourne.
By the time I was 7, I clearly understood the meaning of the song, and I was aware that we already lived in a complex, rapidly changing world, reflected in the pace of technological and social change. Humanity faced many challenges in that decade, and there was much to be concerned about, but it seemed like a much more optimistic time (perhaps that's merely because I was a child; but I don't think so). Sadly, the pessimistic outlook predicted in this song seems to have been accurate.
Whatever the case, one of the good things about current technology, is our ability to share information and music in this manner, no matter where we are in the world. Speaking of which, I'd like to direct you to the "Go Set" Australian charts website; "Go Set" was a music and pop culture newspaper, published weekly in Melbourne, from 1966 to 1974. The website has the top 40 album and singles charts from those years, as well as covers from various issues. It's a good reference for looking up songs; and perhaps you might get some inspiration for a future video.
I just heard this song a couple of weeks ago on A Classic TV Radio channel, while I was driving. I was mesmerized by the lyrics. It is truly hypnotic. Thanks for covering the story of this song and band. I appreciate it very much.
I remember that song! Used to love it as a kid, but did not have a good grasp on the meaning back then
Now in our almost dystopian world, it seems to make more sense!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Sure does. Prophetic
Amazing how perspicacious they were!!!
!
Qua
Got out the Websters for that one
What does that mean? 🧐
@@marktait2371 60s & 70s..
well done, thanks for covering this song.