Forty years ago this week, the biggest hit of the summer of 1969 debuted on the Billboard Top 40. Two weeks later, it hit No. 1, remaining at the top of the charts for six weeks, including the week that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

We speak not of anything by The Beatles or Rolling Stones — they also had No. 1 hits that summer — but of a gonzo slab of sci-fi folk-rock sung by two Nebraskans, (Denny) Zager and (Rick) Evans entitled “In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus).” (Yes, that was the song’s full title, but it’s doubtful DJs ever called it that.)
The song, written by Evans, seems oddly contemporary. It decried how man’s technological and medical innovations would lead to our ultimate extinction some 10,000 years hence. Hip critics dismissed it as “Future Schlock,” but it sold 20 million copies.
Evans is still in the music business, while Zager builds custom guitars at zagerguitar.com. When you log on there, you’ll be greeted by “In the Year 2525” — you also can call up a groovy video of the duo performing in 1969, just in case you ever wondered what these one-hit wonders looked like.