Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Do these wishful lyrics bring back memories?
"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him two lips like roses and clover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream"
They were recorded by a quartet of young ladies out of Sheboygan, WI in 1954.
The group had been formed in 1946 and started getting noticed after appearing on the popular radio show "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" in 1949. What was the name of the group that took "Mr. Sandman" to Number One on the "Billboard" charts for seven weeks?
2. Back in 1959 there was a young man who felt like taking a trip. He mulled over his choices of places to visit and finally decided that he was (Going to) "Kansas City". He told himself:
"I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come
I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there and I'm gonna get me some".
Can you name this sight-seeing singer who took "Kansas City" to the top of the "Billboard" chart?
3. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's a blabbermouth. Obviously, the singer of "You Talk too Much" (1960) felt the same way, and put his feelings into words. Those words and his singing took the tune to the top five on the Billboard chart. Here's the way the bluntly put lyrics begin:
"You talk too much
You worry me to death
You talk too much
You even worry my pet
You just taaaaaaaalk
Talk too much!
Do you recall the name of the singer whose mate just went on and on (and on)?
4. I think it's accurate to say you don't hear all that many many songs penned about Gothic churches which have been open since 1093. Such was the case however, when in 1967, a group of British lads recorded "Winchester Cathedral". The song's writer, Gene Stephens, formed the group in 1966, and hired a Rudy Vallee type tenor named John Carter to be the lead singer on his novelty tune. What do you believe to be the moniker of this British band?
5. "Dancing in the Street" was a great bouncy, up-tempo song of the 1960s.
The opening lyrics could make you want to get on your feet:
Callin' out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancin' in the street
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
Dancin' in the street
The artists who performed it were one of the all-time greats, in fact they are inductees in two Halls of Fame. Can you remember who gave us this music, sweet music?
6. "In the cool of the evening when ev'rything is gettin' kind of groovy, I call you up and ask you if you want to go and meet and see a movie. First you say no, you've got some plans for the night. And then you stop, and say, all right. Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you". "Spooky" was a song with a great beat that went to number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in 1967. Who were the artists who took it there?
7. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as originally recorded ran for over seven minutes, so lots of luck getting it played on the radio. The artist realized the problem and then recorded "the radio version", which still ran a healthy 4:29. It was a stroke of genius, as the song became her best selling number and went on to sell over six million copies as it topped the charts in several countries. Who is the young songstress who was born Gaynor Hopkins better known as?
8. "Do You Love Me?" is a question frequently asked by insecure members of a relationship. It is also the title of a song that reached Number One on the "Billboard" R&B chart, and placed third on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in 1962. Penned by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame songwriter and founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordie, it sold over a million copies. The group that recorded it featured the booming voice of Billy Gordon, and was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame in 2010. Can you name them?
9. "La Bamba" (1958) was an iconic song which reached number 22 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. It was recorded by one of the first artists to successfully take a Spanish language song onto the mainstream American Rock & Roll scene. He was a member of The Silhouettes as a guitarist at the age of 16, and later their lead singer. Can you name this culturally important singer?
10. "The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early."
An so begins, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) the lengthy ballad about the final hours of the freighter which had been plying the Great Lakes for 17 years, before sinking November 10, 1975 in the storm tossed Lake Superior. The song was sung by the same man who wrote it. Can you fathom the name of that artist who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012?
Source: Author
paulmallon
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
ralzzz before going online.
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