Songs That Characterized the 70s #3 Quiz

Answer: Summer

"Summer Breeze" was perhaps the biggest hit amongst many great songs for Jim Seals and Dash Croft. They were one of the most popular soft rock duos of the 70s, particularly in the earlier stage of the decade. By 1980 their popularity had declined and their label dropped them. After that, they buggered off to devote time to Baha'i religion, which the duo had converted to in 1969.

Answer: Bottle

'Time in a Bottle' was a great success for Jim Croce in a short career that was full of hits. Croce died in a plane crash while on tour, but his music went on topping the charts for years after. He was one of an elite club of artists that gained substantial popularity posthumously.

Answer: Johnny Nash

'I Can See Clearly Now (the rain has gone)' was a huge hit for Jonny Nash in 1972. The multi-talented Nash was most influential through the 50's and 60's and would record chart toppers in ska, reggae, blues and rock. He retired from performing in the late 70's.

Answer: Don McLean

Roberta Flack made it into the big league well after she had already released two albums. Both had been mildly received. 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your face' was used in the soundtrack for the movie 'Play Misty for Me' and the song became a hit well after the initial release. Flack grew from strength to strength and was one of the leading female vocalists during the 70's.

Answer: Stevie Nicks

Nicks wrote the beautiful 'Rhiannon' when she and Lindsey Buckingham were a song writing duo trying to crack into the market. Near destitute, they were introduced to Mick Fleetwood and John McVie who were looking to move Fleetwood Mac more towards mainstream soft rock. Both were hired and Fleetwood Mac now had guitarist capable of melody and a vocalist with an incredibly atmospheric voice.

It's a true rag to riches story.

Answer: Steely Dan

'Reelin' in the Years' from Steely Dan's album 'Can't Buy a Thrill' was just one of many great songs that made this LP one of the best of the early 70's.

Answer: Reminiscing

Australian band LRB formed in 1975 with one goal in mind, to break into the American market. No Australian band had managed to do this large scale. The breakthrough came later that year with the LP 'Diamantina Cocktail' which featured hit singles 'Help Is On It's Way' and 'Happy Anniversary.' The LP went gold and by 1978 LRB were one of the top five acts in America. Oddly enough, they never hit the same heights in Australia.

Answer: Carly Simon

'Nobody Does It Better' is arguably the most successful of all the Bond songs. Notables such as Captain and Tennille, Julie Andrews and Aimee Mann have covered it. The Carly Simon release charted in the U.S. for 15 weeks straight, reaching as high as number two.

Answer: "Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields"

Did you know the Rolling Stones named themselves after the Muddy Waters tune 'Rollin' Stone Blues?'

Answer: Thin Lizzy

Guitar heavy Thin Lizzy could never quite repeat the success of 'The Boys Are Back In Town,' despite containing influential band members such as Gary Moore, Midge Ure, Phil Lynott, Eric Bell and John Sykes.

Answer: Sailing the bay

Lou Reed moved away from the Velvet Underground as a solo act with the release of 'Transformer.' Long time friend David Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson shaped the album. It was to become one of the most influential albums of the 1970's.

Answer: Billy Joel

The lyrics are from the song 'Just The Way You Are.' Inspired by the Beatles to become a full time musician, Billy Joel divided his time between the unlikely combination of piano lessons and boxing. Another interesting story about Billy Joel was that his 1971 album 'Cold Spring Harbour' was released a couple of tape speeds to fast, an error that wasn't corrected until 1984. If you thought his voice was unusually high on that album, you were right.

Answer: Dr. Hook

Dr. Hook's 1973 album 'Belly Up' was remarkably accurate. The band went broke and filed for bankruptcy soon after its release. With a new record deal with Capitol, the follow-up album 'Bankruptcy' had enough currency to relaunch the band to be one of the leading acts of the late 1970's.

Answer: "But February made me shiver"

In terms of commercial success, McLean's career has been a roller coaster. From the highs of songs such as 'Vincent' and 'And I Love Her So' he experienced as many lows. McLean purposely avoided being cast in a style category.

Answer: Bohemian Rhapsody

The wife of a king is indeed our song author 'Queen.' A complete disregard to convention, in the literary or artistic sense is a 'bohemian' and of course a 'rhapsody' is an irregular composition, as is the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'