Girl Groups of the Sixties Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Chiffons

The Chiffons, another of girl groups so popular in the early 1960s, took "He's So Fine" to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in for four weeks in April 1963. The record was a hit in the UK and reached number sixteen while in Australia the song made the top thirty.

The Chiffons had a couple of other top ten hits, "One Fine Day" and "Sweet Talkin' Guy". "He's So Fine" was of course at the centre of the lawsuit against George Harrison claiming he used part of the melody for his 1970 hit "My Sweet Lord".

Answer: The Poni Tails

The Poni Tails from Cleveland Ohio hit the charts in 1958 with "Born Too Late". The record made it all the way to number seven on the top 100 and number five on the UK chart. In Australia "Born Too late" made the top twenty in 1959.
The group failed to crack the top fifty with any of their future releases.

Answer: The Cookies

The Cookies had their first hit in 1962, when "Chains" reached number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100. They followed that with their biggest hit in 1963 with "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" a top ten peaking at seven. Two more chart entries in 1963 - "Will Power" and "Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys Do" then they vanished from the charts. Cookies member Earl-Jean had a hit in 1964 with "I'm Into Something Good". "Chains" was covered by the Beatles who liked the girl groups and "I'm Into Something Good" was the first UK number one for Herman's Hermits.

All the hits mentioned above were written by Jerry Goffin and Carol King.

Answer: The Jaynetts

The Jaynetts were a one hit wonder. This group from New York was made up of girls from various other groups. Their only hit was "Sally Go Round the Roses" and although the words are nonsensical and the melody very basic this record thrived due to clever arrangement and careful overdubbing of voices.

The song made number two on Billboard's Hot 100 and number three on the Cashbox but the Music Vendor had the record at number one. The record did not chart in Australia or the UK. In Australia however, local group The Questions, featuring Doug Parkinson, covered the song and made the top twenty in Australia during 1967.

The Jaynetts did not have another song make the Hot 100.

Answer: The Shirelles

The Shirelles were the most successful girl group of the early Rock 'n' Roll era (1955-1963). "Soldier Boy" was their second number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, having first scored the top spot in 1960 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". The Shirelles also had top ten hits with "Dedicated to the One I Love", "Mama Said", "Foolish Little Girl" and "Baby It's You".

The latter was covered by the Beatles on their first album "Please Please Me" along with another Shirelles original "Boys".

"Soldier Boy" only reached number 33 in Australia and number 23 on the UK chart.

Answer: The Ronettes

"Be My Baby" was a number two for the Ronettes on the Billboard Hot 100 but the Cashbox listed it as a number one. The record was a top ten in Australia and the UK. Since its release the record has been used in countless movies according to Ronnie Spector's' biography "Be My Baby".

I checked on IMDB and count 25 movies but that's enough. The record, produced by Phil Spector, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Ronettes had other hits: "Baby I Love You" and "Walkin' In the Rain" were the most successful.

Answer: The Supremes

The Supremes made the top of the Billboard Hot 100 yet again, this time with "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The record was number one for two weeks in November 1966. In the UK the Supremes made it to number eight and in Australia it only reached number 45.

The song however did not fade away. In late 1967 English Rockers Vanilla Fudge took their reworked version of the song to number eighteen on the UK chart, 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and again in 1968 to number six. In August of 1968 Vanilla Fudge took the song to number one in Australia.

In 1987 Kim Wilde took her version to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Australian charts. In the UK, her home charts, the song was a number two hit.

The Supremes had twelve number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100. They were "Where did Our Love Go", "Baby love" and "Come See About Me" all in 1964,
"Stop! In the Name of Love", "Back in My Arms Again" and "I Hear A Symphony" in 1965, "You Can't Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1966.
"Love Is Here And Now You're Gone" and "The Happening" were in 1967,
"Love Child" in 1968, and their last number one in 1969 was "Someday We'll Be Together" with the Temptations.

The Supremes were the most successful girl group of all time. In the rock era no other girl group was close to them and only the Andrews Sisters, earlier in the twentieth century, approached their fame and popularity.

Between 1938 and 1951 The Andrews Sisters placed 91 songs on the Billboard charts with five number ones and three number twos. Together with Bing Crosby they are credited with another twenty two charted songs. Their biggest was 1945's "Rum and Coca Cola".

Answer: The Crystals

Written by Gene Pitney "He's a Rebel", credited to the Crystals went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1962. The song was actually recorded in Los Angeles by The Blossoms who sang background on many Phil Spector productions. He released the record and credited the Crystals in order to be on the market before the version recorded by Vicki Carr hit the stores. Vicki Carr's version of "He's A Rebel" did not make the Billboard Hot 100 but was a top ten hit in Australia.

Between March 1962 and August 1963, the Crystals had their five biggest hits, "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "He's Sure The Boy I Love", "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me".

Answer: The Shangri-Las

The Shangri-Las were an all-girl group from Queens in New York, who hit the charts in April 1964 with "Remember (Walking in the Sand)". Later in 1964 they released "Leader of the Pack" which went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The record went to number one in Australia and eleven in the UK. In the UK it was reissued in 1972 and climbed up to number three, then again reissued in 1976 where it made number seven. This made "Leader of the Pack" one of those rare recordings to sell a million copies in a country and never get to number one.

"Give Him A Great Big Kiss" and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" were the only other recordings by this group to make a significant impact on the charts.

Answer: The Dixie Cups

Chapel of Love" a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the Dixie Cups. The record made the top twenty in both the UK and Australia. I do not particularly like this song, but millions do as the record has sold in excess of three million copies, more I guess, if you include its inclusion on compilation albums. The song appears to have been played at every wedding I have attended since 1964. The Dixie Cups had two other top twenty hits, "People Say" in 1964 and "Iko Iko" in 1965.

Answer: The Paris Sisters

"I Love How You Love Me" made the charts in 1961 for the Paris Sisters. The record reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty in Australia. The record did not chart in the UK, although a cover version by Jimmy Crawford made the top twenty. The Paris Sisters followed with "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" which made the top thirty. Their later releases did not trouble the charts.

Answer: The Exciters

"He's Got the Power" was the second hit for the Exciters, reaching 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963 but a top ten in Australia. This was a follow up to their 1962 breakthrough hit, "Tell Him". "Tell Him" raced to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top ten for five weeks in early 1963. The Exciters lived up to their name with their onstage performances which were pretty wild for the early sixties. Their follow up hits languished at the bottom of the Hot 100. However, their original version of "Do-Wah-Diddy" was reworked and retitled by Manfred Mann to "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and became a worldwide number one hit in 1964.

Note: Although the Exciters were primarily an all-girl group they did feature a male member from time to time.

Answer: Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas had their biggest hit when "Dancing in the Street" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. This popular group had other top ten hits such as "Jimmy Mack", I'm Ready for Love", "Quicksand", "Heat Wave" and "Nowhere to Run". In all this wonderful girl group placed 25 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1963 through 1971. In 1987 "Nowhere to Run" was included in the film "Good Morning Vietnam", the subsequent soundtrack album was a number one in Australia. Due to the soundtrack's popularity "Nowhere to Run" was re-released and made the top twenty in Australia again.

Note: Both, "Heat Wave" and "Jimmy Mack" were number one hits on the Billboard R&B chart.

Answer: The Marvelettes

"Playboy" was number seven hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the Marvelettes in 1962. The group was responsible for Motown's first number one pop hit, when "Please Mr Postman" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1961. The group had another top ten in 1966 with, "Don't Mess With Bill". They placed 24 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s.

Answer: The Velvelettes

The Velvelettes hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 with "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at 45. The follow up single "He was Really Sayin' Somethin'" only reached 64 on the Hot 100. Their legacy is that their first single "Needle in a Haystack", was recorded by the Australian group the Twilights which gave them their first top ten and propelled them to stardom. Lead singer Glenn Shorrock later joined Axiom, Australia's first supergroup, then became lead singer for the Little River Band.

The Velvelettes' second single, "He was Really Sayin' Somethin'" was recorded in 1982 by girl group Bananarama as "Really Sayin' Somethin'" which was a UK top ten for the group.