Horn-heavy Pop Music Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yes

The musical group Earth Wind & Fire (EWF) was put together in 1969 in Chicago. Their horn-heavy music spans a variety of genres in pop music, and over the years they have been recognized with six Grammy Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, a Congressional Horizon Award, and a Kennedy Centre Honours award among many others.

Most of EWF's songs are very horn-heavy. That may be because they have actually had their own horn groups over the years. The first horn group that this band used was known as EWF Horns. That group was established in 1975 and stayed together to back the main band until 1983. At that time, they changed their name to the Phenix Horns and moved on to back other groups such as Phil Collins, the Chi-Lites, Ramsey Lewis, Deniece Williams and the Emotions. In 1987, a new horn group was established to back the main band. This new horn group is known as Earth, Wind & Fire Horns. Besides backing the main EWF group since they were established, the Earth, Wind & Fire Horns have also played on albums by Whitney Houston, MC Hammer, Norman Brown, puff Daddy, Lionel Ritchie, and Queen Latifah among others.

Answer: Flugelhorn

Chuck Mangione is a renowned jazz musician who was born in Rochester, New York. He learned how to play the trumpet at a young age, but eventually moved to the flugelhorn. The flugelhorn is a brass instrument that looks quite similar to a trumpet, but is slightly larger. It is usually tuned to B flat like a trumpet, but the flugelhorn has a much more mellow sound.

Mangione was a performer and a composer of jazz music. Although he wrote "Give it All You Got" (theme for the 1989 Winter Olympics) and the soundtrack for the film "The Children of Sanchez" starring Anthony Quinn, he is most famous for the song "Feels So Good". The single of that song was released in 1978. Despite being released at a time when most pop music had sing-along lyrics, the instrumental "Feels So Good" reached Number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 weekly chart, and Number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 yearly chart.

Answer: David Clayton-Thomas

The group Blood, Sweat & Tears (BST) was formed in 1967. The group has had a number of different lead singers over the years, but has always made a horn-heavy impression on the music of the day. David Clayton-Thomas was BST's second lead singer, with the first being Al Kooper. Clayton-Thomas was a Canadian vocalist with a powerful voice that matched all of the horns that backed him up.

He was also a songwriter who wrote some powerful horn music such as "Spinning Wheel" and "Lucretia MacEvil". On the first album that Clayton-Thomas appeared within the group, three singles went to Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

These include "You've Made Me So Very Happy", "Spinning Wheel", and "And When I Die". Each of these songs features a strong horn presence.

This album beat out the Beatles' album "Abbey Road" for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1970.

Answer: Chicago

All of the bands listed as options in this question are actual bands named after places in the US. However, Chicago is the only one that is named after a city that sits on the shore of Lake Michigan. When they formed in 1967, they started out calling themselves The Chicago Transit Authority, but shortened their name to Chicago in 1969. Their horns have accompanied them on most of their hits, including "If You Leave Me Now", "25 or 6 to 4", "Colour My World", and "Saturday in the Park". As with most larger bands, some of the musicians have changed over the years, but there have been a few core members who stuck with the band before retiring in 2018. The band continued after that with replacement members.

Chicago has received many honours over the years including induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2016), a Madison Square Garden "Gold Ticket Award" (for drawing over 100,000 people there over the years; 1977), City of Chicago Medal of Merit (1976), Grammy Hall of Fame (for The Chicago Transit Authority; 2014), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2020), five various Grammy Awards over the years, and two American Music Awards for Favourite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group (1977; 1986). As a side note, if you are into horn-heavy music, Chicago performed a concert in 2004 with Earth, Wind & Fire that is available on DVD.

Answer: Paul Simon

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed together off and on from 1956 through 2010. When they weren't together, Paul Simon wrote and recorded many hits as a solo artist, including a self-titled album, as well as albums "One Trick Pony", "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Graceland", "Songs from the Capeman", "You're the One", and "Stranger to Stranger". Although he doesn't use horns on every song, there are some singles that rely heavily on horn sections including "Late in the Evening" and "You Can Call Me Al". The video for "You Can Call Me Al" is quite funny. It features Chevy Chase sitting with Paul Simon, who remains silent for much of the song. Chase lip syncs all of Simon's parts. He also pretends to play the trumpet during the horn section.

Paul Simon has been presented with many honours over the years, including two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a group with Art Garfunkel in 1990, and as a solo artist in 2001). He has won over fifteen Grammy awards over the years, received the Kennedy Centre Honours (2002), was recognized with the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2007), as well as being named to a number of lists for his outstanding song writing and performing.

Answer: Piccolo trumpet

The Beatles recorded "Penny Lane" with the intention of including it on their "Yellow Submarine" album, but they released it as a single to meet their obligations to the record company. The song includes an instrumental section that is played by a piccolo trumpet, also known as a sopranino trumpet. Piccolo trumpets are the smallest member of the trumpet family.

They can be played in either B-flat or A keys depending on the size of the pipe that is used to fit the mouthpiece to the instrument. The actual tubing in the piccolo trumpet is half the length of a regular trumpet.

The piccolo trumpet solo on "Penny Lane" was played by David Mason.

Answer: Kool & the Gang

Kool & the Gang was formed in 1964, but didn't record their first album until 1969. Over the years, they have had success with a number of horn-heavy songs, including "Jungle Boogie", "Get Down on It", and "Celebration". Although there have been a few personnel changes over the years, Kool & the Gang has performed together well into the 21st century.

They have released over twenty studio albums, and over sixty singles since they came together in the 1960s. This horn-heavy band has also been honoured with a number of awards over the years, including multiple American Music Awards, Grammy Awards, the Soul Train Legend Award, the Marian Anderson Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2007, the band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and in 2018, some members were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Answer: Tusk

The band Fleetwood Mac released the album "Tusk" as well as a single of the same name in 1979. It seems that they enjoyed a drum riff that Lindsey Buckingham used during rehearsals and before recordings to ensure that his drum kit was set up the way he wanted.

The band took the riff and wrote the song around it by incorporating some vocals, and recruiting the University of Southern California's Trojan Marching Band to add horns and more drums. A mobile studio had to be installed in Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium because when the song was recorded, the marching band had 112 members, far too many to fit into a traditional recording studio. With the members of Fleetwood Mac added to the number in the marching band, this set a record for the most musicians ever to produce an audio recording on a single.

Answer: Genesis

From 1967 through 1975, Peter Gabriel was a member of the band Genesis. After completing the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" (1974) with Genesis, he started his solo career in 1975. The first four albums that he released on his own were simply titled "Peter Gabriel", but each had different tracks and a different photo on the front. On the fourth of these early albums, he recorded "Shock the Monkey".

This song is horn-heavy, and was the first of his singles to hit the US Billboard Hot 100 (it reached Number 29).

In 1986, Gabriel released his album entitled "So". The single "Sledgehammer" was on that album. That horn-heavy song won multiple awards, including nine MTV Video Music Awards, and MTV's number one animated video of all time. It also reached Number One on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as being in the top ten listing in twenty countries around the world.

Answer: Canada

Lighthouse was formed in Toronto in 1968. They had a lot of success in their home country of Canada. For example, the single "Feel So Good" was a hit in Canada, reaching Number five on the Canadian Content chart and Number 55 on the Canadian Top 100. Lighthouse was invited to perform at Woodstock in 1969, but they declined the invitation. Despite playing at multiple international music festivals, their music didn't seem to get the play time on international radio stations that they needed early in the band's existence.

In 1971, the band released the single "One Fine Morning". It was on the album of the same name. The horn-heavy music seems to have helped them break through the international barriers. It reached Number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart when it was released there. In 1972, Lighthouse released their next studio album "Sunny Days". The horn-heavy title track reached Number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart that year, further evidence that the band was accepted on the international stage.