Joeys of Pop Trivia Quiz

Answer: Peppermint Twist

"Well, we're gonna do a dance and goes like this" were the opening lines of "The Peppermint Twist", recorded by Joey Dee and the Starliters who were the house band at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. The record was a number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a top ten in the UK and Australia. Joey Dee and the Starliters starred in the movie "Hey Let's Twist", for which Joey wrote the title song.

The song was recorded on the album "Sweet Fanny Adams" by British glam rockers, The Sweet in 1974. Their Australian record company (RCA) released "Peppermint Twist" as a single and it went to the number one slot in late 1974.

Answer: The Chokin' Kind

Joe Simon charted 31 records on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1964 and 1976 with his best known song being "The Chokin' Kind", in 1969. That song won a Grammy for the best R&B male vocal at the 1970 awards. Joe Simon charted only once in the UK with "Step By Step" in 1973. He did not chart in Australia.

Answer: A Picture Of You

Joe Brown from Lincolnshire in England topped the UK charts in 1962 with "A Picture of You". The song written by John Beveridge and Peter Oakman, and has a country come rockabilly feel to it. The song made the top forty in Australia.
Joe Brown is highly respected by other musicians in the UK and was a close friend of George Harrison. The Beatles were a support act on a Joe Brown tour of England in 1962.

Answer: Shake Rattle and Roll

A rhythm and blues pioneer, Joe Turner scored a number one on the R&B charts in 1954 with "Shake Rattle and Roll".
"Shake Rattle and Roll" was a top ten pop hit in 1956 for Bill Haley and His Comets and later in 1967 a chart hit for Arthur Conley. Elvis Presley recorded the song and included it on his 1959 album "For LP Fans Only". Elvis's frantic version included verses from another Joe Turner hit, "Flip, Flop and Fly".
'Big' Joe Turner had a couple of hits on the Billboard Hot 100, "Corina, Corina" and "Honey Hush" in the late 1950s. Joe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 as a blues pioneer.

Answer: Black Slacks

"Black Slacks" was a top twenty hit for Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones in 1957.
The Sparkletones had another chart hit in 1957 with "Penny Loafers and Bobby Socks". Their subsequent singles failed to make the Hot 100 and the group disbanded in 1960.

Answer: Shaddap You Face

Although claimed by we Aussies as one of ours, Joe was born in Ohio USA.

Joe moved to Australia in his early thirties and settled in Melbourne. It was there he wrote and recorded "Shaddap You Face". The song was an instant hit going to number one in Australia, the UK and many other countries. To date the recording has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide.

Answer: Portuguese Washerwoman

"Portuguese Washerwoman" was a number twenty hit in the UK, number nineteen on the Billboard chart and number one in Australia in 1956, for Joe "Fingers" Carr.
Joe "Fingers" Carr, real name Lou Busch, was a honky tonk and ragtime style pianist popular in the late 1940s through to the end of the 1960s.

Apropos of nothing; as a boy of nine in 1956 I was fascinated by my auntie's collection of 78rpm records, one of which was "Portuguese Washerwoman"; my favourite song was the flipside of the record a tune called, "Lucky Pierre".

Answer: Over The Mountain; Across the Sea

Johnnie and Joe were a rhythm and blues/doo wop duet, who in 1957 recorded "Over The Mountain; Across the Sea". This was their biggest hit, climbing to number eight on the Billboard chart. The song was re-released in 1960 and a cover by Bobby Vinton charted in 1963. Johnnie and Joe soon faded from the scene as was the case with many early rock 'n' roll acts.

Answer: You Talk Too Much

Recorded in 1960 "You Talk Too Much" was a top ten hit for Joe Jones. The song was written by Fats Domino's brother-in-law, Reginald Hall. The record got to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and was in the top ten for four weeks. The record made it number fifteen in Australia, it did not chart in the UK. Joe's only other chart entry of note was his 1961 recording of "California Sun", a hit in 1963 for the Rivieras.

Answer: Little Red Rented Rowboat

"Wooden Heart" was based on a German folk song, "Muss I Denn". It reached number one for four weeks in Australia and two weeks in the UK for Elvis Presley. It was not released as a single in the USA. However, a cover version by Joe Dowell reached the top spot of the Billboard singles chart for one week in 1961. Joe Dowell followed up with "Little Red Rented Row Boat" in 1962. That song made the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top ten in Australia.