Music Through The Decades Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway earned his nickname of the "Hi-de-ho" man following the success of "Minnie the Moocher" (1931) in which he ad libbed lyrics.
Calloway had hits throughout the 1930s, starting with "Minnie the Moocher" (1931) reaching number one on the Billboard Pop Chart and ending with "(Hep Hep!) The Jumpin' Jive", which reached number two on the same chart in 1939.
In between these two hits were many more as Calloway posted at least one top 20 hit each year and the hits didn't dry up when the decade ended either as success continued well into the 1940s.
In 1978, Calloway aged 71, released a disco version of "Minnie the Moocher" which cracked the top 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA.

Answer: The Ink Spots

Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson and Orville Jones, collectively known as The Ink Spots, first found success with "If I Didn't Care" in 1939, which was followed with further success from tracks such as "Address Unknown" and "My Prayer" (both 1939).
By the 1940s, the band were established hit makers and the success continued to come with tracks such as "Whispering Grass (Don't Tell the Trees)" (1940), "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" (1944) and "You're Breaking My Heart" (1949).
The band recorded several times with Ella Fitzgerald having hits in 1944 with "I'm Making Believe" and the follow up track, "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" but following the decision by Bill Kenny to pursue a solo career in 1951, the hits dried up for the band, although different versions continued to tour for many years, many with no legitimate connection to the original band.

Answer: Tommy Steele

"Rock with the Caveman" (1956) was Steele's first UK hit and that was quickly followed the same year by "Singing the Blues" (1956) which became his first, and only UK number one.
Tracks such as "Butterfingers" (1957) and "Come On, Let's Go" (1958) cemented his popularity and he ended the decade with one of his best known hits, "Little White Bull" (1959).
As the 1960s rolled around, Steele moved from chasing chart success to furthering his acting career and starred as Kipps in "Half a Sixpence" (1963) in the West End and on Broadway as well as in the film in 1967.
Further film success was gained in movies such as "The Happiest Millionaire" (1967) and "Finian's Rainbow" (1968) and in 1983 he directed and starred in the original West End version of the musical, "Singin' in the Rain".

Answer: Sandie Shaw

Sandie Shaw may be remembered mainly for singing the UK Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Puppet On A String" in 1967, but she was having chart success long before that.
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964) was her first UK number one, and this was also a Canadian number one as well as an Australian top 20 hit.
A second UK number one came in 1965 with "Long Live Love" before her third and final UK chart topper, "Puppet On A String" (1967).
Regarding the tracks listed in the question, "Girl Don't Come" (1964) was a top three UK hit as well as cracking the top 50 on the Billboard chart in USA, while "Message Understood" (1965) and "Monsieur Dupont" (1969) both reached number six in UK.
In 1984, Shaw had a surprise UK top 30 hit, when she took the role of Morrissey, and backed by The Smiths members Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce released a cover of The Smiths' hit "Hand In Glove" (1984).

Answer: KC and the Sunshine Band

Although pop and rock music were popular in the 70s and hip hop was born in this decade, this was the time when disco was huge.
Prior to punk rearing its anarchic head towards the end of the decade, the biggest bands were the ones with some disco funk and the ability to get down and boogie.
KC and the Sunshine Band first found chart success in UK in 1974 with "Queen Of Clubs" and the following year became a global force as "Get Down Tonight" (1975) hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA, as did "That's the Way (I Like It)" (1975) which stormed the charts around the world.
Before the end of the decade they would also hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" (1976), "I'm Your Boogie Man" (1977) and "Please Don't Go" (1979).
As the 80s were ushered in however, apart from a brief return to the charts in 1983 with "Give It Up", the hits dried up as firstly punk and then hair metal took centre stage.

Answer: The Bangles

The Bangles were formed in 1981 and after four years of hard work and getting their name out there, found "instant" success when their cover of the 1984 Prince track "Manic Monday" (1986) became a global smash.
The same year, they found further success with "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986) and followed that with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's hit, "Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987).
By the decade end they were one of the biggest bands around as they had massive success with "Eternal Flame" (1989) when tension between the band members reached a peak and the girls went their separate ways.

Answer: LL Cool J

In the 1990s, LL Cool J was one of the biggest music stars as he effortless mixed hip hop, rap and R&B to create his own sound.
This was the decade that saw LL become a dual force as he combined music and acting, appearing in several films as well as contributing to movie soundtracks.
Films such as "Strictly Business" (1991), "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" (1996), "Space Jam" (1996) and "Bulworth" (1998) all saw his name on the soundtrack, while "Deep Blue Sea" (1999) saw him not only on the soundtrack but also acting alongside Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson.

Answer: George Strait

Texas native George Strait first found success as far back as the 1980s when "Unwound" (1981) went top ten on the Billboard country chart in USA.
Despite many hits on the Canadian and American country charts in the following years, he had to wait until 1999 for his first Billboard Hot 100 top 30 hit in USA with "Write This Down" (1999).
Despite then becoming a regular on the Billboard Hot 100, top ten success eluded him on this chart and although he had nine top 40 hits during the decade, the highest placed was "She'll Leave You with a Smile" (2002), which peaked at number 23.
Not to worry though as during the same time frame, Strait managed 19 top ten hits on the Billboard country chart in USA, including nine number ones, as well as 15 top tens on the Canadian country chart, five of which hit number one.

Answer: Sia

Australian native Sia, first found success in UK when "Taken for Granted" (2000) was a top ten hit and didn't achieve top 20 success in her homeland until 2010 when "Clap Your Hands" reached number 17.
"Chandelier" (2014) was her breakthrough track for global success and she followed this with "Big Girls Cry" (2014) and "Elastic Heart" (2015) both of which were top 20 hits in Australia.
A string of Australian top ten hits followed with "Alive" (2015), "Cheap Thrills" (2016) and "The Greatest" (2016), which featured Kendrick Lamar and she didn't slow up as the decade drew to a close.
"Snowman" (2017) and "Flames", with David Guetta (2018) provided further Australian top 20 success and in 2019 she set herself a new challenge as she teamed up with Labrinth and Diplo to form the band LSD.

Answer: The Weeknd

Abel Tesfaye, better known under his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer songwriter who first found success in his homeland in the 2010s.
Between 2014 and 2019 he had 14 top 20 hits on the Canadian chart, five of which reached number one.
He didn't slow down in 2020s as first hit of the new decade, "In Your Eyes" (2020) was a Canadian top 20 hit and "Save Your Tears" (2020) was a Canadian number one as well as hitting the top spot in USA on the Billboard Hot 100.
Further Canadian top ten success followed as in 2021 "Take My Breath", "Hurricane", "Moth to a Flame" and "One Right Now" all sold well and in 2022, "Sacrifice" peaked at number nine, while "Creepin'" was a Canadian number one.