Night Time in the Switching Yard Quiz

Answer: Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon's 1977 album "Excitable Boy" featured the macabre but endearing single "Werewolves of London". The album peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Pop Album chart and was certified Platinum (1,000,000 sales) by the Recording Industry of America Association ("RIAA") in 1997. "Night Time in the Switching Yard" is an up tempo, almost disco style, tune with a heavy Latin guitar beat. Zevon was a iconic singer/songwriter whose popularity reached its peak with the 1978 "Excitable Boy" album. Zevon was friends and collaborated with Jackson Browne, who produced and performed on the album. "Werewolves of London" featured the drums of Mick Fleetwood and the bass of John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Zevon enjoyed a resurgence in his career in the early 2000s before he was stricken with cancer and died on September 7, 2003.

While the song "Night Time in the Switching Yard" was neither the most successful nor the best example of Zevon's talent, the entire body of "Excitable Boy" remains one of my and many other peoples favorite albums of the rock era.

Answer: Chess

Almost everything about the song "One Night in Bangkok" is bizarre. The song was written for the theatrical production of "Chess" a play about an English chess master commentating on a championship tournament played by his arch rivals in Bangkok circa 1984.

The music for the song was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andrersson of the pop group ABBA; while the lyrics were written by Tim Rice of "Lion King" fame. Sung by eccentric UK pop singer Murray Head in a speak/sing nasal tone, the song juxtaposed chess play by play with the singers description of the lewd services available in the Thai city.

Despite the oddity of the tune, "One Night in Bangkok" was a chart topper all across Europe and the US peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1984. My favorite line from the song is "I get my kicks above the waistline sunshine..."

Answer: Night Moves

Until 1976 Bob Seger was one of Detroit, Michigan's best kept secrets, a local hero with a regional following. Starting in the 1960s, Seger had performed in bands (including with his signature backing band the Silver Bullet Band) and as a solo act. Until the mid-70s his only success was with the 1968 song "Ramblin Gamblin Man". All that changed with the release of "Live Bullet" in April 1976 and with Seger's ninth studio album "Night Moves" in October 1976.

The title song was the first released single and quickly became Seger's first real international hit.

The song peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. "Night Moves" the song is a nostalgic and soul-filled tale of a man remembering his first brush with love and sex. "Night Moves" the album became Seger's first top ten album and sold over over six million copies. Further, the success of "Night Moves" prompted sales of the "Live Bullet" album to soar to over five million units with many of the songs on that album, including "Turn the Page" and "Kathmandu", becoming iconic classics in their own right.

Answer: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Robbie Robertson of The Band wrote "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" for The Band's self-titled album released in 1969. Sung by drummer Levon Helm, the tune is etched in many people's mind as the centerpiece of 1976's "The Last Waltz", Martin Scorcese's directorial masterpiece of The Band's star-studded last concert as a group. Controversy surrounded the authorship of the song as Helm claimed he was an uncredited co-author. Joan Baez covered the song in 1971 and her version reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The song has been covered by diverse groups and singers including Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Big Country and Richie Havens. The lyrics to the song evoke the desperation and despair of the US South at the end of the Civil War and resonate a timeless message on the costs of conflict.

"The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia" is a modern tale of murder in a southern town by Vicky Lawrence. "Dark is the Night" is a Soviet Era Russian song about efforts to stop the Nazis in World War II and "Welcome to My Nightmare" is a 1975 song and album from Alice Cooper.

Answer: handguns

"Saturday Night Special" is a 1975 rock song by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the opening track on their album "Nuthin' Fancy". The song was released as a single and peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The song addresses the issue of gun violence and references the derogatory term for an inexpensive handgun in the US, i.e., a "Saturday Night Special".

The song associates handguns with impulsive violence and limited value other than for concealment and homicide. The song is highly political and seems to run counter to the overall tone of Skynryd's musical bent as a US Southern rock band. Skynryd co-founder and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant wrote "Saturday Night Special". Van Zant died in 1977 in a horrific small plane crash along with his band mate Steve Gaines and several others. Ronnie's younger brother Donnie, ironically, is a co-founder of the successful rock group 38 Special which is a common handgun often labeled a "Saturday Night Special".

Answer: The Carol Burnett Show

Vicki Lawrence is best known for her comedic versatility on the ensemble variety show "The Carol Burnett Show" which ran from 1967-1978. Lawrence won an Emmy for her work on the show in 1976 and was nominated four other times. Though some sixteen years younger than her mentor Burnett, Lawrence played "Mama" to Burnett's daughter character "Eunice" as a recurring character on the show. "Mama's Family" was a sitcom that Lawrence developed and starred in with her Burnett Show character from 1983-1990.

In 1992-1994 Lawrence hosted the popular daytime talk show "Vicki!" In 1972 Lawrence was married to songwriter Bobby Russell who penned a lurid southern Gothic song about a young woman obtaining revenge against her brother's unfaithful wife, only to have her unfortunate brother arrested convicted and executed for the crime before she could confess his innocence. Russell did not see a commercial market for the song but Lawrence did; and the song became a mega-hit reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in 1972. Country music superstar Reba McIntyre covered the song in 1991 and charted to twelfth on the US Billboard Country Chart.

A truly awful 1981 movie used the same title but bore no relation to the song.

Answer: Night Fever

"Night Fever" was the third of five songs released as singles that rose to the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 from the movie "Saturday Night Fever". The movie soundtrack has sold over fifteen million copies and is the quintessential example of the 1970s disco sound. "Night Fever" was written and sung by the Bee Gees (Barry Gibb and twin brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb)and was the number one song in the US from March 19 to May 8, 1978. "Night Fever" joined "Staying Alive", "How Deep is Your Love" , "If I Cant Have you" as songs written by or performed by the Bee Gees on the "Saturday Night Fever " soundtrack that reached number one in 1978. In addition, Andy Gibb the younger brother of the Bee-Gees front men also charted number one hits written by his older brothers during 1978 with "Shadow Dancing" and "Love is Thicker Than Water".

"Night on Disco Mountain" is a non Bee Gees song on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. "Boogie Nights" was a 1976 hit for the funk/disco group Heatwave. "Nights on Broadway" is one of my favorite (alright only) disco songs written and recorded by the Bee Gees and is off their 1975 "Main Course" album. "Nights on Broadway" reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.

Answer: Paper Lace

Paper Lace is perhaps the most successful band to come out of Nottingham, England. They are known to Americans as a "one-hit wonder" having released the song "The Night Chicago Died" in August 1974. The song tells the fictitious story of Prohibition era gang war in Chicago and was intended to evoke thoughts of the Valentine's Day Massacre (1929) and of criminals like Al Capone. Paper Lace rose to fame as the 1974 winners of a UK talent show called "Opportunity Knocks". After winning the competition the group scored a UK number one hit with an anti-war song entitled "Billy Don't Be A Hero". Despite writing the song, Paper Lace did not release "Billy" in the US; a cover version by Bo Donaldson and the Heywards was released first. The Bo Donaldson version reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart in June 1974. Paper Lace released additional music through the 1970s but did not see anything like the success of "The Night Chicago Died".

First Class was a "one-hit" wonder band from London that reached as high as number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart with "Beach Baby". Pilot was a band from Edinburgh Scotland that scored a hit with the song "Magic" in 1975. "Magic" was produced by Alan Parsons, a fact that he is probably desirous to forget.

Answer: The Eagles

"One of These Nights" was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded by the Eagles as the title track of their album released in 1975. The song became the Eagles' second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (the first was "Best of My Love").

The album also reached number one and was the Eagles' first gold record album. The RIAA did not introduce the "platinum" sales level (over one million albums) until the following year and ironically the first certified platinum album was 1976's "The Eagles Greatest Hits".

The album "One of these Nights" also included the chart topping "Lying Eyes" (US Billboard Hot 100 number two)and "Take It to the Limit" (US Billboard Hot 100 number four). The song "One of These Nights" featured Don Henley as lead singer with a famous high chorus from guitarist Randy Meisner as well as an iconic opening bass note from Don Felder.

Answer: Because the Night

"Because the Night" was co-written Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. Springsteen did not release the song or include his version on an album until 1986 when he released a boxed set of songs entitled "Live 1975/856". Smith recorded a version of the song and apparently made some lyrical changes, releasing her version as part of the Patti Smith Group album "Easter" in 1978. As a single "Because the Night" rose to number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and is the highest charting tune for Smith. 10,000 Maniacs and its lead singer Natalie Merchant played a cover of the song for the television show "MTV Unplugged" on April 23, 1993. Ironically Merchant announced during the performance that she wold leave the Maniacs to pursue a solo career. The 10,000 Maniacs version of "Because the Night" was included in the 1993 "MTV Unplugged" album and was released as a single. The Maniacs version of the song went to number eleven on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

"Hollywood Nights" was a 1978 hit for Bob Seger, while "Nights In White Satin" is the 1972 number two hit for The Moody Blues. "In the Midnight Hour" was a 1965 R&B hit for Wilson Pickett and ironically composed at the infamous Lorraine Hotel in Memphis Tennessee, the same hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be shot in 1968.