The "Billy" Club Trivia Quiz

Answer: Billy Stewart

Billy Stewart was from Washington D.C. and began singing with his brothers as a 12 year old. He was discovered by Bo Diddley and did some backup work for him. In the mid 1960s Stewart hit the big time with two songs he wrote himself. "I Do Love You" went to number twenty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1965.

He followed that with "Sittin' in the Park" which went to number twenty-four on the Billboard charts, and in 1966 had his biggest success with his interpretation of George Gershwin's "Summertime" which went to number ten on the Billboard charts.

Answer: Billy J Kramer

Billy J. Kramer, a native of Liverpool England, came to the attention of Brian Epstein in the early 1960s and he was given a recording contract. He was given a number of Lennon/McCartney tunes to record and had success in the U.K. with songs like "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" and "I'll Be on My Way".

His biggest hits in the U.S. were "Little Children" (not written by Lennon/McCartney, but rather by J. Leslie McFarland and Mort Shuman), which reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts and he followed with an American release of "Bad to Me" which had been released in the U.K. in 1963.

The American release of the tune got him a number nine placing on the U.S. charts.

Answer: Billy Joe Royal

Billy Joe Royal originally came from Valdosta Georgia, and became a local star in the U.S. South in the early 1960s. He hit it big on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1965 with "Down in the Boondocks", which went to number nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts as well as number one in Canada.

He followed with "I Knew You When", which made number nine in the U.S. and hit number one in Canada as well. Royal resurfaced as a country singer in the late 1980s and had five successive Top 20 hits on the Canadian Country charts.

Answer: Billy Preston

Billy Preston had a long and successful career playing with some of the most famous rock musicians of all time including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Little Richard, Joe Cocker, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, Peter Frampton, and Neil Diamond among many others.

He spent much time with the The Beatles in 1969 and is actually credited on "Get Back" as The Beatles with Billy Preston. In the 1970s Preston hit it big with tunes like "Outa Space" which went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1972, "Will It Go Round In Circles" which went to number one in 1973, "Space Race", a number four tune in 1973 and "Nothing From Nothing" a number one tune in 1974.

Answer: Billy Swan

Billy Swan was a singer/songwriter whose might have been best known for writing the Clyde McPhatter tune "Lover Please" in the early 1960s. Swan spent most of the 1960s in Tennessee, writing tunes for country singers such as Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings and Mel Tillis. Swan released a rock-a-billy album of his own in 1974 which included "I Can Help" which became a number one tune on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. Swan continued to record country tune and had a number of Top 20 hits on the U.S. Country charts in the early 1980s.

Answer: Billy Davis Jr.

Billy Davis Jr. was an integral part of The 5th Dimension, the popular recording group of the late 1960s, known for songs such as "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "Up, Up and Away" and "Wedding Bell Blues" among others. Marilyn McCoo was another member of the group and the two got married in 1969.

The couple left the group in 1975 and had the very successful tune "You Don't Have to Be A Star (To Be In My Show)" in 1976, a tune which went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In fact the couple was even given a U.S. television variety show.

Answer: Billy Idol

Billy Idol was part of Generation X, a British punk rock group from the 1970s. When Idol went solo in the 1980s he had hits with tunes such as "Dancing With Myself" which went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, "White Wedding" a number thirty-six hit in the U.S., but number six in the U.K. and "Rebel Yell", a number forty-six tune in the U.S., but number six in the U.K.

Answer: Billy Joel

Billy Joel has had over forty years of success, starting from a young aspiring musician out of Long Island, New York, to a world class musician in the 21st century. With tunes such as "Piano Man", "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me", "Don't Ask Me Why", "You May Me Right", "Uptown Girl" (I could go on, but you get the picture), Joel has sold over 150 million records worldwide during his career.

Answer: Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean was born Leslie Sebastian Charles in Trinidad in 1950. His family moved to England when he was eight years old and that's where his musical roots lie. He began recording in 1976, and had some success in the U.K. His U.S popularity soared in 1984 with the release of "Caribbean Queen" which hit number four in both the U.S. and U.K. and won Ocean a Grammy Award.

He followed with "Loverboy", a number two U.S. Billboard charting hit. 1986 saw "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going", (the theme song from the 1985 motion picture called "The Jewel of the Nile"), which went to number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S.

Answer: Billy Squier

Billy Squier performed with a number of unknown groups in the late 1960s and early 1970 with a minimal of success. He played with a group called Piper, who opened for Kiss in New York in 1977. Squier signed a recoding contract as a solo artist in 1980, and during the 1980s as a string of releases starting with "The Stroke", a number 15 U.S. Billboard charting hit in 1981.

His biggest hit was 1984's "Rock Me Tonite" which peaked at number fifteen on the charts.