Welcome to My Drivers' Ed Playlist Quiz

Answer: REO Speedwagon

We've reached the top of Billboard's list for this week with a pretty standard 1980s power ballad. Released on December 17, 1984 and the second of their two number one hits in the US, "Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and ended the year as the number 13 Billboard hit of 1985. It appeared on the band's eleventh album "Wheels Are Turning" and they performed it at Live Aid on July 13, 1985.

Formed in 1967, REO Speedwagon are still an active band as of 2024. They've had 13 top 40 hits in the US and released 16 studio albums between 1971 and 2009, with their peak commercial success coming in the late 1970s through the mid-1980s.

Answer: Glenn Frey

"The Heat Is On" appeared on the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack and was released as a single in November 1984. Written by Harold Faltemeyer and Keith Forsey, it was sung by Glenn Frey of the Eagles and this week was at its peak position of number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Frey placed the song on two of his subsequent solo albums, "Glenn Frey Live" and "Solo Collection."

Glenn Frey was a guitarist/keyboardist founding member of the Eagles. He sang lead on several of their hits, including "Take it Easy," "Heartache Tonight," and "Lyin' Eyes." His solo career, focused on a mid-1980s Eagles hiatus, included the hits "Smugglers Blues" and "You Belong to the City." Frey died at age 67 in 2016.

Answer: Madonna

Released on January 23, 1985 as the second single from Madonna's second album "Like a Virgin," the video for "Material Girl" shows the star imitating Marilyn Monroe while singing with a framework of the in-story director shyly trying to ask her for a date. Spending two weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, with its iconic video and position early in Madonna's long career, it's one of the songs of the era.

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone) moved from her native Michigan to New York City to study dance and after joining a few bands as a singer and percussionist, released her debut album in 1983. Throughout her career, she's mixed controversy with her polished, danceable tracks, acted in several movies, and spent some time in the tabloid headlines. As of 2024, her career consists of 14 studio albums, 12 major tours, and 421 awards from 820 nominations. This includes seven Grammys in 22 nominations and 20 MTV Music Video Awards in 70 nominations.

Answer: David Lee Roth

Do you want to make a GenXer feel old? Play David Lee Roth's cover of "California Girls" in the supermarket and remind her it's about three times as old as The Beach Boys' original version was when she was in high school. Released December 19, 1984, "California Girls" was David Lee Roth's first single from his "Crazy from the Heat" EP and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

David Lee Roth met brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen in the early 1970s and with Michael Anthony formed the band Van Halen; they released their first album in 1978. They performed and recorded together until Roth left for a solo career in 1985, although they reformed twice under that lineup before Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. The band became known for their complex contract riders (no brown M&Ms in the backstage food, for example), but there was a reason. They were one of the first groups to use complicated stagecraft on tour and having a quick, easily identified item to confirm that the site had read the contract told them they needed to check that the more vital clauses had been read and followed.

Answer: Phil Collins

Appearing on his 1985 album "No Jacket Required," "One More Night" was Phil Collins's second Billboard number one hit, eventually holding that position for two weeks in April, 1985.

Phil Collins began his entertainment career as a child actor, appearing as the Artful Dodger in the West End production of "Oliver!" and in a small part in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." After working as a touring and studio drummer, Collins joined Genesis in 1970, becoming the lead singer after Pete Gabriel left in 1975. Collins released his first solo album, "Face Value", in 1981 and during the 1980s released music both as a solo artist and with Genesis, and took on several acting roles, including the lead in the movie "Buster" (1988). Outside of performing, Collins is interested in the Battle of the Alamo and accumulated a large collection of artifacts which he donated to the State of Texas in 2015.

Answer: Julian Lennon

Released in September 1984 in the UK and in January 1985 in the US, "Too Late for Goodbyes" was the second US single from Julian Lennon. Appearing on the album "Valotte," it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and was written by Lennon and produced (as was the album) by Phil Ramone.

The son of Beatle John Lennon, Julian released seven studio albums between 1984 and 2022, periodically taking time away from music to focus on philanthropy.

Answer: Wham!

There's a little bit of a trick here - "Careless Whisper" was released as a George Michael single in the UK but a Wham! single in the US. The song was initially released in the UK on July 24, 1984 and reached the number one position in both countries and in several others, including Ireland, Canada, Iceland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Childhood friends George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley formed Wham! as teenagers in 1981. They released three studio albums between 1983 and 1986 and undertook a tour of China in 1985 before Michael became a solo artist. As a solo artist, he released five albums including "Faith" (1987) and "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" (1990). Michael came out as gay in 1998 and was an active fundraiser for HIV charities. George Michael died on Christmas Day, 2016, after several years of declining health, some due to prior substance abuse. He and Andrew Ridgeley remained lifelong friends.

Answer: Teena Marie

Soul singer Teena Marie released "Lovergirl" from her sixth album, "Starchild" in October, 1984. Peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, it was the biggest hit of her career.

Born in California as Mary Christine Brockett, she acted and sang professionally as a child and signed with Motown in 1976; over her career she often collaborated with Rick James. Her career stalled in 1982 due to legal battles with Motown and she released "Lovergirl" on the Epic label. Teena Marie died at age 54 in 2010; she had developed epilepsy as the result of a freak accident (a picture fell off a hotel wall and hit her in the head) a few years earlier.

Answer: Tina Turner

"Private Dancer" was part of the comeback for singer and survivor Tina Turner. Born Anna Mae Bullock, she rose to prominence in a soul act with her abusive husband, Ike Turner. After her escape (chronicled in her memoir "I Tina" which was adapted into the Academy Award nominated movie "What's Love Got to Do With It"), she reinvented herself as one of the premiere rock singers of the 1980s and 1990s and starred as the villain in "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome." In the 2010s, Ms. Turner retired to Switzerland where she unfortunately suffered a number of health crises. She died in 2023 at the age of 83.

Mark Knopfler wrote "Private Dancer" for his group Dire Straits but did not record it. It became the title song and fifth of seven singles released from Turner's 1894 comeback album. The album won four Grammy awards (one for "Better be Good to Me" and three for "What's Love Got to Do with It"). The single "Private Dancer" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Frankie Goes to Hollywood

How do you make your debut song a hit? For Frankie Goes to Hollywood, they got their song banned by the BBC. "Relax" was released in the UK in October 24, 1983 and initially appeared on the BBC before the suggestive lyrics (or, according to lead singer Holly Johnson, a mishearing of the lyrics) led the song to being officially banned while some DJs continued to play it against protocol. The number ten position it holds in this countdown is its US chart peak.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood got together in Liverpool in 1980, with the lineup of Holly Johnson, Paul Rutherford, Mark O'Toole, Brian Nash, and Peter Gill. Openly gay when that wasn't common in entertainment, they wove gay rights into their music and performances. The band name came from an old newspaper headline about Frank Sinatra's movie career.