We're Number Two! - VOL III Trivia Quiz

Answer: We've Only Just Begun

Your broad hint, of course, was that this song by the Carpenters has probably been played at more weddings over the last 40 years than any other. In fact, the song's genesis concerns a young married couple announcing that "we've only just begun" our lives together. The song writing team of Paul Williams and Roger Nichols were engaged by the Crocker Bank to compose a 30-second commercial designed to lure young newlyweds to use their financial services. Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and contacted Williams to see if the song could be expanded to make it a single release. The composers obliged but before The Carpenters could record their track, Mark Lindsay beat them to the punch. It was The Carpenters' version that proved to be the big hit, however. For the first three weeks that the song sat at Number Two, it couldn't dislodge The Jackson 5 who maintained Number One with "I'll Be There". On the fourth week, The Partridge Family took over the top spot with "I Think I Love You"

Your other choices were all big hits from right around the same period. "Someday We'll Be Together" was the last Number One Billboard hit of the 1960s, recorded by Diana Ross and The Supremes. "Make It With You" by Bread topped the charts in August 1970 while "Which Way You Goin' Billy" peaked at Number Two in June of that year. It was recorded by The Poppy Family.

Answer: Never Can Say Goodbye

The group that recorded "Never Can Say Goodbye" was the Jackson 5. They scored four Number Ones in 1969-1970 with, in sequence, "I Want You Back" (one week), "ABC" (two weeks), "The Love You Save" (two weeks) and "I'll Be There" (five weeks). Their other Number Two song in 1971 was "Mama's Pearl" but then they entered a three year stretch where their top charting hit, out of seven chart entries, could only peak at Number 10. The lustre had worn off!

Once again, your other choices were big hits of the era. Both "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Hurting Each Other" were Number Two songs from The Carpenters' litany of hits, the former in 1971, the latter a year later. Altogether, they would have five songs peak at Number Two over their recording career. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" was the first chart topper for the Bee Gees in 1971. They would have many more later in the decade.

Answer: Burning Love

No one knew it at the time, of course, but "Burning Love" would be Elvis Presley's last Top 10 Billboard hit for his career. He would have 12 more single releases chart in the Top 40 but the highest any of them would chart was the Number 14 "Promised Land" in 1974. Oddly enough, it was another old veteran of the early days of Rock & Roll that stymied Presley from earning one last Number One hit. Chuck Berry garnered his one and only chart topper with his novelty hit "My Ding-a-Ling" recorded live at a concert in London, England. Berry, too, was near the end of the line in terms of charting singles. His last Top 40 hit charted in the following year, a live version of "Reelin' & Rockin'" recorded at the same London concert. It drips with irony that these icons of the Rock & Roll genre would collide on the charts with their last big hits on precisely the same week 17 years after their initial charting releases!

Following Elvis' death in August 1977, two more of his songs would hit the Billboard charts - "My Way" peaked at Number 22 in December of that year and a re-mix of a 1968 release, "Guitar Man" made it to Number 28 in 1981. In Great Britain, however, the story was incredibly different. A number of his songs, both original releases from the archives or re-releases, kept popping up on the U.K. charts periodically throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Then, with the new millennium, they appeared with amazing regularity. Between April 2001 and December 2007, no less than 38... yes 38... Elvis songs made a Top 40 appearance on the U.K. charts including 18 Top 10s and three Number Ones - re-issues of "Jailhouse Rock", "One Night / I Got Stung" and "It's Now or Never". When tallied up, Presley would have 17 Number Ones in America, 21 in the U.K. There, he truly was "The King".

Concerning the other choices in the quiz, "Higher and Higher" was a hit twice. Jackie Wilson took it to Number Six in 1967 then ten years later, Rita Coolidge climbed to Number Two with her version. Three different songs entitled "Fire" entered the charts at various times and all were big successes. Arthur Brown hit Number Two in 1968 as did The Pointer Sisters in 1979. The Ohio Players topped the charts in 1975 with their hit. Finally, "Hot Blooded" was a Number Three hit for Foreigner in 1978.

Answer: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

From 1972 to 1976, there was no one in the music business hotter than Elton John. The Number One song alluded to in the quiz was his first of many, "Crocodile Rock" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was his follow-up release to that hit. In researching this song, many critics seemed to feel that his vocal performance here was his best ever. As usual, at this point in time, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics and apparently, they were autobiographical in nature. Taupin was tiring of the bright lights and was longing to return to his rural roots (he was a farmer's son). Certainly, the lyrics don't apply to Elton, do they!

Two songs kept "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" from the top. They were "Top of the World" by the Carpenters and "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich. Your other quiz choices at least had country connotations. "Junior's Farm" was a Number Three Paul McCartney hit that peaked early in 1975. The other two were performed by John Denver and he had the same passion for the country life that Taupin expresses. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was a Number Two hit in 1971, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" a Number One hit in 1975.

Answer: You Make Me Feel Brand New

"You Make Me Feel Brand New" was performed by The Stylistics and it would prevail as their biggest hit ever. Formed in the late 1960s, they were just a run-of-the-mill Soul group until they linked up with writer/producer Thom Bell in the early 1970s. Bell created the template for this style of music and not only stimulated The Stylistics' career, but those of other Philadelphia groups like The Spinners, The O'Jays and The Delfonics. Shortly after this hit, they inexplicably parted ways with Bell and their fortunes immediately declined. They had nine Top 40 hits with him, one following the split. Two members left the group in the early 1980s but the other three recruited replacements over the years and continue to perform into the new millennium.

For the two weeks that "You Make Me Feel Brand New" sat at Number Two, Billy Donaldson and The Heywoods controlled Number One with their one big hit "Billy, Don't Be a Hero". "Neither One of Us" was a Number Two hit for Gladys Knight and The Pips in 1973, "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" topped the charts in 1974 for Barry White while "Love So Right" charted at Number Three for The Bee Gees in 1976.

What were the other four hits that peaked at Number Two in 1974? They were, in chronological sequence: "Boogie Down" by Eddie Kendricks, "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John, and "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" by B.T. Express. All but John's were dance hits reflecting the era and are rarely heard today.

Answer: Lyin' Eyes

If you knew your Number One Billboard Hits, this became an easy answer as all your other selections were chart toppers: "Show and Tell" for Al Green in 1974, "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" by The Temptations much earlier in 1971 and "One of These Nights" by The Eagles in that same year of 1975. "Lyin' Eyes" was also performed by The Eagles completing a very successful year for the group as they scored another Number One hit that year with "Best of My Love". Elton John's big hit "Island Girl" denied The Eagles and "Lyin' Eyes" the opportunity for the group to complete the hat trick of Number Ones.

For you Billboard chart buffs, 1974 and 1975 were very unusual years. Both years saw 35 singles reach the top and only 12 of those could hold onto the top spot for more than a week. Hence, 23 hits were Number One for only a single week in both years. It seemed that if a song reached Number Two, inevitably it would climb to the top within a week or two. But, just as in 1974, five songs languished at Number Two without grabbing the brass ring. Besides our quiz hit, the others were "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" by Barry White, "When Will I Be Loved" by Linda Ronstadt, "I'm Not In Love" by 10cc and "Calypso" by John Denver. Never in chart history was there such "topsy-turviness" for the Number One spot and after some analysis, I could come up with no rational explanation for it.

Answer: Boogie Shoes

"Boogie", by definition, refers to a style of jazz music which first appeared in the mid-1910s. The first mention of it in a song title, that I know of, was "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie", recorded by the venerable blues pianist Pine Top Smith in 1928. "Boogie" music was popularized during the big band era starting with Tommy Dorsey's Number Three hit "Boogie Woogie" in 1938. A number of other big bands joined the craze in the early 1940s but perhaps the most memorable hit of the period was "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" recorded by The Andrews Sisters in 1941. It was energetically reprised by Bette Midler in 1973 and by then, "boogie" connoted dancing and party-making in general.

As noted in a previous answer, "Boogie Down"was a Number Two hit for Eddie Kendricks in 1974, Heatwave took "Boogie Nights" to Number Two in 1977 while Silver Convention did the same with "Get Up and Boogie" in 1976. The correct answer, "Boogie Shoes", was only a Number 35 hit for KC & The Sunshine Band in 1978. Oddly enough, it may be more popular today than the other three as it was featured in several 1990s movies and apparently is frequently heard on the hit TV series "Desperate Housewives". That's all the boogieing we'll do today, kiddies!

Answer: The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", written and performed by Canadian troubadour Gordon Lightfoot, tells the poignant tale of 29 sailors lost when The Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter, sank during a violent storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. It cannot be easy to write an elegy for public consumption, one that strikes the right balance in telling a story and honouring the dead in a tasteful way. Judging from the popularity of the song, he seemed to have succeeded. However, this song was never destined to make Number One... it peaked while Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" had an eight week stranglehold atop the Hot 100. "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace was a Number One hit in 1974, "Tragedy", a Number One for The Bee Gees in 1979, and "Too Late to Turn Back Now", a Number Two hit for Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose in 1972.

Doing a quick scan of songs during the rock era, I could only uncover six other charting hits that deal with a specific historical event much in the same way that Lightfoot does here. Going in chronological order, here they are. "Sink the Bismarck" by Johnny Horton was a Number Three hit in 1960. The title says it all... it dealt with the British Navy's pursuit and destruction of that German battleship in May of 1942. In 1963, Jimmy Dean scored a Number Eight hit with "P.T. 109" which recounted the sinking of John F. Kennedy's torpedo boat during WW II, his bravery in saving comrades and their subsequent rescue. Three hits from 1970 make the grade and two of them focus on the Woodstock music festival in 1969. One was Melanie's Number Six hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", the other was "Woodstock" that made the Top 40 twice; once by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at Number 11 in 1970 and then by Matthews' Southern Comfort at Number 23 in 1971. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young also charted with "Ohio", a song focused on an anti-war demonstration at Kent State in 1970 that resulted in four students being gunned down by members of the National Guard. It reached Number 14 on the chart. Finally, Rod Stewart composed and recorded a song in 1977 about the violent murder of a gay friend of his in New York City , "The Killing Of Georgie", that made it to Number 30 on Billboard's Hot 100. Special mention should be made of another Gord Lightfoot composition and recording. He wrote an account of the Detroit race riots in July 1968 entitled "Black Day in July". It climbed to Number 68 on the Canadian Hot 100 but was banned throughout the U.S. as authorities thought it might incite even further violence. If you can come up with others, I'd be pleased to hear from you.

Answer: Rockin' Robin

"Rockin' Robin" appeared to be pre-destined for Number Two chart placements. The original version by Bobby Day peaked at that position in 1958 and Michael Jackson's version did precisely the same in 1972. In 1958, Tommy Edwards was the spoiler with his six week chart topper "It's All in the Game". Roberta Flack did the honours in 1972. Her smash hit "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" stymied "Rockin' Robin" for the two weeks it sat at Number Two.

"Surfin' Bird" was a Number Four hit for The Trashmen in 1964. Remember "Well a-bird, bird, bird, a bird is the word"? That was the entire lyric repeated over and over until the last verse when the band broke into "Papa-oom-mow-mow" in repetition. What loveable nonsense! Blackbird was a track from The Beatles "White Album" and never charted. Now if you remember the original charting version of "Listen to the Mockingbird" you're the character that Tom Hanks portrays in "The Green Mile", the one that was about 150 years old. That song hit Number One on the charts of the day in 1891! The last charting version of the song appeared in 1915 as sung by opera star Alma Gluck. Talk about an old chestnut!

Answer: Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)

The Hollies were denied a Billboard Number One by Gilbert O'Sullivan who was riding high with "Alone Again (Naturally)" at the time. "Undercover Angel" hit Number One for Alan O'Day in 1977. "Green Eyed Lady" was a Number Three success for Sugarloaf in 1973, the same year that Stealers Wheel took "Stuck in the Middle With You" to Number Six.

"Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" was the biggest Billboard hit the Hollies would have as it supplanted their previous best, the Number Five "Bus Stop" released in 1966. They were much more successful in their native England with a string of Top 10's dating back to the mid-1960s. Ironically, this was one of their weaker efforts in the U.K. where it could only manage a Number 32 chart placement. Noted more for their close knit harmonies than being "rockers", perhaps the fact that this raunchy number strayed from the norm resulted in this charting anomaly on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the group was already running out of steam and would only have one more sizeable hit anywhere, 1974s "The Air that I Breathe". Despite regularly producing albums for the next 10 years, success on the charts eluded them even when Graham Nash rejoined the band briefly after his stint with CSN&Y. By 2000, the other original group member, Allan Clarke decided to retire leaving two "almost" original members, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot, to carry on with new personnel. A new studio album was released in 2009 and the band has scheduled a tour for 2010, mostly in England with some dates on the continent.