Music from 1976 Trivia

1. Which band, featuring the talents of Walter Becker, recorded the 1976 album "The Royal Scam"?

From Quiz Zooming in on 1976

Answer: Steely Dan

Steely Dan was founded in 1972 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen who had met five years earlier at Bard College in Southeastern New York. Becker was the backing vocalist, bass player and guitarist while Fagen was the lead singer and keyboardist. Much of the band's music was a blend of rock and jazz and between 1972 and 1980 the band released seven studio albums. Their 1976 album "The Royal Scam" peaked at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The first single released from "The Royal Scam" was "Kid Charlemagne" which featured an epic guitar solo and told the story of a psychedelic drug dealer's ascension and decline during the 1960s. This question was strummed into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer whose guitar playing experience consisted of hours of "Guitar Hero World Tour" on easy mode in 2008.

From Quiz Whose Line Was It Anyway? US Number One Hits 1976

Answer: Saturday Night

"Saturday Night" was written by Bill Martin/Phil Coulter. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 for The Bay City Rollers in 1976. It did not chart in the UK. The Bay City Rollers' most familiar line-up was Eric Faulkner (guitar), Alan Longmuir (bass), Derek Longmuir (drums), Les McKeown (vocals) and Stuart Wood (guitar). The group selected their name by throwing a dart at a map of the USA, it landed near Bay City, Michigan, USA. Hailed by some as the biggest (not the best) group since The Beatles, Rollermania was rife throughout the land and The Rollers had tartan clad fans in both the UK and US. They scored ten consecutive Top Ten hits on the UK singles chart between 1971 and 1976. This included the two number one hits "Bye Bye Baby" (1975) and "Give A Little Love" (1975). Who could have guessed that by 1977 they would have their last chart entries on both the UK and US charts. The Bay City Rollers would be no more and their fickle fans "The Tartan Horde" had moved on.

From Quiz One Word Title US Top Forty Hits of 1976

Answer: Steve Miller Band

As a teenager William Royce "Boz" Scaggs joined Steve Miller's band, The Marksmen, in Texas. They both went on to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison where they played with various Blues bands. Scaggs headed for London upon graduation but returned to San Francisco in 1967 and reunited with Miller's band. The following year The Steve Miller Band released the "Children of the Future" and "Sailor" LPs with Boz providing guitar and vocals. By 1969 Boz had signed a contract with Atlantic Records as a solo artist and released the "Boz Scaggs" album. The album was met with a lukewarm reception. It wasn't until he released the million selling "Silk Degrees" in 1976 which included the singles "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" that he had major hit singles. Alex Chilton was the lead singer for the Memphis based Box Tops. In 1968 Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" rose to Number 30. The Human Beinz scored a 1976 Top Ten with "Nobody But Me".

From Quiz The Sounds of 1976

Answer: Cliff Richard

"Devil Woman" reached the number 6th spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 9 in the UK Singles Chart. Cliff Richard's first US hit single was "Living Doll" released in 1959. The single peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made the number one position in the UK Singles Charts for six weeks. Cliff Richard's backing band was originally called The Drifters. The name was changed to The Shadows after finding out that there was already an American band with the same name.

From Quiz Billboard Number One Hits of 1976

Answer: Scotland

The Scottish group was extremely popular in mid-1975 so starting 1976 with a number one was inevitable. They members were all born in Edinburgh and derived their name from sticking a pin in a map. It landed on Bay City, Michigan. They began playing around Edinburgh and were discovered by Bell records after one of their executives missed his plane and caught their show. Clive Davis changed his label from Bell to Arista and let most of the acts go but kept the Bay City Rollers. He released "Bye Bye Baby" in the US on the heels of the huge success of the song in Britain but it barely dented the charts. Other singles failed to attract any attention so Clive took one of the band's album cuts for release. A live-via-satellite hookup to the ABC television show "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell" featured the boys performing "Saturday Night". Twelve weeks later the song was number one. The hits kept coming and soon the band appeared on "American Bandstand" and "The Midnight Special".

From Quiz Hits of 1976

Answer: Rod Stewart

"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" is from Rod Stewart's 1976 album "A Night on the Town". The song has whispers from Britt Ekland, who was his girlfriend at the time.

From Quiz BRI's Top Ten Hits of 1976

Answer: A Fifth of Beethoven

"A Fifth of Beethoven" was written by Walter Murphy, who also wrote and arranged music for Doc Severensen and "The Tonight Show" band. Murphy also made a living writing commercial jingles for companies such as Revlon, Woolworths, and Lady Arrow, to name a few.

From Quiz Solo Artists of 1976

Answer: Vicki Sue Robinson

The line was from "Turn The Beat Around", a disco hit for Philadelphia native Vicki Sue Robinson.

From Quiz Music History - 1976

Answer: I've Got The Music In Me

Kiki was signed to Elton John's "Rocket" records, as was Cliff Richard, who had a 1976 hit with "Devil Woman".

From Quiz Who Sings What In 1976

Answer: Tavares

From Quiz Whose Line Was It Anyway? US Number One Hits 1976

Answer: Bruce Johnston

"I Write The Songs" was written by Bruce Johnston. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 for Barry Manilow in 1976. It did not chart in the UK. Bruce Johnston was born Benjamin Baldwin (adopted) in Peoria, Illinois, USA, in 1942. After production work at Del-Fi records and Columbia Records where he had a hit record with "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords he joined The Beach Boys in 1965. The original version of "I Write The Songs" which Bruce Johnston wrote in 1975 was recorded by The Captain & Tennille for their 1975 album, "Love Will Keep Us Together". The first version released as a single was by David Cassidy, It peaked at number 11 on the UK singles chart in 1975. It was from his 1975 solo album "The Higher They Climb" produced by Bruce Johnston. Barry Manilow did not want to record the song at first because he thought people would think it sounded like an ego trip. It won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year 1976. Bruce Johnston has stated that the I in "I Write The Songs" is God.

From Quiz Whose Line Was It Anyway? UK Number One Hits 1976

Answer: December

"December '63 (Oh What A Night)" was written by Bob Gaudio/Judy Parker. It was number one for two weeks on the UK singles chart for The 4 Seasons in 1976. It was number one for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year. "December '63 (Oh What A Night)" was the fifth number one hit for The 4 Seasons on the Billboard Hot 100 but amazingly it was the first and only number one for them on the UK singles chart. Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Frankie Valli were the members of the group on their first four US number one hits, "Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1962), "Walk Like A Man" (1963) and "Rag Doll" (1964). In 1975 Frankie Valli had a solo number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "My Eyes Adored You". It was actually recorded by The 4 Seasons but the owner of Valli's new record label, Private Stock Records, insisted that only Frankie Valli's name be on the record label. By the time "December '63 (Oh What A Night)" was released, Frankie Valli was the only original member of The 4 Seasons left; he sang on the record but was not the lead vocal.

From Quiz One Word Title US Top Forty Hits of 1976

Answer: Renegade

"Renegade" squeaked into the Top Forty at Number 39. Growing up around Dallas instilled a fondness for Cowboy songs in Michael. His first professional engagements were singing around campfires at summer camps while in his early teens. He formed a band that became popular in the Dallas area. After graduation Michael relocated to University of California at Los Angeles. When his friend Michael Nesmith joined The Monkees they recorded his composition "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round". In the early seventies he returned to Texas and became part of the Outlaw movement in Country Music. In 1975 the single "Wildfire" from his "Blue Sky - Night Thunder" album went to Number Three. "Shannon" was a 1976 Top Ten by Henry Gross. "Emotion" was a 1975 Number 22 single from Helen Reddy. "Fire" by The Ohio Players" was a 1975 Number One single.

From Quiz Pop Hits of 1976

Answer: Beat

In 1976, Vicki Sue Robinson, born in New York City, had a crossover hit with the song "Turn the Beat Around." This song reached the U.S. top ten on both the pop and disco music charts during the spring and summer. Robinson sang these words in the song's chorus: "Turn the beat around Love to hear the percussion Turn it upside down Love to hear the percussion..."

From Quiz The Sounds of 1976

Answer: The Four Seasons

The first No 1 for the group was "Sherry" released in August 1962. It reached the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 top slot on September 15, 1962. The original group members were Frankie Valli, Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito, and Bob Gaudio. The line up of the group in 1976 was John Paiva (guitar), Don Ciccone (bass), Lee Shapiro (keyboards), Gerry Polci (drums) and Frankie Valli.

From Quiz Billboard Number One Hits of 1976

Answer: C. W. McCall

CB radios had been around since the fifties but the oil crisis brought them to mainstream use. In 1975 Time Magazine predicted that CB radios might be the fastest growing communication device since the telephone. Advertising agency director Bill Fries became the character of C. W. McCall for a Mertz Baking Company ad campaign. He then recorded their Clio-award winning theme song on a small independent label. MGM Records was impressed and signed McCall. He was inspired to write "Convoy" while riding in his jeep. It became the 16th and last number one for MGM records before it was purchased by Polygram. He was astute enough to keep his job at the ad agency because after "Convoy" he never saw top twenty success again. Sweet had a top five with "Fox on the Run" the same month. Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots saw number one success in October, 1976, with "Disco Duck". "Dazz" was a number three for Brick in January, 1977.

From Quiz Hits of 1976

Answer: Chicago

"If You Leave Me Now" was written by Peter Cetera and is from the album "Chicago X" (1976). It reached number one in the UK and the US.

From Quiz BRI's Top Ten Hits of 1976

Answer: Love is Alive

It's interesting that Bob Shannon chose Gary Wright's "Love is Alive" as his #9 pick, when Wright's hit "Dream Weaver", released the same year, actually sold more copies. Wright studied psychology, including post-graduate studies in Berlin, before trying his hand at a career in music.

From Quiz Solo Artists of 1976

Answer: C.W. McCall

"Convoy" was the title track to a movie which starred Kris Kristofferson and Ali McGraw. The song consisted mostly of CB radio conversation.

From Quiz Music History - 1976

Answer: Nazareth

Nazareth also had a hit with "This Flight Tonight" penned by Joni Mitchell. Jim Capaldi was a member of Traffic with Steve Winwood.

From Quiz Who Sings What In 1976

Answer: Nazareth

From Quiz Zooming in on 1976

Answer: 4

Stevie Wonder is the stage name of Stevland Hardaway Judkins (b. 1950). He is an American singer and songwriter who has dominated popular music in the latter part of the 20th century. His 1963 single "Fingertips" topped the Billboard Hot 100 and at that time he was the youngest to achieve that feat. He won "Album of the Year" Grammys for his 16th, 17th and 18th albums: "Innervisions" (1973), "Fullfillingness' First Finale" (1974) and "Songs in the Key of Life" (1976), the first recording artist to gain this success with three consecutive releases. At the 1977 Awards, "Songs in the Key of Life" won four Grammys: * Album of the Year * Best Male Pop Vocal Performance * Best Male R&B Vocal Performance * Producer of the Year "Songs in the Key of Life" is regarded by many as Stevie Wonder's best work. It is number 57 on Rolling Stone's list, "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2005. Stevie Wonder received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. Phoenix Rising's psnz had no "Ordinary Pain" researching this album which "Knocks Me Off My Feet".

From Quiz One Word Title US Top Forty Hits of 1976

Answer: Peter Criss

Peter Criss shared composing credits on "Beth" with Stan Penridge and producer Bob Ezrin. The song was released as a single from the band's 1976 "Destroyer" album. Peter was still a member of a band called Chelsea when he wrote "Beth" which was originally titled "Beck" after a band mate's wife named Backy. Stan Penridge was a guitar player in Chelsea. Although Gene Simmons suggested Peter change the name to "Beth" he did not want the ballad on the "Destroyer" album. Manager Bill Aucoin pushed for the song to be included on the LP and placed "Beth" on the flip-side of "Detroit Rock City" when it was released as a single. "Beth" became the more popular song and would become the first KISS single to be certified as a Gold Record.

From Quiz The Sounds of 1976

Answer: Electric Light Orchestra

Fronted by Jeff Lynne, "Livin' Thing" peaked at number 13 on the US charts and reached the number 4 position on the UK charts. The band released their sixth album "A New World Record" in October 1976. Tracks from this album was "Telephone Line", "Livin' Thing" and "Tightrope". ELO regularly appeared on the American show "The Midnight Special", a musical programme featuring live acts.

From Quiz Billboard Number One Hits of 1976

Answer: Love Rollercoaster

The Ohio Players had a unique philosophy when it came to recording. In an effort to stay fresh they never went into the studio with a preconceived idea of what to record. Their sessions were so clandestine that only an engineer was allowed to be present. They would start spontaneous jams and when something clicked they would tighten it up and record the tracks. Even though they were enjoying major success and formed their own booking, publishing and management subsidiaries they still performed free concerts for their hometown Dayton community. "I Love Music (Part 1)" was a top five for the O'Jays the same month. "You Sexy Thing" was number four behind "Love Rollercoaster" for the band Hot Chocolate and their "Love Machine (Part 1)" went number one March 6, 1977, for The Miracles.

From Quiz Hits of 1976

Answer: Johnnie Taylor

Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born on May 5, 1937. "Disco Lady" went to number one in the US.

From Quiz Solo Artists of 1976

Answer: Rod Stewart

This song, which came out near the end of 1976, turned out to be the top song of the year and Stewart's biggest success.

From Quiz Music History - 1976

Answer: Michael Omartian

Michael Omartian also produced Christopher Cross, Rod Stewart, Amy Grant and Donna Summer. It is his piano playing that you hear on Christopher Cross' hit "Sailing".

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