Movie Hits From the Rock Era Trivia Quiz

Answer: Love is a Many Splendored Thing

The Four Aces took "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" to number one. Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster had written "Secret Love" for "Calamity Jane" and were asked to do the theme for a film called "A Many Splendored Thing". The title of the film was later changed to "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" so they had to re-write the theme song.

After the final version of the song was composed it was shopped to Nat "King" Cole, Eddie Fisher, Tony Martin, Doris Day and many others who all turned it down.

The Pennsylvania-based Four Aces had been recording since 1951 and were about to disband. They recorded the song, and after it made number one many of the artists that had turned it down released their own versions. The song saw a resurgence 23 years later in "Grease" as background music on a beach scene. "Autumn Leaves" is from the French film "Les Portes de la Nuit".

It reached number one as an instrumental for Roger Williams on October 29, 1955. It has the distinction of being the first instrumental song to reach the number one spot on Billboard. "Wonderland by Night" is from a German movie. Bert Kaempfert took it to number one in 1961. Bert produced the first session ever done by the Beatles when they recorded "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" as the backing band for Tony Sheridan.

He signed Sheridan but not the Beatles. "April Love" is the title song to the film of the same name. Pat Boone took it to number one in December, 1957.

Answer: Shadow Dancing

"Shadow Dancing" was number one in June, 1978, for Andy Gibb. It became his third number one hit. He wrote the song along with his three brothers. The song is from his album with the same title. He followed up with more hits including duets with Olivia Newton-John and girlfriend Victoria Principal. Andy went on to act in the Los Angeles production of "The Pirates of Penzance" and made his Broadway debut in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Tavares recorded "More Than A Woman" for "Saturday Night Fever". Yvonne Elliman's version of "If I Can't Have You" was in the movie soundtrack.

The Bee Gees version was released as the B-side to the "Stayin' Alive" single in 1978. "You Should Be Dancing" is the first number one in which Barry Gibb uses his falsetto voice.

The song was prominently featured in "Saturday Night Fever". The songs "Calypso Breakdown" and "Jive Talkin'" were on the soundtrack but not in the film.

Answer: Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

"Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" hit number one in January, 1970. B. J. Thomas had just completed a 15-day tour and was under doctor's orders not to sing. Thomas pleaded with his doctor and he finally gave Thomas some medication to help him get through the session.

It took him five takes to get the sound that producer and songwriter Burt Bacharach liked. A Twentieth Century executive congratulated Thomas on sounding so much like Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and asked him how he managed to achieve the raspy sound in his voice. "Without Love (There is Nothing)" is a Tom Jones Top Ten from 1970. "I Think I Love You" is from television's "Partridge Family" band. "We've Only Just Begun" peaked at number two, becoming The Carpenters' second Gold Record.

The Roger Nichols/Paul Williams composition was originally a jingle for Crocker National Bank in California.

Answer: Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini saw "Romeo and Juliet" in 1968 and heard the background score that had been composed by Nino Rota. He inquired if it had been recorded and learned that there was no trace of the original recording master. He composed his own arrangement of the tune and included it on an album he was currently doing titled "A Warm Shade of Ivory". An Orlando, Florida, disc jockey put the song in rotation and it started getting picked up nationally. Ironically, Mancini's highest chart success as a song composer was the number eleven "Moon River".

He started as a staff composer for Universal and was nominated for 72 Grammys during his career, winning 20. He was also nominated for 18 Academy Awards, winning four. He won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmys. Fielding had three Academy Award nominations for "The Wild Bunch", "Straw Dogs", and "The Outlaw Josey Wales". Bill Conti's big break came in 1976 when he was hired to compose the music for a small United Artists film called "Rocky". "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977. "Theme from A Summer Place" was written for the 1959 Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue movie, "A Summer Place".

The song was a number one instrumental for Percy Faith in 1960.

Answer: The Poseidon Adventure

"The Morning After" is also known as "The Song from 'The Poseidon Adventure'". It was first released in May, 1973. It became the first hit for Maureen McGovern. She was a secretary who performed part-time as a singer for a local folk group. Russ Regan was head of 20th Century Records in 1972 and heard a demo she had recorded.

He was searching for a singer to record "The Morning After" for release as a single. He hired McGovern sight unseen to record the song. After it won an Oscar for Best Original Song, "The Morning After" climbed to number one in 1973.

In 1974 she recorded "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the disaster film "The Towering Inferno". She made a short appearance in the film singing the song. John Williams did the music score for 1974's "Towering Inferno" and "Earthquake". "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" is the 1979 sequel to "The Poseidon Adventure". Jerry Fielding did the soundtrack.

Despite a stellar cast including Sally Field, Michael Caine, Telly Savalas, Karl Malden, Shirley Jones and Jack Warden, the film was not a success.

Answer: The Man with the Golden Gun

"To Sir, with Love" was sung by Lulu and reached number one on the pop charts. Lulu was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. After touring with the Hollies in 1966 and releasing singles on her own, she made her debut as a film actress in 1967's "To Sir, with Love" starring Sidney Poitier.

She had several television series of her own. In 1974 she performed the title song in the James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun". It is the ninth James Bond film and features Roger Moore as 007. The theme to "The Man with the Golden Gun" was composed by John Barry.

The lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Rock musician Alice Cooper claims his song, "The Man With The Golden Gun", was to be used but was dropped in favor of Lulu's song. Cooper's song is on his album "Muscle of Love". "From Russia with Love" was done by Matt Munro. "Thunderball" was sung by Tom Jones and "You Only Live Twice" featured Nancy Sinatra.

Answer: I Just Want to Be Your Everything

"I Just Want to Be Your Everything" is a hit by Andy Gibb. It is the first single released from his debut album, "Flowing Rivers". It became the first of three consecutive number one Billboard Hot 100 singles for Andy. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was written by John Farrar and performed by Olivia Newton-John in "Grease".

The song received an Oscar nomination as Best Original Song but lost to "Last Dance" at the 51st Academy Awards. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. "You're The One That I Want" was also written by John Farrar for "Grease".

It was performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week and sold over 2 million copies. "Those Magic Changes" was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and used in both the musical and the film versions of "Grease".

Answer: Meco

Meco Monardo saw the film "Star Wars" and thought John Williams' theme was commercial enough for release as a single. After viewing the films several more times, Meco developed a concept for making the theme a disco style commercial release. He contacted Casablanca Records and they agreed to the concept.

While John Williams' theme recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra made it to number ten, Meco's rendition hit the top of the charts on October 1, 1977. Based on the success of his "Star Wars" theme, Meco also did variations on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Love Theme from Shogun". Taco gained stardom in 1982 when he recorded a cover record of "Puttin' on the Ritz". Falco recorded the number one "Rock Me Amadeus" in 1986. "Dune" is an original soundtrack album for the film of the same name composed by Toto.

It is their first film score.

Answer: Hair

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is a medley of two songs from "Hair". The single held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Group at the Grammy Awards of 1970.

It was released on the album "The Age of Aquarius". In 1973 The Who released their second full rock opera "Quadrophenia." Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice composed "Jesus Christ Superstar", which was first recorded and released as a concept album in 1970. "Tommy" is the fourth album by The Who, a double album telling a loose story about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who becomes the leader of a movement. "Tommy" is the first musical work to be billed as a rock opera.

Answer: Isaac Hayes

The 1971 "Shaft" soundtrack album was recorded by Isaac Hayes. "Theme from Shaft" won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The album is comprised mostly of instrumentals composed by Hayes as score for the film. The three vocal selections are "Soulsville", "Do Your Thing" and "Theme from Shaft".

A commercial and critical success, "Shaft" became the best-selling LP ever released by the Stax label. In 2000 a sequel to the movie was made featuring Samuel L. Jackson in the title role. During the seventies Marvin Gaye released several notable albums including "Let's Get It On" and "I Want You".

He had hits with singles such as "Let's Get It On", "Got to Give It Up" and "Sexual Healing". Curtis Mayfield is known for his music with The Impressions and composing the soundtrack to "Super Fly". Among Wilson Pickett's best known hits are "In The Midnight Hour", "Land of 1,000 Dances", "Mustang Sally" and "Funky Broadway".

The impact of his songwriting and recording led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.