1970s Pop Music (Part 3) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Carole King "It's Too Late"

Carole King released her "Tapestry" album in 1971 and her 45 RPM that contained two songs that were both hits. They were "It's Too Late" and "I Feel The Earth Move." I love the song "It's Too Late" and have since the very first time I heard it in 1971.

In my opinion Carole King is the most prolific female songwriter of our time. She either penned it with husband Gerry Goffin or on her own but she's been part of writing a bevy of hit songs that you probably never realized were hers. She wrote songs released by The Cookies, The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Monkees, The Animals, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Hermans Hermits, The Byrds etc. According to Wikipedia "It's Too Late" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and it was the B side of the 45. "I Feel The Earth Move" actually didn't chart but Billboard declared the 45 as a double A side 45 and it was listed at number one for both songs as a whole.

This 45, including both songs, was named by the RIAA as number 213 of 365 Songs of the Century. "It's Too Late" won a Grammy for record of the year in 1972.

Answer: It was featured in the 1971 Clint Eastwood movie "Play Misty For Me."

In 1971 the Clint Eastwood movie "Play Misty For Me" was released. "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was released on the soundtrack for the movie and it soared to number one where it remained for six weeks on the Billboard Pop Singles and Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in 1972.

It was the top pop single of the year and won a Grammy for both record and song of the year. I've yet to hear a song more lovely. The vocals are so dreamy and ethereal that it almost alters the way I feel while listening to it.

It is absolutely without equal, the most beautiful song I've ever heard.

Answer: Sailcat

In 1972 the band Sailcat released their album titled "Motorcycle Mama" that bore their hit of the same name. They are a one hit wonder band. The name Sailcat was picked because of a Jonathan Winters comedy record that the guys heard. On it a sailcat is a cat that has been run over so many times on the highway that you can scoop him up and throw him like a frisbee.

The leader of the band and songwriter, John, hated "Motorcycle Mama" so much that at one time he threw away the tape he had of it. Good thing someone saw him and fished it out. One day John was in the shower at a campground in Florida.

He had given the lady from the office there a copy of the album. Suddenly he heard his song. His first thought was that the lady from the office was playing the album.

Then he heard the disc jockey from the radio station and realized that his song was on the radio. He ran naked and screaming out of the shower that "we got a hit"! John had been just about ready to get rid of the band's record label.

This song is definitely a fun song and gives me that summertime feeling. There's some great information about Sailcat at this website: http://www.richieunterberger.com/sailcat.html

Answer: Hurricane Smith

Hurricane Smith is an amazing man. In 1972 "Oh Babe What Would You Say" peaked at number one in Cashbox Magazine and number three on the Billboard Pop Hits chart. In 1959 Hurricane (nee Norman) became an apprentice sound engineer at EMI. He was the engineer on all of the EMI studio recordings that the Beatles put out which was a total of just under 100 songs.

In 1965 he was given a job as a producer. In 1967 he began working with a new group. That group was Pink Floyd. He produced "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" which was their very first album.

He also produced "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Ummagumma." While they were trying to record the song "Remember A Day", Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason couldn't figure out what he wanted. Hurricane Smith stood in and played drums for the song.

He knew exactly what was needed. In 1968 Hurricane produced one of the earliest known rock concept albums by The Pretty Things titled "S.F. Sorrow." He also produced early material for Barclay James Harvest.

They had a highly rated album titled "Once Again" that he produced. So now you know why I started out the interesting information by stating that Hurricane is an amazing man. Wikipedia was a huge help with the above facts.

Answer: Gary Glitter "Rock And Roll Part 2"

Gary Glitter released "Rock And Roll Part 2" in 1972. It was also known as the "Hey Song." There was also a "Rock And Roll Part 1" which had more vocals as opposed to the more instrumental "Part 2." "Rock And Roll Part 2" was the one that was more popular in the US and rose to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The reason it was called the "Hey Song" is because the only lyric that is easy to understand is the oft repeated "Hey." The song has been used at many different sporting events and in quite a few soundtracks as well. Gary Glitter has been arrested many times and is a registered sex offender.

He was arrested in the UK for child pornography and spent 3 years in a prison in Viet Nam for sexual child abuse. I needed to mention this. It's the not so nice part of Gary Glitter.

Answer: The Pipkins

In 1970 The Pipkins song "Gimme Dat Ding" peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Pipkins were the grandfathers of Gorillaz which was a 1970s cartoon band that never really existed. The driving force behind this one hit wonder band was Abe Burrows.

They may have been a one hit wonder but Abe certainly wasn't. He sang for Edison Lighthouse who had the hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", The Brotherhood Of Man-"United We Stand", The First Class-"Beach Baby" and White Plains-"My Baby Loves Lovin." Abe has been credited with singing lead vocals on hit singles for more groups than any other recording artist. That includes being on the UK singles charts and the US Billboard Hot 100.

In earlier days Abe was with The Ivy League which eventually morphed into the Flower Pot Men. An amazing man that one never hears about.

Answer: "Wildflower" by Skylark

In 1972 the Canadian band Skylark released the song "Widlflower." It was #1 in Canada and peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top 10 chart. The guy who wrote the poem was a rookie policeman named Dave "The Cop" Richardson. "Wildflower" sold over a million copies.

It was an early example of what is known as a power ballad. The song is melancholy with strong and emotional lead vocals and gospel like background vocals. To me it's a beautiful song that I'll never tire of hearing. It's since been covered by quite a few different artists.

Answer: It was inspired by a relationship Richard once had.

In 1972 "Goodbye To Love" peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #2 on Billboard Easy Listening. For some reason Richard decided that the song had to have a fuzz guitar solo in it and he chose Tony Peluso as just the guy that could pull it off right. Richard and Karen were both familiar with Tony's work and knew he was their best choice. Tony started of with a mellow solo but Richard wanted the solo to "burn" so he told Tony to just let it rip.

The Carpenters received hate mail due to the guitar solo and were accused of selling out to hard rock.

Some adult radio staions would not even play the song due to the guitar solo. Once on late night television Richard Carpenter was watching a movie titled "Rhythm On The River." Bing Crosby starred in it as a songwriter trying to come up with a song called "Goodbye To Love." The title of the song was mentioned several times in the movie but such a song was never written by Crosby's character. Richard loved this song title so he decided he would write such a song for his sister Karen to sing.

The rest is history. Fuzz guitar is generally used in psychedelic music which makes this song a bit of an anomaly. I believe that Karen Carpenter was the most gifted singer that I've ever encountered.

Answer: "Have You Seen Her" by The Chi Lites

The answer was in the question if you knew who Eugene Record was. He sung for The Chi Lites. "Have You Seen Her" was a big hit for them in 1971 but their biggest hit "Oh Girl" was still yet to come. "Have You seen Her" was inspired by the opening monologue on "Hot Buttered Soul" by Isaac Hayes.

It had that doo wop style narrative at the beginning and end of the song. The potential that "Have You seen Her" had was initially ignored. According to the Independent newspaper on July 25, 2005, Eugene Record once said "I had the song for at least 2 or 3 years, but it was so long, 5 minutes long! You were lucky at that time if you got a record played that was 3 minutes long.

Then Isaac Hayes come out with that "Hot Buttered Soul" album. He did something on there that was 18 minutes long! That convinced me to put "Have You Seen Her" as the last track on our third album, and then, wow! I've never seen anything like that record!" For me the song is the most beautiful male vocals song that I've ever heard. I never grew tired of hearing it.

Then I saw the Chi Lites live and had goosebumps as soon as the song began. To think, it was almost not released.

Answer: Lake Shore Drive

L.S.D. was the song "Lake Shore Drive" released by Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah in 1971. I live near Chicago and it was a regional hit here but I'm not sure about the rest of the country. It didn't make the Billboard charts so it wasn't played as much outside of Chicago.

It was definitely a cruising song and perfect tune for driving down Lake Shoe Drive or any other road for that matter with the wind blowing through your hair. The band was composed of bassist Mitch Aliotta, drummer Ted Aliotta and guitarist Skip Haynes. Ted left after their debut album and was replaced by pianist John Jeremiah.

It was John's piano that really helped the song become what it was. "Lake Shore Drive" was the trio's only hit and it quickly became a Chicago radio anthem.

Many people were convinced that L.S.D. was a reference to the drug but it was not in any way. The lyrics spell it out. They tell of a car cruising along Chicago's lakefront highway. There's a line in the song that goes: "From rats on up to riches" that refers to the difference in housing one encounters while on the drive but "Rats" also refers to a club that the band performed at called Ratzos.

The line "Just slippin' on by on LSD, Friday night trouble-bound" could be misconstrued but once you know what the song is really about, it makes perfect sense.

Answer: "Little Green Bag" by the George Baker Selection

The George Baker Selection released "Little Green bag" in 1969 and by 1970 it peaked at #21 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1992 the song was used in a Japanese whiskey commercial and rose to a #1 hit. The band recorded this song with their own money. "Little Green Bag" opens with a jazzy bass solo and there is a tambourine on the offbeats.

The short bass solo is played twice and then we get into the vocals which are breathy, half whispered and have an echo effect. I wonder if the singer dipped into his little green bag before recording this tune.

Answer: "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks"

"Seasons In The Sun" is the song by Terry Jacks that you love to hate and hate to love. It was a sappy song with adolescent sounding vocals and can best fit into the category of schlock. I will admit however that I did like it when it was first released and even now it brings back fond memories of long lost summers and my first real girlfriend.

When it was released in 1974 it became the largest-selling single in Canadian history. It sold more than 285,000 copies in a matter of weeks. Terry Jacks actually had the song sitting on a shelf at his house for more than a year before a delivery boy heard it and asked if he could play it for his friends. Due to the overall reaction, Terry decided to release it as a single on his own Goldfish Records label. "Seasons In The Sun" peaked at #1 on both the adult contemporary and pop Billboard charts in the US in 1974.

He really did name his power boat after the song too. I confirm a lot of the information I put in my quizzes at songfacts.com, answers.com and Wikipedia in case anyone wants to challenge any of my information.

Answer: "Too Late To Turn Back Now" by the Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose

In 1972 the Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose had a big time hit with "Too Late To Turn Back Now." The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and oddly enough only reached #5 on the Billboard R&B charts. It obviously appealed more to general audiences than it did to R&B and soul fans. "Too Late To Turn Back Now" sold over one million copies with a gold disc awarded in August, 1972.

The band had another hit prior to this one titled "Treat Her Like A Lady." Both songs are among the most requested from the early 1970s on oldies radio stations. I can still hear the words and still love the song.

Answer: Mother Freedom

On July 17, 1971 "Mother Freedom" peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was a bit out of the norm because Bread was known for their soft ballads and distinctive voice of David Gates. To me he had the voice of an angel and gifted us with songs like If, Aubrey, Diary, Make It With You, Guitar Man, It Don't Matter To Me, Everything I Own etc. During live concerts Bread would usually save "Mother Freedom" until just before the encore. David Gates sang lead and played two rhythm guitars on the track and James Griffin played the great guitar solo and sang backup vocals.

Answer: "American Pie" by Don McLean

The folk rock song "American Pie" was released in 1971 by Don McLean and became a #1 hit in 1972. It stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 at #1 for four weeks. We all know that the song is about the day the music died which was the fateful plane crash in 1959 that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. Anything else is conjecture and Don McLean stopped answering questions about the song. Early on McLean was asked what "American Pie" meant and he said "It means I never have to work again." Later on he seriously said "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me... sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." He also said about the lyrics that "They're beyond analysis.

They're poetry." Some top 40 stations would only play side two of the 45 because of the length but eventually gave into playing both sides due to the popularity of the song. I guess we'll never really know what all the lyrics really mean. Still, for me, this song is lyrically the greatest song ever written.

The common rumor is that the King is Elvis, lonely teenager is Dion, Queen is Aretha Franklin or Connie Francis, jester is Bob Dylan, book of love refers to The Monotones. It's fun to think about at any rate. If you want to read more, check Wikipedia. I found good information on the site.

Answer: "Rock On" by David Essex

David Essex released "Rock On" in the soundtrack to the 1973 film "That'll Be The Day." In March of 1974 it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Essex also had a starring role in the film. The song was amazing, largely due to the great production. If I had to describe the song I'd say minimalist, dark, brooding, moody, glam, pop that borders on psychedelic.

The violins give it a haunting quality. The song was the title track on the debut album of David Essex from 1973. It can still be heard on oldies stations. I still love it as much as I did back then.

Answer: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" was released in 1969 and by 1970 it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart. This song is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential funk songs of all time.

It was one of the first recordings to use the heavy, funky beats that would be an integral part of the funk music of the 1970s. By 1970 Sly and other band members were high on drugs almost every minute of the day. Sly would carry a violin case filled with drugs wherever he went.

They preferred cocaine and PCP which is an animal tranquilizer. Sly became erratic and extremely moody and wound up missing 1/3 of the band's concerts that year. Sly would appear on the "Mike Douglas Show" and "Dick Cavett Show" among others and nobody could predict what might happen on the shows. Sly hired his friends from the street as his personal managers and they would bring in gangsters and Mafioso as bodyguards.

The band was destined for failure between drug use and egos and they eventually disbanded. Wikipedia again was a huge help with information.

Answer: Frijid Pink

Frijid Pink took their "psychedelic" version of "House Of The Rising Sun" to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1970. The origin of the song has never been determined but the earliest known existing recording was in 1933 by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster.

There was a song called "The Risin' Sun" from 1928 by Alger "Texas" Alexander that is sometimes mentioned as the very first recording but it's a completely different song. The most successful version, by far, was by the Animals.

It was was a number one hit in the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden and Canada. Frijid Pink's version sold a million copies. They did a psychedelic version although some say it's more proto metal/proto punk like the style of music played by MC5 and the Stooges. All three bands were from Detroit. "House Of The Rising Sun" was Frijid Pink's only top 10 hit.

Answer: The Osmonds

The Osmonds brought "Down By The Lazy River" to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. When I think Osmonds my mind goes to the likes of "One bad Apple." The Osmonds did have other rockers as well. "Hold Her Tight" blows me away. It's hard to believe that the Osmonds sang that song.

It's pretty much a reworking of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" as it has that repeated guitar riff all throughout. It's the riff that has that jungle sound to it and repeats the same six notes over and over. The Partridge Family had their share of hits although none were hard rock in any way.

They had "I Think I Love You", "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" etc. The DeFranco's had "Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat" and "Abra-Ca-Dabra." The Poppy Family had "Which Way You Goin' Billy."

Answer: "You Take My Breath Away" by Rex Smith

Rex Smith wrote the song "You take My Breath Away" for the 1979 movie "Sooner Or Later." He also starred in the movie as Michael who was a 17 year old aspiring musician and guitar instructor. Along comes Jessie who is only 13 years old but falls haed over heels for him. Of course she lies about her age and they get wind up getting together.

The song did peak at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 of 1979. Rex Smith made his Broadway debut as the character Danny Zukoin Grease. He had many other TV and stage roles as well.

Answer: "More,More, More" by Andrea True

Andrea True who was born in Nashville, Tennessee on July 26, 1943 was the former adult film star who released "More,More,More" in 1976. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. Andrea called her band the Andrea True Connection. While doing adult films she went by many different stage names of which some were Inger Kissin, Andrea Travis, Catherine Warren, Singh Low, and Singe Low.

Answer: Let Her In

John Travolta had a #10 hit with a song you hate to love and love to hate titled "Let Her In" in 1976. For me it was a bad schlocky ballad on par with Terry Jacks' "Season's In The Sun." I'm assuming that everyone taking this quiz knows who Travolta is. Just in case someone does not, he is best known for his role in Welcome Back Kotter as Vinnie Barbarino, as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever and as Danny Zuko in Grease.

Answer: Marcia Strassman

Marcia Strassman who starred as Julie Kotter, Gabe's wife, in "Welcome Back Kotter" released three different 45 RPM records of good hippie folk on the Uni label. Her debut 45 was released in 1967 and titled "The Flower Children/Out Of The Picture." It was actually a top 40 hit in many West Coast markets. Most notably it reached #4 in San Diego and #2 in San Francisco. Sadly, it never got past #103 in the national market. Again in 1967 Marcia released her second 45 titled "The Groovy World Of Jack And Jill/Flower Shop." Her third and final 45 was released in 1968 and was titled "The Flower Children/Out Of The Picture." Kim Fowley produced this 45.

Her second 45 was released with a nice picture sleeve.

Answer: Hallelujah

"Hallelujah" hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 for the one hit wonder band known as Sweathog. Their music style was a Southern style soul funk wrapped around a virtuoso rock sound. "Hallelujah" was a driven slice of Southern fried rock and roll that had a soul touch.

The song really showed off the talents of all four band members, especially the drummer who was known as "Frosty." In 1970, prior to their hit song, Sweathog had become the house band for a night club in the San Fernando Valley called The Chronicle.

After Frank Barsalona signed Sweathog to the Premier Talent Agency, they became a top opening act for Black Sabbath, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The J Geils Band, Edgar Winter's White Trash, Grand Funk Railroad and others. Frank Barsalona was a talent agent who had founded Premier Talent in 1964.

They were the first the first booking agency to focus on rock performers.

Answer: Minnie Riperton

In 1975, "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton peaked at #1 on the Billboard hot 100. Minnie was former lead singer of the band Rotary Connection who released an excellent, psychedelic Christmas album titled "Peace." They had several other LP releases as well.

The incredible and amazing thing about Minnie is that her vocal range extended over five octaves. She sings in the whistle register yet is still able to anunciate which sets her apart from other whistle register singers. Minnie's ability to anunciate in the whistle register is most notably heard in the song "Here We Go", where she sings "here we go" in the whistle register.

She worked as a secretary at Chess Records in Chicago when she was discovered. It was her innate ability to imitate many instruments that brought attention to her.

The highest note she ever reached was an F#7 which she reached on the third scale of "You Take My Breath Away", on an early recording of "Teach Me How To Fly" and "Could It Be I'm In Love." Also in a live performance she sung an F#7.

The melody for "Lovin You" was created by Minnie as a distraction for her baby so that she and her husband could hang out together. Her baby daughter Maya was in the studio with her on the day that "Lovin' you was recorded. Minnie can be heard singing her daughter's name at the end of the song.