60's One Hit Wonders Vol. 18 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robin Ward

Billboard number 14, December 14, 1963. Recording under the name of Robin Ward, Jacqueline McDonnell was born in 1941 in Hawaii, and won a talent contest as a pre-teen while living in Nebraska. By 1963 she had moved with her family to California, and was working as a session singer, when she recorded this hit.

It was an experimental work by her producer which made her sound like a child, so she decided to use her daughter's name for the recording, thus, Jackie Ward, became Robin Ward. Afer her one hit wonder success, she has had a very lucrative career as a back-up and ensemble singer.

She has performed as part of a group on such shows as "The Carol Burnett Show", "The Red Skelton Show", and "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour". She also sang as part of a group or groups, in the theme songs for TV Shows such as "Flipper", "Batman", The Partridge Family" and "Maude", among others, and was also the spooky female voice in the original "Star Trek" theme.

Answer: The Wonder Who?

Billboard number 12, December 25, 1965. Frankie Valli was doing a recording of Bob Dylan, and Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs, and was not happy with the way this song was going. He actually laid down the track with his signature "falsetto" voice as joke. Some joke it turned out to be. He did record a total of four songs under "The Wonder Who" moniker, but this was the only Top 40 entry.

Answer: J. J. Jackson

Billboard number four, December 10, 1966. Born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941, J.J. was an arranger as well as a songwriter, and wrote songs for various artists including "The Shagri-Las" and Jimmy Witherspoon. He saved the best for himself it appears.

Answer: Spyder Turner

Billboard number 12, February 11, 1967. This cover, by Turner, was an unusual track, in that he breaks the song up into about a half-dozen segments in which he imitates the styles and sounds of some of the best known black recording artists of the day, and sings the same verse repeatedly. Pretty neat version though. "Stand By Me" has been covered by a myriad of artists, with varying success.

This was one of the more successful ones.

Answer: The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

Billboard number two, October 19, 1968. Considered a psychedelic artist, Arthur Brown released an album with this title hit, and also covered versions of songs by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and James Brown, and gave them a psychedelic twist. Interestingly, the associate producer on this album was Pete Townsend. (Yes, THAT Pete Townsend!)

Answer: The Spokesmen

Billboard number 26, September 18, 1965. This was the only entry for this patriotic pop music trio.It was a response to "The Eve Of Destruction" which had been a hit earlier that year.

Answer: Larry Finnegan

Billboard number 11, April 21, 1962. Born in 1938, we'll never know if Finnegan could have ever acheived any other success. Sadly, he died of a brain tumor at age 34, in 1973.

Answer: Kai Winding

Billboard number eight, August 23, 1963. Winding was a Danish trombone player and jazz musician born in 1922. At age 12 his family came to the U.S. and after graduating high school in 1940, he served in the military during World War II. After the war he became a member of some of the "Big Bands" of the day.

He played with both Benny Goodman, and Stan Kenton. "More" is from the film "Mondo Cane" which was a big hit in 1963, and the song was nominated for an Academy Award.

Answer: The Sapphires

Billboard number nine, March 14, 1964. This was a group from Philadelphia with a sound similar to the "Motown Sound". The group consisted of two guys and a girl, and the success of this song was widely attributed to the production of Kenny Gamble, one half of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame production team of Gamble and Huff who forged the trail for the "Philadelphia Soul" sound of the day.

Answer: Steam

Billboard number one, December 6, 1969. Another in the series of studio musicians made good, there was no such band called "Steam" when this song was released. After seeing it's success, a band was quickly formed to go out on tour. These original members dis-banded in 1970.