80s One Hit Wonders Vol. 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rocky Burnette

Billboard number eight, July 26, 1980. Rocky is the son of the late Johnny Burnette, one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Dad had a hit called "You're Sixteen" in 1960 among his other hits. Rocky made the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 with this 1980 release. It is typical of the rockabilly style made famous by his father. This music had somewhat of a revival in the early 1980s.

Answer: The S.O.S. Band

Billboard number three, August 16, 1980. This band was an ensemble group out of Atlanta, Georgia which was formed in 1977. The S.O.S stands for Sounds Of Success.

Answer: Soft Cell

Billboard number eight, July 17,1982. This is actually a duo consisting of Marc Almond and David Ball. They started in Leeds, England and were formed in 1979. The group was unknown and unsuccessful until this song hit the charts, and boy did it hit the charts! The song went on to be a number one hit in 17 countries, and although it only got to number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, it set the record at the time for most consecutive weeks on the chart with a whopping 43 weeks. Oddly, they never had another Top 40 hit in the U.S., but had ten Top 10 hits in the U.K.

Answer: Karla Bonoff

Billboard number 19, August 7, 1982. Bonoff, from Santa Monica, California, has written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Wynona Judd, Lynn Anderson, and Linda Ronstadt, but she recorded this hit for herself in 1982. She also has recorded songs for the soundtracks to the films "8 Seconds", and "Footloose".

Answer: Mary Jane Girls

Billboard number seven, June 8, 1985. This group of ladies formed in Los Angeles and were proteges of Rick James. The girls took on different personnas and similar to the act of "The Village People", dressed in those personnas in public appearances. We had the tough girl, who was dressed as the female Rick James, the dominatrix, the valley girl, and the sexy model.

They released a 1983 album with limited success, but in 1985 they released a second album called "Only For You", which yielded this song, which was their biggest hit.

Answer: Ric Ocasek

Billboard number 15, November 15, 1986. Ocasek recorded this cut from his solo album "This Side Of Paradise", and used it as a single. The Cars split up in 1988, and Ocasek recorded occasionally, with little success. He was more successful as a producer for such groups as Weezer and No Doubt.

Answer: Timbuk 3

Billboard number 19, December 27, 1986. This husband and wife team of Pat and Barbara McDonald, from Madison Wisconsin, formed the group in 1984 and produced six studio albums in the next 10 years. This cut was off their first album, released in 1986. It was also their only single that ever charted in the U.S. They were nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 1987 Grammy Awards.

Answer: Pseudo Echo

Billboard number six, July 18, 1987. This group was formed in 1982, and are out of Melbourne, Australia. In the subsequent years, they became the second most popular group in Australia, behind only INXS. This song was off their second album called "Love and Adventure", released in 1986.

The song itself was re-released as a single in 1987, and was an international success, reaching number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, and well as number eight in the U.K. It also spent 13 weeks as the number one song in their Australian homeland.

Answer: T'Pau

Billboard number four, August 8, 1987. T'Pau was a female Vulcan princess on the televison series "Star Trek", and that's where the name came from. The group formed in 1986, and this song was their first release in the U.S. The song was not initially a hit in the U.K. but went to the top of the charts some months later after being featured in a television ad for jeans.

The next year, they released a song called "China In Your Hand" which spent five weeks at number one in the U.K. and was a number one hit in several other countries, but basically failed to chart in the U.S.

Answer: The Grateful Dead

Billboard number nine, September 26, 1987. Although they were one of the most popular bands of all time, they virtually never were recognized as a Top 40 group. Their legacy is that of a concert group, with live performances and thousands of loyal fans known as "Deadheads". During the period beginning in 1966, this song was the 25th single that the band released and only the fifth song to even crack the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. "The Dead" as they are commonly known to their fans, have toured for over forty years, even surviving the death of their leader, Jerry Garcia.

The surviving members of the band continue to perform in various combinations into the 21st Century.