80s One Hit Wonders Vol. 7 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Benny Mardones

Billboard number 11, September 6, 1980. Billboard number 20, July 7, 1989. Mardones hailed from Cleveland Ohio. He released this song in the summer of 1980 and it barely missed the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 charts. Mardones disappeared from view, but in 1989 an Arizona disc jockey was doing a segment on a "Where Are They Now?" type show, and added Mardones' song to his play list.

Other radio stations followed and the song actually made it back into the Top 20 almost nine years after its initial release. Combining the weeks on the charts for the song, it became the longest charting hit of the 1980s with a total of 37 weeks. Mardones' voice has been compared to that of Journey's Steve Perry, and Mardones has been used to substitute for Perry on occasion in concert.

Answer: Larry Graham

Billboard number nine, September 20, 1980. Graham was part of the successful "Sly And The Family Stone" which had some monster hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s and were part of the original Woodstock in 1969. After the band broke up, he formed his own group, called "Graham Central Station", and recorded several songs, one of which was a rendition of "Hair" which became a mild hit.

He went solo in the early 1980s and recorded this song, which was his only hit as a solo artist.

Answer: Johnny Lee

Billboard number five, September 20, 1980. Lee had been charting on the U.S. Billboard Country charts since 1976, and was a good friend of Mickey Gilley, who owned the club where many of the scenes from "Urban Cowboy" (starring John Travolta and Debra Winger) were shot. Lee recorded the song and it went to number one on the Country charts as well as number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as the movie became a giant hit. Lee has had five number one hits on the U.S. Country charts, but never achieved any measure of success on the Hot 100 charts again.

Answer: Patti Austin

Billboard number one, December 4, 1982. Austin, who is from New York City, began performing at age four at the Apollo Theater, and had a recording contract by the time she was five. She worked as a backup singer, studio musician, and jingle singer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but her breakthrough came in the early 1980s with this song, which came off her album "Every Home Should Have One".

Interestingly, although considered an R & B singer, and having charted many songs on the R & B charts, this was her only number one on either chart.

Answer: Toni Basil

Billboard number one, December 11, 1982. Basil goes all the way back to 1964 when she was an assistant choreographer on the television music show "Shindig". Basil's recording career began in 1966 and she didn't have much success. The 1982 hit was considered somewhat of a fluke.

The song was actually recorded in 1979 but Toni was against its release in 1982. She thought that the song's time had passed. The record company released it anyway and it became a hit. It was also one of the most popular videos on the MTV during that time.

Answer: Ollie and Jerry

Billboard number nine, August 4, 1984. They were a short-lived duo that capitalized on the "Break Dancing" craze of the mid 1980s. This song was the theme song to the motion picture called "Breakin'"

Answer: Scandal

Billboard number seven, September 22, 1984. Formed in 1981, this group had some early success, but was stifled by their record company, which resulted in many of the members leaving the group. Fronted by lead singer Patty Smyth, and guitarist Zack Smith, "Warrior" became a Top 10 hit for the group.

They also had a minor follow up hit called "Goodbye To You" which only could muster a number 65 placing on the Billboard charts. One interesting note: one of the original members in 1981 left the group to start his own group. Who? Jon Bon Jovi.

Answer: Dennis DeYoung

Billboard number ten, November 10 1984. Easily recognizable as the lead singer of "Styx", DeYoung branched out for this solo hit in 1984 from the album of the same name. DeYoung never reached the heights that he sought as a solo artist. "Styx" reformed after a hiatus of a few years and remained together until 1999.

Answer: Harold Faltermeyer

Billboard number three, June 1, 1985. Faltermeyer is a German keyboardist/composer who composed some of the songs for "Beverly Hills Cop" with Eddie Murphy, which this song comes from, as well as "The Top Gun Anthem" from the film "Top Gun". Faltermeyer has composed and recorded many songs for various motion picture soundtracks and won a Grammy Award for both of these songs.

Answer: Jan Hammer

Billboard number one, November 9, 1985. Hammer, a native of the Czech Republic, moved to the U.S. at age 16 and became a citizen. Hammer played with a jazz group in the early 1970s called the "Mahavishnu Orchestra", and when that group broke up in the mid 1970s, Hammer went solo. Hammer played with Jeff Beck in the early 1980s and then in 1984 was hired to do the music for "Miami Vice".

The soundtrack he created went to number one on the charts and his theme earned him two Grammys. He wrote most of the music for the show all the way until 1988, spanning about 90 episodes of the show.

He also wrote the music for about 20 episodes of the British television series "Chancer".