Brackets Bonanza! Quiz | The Title (in Brackets)

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. There was an amusing song that was released as a single, and was not a huge hit like some others in the artist's repertoire. The title is "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" and a sample lyric runs: "Home entertainment was my baby's wish, so I went out and brought home a satellite dish..." Who sang this particular number?

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

"57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" can be found on Springsteen's 1992 album "Human Touch". My favorite line come near the end of the song: "So I bought a .44 Magnum, it was solid steel cast, and in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast..."

Elvis in his later years was known to shoot out the TV if he wasn't satisfied with the programming: however, he didn't do it in anger or violence, but rather as a joke among the Memphis Mafia, as the men in his inner circle were called.

2. "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay" was a major hit song sung by Otis Redding. It is extremely sad to reflect that at the time it was soaring to the top of the charts, the premature death of Otis Redding in December 1967, was making headlines around the world. What was the cause of his death?

Answer: Plane crash

This song features sounds of seagulls, crashing waves and Redding whistling at the end. The astonishing thing about the song, though, is the emotive quality of this brilliant singer's voice. He manages to sound so careworn and disillusioned, like a man much older than Otis Redding's mere 26 years.

3. Elvis Presley recorded a number of songs with parenthetical titles. One of these, "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame", enjoyed much chart success in 1961, but the B-side was also a hit. Which song appeared on the B-side?

Answer: Little Sister

It was always good news for the 45 RPM record buyer if there was a great song on both sides, of course. "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" came from the famed songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, It featured a driving Bo Diddley-type beat, and Elvis' vocals told a convincing story of love and betrayal. "Little Sister" was written by the same team.

4. Which soul singer had a hit in 1971 with the single "Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)"?

Answer: James Brown

We are informed by the ever-serious Wikipedia that the song is "an ode to the captivating power of the title garment". James Brown actually released the song as a three-part single. It went to No. 1 on the American R&B chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

5. In 1971 a truly landmark album was released, one of the very first where the artist was given complete creative control over the project. The album was called "What's Going On?" and one of its first hit singles, after the title track, was "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)". So who appears on the "What's Going On" album?

Answer: Marvin Gaye

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" sold over a million copies at the time. Since then, it has been covered by other artists and it received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2002. The song continues to reverberate right up to the present time, with its message of humanity's responsibility to put right the wrongs inflicted on the environment.

6. There was a rocking little single, with which TWO very prominent artists of the rock and roll era had hit records, in 1957. Which song would this be?

Answer: (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care

The date is, of course, the key to this question as all the other choices were hit records from the 60s. "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" produced very big hits for two giants of rock and roll, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. People are still debating the relative merits of each recording in 2017, on YouTube.

A great version of the song formed a part of Queen's rock and roll medley, often performed at their live shows.

7. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" enjoyed a rather big comeback when it was featured in the 1991 movie "Mermaids", starring Cher, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci, along with Bob Hoskins representing the male point of view. The song was sung by the three women in a terrific song and dance routine, but which singer(s) scored with the original single?

Answer: Betty Everett

The late Betty Everett became very well known after releasing "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" in 1964. Born in the state of Mississippi, she spent most of her life in Chicago and environs, pursuing her musical career.

Betty Everett had other hits as well. The soul singer had much success when she released "You're No Good", covered by many women artists, perhaps most notably Linda Ronstadt. Betty also recorded duets with the great Jerry Butler, including a beautiful rendition of the Everly Brothers' hit "Let It Be Me". The music world lost Betty Everett in 2001.

8. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" was a single with parenthetical words in the title, made famous in 1967 by an artist on the Brunswick label. Who was the singer who had a big hit with this one?

Answer: Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson had a major hit with "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and
Higher", which he recorded with the Funk Brothers, who were the Motown Records crack house band. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts, and to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Jackie Wilson died in 1984, the same year that he was inducted posthumously into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The presentation was done by Michael Jackson, who dedicated his Album of the Year award for "Thriller" to Jackie Wilson, and who acknowledged Wilson as a crucial influence on his own career.

Jackie Wilson himself was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987,
while "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" made it into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

9. "Slow Twist (There's No No Twistin' Like)" is a song with a parenthetical title, from 1961. Each of the following have had hits to his/their credit which related to the dance craze known as The Twist. But which one had a hit with this particular one?

Answer: Chubby Checker

Unlike most of Chubby Checker's songs, "Slow Twist (There's No No Twistin' Like)" was taken at a slower pace, as befits its title. This singer enjoyed unprecedented success with such songs, and his international fame began at age 17. His real name was Ernest Evans, but he continued to perform under his stage name well into the 1990s and he put on a great show, though perhaps not including his "Twist" songs as much as his diehard fans would have liked.

10. The 1982 song was "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)", and it was a hit single for the singing duo of Hall and Oates. But what are these two gentlemen's first names?

Answer: Daryl and John

Daryl Hall and John Oates had a string of very successful songs from about 1978 to 1988. They released fifteen slbums over the course of this span. Here's an interesting statistic: (how do they measure this?) "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" is one of fourteen Hall & Oates songs that have been played over a million times on the radio!

The song, by these very talented Philadelphia musicians, who are the epitome of "blue-eyed soul", went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 1 on the US R&B charts in 1982.

Source: Author elmo7

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Brackets Bonanza! Trivia Quiz

Parenthetical song titles are those which contain words in brackets. Oftentimes the words in parentheses are a reference to a chorus or at least its beginning. Songs are all oldies, from various decades.

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