British Invasion: Out of the '60s, Into the '70s Quiz

Answer: The Beatles

For varying reasons, all of these early British Invasion bands from the 1960s had pretty much run their course by 1970. For the Beatles, arguably the greatest cultural force in popular music history, longstanding intragroup tensions had reached their culmination by 1969.

The band members were starting to focus on solo projects, Yoko Ono was in the picture, and the boys just weren't getting along. Much of the material on the "Let it Be" album was recorded before the "Abbey Road" material, even though the latter album was released earlier.

The original title of "Let it Be" was to be "Get Back", because the idea was to rediscover a simpler sound without all the studio overdubbing, and to play and record together more as a group. Unfortunately it was too late, and the musical history of the 1970s would be written without a unified Beatles band.

Answer: Queen

Freddy Mercury was the lead singer of Queen, and Rami Malik's portrayal of him in 2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody" earned Malik a best acting Oscar. Although taking criticism for some historical inaccuracies, the film provided realistic and dramatic insights into a fascinating story of the ascent of a superstar rock legend. Mercury died at age 45 in 1991 from AIDS related complications.

His huge talent as a singer, performer and songwriter are unquestionable, as his place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame attests.

The album referenced in the question is "A Night at the Opera" from 1975. It contained the hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody" which was the number one song in Britain for nine weeks. Queen's compilation album, "Greatest Hits," was the all-time best selling album in the UK as of February 2019.

Answer: The Kinks

The album is "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround." Many of the songs exhibit bandleader Ray Davies' love/hate relationship with the music industry and his struggles balancing commercial success with his artistic leanings. The title song "Lola" has become a rock classic.

In the opening stanza, the narrator describes meeting his new "girlfriend." It's in a Soho club where "you drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca-Cola." The stuffy and staid BBC refused to play the song not because of the questionable subject matter, but because of rules about product placement; so the Kinks had to re-record that section replacing the offending words with "cherry cola."

Answer: The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues were a group of English rockers who came out of Birmingham in the early 1960s. Their defining sound fused rock with classical music themes and complex orchestration. "A Question of Balance" (1970) was one of their most successful albums, reaching number one in England and number three in the USA.

They built on this success and toured extensively in the early 1970s, but underwent personnel changes and temporarily disbanded later in the decade. "Tuesday Afternoon"(1967) from the "Days of Future Passed" album, is perhaps their most recognized single.

Answer: The Who

The album in question is "Who's Next," and it's a consensus pick as one of the great rock albums. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 28th on their 2003 "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. It includes several songs (such as "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again") which struck a chord with a generation of young listeners who felt alienated and betrayed by the establishment AND the "revolution" which never seemed to materialize.

The cover art shows a five meter high rectangular slab of gray concrete stuck in a barren, rock strewn landscape.

The four group members are moving away, with their heads down, evidently zipping up their trousers, and the concrete block is stained with several water marks. According to photographer Ethan Russell, who shot the picture, Pete Townsend and Keith Moon had been discussing Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking film, which led to the idea for the album cover.

He also maintained that only Townsend actually urinated on the "monolith" and said the other marks were water splashed out of a film canister.

Answer: Sticky Fingers

They are the Rolling Stones, and the 1971 album, one of their most iconic, is "Sticky Fingers." It features the lyrically controversial hit single "Brown Sugar," a wild, hard driving ballad which races through a mix of taboo subjects including slavery and rape.

The album was recorded at Muscle Shoals in Alabama and it achieved triple platinum status in the United States. Pop Art trend setter Andy Warhol designed the cover art. It shows a man's lower half, wearing tight black jeans with the working zipper which opens to reveal underpants.

Some consumers who bought it complained that the zipper damaged the vinyl record, so later printings omitted the functioning zipper, making copies of the original pressing all the more valuable as a collector's item. ["Weasels Ripped My Flesh" was released by The Mothers of Invention in 1970; "Zipper" is a 1986 recording by Roger Chapman, a British rocker from Leicester who was in a '70s R&B band named The Streetwalkers.

He's perhaps better known for his association with the 1960s progressive rock band called Family.]

Answer: Mott the Hoople

Mott the Hoople, featuring irrepressible and versatile front man Ian Hunter, produced some excellent albums in the 1970s. Most notable are "All the Young Dudes" (1972) and "Mott" (1973). The former includes the hit single of the same name which was penned by David Bowie, who was a consistent fan and backer of the group. "Mott" features their best selling single "All the Way From Memphis," a rollicking biographical journey through some of the band's experiences on the road.

After their next album "The Hoople" (clever title!), Hunter and his newly acquired partner Mick Ronson left the group to pursue life as a duo, and although the remaining members continued making music until 1980, Mott the Hoople was never the same.

Answer: Deep Purple

Green Day was not formed until 1986 and Whitesnake activated in 1978, not really qualifying for this quiz. Black Sabbath was plenty loud, but it was Deep Purple, the lads from Hertfordshire, England whom Guinness recognized in 1975. The US was on the Deep Purple bandwagon first. "Hush", written by Joe South and taken off the album "Shades of Deep Purple", became a top five Billboard single for the group, and the notoriety landed them a spot on Cream's 1968 farewell United States tour.

The band broke new ground in recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969, and continued to evolve and solidify with some personnel changes in the next few years.

But it was the 1972 album "Machine Head" which, according to guitar impresario Tom Morello, earned them a spot on "The Mount Rushmore of heavy metal". On that album you can find perhaps the most recognizable opening riff in all of rock- the guitar intro to "Smoke on the Water".

Answer: Fun House

Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965 with the creative force of Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, Richard Wright on keyboards, and Nick Mason on drums. Although active on the London underground scene in the late 1960s, they were unfamiliar to many in the United States until the 1970s.

The release of "Dark Side of the Moon" in 1973 cemented them as worldwide stars. Along with 1979 release "The Wall", they are two of the best selling albums of all time. Origin of name: Syd Barrett was a fan of blues artists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, so he took their first names and combined them for the name of the group. "Fun House" (1970) is the second studio release of the American group The Stooges.

Answer: Traffic

Traffic is another of the sometimes overlooked British Invasion bands who produced some amazing material in the 1970s. The group came out of Birmingham in 1967 and and was active through 1974. They also had reunions in 1994 and 2004. The original members were Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason. All were excellent musicians and went on to productive solo careers, with Winwood and Mason achieving notable commercial success as individuals. "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" is the title track of the album.

At 11:25 long, it's a masterpiece fusion of jazz and rock, with extended solos by Winwood on keyboards and Chris Wood on saxophone. Session man Rick Grech played bass on the song.