Call Me Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mother

The band had a hit with 'Sylvia's Mother' in 1972, with the song reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was written by Shel Silverstein and is about a young man, desperate to speak to his former girlfriend, Sylvia, but being thwarted by her mother, who says 'Sylvia's busy, too busy to come to the 'phone'.

The band was led by singers Dennis Locorriere and Ray Sawyer, who wore an eyepatch after losing an eye in a car accident. The group became known just as Dr. Hook and also had hits with the joky 'The Cover of the Rolling Stone' (1972), 'A Little Bit More' (1976) and 'When You're in Love With a Beautiful Woman' (1979).

Answer: Jim Croce

'Operator' reached number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100 as the follow-up to Jim's first hit, 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim'. In the song, the singer speaks to the telephone operator to try and find the number for his former girlfriend who has left him for the man who used to be his best friend.

He eventually gives up the idea, realising that he is still too hurt to speak to her. Croce's biggest hit was 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' which hit the number one spot in America in July 1973. Following his death in September of the same year, Croce had a second number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'Time in a Bottle'. All the singers listed died in plane crashes - Redding in 1967, Denver in 1997 and Nelson in 1985.

Answer: Wichita

Written by Jimmy Webb, 'Wichita Lineman' told the story of lineman working alone while wishing he was with his lover. Glen Campbell reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the song, and took it to number one in Canada and number seven on the UK Singles Chart. Among his other hits are 'Galveston' (1969), 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' (1967) and 'Honey Come Back' (1970), which is pretty impressive for a singer who began as a session musician.

Answer: Ring Ring

'Ring Ring' was one of Abba's earlier releases from 1973, before they really exploded onto the music scene with 'Waterloo' in 1974. 'Ring Ring' did well in the band's home country, Norway, Austria and Australia (among others), although it reached only the lower reaches of the UK charts and did nothing at all in the USA.

The lyrics were originally in Swedish, and Neil Sedaka helped with the translation into English. The chorus of the song is 'Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call?', but the call never came.

Answer: Marie

'Memphis, Tennessee' is another song involving the singer trying to get a telephone number from the operator. The lyrics are misleading to start with, implying that the singer is trying to contact a former girlfriend, until the lines 'Marie is only six years old' tell you that the girl he is trying to reach is his daughter. 'Memphis, Tennessee' was a number six hit in the UK in 1959, and was one of four UK top tens for Chuck.

The others were 'Let it Rock' from 1960, 'No Particular Place to Go' from 1964 and 'My Ding-a-Ling' from 1972. I've always thought it rather sad that only the last of these reached the number one position, as it really does not reflect Berry's talent.

Answer: Blondie

'Hanging on the Telephone' came from Blondie's best selling album, 'Parallel Lines' which reached Platinum status for sales in the USA, UK and Canada. The single was a number five UK hit, and the follow up singles from the same album did even better. Both 'Heart of Glass' and 'Sunday Girl' reached number one on the UK charts in a string of hits for the band, led by singer Debbie Harry, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fans of Blondie will probably also have noticed that the quiz title comes from another of their hits, with 'Call Me' having reached number one on both the USA Billboard Hot 100 and UK Single Charts in 1980.

Answer: Electric Light Orchestra

Jeff was a member of each of these groups, with The Idle Race being his first band between 1966 until 1970. He left to join Roy Wood, who had also been in The Idle Race until 1965, in his established band 'The Move'. Lynne and Wood then set up Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) to add some elements of classical music to pop.

The band was very successful, with 'Telephone Line' doing well in both the USA and UK. Among their other hits are 'Mr. Blue Sky', 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'Hold on Tight'. Lynne was also a member of The Traveling Wilburys, with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.

Answer: Steely Dan

The song was Steely Dan's biggest hit, getting to number four on the US Billboard Chart, although it managed only a lowly fifty-eight in the UK. I found this surprising as it seemed to be played regularly on the radio. The band, whose main members were Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, broke up in 1981 before reuniting in 1993. Stealers Wheel included Gerry Rafferty, who went on to solo success with 'Baker Street' in 1978 and Steeleye Span were led by singer Maddie Prior.

The Steve Miller Band achieved success with 'The Joker' (1973) and 'Abracadabra' (1982).

Answer: Beyoncé

'Telephone' became Lady Gaga's fourth number one hit on the UK Singles Chart, following 'Just Dance', 'Poker Face' and 'Bad Romance'. The lyrics talk about the singer staying on the dance floor instead of answering telephone calls from her boyfriend. Beyoncé provided the verse, with a semi-rap beat, and also appeared in the video for the song. Since this featured the two women killing people in a diner and going on the run from the police it did receive criticism.

Answer: 'Alone' (Heart)

'Alone' was a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987 and reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. The band included sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and were still performing in the early years of the twenty-first century. 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' was a huge worldwide hit for Stevie Wonder in 1984, having been featured in the film 'The Woman in Red' from the same year. 'No Reply' was from the album 'Beatles for Sale' (the American version, which had slightly different tracks, was called 'Beatles '65') and was written by John Lennon. 'Telephone Man', with its rather suggestive lyrics, was a hit in 1977.