Flashback to 1974 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Waterloo

In 1974 "Waterloo" won the Eurovision Song Contest, which gave ABBA the chance to tour Europe and perform on major television shows. The added exposure was a huge boost for both the band and the song. "Waterloo" went to number one in nine countries, reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold nearly six million copies to date.

Answer: The Joker

"The Joker" was the Steve Miller Band's first number one, hitting the top spot in January of 1974. In 1990, sixteen years after the song topped the U.S. charts, it reached number one on the U.K. Singles Chart, thanks to its inclusion in a television ad for Levi's jeans. One of the more unusual lines in the song, "'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love", had listeners wondering what in the world the word "pompatus" meant; well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it means "to act with pomp and splendor." Who knew?

Answer: Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin started his career in 1966, performing with his brothers, Tom and Steve. They released one album together called "Chapin Music!", but it was unsuccessful. Harry decided to start a solo career and released his first album, titled "Heads and Tales", in 1972.

It yielded a moderate hit with the tune "Taxi", which reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1972. "Cat's in the Cradle", which was written by Chapin and his wife Sandy, was by far his most successful recording and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. Chapin also fought tirelessly to end world hunger and participated in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977. Chapin, who died in 1981, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1987 for his humanitarian work.

Answer: Grand Funk

Grand Funk (also known as Grand Funk Railroad) were a power trio consisting of Mark Farner (guitar, vocals), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) and Mel Schacher (bass). Despite their lack of airplay in the early days, the group had quite a lot of success. Their first seven albums (six studio releases and one live album) received either Gold or Platinum certification.

In 1973, in an effort to refine their sound, the band secured the services of veteran musician Todd Rundgren as a producer. This collaboration led to the group's two most successful singles, "The Loco-Motion" in 1974 and "We're an American Band", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.

Answer: Billy Preston

Billy Preston first met The Beatles in 1962, where he, as a member of Little Richard's touring band, performed a gig in Liverpool, with The Beatles as the opening act. In 1969, Preston played the keyboards on the band's number one hit "Get Back"; the single was released and billed as The Beatles with Billy Preston, thus making him the only musician, other than the band members themselves, to be credited on a Beatle recording. Preston's other number one hit was "Will It Go Round in Circles", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.

Answer: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Randy Bachman never meant for the stuttering version of "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" to be released, it was only meant to poke fun at his bother Gary, who had the speech impediment. In an interview with "Rockcellar Magazine" Bachman said: "I was only going to mix one copy and send it to my brother to tease him." As it turned out his record label liked the stuttering version more, so that's the one they released.

It was a good choice, since the single went on to be the band's biggest selling song and their only number one on the U.S. charts.

By the way, Gary eventually overcame his stuttering problem.

Answer: Annie's Song

"Annie's Song", which was written for Denver's then-wife Ann Martell, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of 1974, spending two weeks at the top spot. The idea for the song came to him while riding on a ski lift in Aspen, Colorado, after he completed his run down the mountain; he went home and composed the song in about ten-and-a-half minutes. Denver had three other number one singles in his career and also wrote the Peter, Paul and Mary hit, "Leaving on a Jet Plane", which went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1969.

Answer: Jim Croce

Jim Croce tragically died in a plane crash in September of 1973 at the age of 30. Even though his career was brief, he managed to have quite a bit of success. From 1972 until his death, Croce had six top 20 hits, with two of those, "Time in a Bottle" and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", reaching number one. "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" was released posthumously in March of 1974 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same year.

Answer: The Entertainer

Thanks to the film and its score, Joplin's work was becoming popular again, prompting the New York Times to write in 1974, "The whole world has begun to take notice". This proved to be correct as "The Entertainer" reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit the top spot on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Joplin's original version also ranked number ten on the Record Industry Association of America's list of the top 25 songs of the 20th century.

Answer: Rock and Roll Heaven

"Rock and Roll Heaven" was originally recorded in 1973 by the band Climax, who had a big hit in 1972 with "Precious and Few", but the tune failed to chart. The Righteous Brothers released their version in 1974 and it was a hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100, it would turn out to be their last top ten single.

The duo, who began performing together in 1962, had ten top 20 hits and two number ones on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in their career.