I Got The "Blues" Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Marcels

This song was actually written way back in 1934 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It has been covered dozens of times. The first crossover to rock and roll was done by Elvis Presley, but it was The Marcels' version that shot to the top of the U.S. Billboard charts for three weeks in the spring of 1961.

Answer: Linda Ronstadt

This was a composition by the late Roy Orbison which was released in 1963 and only got as high as number 29 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles charts. Linda Ronstadt took the song and covered it in 1977 as part of her album called "Simple Dreams". The song was released as a single and went to number three on the Billboard Pop Singles charts.

Answer: Badfinger

The song was recorded for an album called "Straight Up" which was released in 1971. The version generally heard in the U.S. was overdubbed to give it a stronger sound that the original album version. When it was released in 1972 it became Badfinger's last Top 20 U.S. hit, peaking at number 14 on Pop Singles.

Answer: Paul Mauriat

All the choices have covered the song at one time or another, but it was Mauriat who took the Andre Popp/Pierre Cour collaboration and Eurovision entry, and made it a number one smash hit in the U.S. in 1968. It stayed at number one for five weeks, and at the time was the only French artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Mauriat was a French orchestra leader whose discography lists in the hundreds.

He passed away in 2006.

Answer: Bobby Vinton

Bennett's version was back in 1951 and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Pop Singles charts, but Vinton's version was a U.S. number one hit (Billboard Hot 100) for three weeks in the fall of 1963. Interestingly, when the song was released that year, it didn't make the British charts.

It was re-released in 1990 and inexplicably made it to number two in the U.K. 27 years after being originally released.

Answer: Melissa Manchester

Manchester was a Bronx, New York native who studied music along with Paul Simon and Carole King, and worked as a backup singer for Barry Manilow and Bette Midler in the 1970s. "Midnight Blue" was off her album simply called "Melissa", and this song was her first Top 10 hit, peaking at number six in 1978.

She later had smash hits with "Don't Cry Out Loud", and "You Should Hear How She Talks About You".

Answer: Fats Domino

It was the "Fat Man" who co-wrote the song with Dave Bartholmew and took it to number five on the U.S. charts that year. By 1963 he had charted 11 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Singles charts, and continued to record material into the 1970s. Although no longer recording, Domino has hit the U.S. Billboard Top 100 charts an amazing 66 times. Domino, who is native to New Orleans, Louisiana, was rumored to be a victim of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but he and his family were rescued after deciding to ride out the storm in their hometown.

Answer: Diane Renay

Diane Renay was a Philadelphia born singer who first released a single in 1962 called "Little White Lies", which failed to chart. As luck would have it, she changed record labels and caught the attention of Bob Crewe, the legendary producer and co-writer of many of the hits by The Four Seasons.

He produced "Navy Blue" which became a U.S. charting number six hit in 1964. She did release a number of other songs which failed to crack the national market, and did have one other Top 40 hit in 1964 called "Kiss Me Sailor" which reached number 29, but "Navy Blue" was really her claim to fame.

Answer: Debbie Gibson

Debbie Gibson (now Deborah) came to us from Merrick, New York, and was a sensation during the late 1980s. She wrote her own music and at age 17, had a string of Top 20 hits. This song, off her debut album of the same name, was her third Top Five hit, peaking at number three on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1988, following "Only In My Dreams", and "Shake Your Love".

It would be followed by her first number one hit, "Foolish Beat", later that year. Deborah has continued recording and has also excelled as an actress, appearing on Broadway a number of times.

Answer: Tommy James and The Shondells

All these groups were considered to be garage bands, but Tommy James and The Shondells were the leaders of this brand of music, which, in retrospect, was a pre-cursor to what was later labeled as punk-rock. The group released this minor hit, which only reached number 43 on the U.S. Billboard charts, as their last single of 1967.

They had another minor hit in early 1968 called "Get Out Now", which preceded one of their biggest hits, "Mony Mony", which came out later that year. By the way, this song, although titled the same, is a completely different song from the Debbie Gibson tune.

Answer: Neil Diamond

It was definitely Neil Diamond who shot "Song Sung Blue" to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1972. It was off an album called "Moods" which Diamond had written, and was his second number one charting single. The first was "Cracklin' Rosie" in 1970.

Answer: Carl Perkins

The song, which was written by Carl Perkins, was recorded in December 1955 and first released by him on January 1, 1956. Presley's version was released a few weeks later. Perkins' version was ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine at number 95 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Hits Of All Time".

Answer: Elvis Presley

Bing's Christmas was "White" and I don't know about the other two, but Elvis gets his due here. This song was actually a country music song, recorded back in 1948 by Ernest Tubb who was one of the pioneers of American Country music. Elvis recorded his version in 1957 as part of his Christmas album that year, and the song has become a holiday standard since then.

Answer: Madonna

This single was the third release of the album of the same name. The song was released as a single in September of 1986 and peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. This album had five hits, three of which were number one singles ("Papa Don't Preach", "Live To Tell", and "Open Your Heart"); it also had the aforementioned "True Blue", and also the number four charting "La Isla Bonita".

Answer: Bobby Vinton

Vinton, mentioned in Question 5 for anothe "blue" song, actually recorded an album in 1963 called "Blue On Blue" in which every cut had the word "Blue" in the title, sort of like this quiz. He covered such songs such as "My Blue Heaven" and "Blueberry Hill" (the Fats Domino tunes), and The Fleetwoods version of "Mr. Blue", among others. He then added songs such as his own "Blue Velvet", and the aforementioned "Blue On Blue". The song itself went to number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1963.

I hope you all enjoyed this quiz. Thanks for playing.