Johnnies of Pop - Part 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Johnny Kidd

"Shakin' All Over", written and recorded by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, was a UK number one in 1960. Johnny Kidd had an impressive but short career; he was tragically killed in a headon collision in 1966 at age 30. "Shakin' All Over" did not chart in the UK or USA at the time; however in 1965 in Australia, Normie Rowe, the reigning teen idol, took the tune to number one. Also in 1965 the Canadian group Guess Who took the song to the top of the Canadian chart and to number 22 on the Billboard hot 100. Billboard list the song as a non charting Classic.

Answer: Johnny Ferguson

"Doot'n do doo doot'n do doo doo Angela Jones", from pop/country singer Johnny Ferguson, who started in the late 50s as a disc jockey around the Nashville area. As a writer, he managed to have a couple of his songs recorded by some country acts. He gained a recording contract with MGM Records.

His first single, written by John D. Loudermilk, "Angela Jones" gave him a transatlantic Top 30 hit in 1960. Later recordings failed to make an impression on the charts and he joined the ranks of one-hit-wonders.

Answer: Johnny Cash

"Ballad of a Teenage Queen" was a Billboard country number one for Johnny Cash in 1958. Johnny Cash crossed many genres with his music, initially touring as a rockabilly star with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. A picture of the four around a piano at Sun studios in Memphis is entitled "The Million Dollar Quartet" Johnny Cash released or appeared on over 100 albums in his career and released over 150 singles. Johnny charted singles on the Billboard Country, Hot 100, and R & B charts. He recorded a number of sacred albums. On a trip to Paris in 2006 my wife and I listened to a Jazz quartet play "I Walk The Line".

His collaborations are diverse and include recordings with his wife June Carter, his daughter Roseanne, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, U2, Kris Kristofferson and he was all set to appear on a Coldplay album but passed away before this could occur. He was more than a pop star, he was simply a Star!

Answer: Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 with "Memphis". His reworking of the Chuck Berry song made the song seem fresh and it fit with the changing music tide of 1964. Johnny Rivers charted some 30 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

His most successful hit was "Poor Side of Town" which made it all the way to number one in 1966. Despite his success in the USA, Johnny Rivers did not place a single on the UK charts and only four of his hits made the Australian charts. Among Johnny's Billboard hot 100 hits are; "Maybelline", "Mountain of Love", "Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" and "The Tracks of My Tears". Johnny Rivers was the first to recognise the song writing talent of Jimmy Webb.

He referred his recording of "By The Time I Get to Phoenix" to Glen Campbell.

He discovered and produced the first recordings of The Fifth Dimension on his own Soul City record label.

Answer: Johnny Devlin

A teen idol in New Zealand, billed as New Zealand's Elvis, he was good looking young man with a good voice. His live shows where he performed many Elvis Presley songs were very wild. He moved to Australia in 1959 and immediately was placed on the tour with The Everly Brothers, Sal Mineo, Tab Hunter and Australian acts, Col Joye & the Joy Boys, Johnny Rebb & the Rebels, The Delltones, Johnny Devlin, Johnny O'Keefe & the Dee Jays. Johnny Devlin was very successful in Australia as a songwriter; in 1963 he recorded his own composition, "Stomp the Tumbarumba" which was his biggest Australian hit, making the top ten.

In 1964 Johnny was selected as one of the 'Australian' acts to perform on the Beatles tour of the country.

Answer: Johnny Mathis

"Wonderful Wonderful" was Johnny Mathis's first charting single, released in early 1957 and rising to fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow up singles in 1957 were, "It's Not for Me to Say" a top ten hit, "Chances Are" backed with "The Twelfth of Never" which hit number one and "Wild is the Wind" a top twenty hit. To show he was not done for in 1977 he reached the top of the Hot 100 with "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" twenty years after his last number one single. Johnny Mathis has released over 100 albums and 100 singles in his, at the time this quiz was writtne, 62 year career. "Wonderful Wonderful" made it to number one in Australia and was not released as a single in the United Kingdom.

Answer: Johnny Burnette

"Dreamin'" was a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960 for Johnny Burnette, the record made top ten in the UK and was a double sided hit in Australia, with "Dreamin'" making the top ten and the flipside "Cincinnati Fireball" also making the top ten.

He followed "Dreamin'" with hits like "You're Sixteen" and "Little Boy Sad". With his brother, Dorsey, he wrote hits for Ricky Nelson, "Waiting in School", "Believe What You Say", "It's Late" and "Just A Little Too Much". His relatively short solo career of four years ended tragically, as he died in a boating accident in 1964.

His legacy lives on through his son Rocky Burnette whose "Tired of Toein' the Line" was a top ten in 1980; his nephew Billy Burnette (son of Dorsey) was a member of Fleetwood Mac.

Answer: Johnny Horton

Inspired by the 1960 British movie of the same name, "Sink the Bismarck" was a number three hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1960. In the USA according to Twentieth Century Fox, the song was used in trailers for the movie and although not in the movie it helped ticket sales. Johnny Horton had been a country performer for almost ten years when his recording of "The Battle of New Orleans" became a worldwide hit in 1959.

The recording made number one on the Billboard Country chart and the Hot 100, it made number one in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Johnny Horton was another pop star to leave us too early; he was killed in a car accident in November 1960.

Answer: Johnny Cymbal

Johnny Cymbal had a top twenty hit in 1963 with "Mr Bass Man". Born John Blair in 1945 in Scotland he moved with his mother and step father (Nicolas Cymbal) to Cleveland Ohio around 1953. Influenced by early rock and roll songs he began writing his own songs. Recording as Derek, his brother's name, he had a number eleven hit on the Billboard Hot" 100 in 1968 with "Cinnamon". "Mr Bass Man" made number three in Australia and number 24 in the UK.

Answer: Johnny Cougar

"I Need A Lover" was a breakthrough hit for John Cougar Mellencamp, billed on the record release as Johnny Cougar. "I Need A Lover" was a top ten hit in Australia and made number 28 on the Hot 100 in 1978. On most of his later recordings he was billed as John Mellencamp.

Some of his other hits include, "Jack and Diane, "Hurts So Good", "Pink Houses", "Small Town" and "R.O.C.K. in The USA".