More Popular Than The Beatles:Vol.2 USA Quiz

Answer: "The Sound Of Silence"/"My Love"

"The Sound Of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel replaced "We Can Work It Out" at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 22nd January 1966 after itself being replaced at number one by "We Can Work It Out" on the 8th January. "We Can Work It Out" regained the top spot on the 29th January but was replaced by "My Love" by Petula Clark on the 5th February. "The Sound Of Silence" was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 but did not chart in the UK. "My Love" was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 and reached number four on the UK singles chart the same year.

"The Sound Of Silence" was written by Paul Simon. As an acoustic track it was included on the 1964 album "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M." by Simon & Garfunkel. Without the knowledge of either Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel it was was later overdubbed with electric bass, electric guitar and drums and released as a single in 1965. The title on the original single was "The Sounds Of Silence". The Irish trio The Bachelors had a number three hit with the song on the UK singles chart in 1966.

"My Love" was written by husband & wife team Tony Hatch/Jackie Trent. Composer/songwriter/pianist/arranger/producer Tony Hatch was on a flight from London to Los Angeles when he began to compose the song. He called his wife singer/songwriter Jackie Trent in London from his Beverley Hills Hotel and the lyrics were supplied over the phone during the night. The song was given to Petula Clark the next day. They don't write songs like that anymore. This was the second US number one hit for Petula Clark and the second time that she had replaced The Beatles at number one.

I do wish that some writers about the history of '60s music would stop considering her part of the '60s so called British invasion. She was 32 when "Downtown" entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. She had been on BBC radio and in British movies since the '40s. She had started having hits on the UK singles chart in the '50s, when all of the future British invasion group members were still at school. Her singing career in the UK was virtually over and she had relocated to France by 1964. Lucky for her that Tony Hatch was in Paris to present her with some material for recording and showed her his own song "Downtown".

"We Can Work It Out" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. It was number one for five weeks on the UK singles chart in 1965/66 as a double A-Side with "Day Tripper".

Answer: Strangers In The Night

"Strangers In The Night" by Frank Sinatra replaced "Paperback Writer" at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 2nd July 1966. It was number one for one week. It was number one for three weeks on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Strangers In The Night" was written by Lebanese jazz pianist and cigar manufacturer Avo Uvezian. It was originally called "Broken Guitar" but renamed by German orchestra leader/songwriter Bert Kaempfert with lyrics by Charles Singleton/Eddie Snyder. Among the disputes over the songs authorship are the claim that it was composed by Croatian singer Ivo Robic and sold to Bert Kaempfert. French composer Michel Philippe-Gerard claimed that the melody of "Strangers In The Night" was based on his composition "Magic Tango", which was published in 1953.

The melody became part of Bert Kaempfert's musical score for the 1966 movie "A Man Could Get Killed" starring James Garner and Melina Mercouri. It was recorded first by Connie Francis a few days before the Frank Sinatra version but never released. After all these trials and tribulations Frank Sinatra hated the song but it gave him his first US number one hit since "Learnin' The Blues" in 1955.

"Paperback Writer" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. It was also number one for two weeks on the UK singles chart the same year.

Answer: Happy Together

"Happy Together" by The Turtles replaced "Penny Lane" at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 25th March 1967. It was number one for three weeks. It reached number 12 on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Happy Together" was written by Gary Bonner/Alan Gordon, two ex-members of a group called The Magicians. The Turtles were formed as The Crossfires in Westchester, California, by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman in 1965. Inspired by the spelling of The Byrds name they changed theirs to The Tyrtles. Now as The Turtles and again like The Byrds with "Mr. Tambourine Man" they had their first US chart hit with a Bob Dylan song, "It Ain't Me Babe". Unlike The Byrds who had a number one hit with "Mr. Tambourine Man", "It Ain't Me Babe" reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. They never made the Billboard Top 10 again until "Happy Together" gave them their only Billboard number one hit in 1967. They had three more Billboard Top 10 hits in 1967, 1968 and 1969.

In 1969 The Turtles released the album "Turtle Soup" which was produced by Ray Davies the leader of the Kinks. The album was a commercial failure and the group disbanded in 1970. Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman joined The Mothers Of Invention. They appeared in Frank Zappa's 1971 movie "200 Motels" with Ringo Starr and Keith Moon. They sang backing vocals on the T.Rex 1972 Billboard Top 10 hit "Bang A Gong (Get It On)". In 1974 Kaylan and Volman came full circle when they bought the Turtles master recordings at an auction. They licensed them to Sire records who issued the compilation album "Happy Together Again".

"Penny Lane" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. It reached number two on the UK singles chart the same year as a double A-Side with "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Answer: Bobbie Gentry

"Ode To Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry replaced "All You Need Is Love" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 26th August 1967. It was number one for four weeks. It reached number 13 on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Ode To Billie Joe" was written by Bobbie Gentry. It was originally intended as the B-Side of her first single "Mississippi Delta". The original version had Bobbie Gentry on guitar, eleven verses and lasted seven minutes. The record company cut the length and re-recorded the song with a string orchestra. Not only was "Ode To Billie Joe" Bobbie Gentry's only number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, it was her only Top 20 entry. It was also a hit on the Billboard Country Chart where it reached number 17.

She did reach number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Billboard Country chart in 1970 with "All I Have To Do Is Dream". It was a duet with Glen Campbell, a cover of the 1958 Everly Brothers number one hit. They had a previous hit with a duet in 1969. They reached number 14 on the Billboard Country Chart with "Let It Be Me", it reached number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Let It Be Me" had been a number seven hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960 for the Everly Brothers.

"All You Need Is Love" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. It was number one for three weeks on the UK singles chart the same year.

Answer: Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)

"Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred & His Playboy Band replaced "Hello Goodbye" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 20th January 1968. It was number one for two weeks. It reached number three on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" was written by John Fred/Andrew Bernard. The song is supposed to have been inspired by John Fred listening to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" by The Beatles. He misheard the lyrics and thought The Beatles were singing "Lucy in disguise with diamonds". It is also believed that the song was influenced by the group's trip to Fort Lauderdale, where they saw girls on the beach wearing large sunglasses. What ever the inspiration for the song was it was very appropriate that they reached number one by displacing "Hello Goodbye" by the very group that they were parodying, The Beatles.

John Fred Gourrier formed John Fred & The Playboys in 1956. They had their first hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 when "Shirley" reached number 82. Their next hit and only Billboard Top 40 hit was "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" in 1967. They had one more Billboard Hot 100 hit with "Hey Hey Bunny" which reached number 57 in 1968 and that was it from John Fred & His Playboy Band.

"Hello Goodbye" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967/68. It was number one for seven weeks on the UK singles chart in 1967/68. The comma after the word "Hello" in the song title is missing on the US release.

Answer: Love Child

"Love Child" by Diana Ross And The Supremes replaced "Hey Jude" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 30th November 1968. It was number one for two weeks. It reached number 15 on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Love Child" was written by Deke Richards/Pam Sawyer/R. Dean Taylor/Frank Wilson. This was the first US number one hit for The Supremes since the sacking of Florence Ballard and changing the group's name to Diana Ross and The Supremes in 1967. Even though the record was released under the name of Diana Ross and The Supremes, group members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong took no part in the recording. The backing vocals were done by Motown session singers The Andantes.

How different it all was back in 1959 when Florence Ballard, Betty McGlown, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit formed the Primettes. They were the sister act to the Primes who went on to become the Temptations. Barbara Martin replaced Betty McGlown in 1960 and the group signed up to Motown as The Supremes in 1961. Barbara Martin left the group in 1962 and Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson carried on as a trio. In February 1968 Florence Ballard received a one off final payment of $139,804.94 from Motown.

"Hey Jude" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. It was number one for two weeks on the UK singles chart the same year.

Answer: Henry Mancini

"Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet" by Henry Mancini And His Orchestra replaced "Get Back" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 28th June 1969. It was number one for two weeks. It did not chart in the UK.

"Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet" ("What Is A Youth") was written by Nino Rota for the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli movie "Romeo and Juliet". The movie starring Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Milo O'Shea and Michael York was a British-Italian cinematic adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name. The Henry Mancini hit version is not in the movie and is a different arrangement.

Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in 1924. Some of his best known music includes the theme tune for the 1958-1961 US TV series "Peter Gunn", "Moon River" from the 1961 movie "Breakfast At Tiffany's", "Days Of Wine And Roses" from the 1962 movie of the same name and "The Pink Panther Theme". Among the awards he won for his music were 20 Grammys, four Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. He was awarded a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He had died the previous year in Los Angeles, California, USA, of pancreatic cancer aged 70.

"Get Back" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. It was number one for six weeks on the UK singles chart the same year. It was the only single by The Beatles to enter the UK singles chart at number one. It was the only single by The Beatles to credit another performer on the label, that was Billy Preston who played electric piano on the record.

Answer: Steam

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam replaced Come Together" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 6th December 1969. It was number one for two weeks. It reached number nine on the UK singles chart in 1970.

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" was written by Gary DeCarlo/Dale Frashuer/Paul Leka. They wrote the song in the early 1960s when they were members of a long disbanded group called The Chateaus. It was resurrected to go onto a B-side of one of Gary DeCarlo's records in 1968. Even though Mercury records thought it was a great record the writers thought it was embarrassingly bad and wanted to disassociate themselves from it. It was credited to a fictitious group called Steam and released on the Mercury records subsidiary record label Fontana.

For a record that everyone thought was an embarrassment and wanted nothing to do with, sales are now over the 6,000,000 mark. British group Bananarama had a number five hit with the song on the UK singles chart in 1983. It did not chart in the US. Canadian group The Nylons had a number 12 hit with the song on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. It did not chart in the UK.

"Come Together" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. It reached number four on the UK singles chart the same year as a double A-Side with "Something".

Answer: ABC

"ABC" by The Jackson 5 replaced "Let It Be" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 25th April 1970. It was number one for two weeks. It reached number eight on the UK singles chart the same year.

"ABC" was written by Berry Gordy/Alphonzo Mizell/Freddie Perren/Deke Richards who were known as The Corporation. The Jackson 5 were Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael and Tito. They had four consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 with their first four releases. "ABC" was the second of those four number one hits and they turned out to be the only number one hits that the Jackson 5 ever had on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Let It Be" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. It reached number two on the UK singles chart the same year.

Answer: The Jackson 5

"The Love You Save" by The Jackson 5 replaced "The Long And Winding Road" on the Billboard Hot 100 on the 27th June 1970. It was number one for two weeks. It reached number seven on the UK singles chart the same year.

"The Love You Save" was written by Berry Gordy/Alphonzo Mizell/Freddie Perren/Deke Richards who were known as The Corporation. The Jackson 5 joined Motown records in 1969 but left in 1975 to join Epic records. Jermaine Jackson had married Motown boss Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel and remained with Motown records. He was replaced by brother Randy who became an official member of the group. The group became The Jacksons after the move to Epic records because the Jackson 5 name was a trademark owned by Motown records.

"The Long And Winding Road" written by Lennon/McCartney gave The Beatles a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. It was never released as a single in the UK. "The Long And Winding Road" was the last number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 by The Beatles as of 2013.