More Silly Songs of the 50s, 60s and 70s Quiz

Answer: They're Coming to Take Me Away

By the end of this song you wish they HAD taken him away. Napoleon XIV was the stage name for Jerry Samuels. The song 'They're Coming to Take Me Away' was released in 1966 and reached number three on the Billboard top 100 pop singles chart.

Answer: All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

'All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth' was written by a public school music teacher, Donald Yetter Gardner, in 1944 after listening to his students' lispy answers about their Christmas wishes. It was recorded by Spike Jones and The City Slickers in December of 1948, and reached the top of the music charts.

Answer: the same song played backwards

The flip, or B side of the 45 featured a song by VIX noelopaN titled '!Aaah-aH yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT'. Even most of the label on the B side was printed backwards.

Answer: Chug-a-Lug

Does this song make you as thirsty as it does me? 'Chug-a-Lug' was written and performed by Roger Miller in 1964. It reached number nine on the US Hot 100 charts and number three on the US Country charts. He also won a Grammy Award, Best Country and Western Album, for 'Dang Me'/'Chug-a-Lug'. The Beach Boys also had a song by the same title on their 1962 'Surfin' Safari' album.

Answer: Pascagoula

The Mississippi Squirrel Revival' describes what happens when a boy catches a squirrel, puts it in a shoe box and brings it to his grandmother's church so he can show it to a friend. The squirrel gets loose and causes a hilarious scene. The lyrics of the chorus are: " The day the squirrel went berserk/In the First Self-Righteous Church/In the sleepy little town of Pascagoula/It was a fight for survival that broke out in revival/They were jumpin' pews and shoutin' Hallelujah!" This song was written by: C.W. Kalb, Jr. and Carlene Kalb and performed by Ray Stevens.

Answer: King of the Road

The song, 'King of the Road' was written as if it was being told from a hobo's point of view. Roger Miller wrote, recorded and released 'King of the Road' in 1965. This song was his highest ranked single reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 chart, and number one on both the US Country chart and the UK Singles chart.

Answer: The Flying Purple People Eater

Capitalizing on the public's fascination with flying saucers and aliens, Sheb Wolley wrote and performed 'Purple People Eater'. The lyrics describe the creature as a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater. Here's an unanswerable question for you to ponder, who or what was purple, the creature who ate people or the people it ate? This song reached number one on the Billboard Pop Charts (USA) in 1958 and stayed there for six weeks.

Answer: Dang Me

'Dang Me' was Miller's first song to register on the US Top 100 chart, reaching number seven and number one on the US Country chart. It was released in 1964. The full verse of the song containing this phrase is, "They say roses are red and violets are purple/Sugar is sweet and so is maple surple/Well I'm the seventh out of seven sons/My pappy was a pistol/I'm a son of a gun."

Answer: Ahab the Arab

He's Ahab, the Arab, The Sheik of the burning sand! The title is pronounced "A`-hab, the A`-rab" with both of the opening 'A's being stressed and pronounced with a long A vowel sound. This Ray Steven's song reached number five on Billboard's top 40 chart in July of 1962. It is reported that Clyde the camel was named after Clyde McPhatter, the former lead singer of the Drifters.

Answer: The Streak

Capitalizing on the 1970's popular craze of streaking, or running naked through a public place, 'The Streak' was a comical story told from the vantage point of several news flashes and follows one couple who encounter a streaker in several different locations. 'The Streak' spent three weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA in May of 1974. It also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in June of 1974, and number three on the US Billboard Country singles chart.