Musical Mathematics Trivia Quiz

Answer: 123

"Keeping my eyes on the road I see you
Keeping my hands on the wheel I hold you
Ninety nine miles from L.A.
I kiss you, I miss you
Please be there..."

"99 Miles From LA" was written by Albert Hammond and Hal David. It was a number one for Hammond on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in 1975, but only made number 91 on the Billboard H­ot 100.

It has been covered by Johnny Mathis, Art Garfunkel, Julio Iglesias, and Nancy Sinatra.

"Dearest darling I had to write to say that I won't be home anymore
'Cause something happened to me while I was driving home
And I'm not the same anymore
Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
I saw a welcoming light and stopped to rest for the night..."

In "24 Hours From Tulsa", Hal David once again came up with the words, but the music was by his long-term partner Burt Bacharach.

Gene Pitney took it to number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five in the UK in 1964.

Answer: 64

"...Hold me, love me, hold me, love me
I ain't got nothing but love, babe
Eight days a week...", or so sang the Fab Four.

Paul McCartney was mainly responsible for the lyrics of "Eight Days A Week", although John Lennon sang lead vocal. The song was written for the movie "Help" and it was on the 1964 long player (remember when we called them that?) "Meet The Beatles" (USA, 1964).

"Eight miles high and when you touch down
You'll find that it's stranger than known..."

Okay, let's start with the elephant in the room, "Eight Miles High" was NOT about drugs. It was, the band claimed, inspired by a flight during which singer Gene Clark asked guitarist Roger McGuinn how high they were in the sky.

McGuinn later said in an interview: "Well, it was done on an airplane ride to England and back. I'm not denying that the Byrds did drugs at that point - we smoked marijuana - but it wasn't really about that."

Answer: 9

"Now there are Three Steps To Heaven
Just listen and you will plainly see..."

"Three Steps To Heaven" was a posthumous UK hit for Cochran in 1960. On the single, he was backed by the Crickets. The British band Showaddywaddy took it to number two on the UK charts in 1975.

"You're once, twice
Three times a lady
And I love you..."

Lionel Ritchie first sang "Three Times A Lady" with the Commodores when it was a number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. It topped the UK singles charts for five weeks.

Ritchie, of course, also wrote the song, and it became a staple of his solo career. He told 'Blues & Soul' magazine: "I wrote it back in 1978 and it was a very personal meaning to me.

"I attended the wedding anniversary of my parents and my father made a speech about how much he loved my mother and appreciated the way she had stood beside him for 37 years.

"It was beautiful and I started to think about my own life and how my wife stands by me, how she does so many things without being asked or thanked. So, I wrote 'Three Times A Lady' as a dedication to my wife and my mother."

Answer: 25

In "25 Minutes To Go", Cash sang:
"Well they're building a gallows outside my cell
I've got 25 minutes to go
And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell
I've got 24 minutes to go..."

This was the man in black's version of a Shel Silverstein poem/song. Bravely, maybe even appropriately, Cash sang the song in his concert at Folsom Prison in 1968.

In "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover", Paul Simon sang:

"The problem is all inside your head she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover..."

OK, Paul, you said there were 50 ways, but you only listed five:

"Slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy,
just set yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
Drop off the key, Lee,
and get yourself free..."

"Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

Answer: 250

In "Positively 4th Street", Dylan sang:
"You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin'..."

Okay, so Dylan did not actually mention the name of the street in the lyrics. According to 'Rolling Stone' magazine, it was Dylan's response to the jealousy people in his circle felt towards his success.

"So remember when you tell those little white lies
That the night has a thousand eyes..."

Bobby Vee took "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962.

Answer: 68

"I'll give you everything that I am
I'm handin' over everything that I've got
Cause I wanna have a really true love
Don't ever wanna have to go & give you up
Stay up till Four In The Morning & the tears are pouring..."

Stefani, who co-wrote "4 In The Morning", said in a promotional video it it was inspired by ballads "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "Eyes Without A Face."

In the song "17", Avril Lavigne sang:

"He was working at the record shop
I would kiss him in the parking lot
Tasting like cigarettes and soda pop
Seventeen..."

It was on the 2013 album "Avril Lavigne".

Answer: 108

"Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call'm Johnny 99..."

"Johnny 99" was on the 1982 album "Nebraska".

Meanwhile, "Riot In Cell Block No 9" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was a hit for the Robins in 1954.

"On July second, 1953,
I was serving time for armed robbery
'Bout four in the morning
I was sleepin' in my cell
I heard a whistle blow
I heard somebody yell

There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
Up in cell block number nine..."

Leober claimed the inspiration was the police radio dramas he listened to as a youngster.

Others to sing the song included The Beach Boys, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Winter, Dr. Feelgood, The Blues Brothers, and Johnny Cash.

Answer: 49

"Fear me you lord and lady preachers
I descend upon your earth from the skies
I command your very souls you unbelievers
Bring before me what is mine
The seven seas of Rhye..."

"The Seven Seas of Ryhe" was Queen's first entry in the UK pop chats. It was on the album "Queen II" in 1974.

Meanwhile, in "Seven Wonders" Fleetwood Mac sang:
"So long ago
Certain place
Certain time
You touched my hand
All the way
All the way down to Emmiline
But if our paths never cross
Well you know I'm sorry but
If I live to see the seven wonders
I'll make a path to the rainbow's end
I'll never live to match the beauty again
The rainbow's end..."

Stevie Nicks sang the vocals and added lyrics to a song written by Sandy Stewart. It was on the 1987 album "Tango In The Night".

Answer: 68

In "The Summer of '69" Bryan Adams sang:
"I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it till my fingers bled
It was the summer of '69..."

Adams told Songfacts website: "It's a very simple song about looking back on the summertime and making love. For me, the '69 was a metaphor for making love not about the year." Indeed, Adams was aged just nine in 1969.

The song was on the 1984 album "Reckless" and was a number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached number 11 in Adams's native Canada.

In "One Is The Loneliest Number" Three Dog Night sang:
"One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one..."

The song was written by Harry Nilsson. It was was one of 21 US Top 40 hits for the group

Answer: 60

In "59th Street Bridge Song" Simon and Garfunkel sang:
"Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy
Ba da da da da da da, feelin' groovy..."

Okay, so S&G did not actually name the 59th Street bridge in the song. The bridge is also known as the Queensboro Bridge, of course.
The song was on the 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme". Despite its popularity, Paul Simon is said to "hate" the song.

Meanwhile, in "One Of These Nights" the Eagles sang:
"One of these nights
One of these crazy old nights
We're gonna find out, pretty mama
What turns on your lights..."

The song was the title track for the album "One Of These Nights" and the single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.