My Favorite Rock 'n Roll Songs 1957-1961 Quiz

Answer: Chan Romero

"Hippy Hippy Shake" was a top ten hit for Chan Romero in 1959 in Australia. Elsewhere the song did not chart but it seems that every musician in the early sixties knew the song. In 1964 the Swinging Blue Jeans hit the charts with a good version of the song making the top ten in many countries. For raw rock 'n' roll you can't beat the original.

Answer: Sanford Clark

Sanford Clark had made the top ten in 1956 with his signature song "The Fool".
In 1958 he released a great little rocker called "Modern Romance" which sadly for him did not chart. His only other charted song was "A Cheat" released in 1956. "The Fool" was covered by Elvis Presley on his 1971 album "Elvis Country" and is a good version of the tune.

Answer: Buddy Holly and The Crickets

"I'm Gonna Love You Too" by Buddy Holly and The Crickets was released as a single in the USA but did not chart until 1964. Released in Australia on the Coral label in 1958 and was a moderate hit. In the UK "I'm Gonna Love You Too" was not released as a single only as an album track. Buddy Holly and The Crickets were so popular in the UK that they put 25 singles on the charts and fifteen of their albums have made the charts, compared to the USA where they managed fourteen singles and five albums on the charts.

In the pantheon of Rock'n'Roll Buddy Holly and The Crickets stand alongside Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Shadows and Chuck Berry as the major influences on young musicians for the last sixty years.

Answer: Johnny Otis

Johnny Otis the rock 'n' roll everyman, he was a musician, composer, performer, producer, talent scout and DJ. He had a top ten hit in 1958 with "Willie and The Hand Jive". Later that same year he released "Crazy Country Hop" with the great chorus "Ooh wee oh oh, Ooh la la, let's rock and roll." With the same (Bo Diddley) beat as "Willie and The Hand Jive" the song is great addition to the rock and roll lexicon. Johnny Otis started recording in the late 1940s and continued through the 1970s. A portion of his performance at the Monterey Jazz festival is featured in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut picture, "Play Misty For Me".

Johnny Otis is credited with discovering Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, Etta James and The Robbins (who became The Coasters).

"Crazy Country Hop" has been recorded by a number of artists including Eric Clapton and Australia's own Laurie Allen and Bobby Bright.

Answer: Hank Ballard and The Midnighters

I well remember this song getting airplay in 1960 and not being able to find the record till early 1961 and there it was in a second hand record store in my home suburb, "Teardrops on Your Letter" backed with the original version of "The Twist" by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters.

The record I bought for one shilling and sixpence (15 cents) was on the King label so it was an imported copy with a big hole in the middle of the 45 record. My father cut a piece of plywood on his bandsaw to fit the hole so I could play it on my portable record player. Hank Ballard did not chart any songs in Australia even though his records got airplay.

In the UK he did no better; he was known to musicians but his records did not sell. In the US however he had a number of chart hits including another of my favourites, "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go".

Another of his charted hits was "Cute Little Ways" the title changed from its original "Sexy Ways". Under the title "Sexy Ways" it was recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis and our own Johnny O'Keefe, the latter later changing the lyrics to enable airplay and had a top ten hit with the retitled "Shake Baby Shake".

Answer: Connie Francis

"Stupid Cupid, You're a real Mean Guy" is the first line of the Connie Francis hit "Stupid Cupid". Written by the team of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield the song became a number fourteen hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958 and was a suitable follow up to "Who's Sorry Now".

Although Connie and her record company favoured ballads she was at home with rocking songs like "Robot Man", "Lipstick On Your Collar" and "Everybody Somebody's Fool" Connie Francis placed over sixty songs on the Billboard Hot 100 with three number ones and fifteen top tens; she also placed twenty one albums on the Billboard Album Charts

Answer: Ritchie Valens

In a very short career, snuffed out because of a plane crash in January 1959, Ritchie Valens had only five singles make the Billboard Hot 100.

"Come On Let's Go" was his first charted single making 42 in September 1958.
His biggest single was the double sided "Donna" b/w "La Bamba". "Come On Let's Go" made the charts again in 1987 when Los Lobos released the song which they had played in the movie "La Bamba" based on Ritchie Valens life.

Ritchie was just seventeen when he got on the plane with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

Answer: Eddie Cochran

Very little airplay in Australia and only a minor hit, "Something Else" is a great song from one of rock's early stars, Eddie Cochran.

Eddie had hits like "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Twenty Flight Rock". Much more popular in the UK than he was at home during his very short career (1956-1960), in fact he scored a number one hit in England with "Three Steps to Heaven" which topped the chart six weeks after his death in a road accident in April 1960. Eddie Cochran was the second rock artist to have a posthumous number one hit, Buddy Holly having achieved that feat in April 1959 with "It Doesn't Matter Anymore".

Answer: Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin in his short career managed to place 45 records on the Billboard Hot 100, of which ten made the top ten. "Queen of the Hop" was one of these reaching number nine in 1958 and was his follow up to the classic "Splish Splash". In "Queen of the Hop" written by Darin the singer mentions or part mentions the titles of ten other pop tunes of the time, such as "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Lollipop".

Answer: Larry Williams

"Short Fat Fannie" was a top ten hit for Larry Williams in 1957 reaching number five on the Billboard Top 100 as was then called. Like Bobby Darin's "Queen of the Hop" Larry Williams managed to slip the titles of twelve pop other pop songs into his lyrics for "Short Fat Fannie".

"Tired of slippin' and slidin' with a long tall Sally
Peekin' and a hidin', duckin' back in the alley
Don't wanna rip it up, don't wanna dance with Annie
I've got a brand new lover name is Short Fat Fannie"

The first verse mentions three Little Richard tunes, "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Long Tall Sally" and "Rip it Up" then alludes to Hank Ballard's "Work with Me Annie".

Larry Williams did not have much chart success outside the USA with the exception of his signature tune "Bony Moronie".

The Beatles thought enough of Larry Williams to record three of his songs, "Slow Down", "Bad Boy" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy".