No. 1 Albums of 1987 Quiz | 1980s Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Bruce Springsteen's "Live/1975-1985" was on top of the The Billboard 200 album chart in the US when the calendar flipped to 1987. The album featured many of Bruce's hit singles and live favorites. Included on the album are several cover songs. My favorite is the cover of a Tom Waits song. Do you know which one it is?

Answer: Jersey Girl

All of these songs were cover songs written by Tom Waits. "Downtown Train" was made famous by Rod Stewart, "Blind Love" was covered by Bob Seger and "Time" was included on an album by Tori Amos.
Bruce Springsteen's "Live/1975-1985" is one of the greatest selling live album compilations, ranking up there with "Frampton Comes Alive" and Bob Seger's "Live Bullet". This set was sold in a five album set, a three CD set or with three cassettes in the set. There was also a limited pressing of the album on three eight-track tapes which are considered to be highly collectible.

2. This album spent a week atop Billboard's Top 200 in October of 1986 and then returned for a seven week run in the first quarter of 1987. "Slippery When Wet" was hugely successful for Bon Jovi, in fact this was the top selling album in the US for all of 1987. This album also featured two consecutive singles to top the US Hot 100 singles chart, the first time a hard rock band had ever done that. Which two singles pulled off this feat?

Answer: "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer"

This album was huge. The album reached number one in the US, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Finland, Canada and New Zealand. It reached the top ten in the UK (number six), Japan (number ten), Sweden (number three) and The Netherlands (number two). The band launched a world tour based on this album and literally performed to millions of fans. Bon Jovi brought in a an all-star cast to help record this album. Songwriter Desmond Child was brought in to collaborate with the band. Bruce Fairbairn (AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith) was the producer and Bob Rock (Metallica, Skid Row, Motley Crue) did the final mix.

This album was destined for greatness with a crew like that.

3. This debut album became the first rap album to reach number one on the US Top 200.

Answer: "License to Ill" by Beastie Boys

Although these were all debut rap albums, only the Beastie Boys would fit the category and the question. "License to Ill" was a great album which featured the songs "Fight for Your Right", "She's Crafty" "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn" and "Rhymin' and Stealin'".

Interestingly, the album reached the number one spot on the Billboard Top 100 but only reached number two on Billboard's Top Hip-Hop/R&B album chart.

4. I have a difficult time keeping track of which songs are found on which albums, particularly once a band reaches a half dozen or more albums. U2 is one of those bands for me. Which song was *not* found on "The Joshua Tree"?

Answer: Pride (In the Name of Love)

"Pride (In the Name of Love)" was from the band's previously released album "The Unforgettable Fire". The other three songs were from "The Joshua Tree", the album that was number one on the US Billboard Top 200 for nine weeks in 1987. "The Joshua Tree" won U2 a pair of Grammy awards, one for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and another for Album of the Year.

5. Many would consider this to be one of the best commercial recordings by a female artist in terms of sales and hit singles. Which artist's sophomore effort was the very first album by a female to debut at number one in the US on the Billboard 200?

Answer: Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston's second album, aptly titled "Whitney" was the very first album by a female to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, quite a spectacular feat I'd say. The album had four number one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. These songs were: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go". Until Michael Jackson released "Bad", which charted five number ones, this was a record.

Not even The Beatles had achieved this. If you count the three number one singles from her debut album along with the four from this album, that equals seven consecutive number one hits, another feat not even matched by the likes of The Beatles.

This album has had great commercial success as well, selling well over 20 million copies worldwide.

6. 1987 saw two movie soundtracks reach the top of the Billboard 200 in the US. The first one was the soundtrack for the movie "La Bamba", the story of Ritchie Valens. The soundtrack contained six songs which were cover versions of Valens' original songs performed by which Latin-flavored band?

Answer: Los Lobos

In addition to the songs by Los Lobos, other artists on the soundtrack include Brian Setzer, Bo Diddley, Marshall Crenshaw and Howard Huntsberry.
This album was number one from September 12 to September 26 of 1987. The film starred Lou Diamond Phillips in the main character role of Richie Valens. Marshall Crenshaw played Buddy Holly, Brian Setzer played Eddie Cochran, Stephen Lee played The Big Bopper and Howard Huntsberry took on the role of Jackie Wilson.

7. It seems like no mention of music from the 80s would be complete without including the enigmatic Michael Jackson. The album "Bad" spent six weeks atop the Billboard 200 in the US. Which of the following songs was *not* written by Mr. Jackson?

Answer: Man in the Mirror

"Man in the Mirror" is credited to Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett. Glen Ballard is the man responsible for putting the likes of Alanis Morrisette, Paula Abdul, Wilson Phillips, Josh Groban and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Ballard is considered to be one of the most influential songwriters of our generation. Michael Jackson's "Bad" was a landmark album in terms of chart success.

The five number one songs on Billboard's Hot 100 in the US broke the record of most number ones held by Whitney Houston.

The album has sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide and continues to sell a fair number of copies every year since its release in 1987. The album topped the album chart in 13 countries. People in the UK bought more copies of the album than any other place in the world with over 13 million copies shipped in the UK alone.

8. Bruce Springsteen released "Tunnel of Love" on October 9, 1987 in the USA. This album contains the most number one US Billboard Hot 100 singles than any other Bruce Springsteen album, with the dubious exception of "Born in the USA".

Answer: False

This album did not have any chart toppers in the US. The song "Brilliant Disguise" peaked at number five and "Tunnel of Love" cracked the top ten at number nine. This album was recorded as a solo Springsteen album without billing given to The E Street Band, although the members did play on the album. Bruce played most of the instruments himself though, relegating his backing band to session players.

9. The soundtrack to the movie "Dirty Dancing" reads like a "who's who" list of rock and roll. The Shirelles, The Drifters, The Contours and others make this a timeless collection. Which artist listed did not have any representation on this soundtrack?

Answer: The Temptations

The Temptations did not contribute any of their music to this soundtrack. Otis Redding had two songs ("These Arms of Mine" and "Love Man"), Solomon Burke lent "Cry to Me" and The Ronettes provided their classic "Be My Baby". The most popular tune on the album is the duet by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes titled "(I've Had) The Time of My Life". Who hasn't seen the dance segment featuring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey? Sadly, Mr. Swayze passed away on September 14, 2009 after fighting pancreatic cancer for over a year.

10. 1987 saw nine different albums reach the top of the US Billboard 200. Each album was unique from the other in style and substance. Of the following, and only considering the calendar year of 1987, which album spent the most weeks at number one?

Answer: Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston can claim herself as the artist holding the distinction of charting the most weeks at number one in the US during calendar year 1987. From June 27 to September 11, Whitney was perched atop the charts looking down at all the competition trying to knock her off. Eventually, the soundtrack to "La Bamba" did just that, but not after Whitney had spent 11 full weeks at number one.
Even though Bruce Springsteen had two different albums at number one, both of those only accounted for three weeks of the year.
Bon Jovi spent seven weeks on top and Michael Jackson spent six weeks at number one.

Source: Author ralzzz

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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No. 1 Albums of 1987 Trivia Quiz

There were nine albums ranked at the top of the US Billboard charts in 1987. This quiz will ask a variety of questions on these albums. Pull on your fluorescent sweaters and leggings and see what you remember.

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