No. 1 Hits Of The 60s Vol. 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marty Robbins

Robbins came to us from Glendale, Arizona. Born in 1925, he grew up in a family of ten children, and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17. After leaving the military in the mid 1940s, he began his singing career. His first single called "I'll Go on Alone" reached the top of the Country charts in 1952.

He crossed over into Pop in 1957 with "A White Sport Coat" which made it all the way to number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, and was a number one country hit. By the time "El Paso" hit the charts in late 1959, he had already become something of a country legend, with five prior number one songs. "El Paso" went to number one on both the Country and Hot 100 charts in late 1959 and early 1960. Robbins never reached the top of the Hot 100 charts again, but he had an astounding ten more number one country hits, and was still recording all the way till the time he passed away in late 1982.

Answer: Are You Lonesome Tonight?

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was one of Presley's biggest hits, and one of the biggest charting singles of all the 1960s, first reaching number one on November 28, 1960, and remaining there for six straight weeks, culminating on the week of January 2, 1961.

Although it has been covered many times over the years, including Elvis' version, which was also a cover, his version is listed on Billboard's "Greatest Hits Of All Time" at number 81.

Answer: The Tokens

All four of the acts mentioned actually recorded the song, but it was The Tokens version which went to number one the first week of 1962. The song actually carried over from the number one position at the end of 1961. Solomon Linda, the writer of the song recorded it with his group The Evening Birds back in 1939.

The Weavers cut a version of the song in 1951, and Robert John covered the song and took it to number three on the charts in 1971.

Answer: Telstar

It was "Telstar" which came from across the sea to become the first song by a British band to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard charts. The Tornados were from the U.K. and the song is recognized as the first by a "group" of musicians from that country to reach number one in the U.S. as opposed to Acker Bilk's song which was the first number one by an individual artist to accomplish the same feat.It actually reached number one in December of 1962 and was spending its third week on top in the beginning of 1963.

The song was named after the "Telstar" satellite which had recently been launched into orbit. The sound effects were primitive, but effective. Allegedly, the sound of radio signals were made by running a pen around the edge of an ashtray, and the sound of the rockets blasting off, was actually a flushed toilet being played back in reverse with varying speeds.

Answer: Bobby Vinton

This was Vinton's third of four number one hits during his career and second straight number one release. He had just completed a successful chart run with the song "Blue Velvet", which had been number one only a few months earlier during 1963. Vinton recorded into the 1970s, and after a five year hiatus from the Top 10 charts he returned with a vengeance, and released what later became his signature song and got him the label of "The Polish Prince" when his hit "My Melody Of Love" made it to number three on the charts in 1974.

Answer: I Feel Fine

The song that fits the time frame is "I Feel Fine" which was number one for the first two weeks of 1965. A Hard Days Night" had its run in 1964 with the release of the motion picture. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" surprisingly only managed a number 39 placing as the "b-side" of "Eight Days A Week", and "She's A Woman" while being the flip side of "I Feel Fine" only got as high as number four as an independent charting song.

Answer: The Sounds Of Silence

Tom and Jerry first formed in the borough of Queens in New York City in 1957, and actually had a song on the charts called "Hey Schoolgirl". After college they reformed their duo, using their own names, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. So "The Sounds of Silence" is the correct answer, hitting number one on New Year's Day in 1966.

The song was released as a single in the fall of 1965, after getting repeated play in certain parts of the country as an album cut from the duo's "Wednesday Morning 3 A. M." album.

The song was reportedly written by Simon as a way to show the hurt that people in the U.S. had suffered resulting from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Answer: I'm A Believer

"I'm A Believer" was written by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966. It was released in November that year and made it to the number one position the on New Year's Eve 1966. It carried over for six more weeks at the beginning of 1967, and was the biggest selling record for that year, as well as Billboard's number one single for the year.

It also appears on Billboard's "All Time Top 100" at number 48.

Answer: Hello Goodbye

"Hello Goodbye" spent three weeks at number one in the U.S. and seven weeks on top in the U.K. Although the song is credited as a Lennon/McCartney composition, it was written by Paul McCartney. According to some accounts, Lennon really didn't like the song and was upset that it was being promoted more than his "I Am The Walrus" which was released at the same time but was relegated to b-side status.

Answer: I Heard It Through The Grapevine

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was the number one song here, and it was the Marvin Gaye version that became one of the biggest hits of the 1960s. Gladys Knight and The Pips version made it to the top of the R&B charts in late 1967, but only made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, being held at bay by The Monkees' "Daydream Believer". The Marvin Gaye version spent a total of seven weeks at the number one spot. The song has been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame due to its "historical artistic and significant value". It has placed on Billboard's "Greatest Hits of All Time" at number 65, and Rolling Stone Magazine pegged it at number 80 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Look out, more to come. If you enjoyed this quiz, please try my others in this series.