No. 1 Hits Of The 60s Vol. 4 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark Dinning

All four artists sang songs about tragedies and death, but it was Dinning who recorded this song, written by his sister and her husband. The song was about a couple on a drive, whose vehicle gets stuck at a railroad crossing. The couple is initially safe, but the girl runs back to the car to get what is later revealed to be the singer's high school ring, (a sign of "going steady" in those days) and of course, the train comes.

Although morbid, it didn't stop the song from getting to the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

The song stayed in that position for two weeks during the winter of 1960.

Answer: Will You Love Me Tomorrow

It was "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, that put the Shirelles at the top of the charts during the winter of 1961. Amazingly, the song was banned from a number of radio stations for being too sexually suggestive. The song has been covered numerous times over the years by a multitude of artists, and was ranked at number 125 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Answer: Peppermint Twist - Part I

Joey Dee co-wrote the song with Henry Glover, capitalizing on the dance craze that was going on around the U.S. and combining it with the name of the club he was performing at (The Peppermint Lounge) to come up with the title for the song. It spent three weeks at the number one spot during the winter of 1962.

The song was particularly long and not suitable for Top 40 airplay during that time, so they split the song into Part 1 and Part 2. The first part is the one everyone is familiar with. Part 2 is mostly instrumental and is rarely, if ever, played on the airwaves.

In an ironic turn of fate, "Peppermint Twist" replaced Chubby Checker's "The Twist" as the number one song on the charts.

Answer: The Rooftop Singers

There actually was a band called Cannon and His Jug Stompers who recorded the song in the 1920s. The song was written in the 20s by Gus Cannon. The Rooftops Singers were the ones that took the song to number one on the charts during the winter of 1963 for their only major hit.

Answer: She Loves You

The Beatles' "She Loves You" replaced "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at the number one spot on the charts in early spring of 1964, and remained in the top spot for two weeks, making it a total of nine consecutive weeks that a Beatles' tune held down the top of the U.S. charts.

Answer: Downtown

Petula Clark heard the song, which was written by Tony Hatch and was intended for The Drifters, and was immediately interested in recording it. Good choice for her. The song was penned by Hatch after his first visit to New York City. Clark took the song to the top of the charts in the U.S. in early 1965, as well as versions in French, Italian and German.

The song subsequently won a 1965 Grammy award for Best Rock and Roll Song.

Answer: My Love

While all four song were recorded by Clark and were major hits, it was "My Love" which topped the U.S. charts in February of 1966. The song was another written by Tony Hatch. Clark didn't really like the song and after she recorded it, she had some misgivings about the chances of the song's success.

She asked the record company not to release it, but they did it anyway. Good thing. It became her second number one U.S. tune.

Answer: Ruby Tuesday

"Ruby Tuesday" was paired with the controversial "Let's Spend the Night Together" and both songs were released as singles. "Ruby Tuesday" was the one that fought its way to the top of the U.S. charts for one week in March 1967. It was purportedly written by Keith Richards about a groupie although that fact has never been confirmed.

It is listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at number 303. It also is the basis for the name of the very popular U.S. restaurant chain.

Answer: Green Tambourine

"Green Tambourine" was the debut hit for the group when released in late 1967 and came off the album of the same name. It was a hit which went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in February of 1968 and remained there for one week. The song was considered a psychedelic tune, a genre which had just come into prominence at that time.

The song became a gold record, selling over a million copies. The Lemon Pipers had a few minor hits after that, but never were as successful as with this tune.

Answer: Crimson and Clover

"Crimson And Clover" was one of their biggest hits. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during February of 1969 in the U.S, as well as the number one spot in Canada. While credited to The Shondells, this song was a two man operation with James singing lead, and playing guitar, with drummer Peter Lucia Jr. doing the drums and background vocals.

Interestingly, with all the success that the group had during the mid and late 1960s, this was their only number one U.S. hit.