No. 1 Hits of the 70s Vol. 12 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mama Told Me (Not to Come)

"Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" was a 1966 song penned by Randy Newman. As stated, it was originally intended for The Animals, who did record the tune but declined to release it as a single. It was included on the album "Eric Is Here", which was released in 1967. Newman then recorded it himself, but that release went nowhere.

It took Three Dog Night, who were in the middle of a superb run of popularity at the time, to get the tune to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts for a two week stay in the summer of 1970.

A little known fact is that this song was the first number one song on Casey Kasem's "American Top 40", (AT40) a weekly countdown show of the top 40 songs in the U.S. Kasem's show debuted the first week of July in 1970.

Answer: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

The song "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" was written by Barry and Robin Gibb, and they claim to have offered it to Andy Williams, who declined to record it. The Bee Gees recorded it themselves and included it on their album called "Trafalgar". It was released as a single in the U.S. in 1971 and spent four straight weeks, essentially the entire month of August, at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

It was their first number one hit in the U.S. Inexplicably, the song failed to chart in the U.K.

Answer: Bill Withers

Bill Withers had a big hit in 1971 with "Ain't No Sunshine", but the biggest hit of his career was "Lean On Me" which spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1972.

Answer: Bad Bad Leroy Brown

"Bad Bad Leroy Brown" was a number one hit that spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in July of 1973. The song, and Croce was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1973.

Answer: The Loco-Motion

Grand Funk Railroad covered "The Loco-Motion", a song written by Carole King, and took it to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts for a two week stay in the spring of 1971. The song was originally a number one hit for Little Eva in 1962. Kylie Minogue just missed being the third artist to have a number one with this song when her version peaked on the U.S. charts at number three in 1988.

Answer: Lady Marmalade

"Voulez-vous couche avec moi ce'soir? Do you want to sleep with me tonight? That's the theme of this 1975 hit by LaBelle, Patti LaBelle's group of singers (who used to be The Bluebelles). The song was written by Bob Crewe (of Four Seasons fame) and Kenny Nolan.

The song got to the top of the charts for one week in the spring of 1975. Rolling Stone Magazine ranks the song at number 479 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Answer: John Sebastian

The theme song called "Welcome Back" was written and performed by John Sebastian of "Lovin' Spoonful" fame. The song spent a week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the spring of 1976.

Answer: Don't Leave Me This Way

"Don't Leave Me This Way" was an R&B/disco song originally released by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes in 1975, but never released as a single in the U.S. It still managed to hit number three on the U.S. disco charts, and number five on the U.K. pop charts.

When Thelma Houston took the song in 1977 and recorded it with a disco beat, the song went to the top of the charts in the U.S. for a one week stay. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1977 motion picture "Looking For Mr. Goodbar".

Answer: Frankie Valli

"Grease" was a 1978 motion picture adaptation of the original Broadway theater production. It featured John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John among a host of stars. The theme song with the same title was sung by Frankie Valli. It was written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees especially for the film. The song spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1978.

Answer: Bad Girls

"Bad Girls" was a 1979 hit for Donna Summer off an album of the same name. The song was originally written a couple of years earlier and according to Summer was written after an incident that one of her assistants had in which a police officer had mistaken her for a street prostitute.

After writing the song, there was some talk that Cher would record it, but Donna tucked it away and released it herself in 1979. The song was a number one tune spending five weeks at the top of the charts in the summer of 1979 and was one of Summer's biggest hits.