No. 1 Hits of the 70s Vol.5 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bridge Over Troubled Water

It was the beautiful ballad "Bridge Over Troubled Water" that gave Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel a number one tune in 1970, staying at the top of the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 charts for six weeks in the spring. It also became their only number one hit in the U.K.

It was written by Paul Simon specifically for Art Garfunkel to sing as a solo, but Art thought that Paul should do it. After some consternation, Art did the number and it became a classic. More recently, when the two appear together, they will take turns singing the different verses of the song. No matter how they did it, the song is one of the best in history, winning two Grammy Awards in 1971.

A cover by Aretha Franklin also won a Grammy in 1972. Simon and Garfunkel's rendition is listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's compilation of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at number 47.

Answer: It was the last single featuring Eddie Kendricks

"Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" was a number one hit for The Temptations in the spring of 1971 spending two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Written by the songwriting team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, it was the group's third number one charting single. Eddie Kendricks, one of the founding members of the group departed during the recording and releasing of the single to begin a solo career.

It was also the final song that featured founding member Paul Williams who had to retire due to health reasons.

The song itself is listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at number 389. Kendrick would take about two years to find his niche as a solo artist, scoring in 1973 with "Keep On Truckin'".

Answer: Heart of Gold

"Heart of Gold" spent a single week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the early spring of 1972. It was the only number one hit for Neil Young as a solo artist. It was off an album he did called "Harvest". A little known fact is that the back up singers on the track included Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, who happened to be in Nashville at the same time as Young was recording the tune.

They were asked to help out and agreed to do so. The song is listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as the number 297 tune on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" compilation.

Answer: Co-starring on the "Carol Burnett" television show

"The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" was a southern oriented ballad, sung in narrative form by Vicki Lawrence in 1973. It was written by her then husband Bobby Russell, and after not finding a suitable artist who would agree to record it, (the song was offered to both Liza Minnelli and Cher) Lawrence sung the tracks herself and ended up with a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, remaining at the top for two weeks. Lawrence, at the time, was a regular on the long running "Carol Burnett Show" which ran eleven years, from 1967 through 1978.

She later went on to star in another long running comedy series called "Mama's Family".

Answer: The Way We Were

"The Way We Were" was a very successful motion picture from 1973 starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. Streisand sang the theme song for the film, and the song ended up as a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for three non-consecutive weeks in the winter of 1974.

It also won an Academy Award for Best Song. Surprisingly, it was Streisand's first number one song since "People" was on the easy listening charts ten years earlier.

Answer: Fire

"Fire" off the album of the same name, became the first number one song for The Ohio Players when it hit the top for one week of the Billboard charts in the winter of 1975. The group had been recording on and off since 1959, but it was with the advent of the disco era that they achieved their greatest success. "Fire" was their fourth Top 40 charting hit and the first number one.

Answer: Love Rollercoaster

"Love Rollercoaster" comes off an album called 'Honey' and was the second number one hit in as many years for the group. It stayed atop the charts for one week in the winter of 1976, almost one year to the day from their last number one, "Fire". It was also the final number one for the group on the pop charts.

Answer: Mary MacGregor

"Torn Between Two Lovers" was written by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame), and according to Yarrow, was written with the idea of being sung by a man. It was eventually recorded by Mary MacGregor and went to the top of the Billboard charts for a two week stay in 1977. MacGregor was essentially a one hit wonder, although she did hit the top 40 one more time with a song called "Good Friend" which peaked at number 39 in 1979.

Answer: If I Can't Have You

"If I Can't Have You" was a cut from the motion picture soundtrack of "Saturday Night Fever" (1978) written by Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb. Yvonne Elliman was originally going to sing "How Deep Is Your Love", but the Bee Gees recorded that song themselves and Elliman was given "If I Can't Have You".

The song went to number one for a week in the spring of 1978 and was Elliman's biggest hit. Coincidentally, it replaced "Night Fever", another Bee Gees tune from the soundtrack, at the number one spot when it took over.

Answer: Tragedy

"Tragedy" was off an album called "Spirits Having Flown" which was the follow up to the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. The group had scored earlier in the year with "Too Much Heaven" off the same album and still had one more number one hit to come, which will be revealed in a subsequent quiz.

This song spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in March of 1979, and hit the top of the charts in the U.K. as well.