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

Answer: The Beatles

It was The Beatles who had an amazing 18 number one songs during the decade, beginning with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in 1964. During that first wave, they spent 14 straight weeks at the number one position with different songs. After "I Want To Hold Your Hand" came two weeks at number one for "She Loves You", followed by five weeks at number one for "Can't Buy Me Love".

They also had a week at number one later in the year with "Love Me Do", two weeks at number one with "A Hard Day's Night", and closed out the year at number one with "I Feel Fine".

Their final number one of the decade was "Come Together" which spent a week at number one in the fall of 1969. The Supremes were second most with nine number one placings, followed by Presley with six, and The Rolling Stones with two.

Answer: Sugar sugar

"Sugar, Sugar" spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the fall of 1969 and ended up as the number one song for the year. It was recorded by a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirschner. Led by vocalist Ron Dante, and assisted by Toni Wine, Andy Kim, and Ellie Greenwich, the song was recorded for "The Archies" cartoon series with Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Betty, and Veronica all performing.

The song was originally offered to The Monkees, but they decided against recording it. Guess they goofed on that one.

The song is listed at number 63 on "Billboard's Greatest Hits Of All Time".

Answer: Theme from A Summer Place

"Theme From A Summer Place" spent an incredible nine weeks at the number one position on the charts in late winter and early spring of 1960. Written for the movie "A Summer Place" in 1959 starring Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue, Percy Faith recorded the most widely known version. Faith's version won a Grammy Award, and in 2008 when Billboard published a list of "The Top 100 Songs" during the first 50 years of the Hot 100 charts, this song ranked at number 18.

As for the other songs, "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat, spent five weeks at number one in 1968, Wonderland By Night", by Bert Kaempfert spent three week at number one in 1961, and "The Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet" was number one for two weeks in 1969.

Answer: 9

Although uncommon, it happened more than you would think. The list is as follows "Save The Last Dance", The Drifters 1960, "Travelin' Man", by Ricky Nelson 1961, "Come See About Me", The Supremes 1964, "I Can't Help Myself", by The Four Tops 1965, "The Sounds Of Silence", Simon and Garfunkel 1966, "We Can Work It Out", The Beatles 1966, "Paperback Writer", The Beatles 1966, "Winchester Cathedral", New Vaudeville Band 1966, and "Groovin'", The Young Rascals 1967.

Answer: The Twist

"The Twist" was originally recorded by Hank Ballard in 1959 and was a minor hit, reaching number 28 on the Billboard charts. Chubby Checker's cover version shot to the top of the charts on September 19, 1960. It then appeared again and was a number one song for two weeks in January 1962. The song is ranked at number 451 on Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" list.

Answer: Jimmy Dean and S/Sgt. Barry Sadler

Jimmy Dean spent five weeks at number one with his "Big Bad John" in 1962, about seven years before he started making breakfast sausages. S/Sgt. Barry Sadler's tribute to the troops, "The Ballad of The Green Berets" also spent five weeks at the top of the charts in the spring of 1966. So those two men spent a combined 10 weeks at number one. Lorne Greene took a break from "Bonanza" to spend a week at number one with "Ringo" in late 1964. Finally, Barry McGuire was worried about the end of the world and spent a week at number one with "Eve Of Destruction' in the fall of 1965.

Answer: 'Hey Jude' and 'Theme From A Summer Place'

"Hey Jude" spent nine weeks at number one in 1968 as did "Theme From a Summer Place" in 1960. "I Want To Hold Your Hand", the Beatles first number one, spent seven weeks at the top of the charts in 1964, and the surprise of the group, "Tossin' and Turnin' by Bobby Lewis spent seven weeks topping the charts during the summer of 1961.

Answer: False

Actually the first two British acts to top the U.S. charts were both instrumentals. Mr. Acker Bilk topped the charts on May 26, 1962 with his "Stranger On The Shore". Later that same year The Tornados topped the U.S. charts with "Telestar", so they were actually the first "group" to have a number one U.S. hit.

The Beatles claim to fame would be the first VOCAL group from Britain with a number one song, when "I Want To Hold Your Hand" took America by storm in 1964.

Answer: Monster Mash

Bobby "Boris" Pickett co-wrote this masterpiece in 1962. No major record label would record the song, but he finally found a producer who took a chance on it. It only became a million seller and reached number one on October 20, 1962, just in time for Halloween.

It was billed as Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt Kickers. The song appeared on the charts in 1970, and in 1973, it reached number 10 on the U.S. charts again. One note of interest: the piano player on the tune was none other than Leon Russell.

As for the other songs, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" was a number two hit in 1963 for the immortal comedian Allan Sherman, "Beep Beep" was a novelty hit in 1958 for The Playmates, and "The Witch Doctor" was a 1958 release by David Seville of "Alvin and The Chipmunks" fame.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Presley hit the number one spot on April 21, 1962 with "Good Luck Charm". It was to be his last number one hit for more than seven years. The next time he made it to number one was on November 1, 1969 when "Suspicious Minds" spent a week in the top position, so it was 7 years, six months and 9 days between number one placings for Presley. Second on the list is Tommy Roe. His "Sheila" first hit number one on September 1, 1962. His next number one appearance was with "Dizzy" on March 15, 1969, so it was 6 years, 6 months and 15 days between number one hits for him. As for the others, Orbison hit number one with "Running Scared" in June of 1961, and hit again with "Pretty Woman" in September of 1964, so his gap was little over 3 years. Simon and Garfunkel saw number one for the first time with "The Sounds Of Silence" on New Year's Day 1966, and reached that plateau again a mere 2 1/2 years later on June 1, 1968 with "Mrs. Robinson".


Hope you all enjoyed this quiz. More on the number one songs of the 1960s to come.