Number One Hits of 1964- Part 5 Quiz

Answer: Sandie Shaw

"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" was Sandie Shaw's first hit and went to the top of the UK pop chart. The song made Sandie a star of the same stature as Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield. Sandie Shaw's version of the song only reached number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song itself had a life of its own entering the charts a couple of times in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, the techno version released in 1995 actually reach number one on the UK dance charts and top ten on the regular pop chart. Having been written by Bacharach and David second only to Lennon and McCartney in the 1960s, the song was destined to become a standard.

Answer: The Beatles

The Beatles made some what of a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. The Beatles with "She Loves You" hit number one in the UK in September 1963. The song did not chart in the USA until March 1964. In Australia the song made it to number two, kept out of the top spot by another Liverpool group, The Searchers.

Answer: Ray Columbus and the Invaders

"She's a Mod" was a breakout hit for Ray Columbus and the Invaders and went to number one on the Australian and New Zealand charts. The song had been originally recorded by a Birmingham group called the Senators. The claim to fame the Senators have is that their recording of "She's A Mod" is the first time John Bonham appeared on record, he of course went on to be one of rock's most acclaimed drummers as part of Led Zeppelin. Ray Columbus rarely entered the charts again although he did have a moderate hit in Australia with "Till We Kissed" in 1965. Ray returned to his native New Zealand and became a TV host and artist manager.

Answer: Bobby Vinton

"There! I've Said It Again" became Bobby Vinton's third number one hit after "Roses are Red" and "Blue Velvet" had been number ones in 1963. The song had been a number one hit for Vaughn Monroe in the mid 1940s. Bobby Vinton's recording was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January of 1964.

The record was only a moderate hit in the UK and Australia only making the top thirty due to the explosion of the beat groups. Bobby Vinton scored another number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1964 with "Mr Lonely".

Answer: Lorne Greene

Lorne Greene was currently riding high as the star and patriarch on the long running western series "Bonanza", when at a recording session where the cast put down a vocal version of the "Bonanza" theme Lorne Greene heard the song "Ringo" and decided to include it on his album "Welcome to the Ponderosa".

The record went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and also to number one in his native Canada. In Australia the record made the top ten peaking at number six, and in the UK it made the top twenty.

The song was co-authored by Don Robertson who had had a million seller as a performer in 1956 with "The Happy Whistler".

Answer: The Supremes

Whilst riding high on their success of "Where Did Our Love Go" The Supremes released "Baby Love" which rocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and became their second successive number one hit. The record also fared well in the UK where it also reached the number one position taking over the spot from Sandie Shaw.

In Australia the song peaked at number twenty six on its first release but an EP released in mid 1965 that included "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" and "Where did Our Love Go" made the top ten on the singles chart.

Answer: The Kinks

Ray Davies had written "You Really Got Me" as a standard pop song; when his brother guitarist Dave Davies heard it he added the powerful chord riff and gave The Kinks their first number one hit. The song went to number one in the UK and stayed for two weeks.

The record was kept out of the top spot in Australia by The Beatles peaking at number two for three weeks. "You Really Got Me" made the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the start of a string of 25 hits over the next twenty years. Three of their hits have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, "You Really Got Me", "A Well respected Man" and "Lola".

Answer: The Beatles

The Beatles scored their ninth number one of 1964 in Australia with the "All My Loving" EP. The mop tops, as the press had taken to calling them, toured Australia in mid 1964 with Jimmy Nicol replacing Ringo for the early part of the tour as Ringo had a bad case of tonsillitis. Sales of all things Beatle were boosted by the tour and record sales went through the roof; the Beatles spent a staggering 32 weeks at number one and placed 21 tracks including 3 EPs on the top forty, nine number ones and a further ten made the top ten.

The "All My Loving" EP also made number one in the UK but was not released in the USA. The tracks on the "All My Loving" EP were "All My Loving", "Ask Me Why", "P.S. I Love You" and "Money (That's What I Want)". So popular were the Beatles in 1964 it has been written that "every week of 1964 the Beatles had the number one record in Europe, Asia or the Americas." That is hard to dispute.

Answer: The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons had by mid 1964 released fifteen singles most of which had charted these included number one hits, "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like A Man. So it was no big surprise when in the middle of the Beatle and British dominance of the charts they should grab the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks with "Rag Doll".

The record went to number two in both Australia and the UK.

Answer: The Searchers

"Needles and Pins" was written by Jack Nitzsche, Sonny Bono and also the uncredited Jackie De Shannon who first recorded it in 1963. Jackie's version crept into the Billboard Hot 100 and actually went to number one in Canada. The song however received more acclaim when it was released in 1964 by The Searchers.

Their recording went to number one in the UK and stopped at number two in Australia, kept out of the premier position by the Beatles "All my Loving" EP. In the USA the song climbed to number twenty six on the Billboard Hot 100.