One Liners & Couplets. Part The Second Quiz

Answer: Joni Mitchell - "Song For Sharon"

Not a hit for Joni, but in my opinion the best song on her "Hejira" album (an album that took me YEARS to appreciate at the time). This particular line jumped out at me on first listen however. The album was released in November of 1976 and was a complete departure for her, musically speaking, from anything she had done before.

When it first came out it did not sell as well as any of her previous albums, going to number twenty two on the charts in Canada, number thirteen in the USA and number eleven in the UK.

Answer: The Young Rascals - "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore"

Oooooh do I love this couplet when it comes to throwing down the gauntlet in song. It was written by Pam Sawyer and Laurie Burton and was the Young Rascals' first single in November of 1965 and it sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. For as often as I recall hearing it on the radio at the time, oddly enough it only went to number fifty two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The song has been covered numerous times since it first came out but nobody did it better than the Young Rascals did.

Answer: Ian Dury - "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll"

It is with great sadness that I say that Ian never quite made it in the USA. But in Europe he was huge. "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll" was his first solo single after his previous band, Kilburn & The High Roads, split up. It was recorded in 1976 but not released until August of 1977 on the legendary Stiff Records label.

When it was first released it did not chart and only sold around 19,000 copies and was soon deleted. The fact that it had also been banned by the BBC did not help matters. Ian at the time did not like releasing album tracks as single so the song was not included on (UK pressings of) his first LP 'New Boots & Panties'.

It was eventually released as seven and twelve inch singles in different countries but for a song as very well known as this song is it actually never was a top ten single anywhere in the world!

Answer: The Rolling Stones - "Monkey Man"

'Let It Bleed'. One of the albums that just about every Rolling Stones fan on the planet will agree is one of their finest moments. And on an album filled to the brim with fine moments, most Stones fans will agree that "Monkey Man" is one of the finest moments on that record.

The lyrics of the track were meant to satirize and comment on the band's public image and lifestyle. 'Let It Bleed' eventually hit the number three spot on the Billboard Top LPs chart, where it eventually went double platinum, and it reached number one on the UK chart, temporarily knocking the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' out of the number one spot.

Answer: Bob Dylan - "New Pony"

There are a number of songs and lyrics in this series of quizzes where I asked my girlfriend to pick some lyrics and songs that stand out to her. Just to keep things interesting and varied and give another perspective on what somebody likes. This is one of her choices. I find it interesting how many females adore Bob's 'Street Legal' album. Especially considering how many Dylan fans HATED this record when it was first released (Myself included). Released in June of 1978 it peaked at number eleven on the US Billboard charts - his worst charting studio album since 1964 and his first album to not reach the top ten since 1964 as well.

However time has been exceptionally kind to this record (as well as the world tour that accompanied it). In the present day this is a fine sounding album. "New Pony" is one of the tracks from that album.

Answer: Sly & The Family Stone - "Hot Fun In The Summertime"

Sly & the Family Stone are MY Beatles. And "Hot Fun In The Summertime" is one of many reasons why. It was released as a single in August of 1969 and originally meant to be part of an album that never was completed. Instead it eventually appeared on the 1970 'Greatest Hits' LP. This song is one of the very rare times that Sly incorporated strings in one of his songs. As a single the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and number three on the Billboard Soul Singles chart and it was the seventh biggest hit in the USA of 1969.

Answer: Chicago - "25 Or 6 To 4"

One of the most well known tracks from the second Chicago album. The album was released in January of 1970 and the single was edited and issued in June of 1970 (The song itself was recorded in August of 1969). It reached number four in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number seven on the UK Singles chart. I don't care what any naysayers want to say about Chicago: their first four albums were packed to the gills with some mighty fine tunes. "25 or 6 to 4" is amongst the finest of those with some great guitar playing by the hugely missed Terry Kath (1946-1978).

Answer: The Beach Boys - "All Summer Long"

"All Summer Long" is the sixth Beach Boys album, released in July of 1964 (based on what I can find online this song was not released as a single in the USA!). The title song itself was released as a single in the UK in February of 1965. Many people discovered the song via its use during the closing credits of the hugely popular 1973 movie 'American Graffiti'. Speaking purely for myself I know this song kept me from leaving the theater before the credits finished. Each of the nine or ten times I saw the movie!

Answer: The Floaters - "Float On"

'Aries, and my name is Mike'. Sorry. I was having a Floater moment there for a minute. Released as the single from their 1977 self titled debut album and it was one of the biggest singles from that year. It went to number one for six weeks on the US Soul Chart as well as reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

It also went to number two on the UK Singles chart. In the nineties Cadbury used the song to advertise Cadbury's Creme Eggs. Float on...

Answer: The Who - "Bell Boy"

1973. The Who. "Quadrophenia". One of the greatest pre punk rock musical achievements of the Seventies. Nowadays Pete Townsend considers the album to be the last great album The Who ever recorded. He is correct. The album only ever made it to the number two position on both the UK and US charts at the time - a figure that would be much more apropos for what calls itself The Who nowadays. "Bell Boy" is the track where the album's hero Jimmy comes across his former idol working at a hotel as a bell hop and the story changes completely.