Remembering 1966 Trivia Quiz

Answer: ? and the Mysterians

"? and the Mysterians" were formed in Bay City, Michigan in 1962 and stayed active until their break-up in 1969. Band member Rudy Martinez, who wrote "96 Tears", was the group's creative force and went by the moniker "?". The Mysterians took their name from a 1957 science fiction film, "The Mysterians". "96 Tears" reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in October of 1966 and their follow-up song "I Need Somebody" peaked at number 22 later that year, but that was the groups last U.S. top 40 single.

Answer: Hanky Panky

"Hanky Panky" was written by the songwriting team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group The Raindrops, who needed a B-side to their single "That Boy John". Tommy James and the Shondells recorded their version in Niles, Michigan and released it on local label Snaps Record.

The song did well in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, but without national distribution, it quickly faded away and the band broke-up. In 1965 a disc jockey in Pittsburgh began playing the Shondell's version of "Hanky Panky" and the single became popular in the area. James traveled to Pittsburgh and hired a band to become the new Shondells, since he could not get the original members back together.

After some TV appearances and local club dates, James went to New York and sold the master of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records.

The label immediately released the single and it went on to top The Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July of 1966.

Answer: The Ballad of the Green Berets

Not only did "The Ballad of the Green Berets" top the Hot 100 weekly chart from March 5th to April 9th, it also reached number one on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and number two on Billboard's Country survey. The song also ranked number one on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles list. It was one of only a handful of songs from the '60s that depicted the military in a positive way.

Answer: Kicks

"Kicks" was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and was originally offered to the Animals, but lead singer Eric Burdon turned it down. The songs anti-drug message was considered outdated at a time when other recordings such as The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" and The Association's "Along Comes Mary" were depicting drug use in a more positive light.

Despite all of this, the song spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number four.

Answer: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is notable for a couple things, first its brass band backing track and second for the controversial chorus of "Everybody must get stoned". The use of this line, repeated often during the song, have led some to label the tune a "drug song", but this is not true according to the songwriter.

When asked in a Rolling Stone magazine interview from 2012 about people interpreting this song to be about getting high, Dylan responded "These are people that aren't familiar with the Book of Acts." The Book of Acts does contain an account of a stoning, in which stones are thrown at a person until he or she dies. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1966.

Answer: The Sound of Silence

"The Sound of Silence" was recorded in March 1964 and included on their debut album "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.". The album was a commercial failure and led to the duos break-up, with Paul Simon returning to England and Art Garfunkel returning to his studies at Columbia University.

In the spring of 1965 the song began getting some airplay in Boston, Massachusetts and in the state of Florida. Tom Wilson, the songs producer, felt the tune was too soft for wide release and decided to remix the track using electric instrumentation.

The revised version was released in September 1965 and climbed to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 the first week of January 1966.

Answer: Butterfly

"Elusive Butterfly", which was also written by Lind, was released as a single in December 1965 and reached number five on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts in 1966. The song was originally the B-side of Lind's first single "Cheryl's Goin' Home", but a DJ in Florida turned the record over and started playing "Elusive Butterfly", which helped the song gain in popularity.

Some of the biggest names in music have done cover versions of the song, including Petula Clark, Glen Campbell and Aretha Franklin.

Answer: Black

"Paint It Black" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in June 1966. It also reached number one on the UK Singles chart. The song, written by band members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, became the Stones third number one single in the US and their sixth number one in the UK.

The sitar, which is featured prominently in the song, was played by Stones guitarist Brian Jones. Influenced by George Harrison's use of the sitar in the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood", Jones developed and arranged the sitar part for "Paint It Black."

Answer: Monday

"Monday, Monday" written by Papa John Phillips spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1966. While the Mamas & the Papas provided the vocals for the tune, the instrumentation was performed by studio musicians from the legendary "Wrecking Crew". On March 2, 1967, the group won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song. "Monday, Monday" was their only number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Cherish

"Cherish" was written by band member Terry Kirkman and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1966. It was the first of two number ones the group would have during their existence, the other one being "Windy" from 1967. David Cassidy released a cover version of the tune that peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1971.