Remembering Songs of the Summer #2 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" reached Number Two on the U.S. pop Charts in 1969 for this band who had a high-profile performance at Woodstock, earlier in the year. The band was the first fully racially integrated group in the history of music. What's the name of the group who performed "Hot Fun in the Summertime"? (the nickname of the actor who plays "Rocky Balboa" in the "Rocky" movie series)

Answer: Sly and the Family Stone

Sylvester Stallone played Rocky Balboa and often goes by the name "Sly" Stallone. Sly and the Family Stone was considered to be one of the most memorable acts from Woodstock 1969, and quickly rode their success to a string of hit tunes and albums. But the group's leader, Sly Stone, acquired a voracious appetite for drugs and soon the Family's music became too dark and race-related for their fans, and by 1975, they couldn't even sell 20% of their tickets for a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, so the group, tired of the unpredictable behaviour of their wired-out leader, voluntarily disbanded.

But their song, "Hot Fun in the Summertime", is included in "Rolling Stones" Best 100 Summer Songs of All-time List in the Number Three spot.

2. This band was formed in 1967 in Bedfordshire, England, and forty years later is still fronted by the original guitarist and vocalist, Ian Anderson. Not associated with 'summery' music, the group did indeed make the "Top 100 Summers Songs" list with "Summerday Sands". With their most famous work being "Aqualung", which band am I referring to? (named for the 18th century agriculturist, not Jed Clampett's simpleton nephew)

Answer: Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull was a historically important agriculturalist who invented the horse-drawn seed drill, which had a huge effect on how farmers have developed modern agriculture. Jed Clampett's goofy nephew, "Jethro Bodine", had nothing to do with the naming of the band. "Summerday Sands" was released as the B-side of the single "Minstrel in the Gallery" in 1975, from the album of the same name and made it to the Hot 100 chart. Probably only Jethro Tull's biggest fans would remember the song, "Summerday Sands", yet with the band surviving over four decades in music, the song deserved a spot in the quiz.

3. These lyrics are from a song titled "You Took the Words Right Outta My Mouth." "It was a hot summer night and the beach was burnin', There was fog crawlin' over the sand. As I listened to your heart I heard the whole world turnin', I see the shooting stars falling through your tremblin' hands." What group sang this 1977 huge hit song? (the lead singer was born Marvin Lee Aday)

Answer: Meatloaf

Despite his famous moniker, Marvin Lee Aday HATES Meatloaf. "Meatloaf"'s debut album, "Bat Out Of Hell", is the third highest best-selling record in music history. In 1978, he took the act to Toronto and during a performance, he fell from the stage breaking his leg. Did that stop him? He finished the concert and the rest of the bookings from a wheelchair to round after round of standing ovations.

In the 1990's Meatloaf made a comeback with "Bat Out of Hell II" which went straight to Number One, sold over 20,000,000 copies, and is considered to be the greatest musical comeback in history by Rolling Stone, Billboard, and many other industry leaders in music.

4. The world lost an awesome pop/folk singer and humanitarian in a 1997 airplane accident while flying in his ultra-light craft. He had many songs that had a summer theme but only one song in his huge repertoire actually used "summer" in the title, and that was a song simply called "Summer". What famous 'be-spectacled country boy' gave us the song titled "Summer"?

Answer: John Denver

John Denver was born John Deutschendorf Jr. on Dec.31, 1943, and died on October 12, 1997, at 53 years young. His song "Summer" is a beautifully penned ballad and was first performed on a television special in 1975, "An Evening With John Denver", for which he won an Emmy Award for being the year's most outstanding musical special.

His list of chart-topping hits is too numerous to mention, but few of us don't have at least one favourite John Denver tune that has made at least one of our summers more memorable to us.

5. Released in May of 2000, the song "Summer Moved On", became this Norwegian's first single in six years. As well as being a great summer song, it's also noteworthy as it gave the lead singer Morten Harket a European record for the longest note ever held in a Top Forty Pop song at 20.2 seconds. Can you pick the name of the group that gave us the song, "Summer Moved On"? (you might end up 'hunting high and low' for this answer)

Answer: A-ha

"Hunting High and Low" was the title of the debut album for the Norwegian group known as A-ha. Two massive hits came from that 1982 album, "Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines On T.V.", which were two great summer cruising hits in their own right. "Summer Moved On" came from the 2000 album "Major Earth Minor Sky", and had been hastily written two years earlier to help complete the album so the group could separate, as they no longer wished to play together. On a strange note, they very reluctantly agreed to play two songs together in 2002 as part of a European Music Festival, with "Summer Moved On" being one of the songs.

The audience reaction was so heartfelt and overwhelming by the performance, that A-ha decided to re-unite to give the band another shot, and it has paid off with three more top forty albums.

6. "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" was a hit song from this extremely successful musician's 2007 album, "Magic". The album was his sixth Number One hit record of his career and since then, he's even compiled his seventh Number One hit album. What famous American music superstar am I referring to? (one of his guitarists played a gangster in all six seasons of "The Sopranos")

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Steven Van Zant, who played "Silvio Duarte" for all six seasons of the multi-Emmy award winning t.v. series, "The Sopranos", also plays in Bruce Springsteen's "E Street Band". Bruce's music was still so loved and enjoyed that he was able to celebrate his 60th birthday with his seventh Number One album.

This summery song by Springsteen won the Grammy as 2009's Best Rock Song, and came as a complete surprise to Bruce who read about his award in the newspaper on Monday morning! Maybe he missed the awards ceremony because after all, sixty-one year old rock stars need their beauty rest too.

7. How can one write a summer songs quiz and not include Alice Cooper's 1972 anti-education smash hit, "School's Out"(For Summer)? We use to love singing along; "No more pencils...No more books...No more teacher's _____ _____!" What two words are missing from that summer rock ballads' lyrics?

Answer: dirty looks!

I'll bet everyone of you who can remember that ONE teacher from your entire 'educational career' who could fire "dirty looks" in your direction so scary and intimidating that if "dirty looks could kill", you wouldn't be here today! The song "School's Out" came from Alice Cooper's (born Vincent Furnier) 1972 album of the same name.

The inspiration for the hit tune came about from a question asked of him by a fan, with that question being, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life"? Nearly forty years after its initial release, it still receives tons of summer airplay and why not? The memories of another school year ending were the greatest three minutes for millions of us.

8. The song "Summertime", an aria composed by the late great George Gershwin for the 1935 opera "Porgy and Bess", has the honourable distinction of being re-recorded, replayed, remade, and resung, by over one hundred different musicians and groups, including Ray Charles, The Doors, Billie Holiday, and even Paul McCartney. Which 1969's "Woodstock" artist also performed this extremely popular tune? (a lot of people got the 'Kozmic Blues' when the artist died in 1970)

Answer: Janis Joplin

1969's "Woodstock" was not a happy affair for Janis Joplin and her 'Kozmic Blues Band'. Because of a ten hour delay, her $200-a-day heroin habit had her going into withdrawal. Since nobody was able to tell her when she was going to get to play, she cranked up and started drinking whiskey and by the time she hit the stage, she was described as being "three sheets to the wind".

Despite her short time in music, she left many with nostalgic summer memories of the era. Janis Lyn Joplin, born September 13, 1943, left this world on October 4, 1970, after overdosing on a mixture of almost 100% pure heroin and alcohol, at the young age of twenty-seven.

9. In 1970, a British pop-blues band, led by Ray Dorset, came out with a song that epitomizes the carefree days of summer. "In The Summertime" quickly went to Number One in the UK and Canada and topped out at Number Three on the U.S. Billboard Top 100. What funky-named group gave us a classic feel-good hit, "In The Summertime"? (remade in 1995 by Shaggy(with Rayvon), and released on his album "Bombastic")

Answer: Mungo Jerry

Their funky group name was inspired by the poem "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer", from the "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S. Eliot. It was a true 'summer classic' in every sense of the word because it talked about hot weather, sunny days, cruising, and partying! It reached Number One in twenty-six different countries and has sold over thrity million copies.

It's hard to go through a week during any summer without hearing this popular tune on a classic pop & rock station. The founder of Mungo Jerry, Ray Dorset, is still putting out the tunes as Mungo Jerry despite being the only original member left.

10. "See the curtains hangin' in the window, in the evening on a Friday night. A little light a-shinin' through the window,lets me know everything is alright. Summer breeze, makes me feel fine..blowin' through the jasmine in my mind, Summer breeze, makes me feel fine..blowin' through the jasmine in my mind. Who's the duo that gave us the soul-soothing ballad, "Summer Breeze"? (one member of this duo lost a brother, who was part of another great twosome, to cancer in 2009)

Answer: Seals and Crofts

James Seals and Dash Crofts gave us "Summer Breeze", one of the most laid-back, easy-listening summer songs in existence. James' brother Dan, of England Dan and John Ford Coley fame, passed away March 25, 2009, which explains the clue. Seals and Crofts, who are members of the Ba'Hai Faith, released their eighteenth album, "Traces", in 2004. "Summer Breeze" is one of my all-time favourite summer tunes and I'm hoping the summer breeze that you meet this warm season "makes you feel fine and flows through the jasmine of your minds".

Source: Author krazykritik

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Dalgleish before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

It seems Part1 suceeded in bringing a lot of good summer memories to the minds of FT players. Here's hoping Part2 brings more great memories of the season back into your lives with ten more questions about great songs of the summer.

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