Rock and Roll Zoo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Horse

In 1968 Cliff Nobles and his group released a song called "Love Is Alright". The song didn't take off, but the B-Side did. It was simply an instrumental version of "Love Is Alright". They called it "The Horse". It got lots of airplay and made it all the way to number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Interestingly, Cliff Nobles was a singer by trade, and did not play any of the instruments on the recording. The horn section heard in this song later became part of the group "MFSB" in the 1970s.

Answer: Cat

Chapin took "Cat's In The Cradle" all the way to number one in the U.S. in late 1974. The song deals with a father and son who seem never to have time for each other. First the father has no time for the son when he is a child, and when the son grows up, he cannot find the time to spend with his dad. Kind of a sad song really.

Answer: Dog

Of course it was "Hound Dog", which Elvis recorded in 1956. The original version was by a gal named "Big Mama Thornton" from 1952. Her version was produce by the legendary duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It made it all the way to number one on the U.S. Rhythm and Blues charts.

The Elvis version, which is the most well known, spent 11 weeks at the number one spot on the charts in the U.S. It is listed in Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" at number 19.

Answer: Monkey

"Mickey's Monkey" was a number eight charting song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for The Miracles in 1963. It was a song written by the legendary Motown team of Holland, Dozier and Holland, and helped popularize the dance step called "The Monkey" which was part of the dance craze of the early 1960s.

Answer: Blackbird

"Blackbird" is a Paul McCartney composition written and recorded in 1968. The song is said to be in response to the growing racial tensions in the U.S. in the late 1960s. The song has been covered over 30 times by various other artists. As for the chirping in the background, well, the jury is still out over whether or not it's a real blackbird.

Answer: Walrus and Blue Jay

"Magical Mystery Tour", released in 1967, spawned a number of well known tunes, six of which were released as singles in the U.S. Actually the entire second side of the album were all songs that were never on any other album, but were released as singles.

The A-Side of the album features the title cut, plus these songs that fit into the category. "Blue Jay Way", written by George Harrison, which is the name of a real street in the Hollywood, California suburbs, and "I Am The Walrus" written by John Lennon, which was the B-Side to the Beatles hit "Hello, Goodbye". Neither of these songs were ever released as singles on their own.

Answer: Chameleon

"Karma Chameleon" was Boy George's signature hit of the early 1980s. Released in 1984, of an album called "Color By Numbers", it went to number one in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and became a worldwide hit, reaching number one on the charts in 11 countries worldwide, and a Top 5 placing in 4 more countries.

Answer: Robin

"Rockin' Robin" put Bobby Day on the charts in 1958. Fourteen years later Michael Jackson took the same song back onto the Billboard charts. Coincidentally, both artists got the song as high as the number two position on the Billboard U.S. Pop charts. Just so as not to confuse anyone, an oriole is mentioned in the lyrics of the song, but not in the title.

Answer: Mockingbird

"Mock..yeah..ing..yeah..bird..yeah..yeah..yeah..starts the duet of this song with the partners trading words back and forth. Although credited to Inez Foxx, the original version was of her and her brother Charlie doing this tune. Charlie gets credit as "vocal accompaniment". Foxx's 1963 version hit number seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

The 1974 Simon/Taylor version is co-credited. They were married at the time. Their version, with some lyrical alterations by Taylor, hit nuumber five on the U.S> Billboard charts that year.

Answer: Mouse

"Hey, do The Mouse yeah". Guess anything could do well if it was catchy. "The Mouse" was a fictitious dance created in the mind of comedian Soupy Sales. Soupy probably holds the record for getting the most pies thrown in his face during a career. Anyway the song was a novelty hit for Sales in the New York City area in 1965.

He even performed it on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which was the premier variety show of the era.

Answer: Crocodile

"Crocodile Rock" was a 1972 release from Elton's "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" album. It was co-composed by Elton John along with his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. The song was the first Elton John single to reach the number one position on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Answer: Muskrat

"Muskrat Love" is literally about muskrats in love. Ugh! Anyway, the song was originally written and performed by Willis Alan Ramsey, and titled "Muskrat Candlelight". The version recorded by The Captain and Tenille was renamed, and made it to number four on the U.S. Top 100 Billboard charts.

Although a best selling hit, many critics cite this song as one of the worst popular songs ever recorded.

Answer: Lion

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was origianlly an African song, recorded by Solomon Linda and The Easybirds in 1939. It was a popular song in Africa at that time. In 1961, after some lyrical adjustments, The Tokens took the song to the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. charts. Ten years later, in 1971, Robert John covered the song, and made it to number three on the same Billboard U.S. chart.

Answer: Pony

Checker's "Pony Time" was a follow up to his song "The Twist". "Pony Time" was another dance song, with The Pony being one of the popular dance steps of the early 1960s where the dancer makes the motion to look like they are riding a horse. This song went as high as number one on the Billboard U.S. Top 100 charts in early 1961.

Answer: Rabbit

"White Rabbit" was a composition which made it as high as number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for Jefferson Airplane in 1967. It is acknowledged by group leader Grace Slick to be about the use of drugs. It makes many comparisons between taking hallucinogens, and the stories of author Lewis Carroll, and the many references he made to wild colors and changing shapes and sizes of things in his classic "Alice In Wonderland", and his followup "Through The Looking Glass".