Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs (251-275) Quiz

Answer: Born in the U.S.A.

The song at number 275 on the list is "Born in the U.S.A." from the 1984 album of the same name. All songs used as possible answers are also from this album. The album has sold in excess of 15 million copies worldwide, ranking it in the top 25 in album sales.

Answer: Somebody to Love

Jefferson Airplane were formed in San Francisco, CA in 1965. The band has had several songs on the Billboard Pop Singles chart over the years. The song "Somebody to Love" reached number five on that list in the US way back in 1967.

Answer: Something

The Beatles intended to put the George Harrison penned song "Something" on their "White Album", but it was not finalized in time for the pressing date. Harrision gave the tune to Joe Cocker, which he recorded. The song is one of the most covered Beatles songs ever. Artists as diverse as Tony Bennet, The Butthole Surfers, Elvis Presley and Sarah Vaughan have all covered the song over the years.

Answer: Sweet Little Sixteen

Chuck Berry wrote many songs with girls names in the title. When The Beach Boys released their song "Surfin' USA", Berry noticed a striking resemblance to his song "Sweet Little Sixteen" so he threatened to sue them for copyright infringement. After a bit of pressure, The Beach Boys acknowledged Berry as a co-writer of their song.

Answer: Sloop John B

The song "Sloop John B" appears on the album "Pet Sounds". The album was released in March of 1966. The Beach Boys took the song to number three on the Billboard Pop Singles chart after it sold over a half million copies in the US. The song is an adaptation of an old West Indies folk song.

Answer: He Stopped Loving Her Today

Many folks believe that this song is about the relationship between George Jones and Tammy Wynette. In fact, the song was written by the song writing team of Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam. The song was written after the duo attended a funeral.

Answer: Roadrunner

The Modern Lovers were from Boston, Massachusetts. The founder of the band was a huge fan of the Velvet Underground, so the band's sound is a little similar to theirs. This song did not make it onto the Billboard Singles chart, but it did receive a lot of radio airplay in the 70s.

Answer: Sunday Bloody Sunday

This song has very obvious political meanings. Although Bono has given different, rather cryptic, interpretations of the song over the years, it is believed that the song is about the 1972 killing of 13 Irish citizens during a civil rights demonstration by British soldiers.
When U2 inducted The Clash into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Edge gave credit to them for inspiration to write the song.

Answer: Personality Crisis

The New York Dolls practically invented a sub genre of music that combined glam rock, punk rock and heavy metal. The odd thing is that these styles of music weren't readily identified by name. The band were true innovators in their style of music. Sadly, the band drifted apart, drug addiction and alcoholism being the reason.
The gifted Todd Rundgren was the producer for this song.

Answer: Walking in the Rain

Other than "Be My Baby", "Walking in the Rain" was The Ronettes best charting song on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The song reached number 23 while "Be My Baby" made it all the way to number two.
Ronnie Bennett sang lead vocals on this Phil Spector produced hit. He must have been impressed, the pair were married two years later.

Answer: Tighten Up

Archie Bell knew he was going to have to go to Vietnam, so he wanted to release their best song. The band released "Tighten Up" in 1968 and Bell went to Vietnam. While in country, he was shot and had to spend some time in a military hospital, just as his song was reaching number one in the US on the Billboard Pop Sinlges chart.

He had one stinker of a time convincing his hospital mates that it was really him who was singing the popular song on the radio.

Answer: Sail Away

Randy Newman has had a great career as both a song writer and a performer. His best known song is probably the number two hit titled "Short People" released in 1977.
Of all the people who have covered this tune over the years, I would recommend the version recorded by Linda Ronstadt.

Answer: He's a Rebel

This was The Crystals last major hit. During this time, Phil Spector was gaining interest in another girl group, The Ronnettes, and he basically lost interest in The Crystals. The song reached number two in the UK and number six in the US, making it an international success.

Answer: Ooh Baby Baby

This song is basically a plea from an unfaithful man to his jilted woman for forgiveness. This is another song that has been recorded by numerous artists over the years. My personal favorite cover version is by Ella Fitzgerald.

Answer: Higher Ground

It's a well known story that Stevie recorded this song just three months before a serious car accident that nearly took his life. The song has been covered by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, actually increasing Stevie Wonder's exposure to younger music listeners.

Answer: Oh, What a Night

The Dells did something that few other doo-wop groups were able to do, and that's keep together the core group of members for a long period of time. The Dells stayed together from 1960 to 1986 when they disbanded. Most other doo-wop groups have changed members left and right over the years, many times with different incarnations of the group playing on the circuit at the same time.

It's always interesting to see which original members may be performing with some of the singing groups from the 1960s.

Answer: Hallelujah

On May 29, 1997, Jeff Buckley and friends were wading in the Mississippi River at the Mud River Harbor. He went underwater and never surfaced. Authorities tried to find Buckley, but were unsuccessful. His body washed up near Beale Street several days later. Buckley was only 30 years old.

Answer: I Can See for Miles

I once heard on the radio that the song contains the word "miles" exactly 57 times. That's a lot of "miles and miles and miles and miles...". Pete Townshend once said this song contained his best lyrics.

Answer: The Troggs

This song has been used for movies, commercials, television shows, sporting events and just about any other media event known to man. Everyone remembers that Jimi Hendrix set his guitar afire at the Monterey Pop Festival, but not many folks remember it was during his rendition of this song.

Answer: Paranoid Android

Radiohead got the name for this song based on the character Marvin the Paranoid Android from the Douglas Adams' book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The band took their name from a song by The Talking Heads.

Answer: Heart of Glass

Deborah Harry and her boyfriend of the day, Chris Stein, wrote this song in New York. The song appeared on their album "Parallel Lines" which was released in 1978.

Answer: Highway to Hell

This is the title track from the very first album that AC/DC did not record in Australia. The album was recorded in London. This is the song the band chose to use during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Answer: All the Young Dudes

David Bowie was a pretty big fan of Mott the Hoople, but he knew they were struggling to have a hit song. He offered "Suffragette City", but the band didn't care for it. Instead he offered up "All the Young Dudes". He offered to produce it, play guitar, sing backing vocals and he even performed the infamous hand clapping in the song.

Answer: Money Honey

The Drifters were once fronted by the legendary Clyde McPhatter. McPhatter ended up drinking himself to death. The band began in 1953 in New York. There has been at least some incarnation of the group touring somewhere in the world since then.

Answer: Bobby Darin

The song is "Mack the Knife" and it was released in 1959. Bobby Darin performed this song at the second Grammy Awards show where the song picked up Record of the Year. The song reached number one in both the US and the UK.