"Signature Songs of Singers and Groups"-Part 9 Quiz

Answer: Marty Robbins

Arizona born Martin (Marty Robbins) Robinson also took "El Paso" to the top of the U.S. Country charts as well. One of the most popular Country and Western singers of the 1950s-1960s, he began his career after being discharged from the Navy in 1947. Over the course of five decades, Marty Robbins recorded more than 60 albums and 100 singles, 17 of which would top the U.S. country charts. "El Paso", written by Robbins, was originally released as track one, side two on his 1959 album, "Gunfighters Ballads and Trail Songs". The single won the Grammy for Best Country & Western Recording in 1961. A couple of his other big hits were ""A White Sport Coat" (and a Pink Carnation) in 1957, and "Singin' the Blues" (1956). Marty Robbins was voted Entertainer of the Decade (1960s) by the Academy of Country Music and in 1982, he was inducted into The Country Music Hall of Fame.

Interesting fact: Marty Robbins was a noted fan of NASCAR, and in fact he raced in more than 30 events, including several at top tracks like Daytona and Talladega.

Answer: Sue Thompson

Sue Thompson was the stage name for MO born Eva Sue McKee. She got hooked on music when she received a guitar on her seventh birthday. After high school she entertained in Las Vegas and Reno, and by her mid-twenties, she had been married three times, and was the mommy of one child. Singing both pop and rock, Sue Thompson released a dozen albums and 30 singles between 1961-1976.

She had two 1961 songs "go gold', both written by John Laudermilk. The first million seller was, "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry"), which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It also hit number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. Then a few months later, along came Sue and her main squeeze, good old "Norman".

Answer: Five Satins

The haunting tune starts like this: (Sho doe and sho be doe) "In the still, of the night I held you, held you tight. 'Cause I love, love you so. Promise I'll never let you go, in the still of the night (In the still of the night)".
Did you ever hear the Five Satins' song, "The Jones Girl"? That was released as the "A" side of the single, with "In the Still of the Night" on the flip side. Who knew?
But the "B" side reached number three on the Rhythm & Blues charts, September 1, 1956, and a week later it slid into the top 25 on the pop charts. "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked "In the Still of the Night", 90th on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Five Satins had the honor of being inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

Answer: The Poni-Tails

Here is how "Born Too Late" starts:
"Born too late for you to notice me.
To you, I'm just a kid,
That you won't date.
Why was I born too late"?

And how it concludes:

"Born too late for you to care.
Now my heart cries because your heart
Just couldn't wait.
Why was I born too la-a-a-a-ate"?

The Poni-Tails were three high school girl-friends from the Cleveland area, who recorded only a handful of songs in the brief time they spent performing together, (1957-1960). "Born Too Late" was supposed to be the "B" side to "Come on Joey, Dance with Me", but instead it became the group's only top ten hit. It reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 11 on the Rhythm & Blues chart. In the U.K. "Born Too Late" reached number five. After a few more songs which proved unsuccessful, the trio decided to disband in 1960.

Answer: Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway's 1931 recording of "Minnie the Moocher" has sold over a million copies, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Cabell Calloway II, was a Christmas Day baby in 1907, and entertained millions throughout a career that ran over seven decades. The Hi-Di-Ho-Man also appeared in more than two dozen movies and short subjects, including "Stormy Weather" with Bill, "Bo Jangles", Robinson, (1943), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), and the classic comedy flick, "The Blues Brothers" (1980). The versatile Mr. Calloway also graced the stage in several plays, including "Porgy and Bess" (1953), "The Pajama Game" (1973), and "Hello Dolly" (1967). Cab Calloway was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of fame in 1987, was recognized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 and in 1993, Cab Calloway was presented with the National Medal of Arts.

Here's some of his memories of Minnie the Moocher:
"She had a dream about the King of Sweden. He gave her things that she was needin'. He gave her a home built of gold and steel. A diamond car with platinum wheels.
Hidee hidee hidee hidee hidee hidee hi. Hodee hodee hodee hodee hodee oh. Skeedle a booka diki biki skeedly beeka gookity woop. A booriki booriki booriki Hoy.
He gave her his townhouse and his racing horses. Each meal she ate was a dozen courses. She had a million dollars worth of nickels and dimes. She sat around and counted them all a million times.
Hidee hidee hidee hi. Hooh whoaa oh oh whoa. Hidee hidee hidee hi.
Poor Min, Poor Min, Poor Min".
It may seem hard to believe now, but it really did sell over a million copies :-)

Answer: Kay Starr

Kay Starr, born Kathleen Laverne Starks, was one of the 1950's top female singers. While still in high school she sang with some bandleaders you may have heard of - Glenn Miller and Bob Crosby. From 1943-1945, Kay Starr sang mostly with the Charley Barnett band, and later in her career, she also sang with The Count Basie Orchestra. She began her solo career in the late 1940s and by 1956 she had recorded two million selling, number one hits. The first was "Wheel of Fortune", which reached the top of the Billboard Magazine Best Seller Chart, in February 1952. It was numero uno for ten weeks and remained on the chart for over four months. Her other top-of-the-list tune was, "The Rock and Roll Waltz", which was number one for six weeks in 1956. Some of her other top five songs were, "Bonaparte's Retreat", which reached number four in 1950, and "Side By Side", which made it to number three in 1953.

"Wheel of Fortune" was first recorded by a quintet of Baltimore balladeers, "The Cardinals", a year before Ms. Starr made it her signature song.

Answer: Doris Day

We first heard Doris Day (born Doris Ann Kapplehoff) warble that little ditty in her 1953 movie "Calamity Jane", and "Secret Love" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The album from the film reached number two on the "Billboard" magazine Album Chart, and the single was Number One on the "Billboard" Best Seller chart for three weeks in February/March 1954. Many singers have covered it, including Connie Francis, Englbert Humperdinck, Australian songstress Melinda Schneider, and Anne Murray had it as track three on her album, "Croonin" (1993). Doris Day, who recorded over two dozen albums and more than 400 singles, is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Somehow she found time to also make over 35 movies, for which she was awarded "Golden Globe's" Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1989. Doris Day was the top drawing female movie star in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964. She has been awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Interesting fact: For her ongoing efforts on behalf of animal rights, President George W. Bush presented Doris Day with The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

Answer: The Dixie Cups

The Dixie Cups, who began performing in 1963 as The Meltones, were comprised of sisters Barbara and Rosa Hawkins and their cousin, Joan Johnson. Based in New Orleans, their very brief run totaled 11 singles in 1964-1965. They had two other songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart's top 40. "People Say", reached number 12 and "You Should have Seen the Way He Looked at Me", which snuck in at number 39, both in 1964.

The "Chapel of Love" went gold, selling over a million copies, quite a start for the first song released by the New Jersey based start-up label, "Red Bird".

It reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart June 6, 1964, and stayed there for three weeks. The song was co-written by Phil Spector and the first recording of it was by Darlene Love in 1963.

The Dixie Cups' version made it onto "Billboard" magazine's list of The Greatest 500 Songs of All Time, at number 279. The Dixie Cups were inducted into The Louisiana Hall of Fame in 2007.

Answer: Scott McKenzie

Scott McKenzie recorded a couple of long forgotten songs as a member of The Smoothies, then changed his name and with two pals formed a new group, The Journeymen in 1961. Alas, the group disbanded in 1964 and he went solo. One of the trio, John Phillips (who wrote "San Francisco" for Scott) would form The Mamas & the Papas, featuring Cass Elliot in 1965. "San Francisco" sold over seven million copies and reached the top of the U.K. charts and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He recorded just a few more songs, none of which charted. As a song-writer, Scott McKenzie penned one of The Beach Boys' most popular hits, "Kokomo", which was Number One on the Australian Singles list for six weeks, starting January 8, 1989 and which reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on November 5, 1988.

Answer: J. P. Richardson

Jiles Perry Richardson began his professional music career as a DJ in TX, once pulling a PR stunt that saw him stay on the air continuously for over five days and two minutes, in 1957. During that time he spun over 1,800 records, eating and showering only when his show was (mercifully) interrupted for updates on the news of the day(s). As a songwriter he wrote "Running Bear" (who loved Little White Dove), a tune that Johnny Preston took to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in January, 1960. Sadly, The Big Bopper wouldn't be around to hear it, having died in the infamous plane crash into an Iowa cornfield, that claimed three others as well. That day, known as The Day the Music Died, was February 3, 1959. The other victims were recording stars Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, along with the pilot Roger Peterson. That tragic event inspired Don McLean's 1971 recording, "American Pie", a tribute to that fateful day. The Big Bopper made a big name for himself in his short life of 28 years, earning entry into three Halls of Fame: The Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1997), The Texas Country Hall of Fame (2004), and The Texas Radio Hall of Fame (2008).
Here's a little bit of that famously flirtatious phone call we heard in "Chantilly Lace":
"Hello, baby!
Yeah, this is the Big Bopper speakin'
Oh, you sweet thing
Do I what? Will I what?
Oh baby, you know what I like

Chantilly Lace had a pretty face
Ponytail a-hangin' down
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk, Lord
Make the world go 'round

Ain't nothing in the world like a big eyed girl
To make me act so funny, make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby, that's a-what I like"

R.I.P, J.P.R.