Songs Of The "Big Apple" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chicago

The song was written by founding member Robert Lamm, and was released as a single in 1976 off the album "Chicago X". Disc-jockeys who played the album liked "If You Leave Me Now", and that got more heavy airplay than "Rainy Day". As a result, this song only was able to muster a number 32 placing on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and the record company rushed "If You Leave Me Now" (which eventually went to Number One on the charts) out to stores as a single less than 2 months after the release of "Another Rainy Day".

Answer: B.J. Thomas

B. J. Thomas first appeared on the scene in 1966 with the song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" which was a Top 10 hit that year. After a few minor charting songs, he released the album " On My Way" in 1968, from which this song charted at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Of course, the follow up to this song was "Hooked On A Feeling" which established Thomas as one of the major solo artists of the late 1960s.

Many of his songs also charted very highly on the U.S. Adult Contemporary Charts. Later in the 1980s he became a major Country charting artist.

Answer: The Ad Libs

Coming out of Bayonne, New Jersey, The Ad Libs scored with this hit that reached as high as number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 charts that year. They never again reached as high on the charts, and faded from the scene rather quickly. The song was revived in 1981 by "The Manhattan Transfer" and they took it up the charts to number seven on the Hot 100 charts, as well as number four on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts.

Answer: Billy Joel

This was a Billy Joel composition off the album called "Turnstiles", recorded in 1976. The song was never released as a single, but has become one of the most well known of Joel's songs, and is very often perfomed at his live shows. Interestingly, this album also contained the cut "Say Goodbye To Hollywood".

This song also was never released in 1976, but was released as a single after being recorded at a live show in 1981.

Answer: The Trade Winds

The Trade Winds sent this song onto the charts in 1965 and scored a Billboard number 32 placing. Not much before this song, and not much after. They changed their name in 1966, scored a couple of hits that made the Top 100, but are largely forgotten, and broke up in 1969.

Answer: Don Henley

Don Henley recorded this song as a solo artist in 1989,a cut from his "End Of The Innocence" album, and surprisingly, it only got as high as number 48 on the Billboard charts, although it did reach number two on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts. Henley re-recorded the song with the help of his fellow "Eagles" members for the album "Hell Freezes Over" in 1995.

Answer: Odyssey

It was "Odyssey" who debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts and took this song to number 21. It did considerably better in the U.K., where it reached number five on the charts. Odyssey could do no better that a number 57 placing with any song released in the U.S. after that.

However, they continued to have success in the U.K., where they scored five more Top 10 hits between 1977 and 1982.

Answer: The Bee Gees

This was the first BeeGees release to hit the charts in either the U.S. or U.K. during their first incarnation. It got as high as number 14 in the U.S., and number 12 in the U.K. The song was allegedly a dialogue about a mining disaster in Wales. New York is never mentioned in the body of the lyrics.

Answer: Barry Manilow

This song was originally supposed to be one of the releases as a single off the album, but those plans were scrapped. The title cut was a release along with "I Write The Songs" which became a number one hit for Manilow. The other notable cut from this album was "Bandstand Boogie" which became the theme song for Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" television show.

Answer: Liza Minnelli

"Start spreadin' the news..." While the Sinatra version is the one most people identify with, it was originally recorded by Liza Minnelli, as the theme song for the motion picture of the same name. Her recording was done in 1977. It is considered her signature song. Sinatra recorded the song in 1979 for an album called "Trilogy..Past Present Future".

In later years, Sinatra and Minnelli occasionally performed the song as a duet. Minnelli's version, although known worldwide, never even cracked the Billboard Top 100, peaking out at number 104. Sinatra's version, released in 1980, reached as high as number 30.