Songwriting Duos: Part II Trivia Quiz

Answer: John and Taupin

Elton John and Bernie Taupin came together when they both responded to an advertisement by Liberty Records in 1967 who were seeking new songwriters. "Crocodile Rock" was their first hit to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1973.

It stayed at the top for three weeks. Elton composed the music and Bernie did the lyrics. Their other hits were "Daniel", "Bernie and the Jets", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997".

Answer: Webber and Rice

Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) collaborated to produce the classic musicals of "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Evita" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". In 1980 "Evita" was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical. Both "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" received Tony Award nominations.

Answer: Wilson and Love

Brian Wilson and Mike Love both created many hits for their rock band the Beach Boys. "I Get Around" was their first hit to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 1964. "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965) was their second number one hit with "Good Vibrations" (1966) being their third number one hit in the USA. "Good Vibrations" is considered to be the biggest hit that the Beach Boys recorded.

Other hits with the Wilson/Love touch were " California Girls" and "Fun, Fun, Fun", both top five hits in the USA.

Answer: Leiber and Stoller

Jerry Leiber (1933-2011) and Mike Stoller were a songwriting team that wrote hits that Elvis Presley made famous including "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog", "Love Me", "Lovin' You", "Don't" and "King Creole". They also created other hit songs recorded by other artists including "Young Blood", "Searchin" and "Yakety Yak" (all by The Coasters) and "There Goes My Baby" (The Drifters).

Answer: Barry and Greenwich

Jeff Barry and his wife Ellie Greenwich were both singers, songwriters and record producers. "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" was first recorded by The Exciters but it was for the British group Manfred Mann that it peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in October 1964.

They collaborated with Phil Spector with other hits such as "Da Do Ron Ron" recorded by The Crystals and then Shaun Cassidy), "Be My Baby" (The Ronettes), "Chapel of Love" (The Dixie Cups) and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Tina Turner). "Leader of the Pack" (The Shangri-Las) was in collaboration with George "Shadow" Morton.

Answer: Menken and Ashman

Howard Ashman (1950-1991) and Alan Menken collaborated on several occasions for animated films produced by Disney. Ashman wrote the lyrics and Menken composed the music. They collaborated together on "Beauty and the Beast", "The Little Mermaid" and "Little Shop of Horrors".

At the Academy Awards they won for Best Song and Best Score in "The Little Mermaid" and in "Beauty and the Beast" they received three Academy Award nominations for Best Music, and Original Song, winning the award for the song "Beauty and the Beast".

Answer: Jagger and Richards

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones co-wrote "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 1965 and stayed at the top for four weeks. Together they also wrote two other number ones to top the US Billboard Hot 100 in "Paint It, Black" (1966) and "Honky Tonk Women" (1969).

Answer: Mann and Weil

Barry Mann together with his wife, Cynthia Weil were a successful songwriting team. "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration", recorded by The Righteous Brothers, reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in April 1966. They also co-wrote with Phil Spector The Righteous Brothers' number one hit in February 1965 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Mann and Well also wrote The Animals' hit in 1965 "We Gotta Get out of This Place" which became very popular with the US Army soldiers during the Vietnam War.

They also created Top Ten US hits in "My Dad" (Paul Peterson), "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" (Eydie Gorme), "Kicks" and "Hungry" (The Drifters), "Somewhere Out There" (Linda Ronstadt) and "I Will Come to You" (Hanson).

Answer: Pomus and Shuman

Doc Pomus (1925-1991) and Mort Shuman (1936-1991) were a songwriting team that wrote "Viva Las Vegas" for Elvis Presley for the movie of the same name in 1963. They also collaborated together for other hits such as "Save the Last Dance for Me" (The Drifters-1960), "This Magic Moment" (The Drifters-1960), "A Teenager in Love" (Dion and The Belmonts-1959) and "Suspicion" (recorded by Elvis Presley and Terry Stafford).

They also wrote the US number one hit for Elvis Presley "Surrender" (1962). They wrote other Top Ten US hits for Andy Williams, Fabian, Jim Clanton and Elvis Presley.

Answer: Whitfield and Strong

Norman Whitfield (1940-2008) and Barrett Strong were a songwriting team that created the number one US Billboard Hot 100 hit for The Temptations "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" in April 1971. Whitfield and Strong wrote the Marvin Gaye number one hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in the US that stayed at the top for seven weeks in 1968/69.

Their song "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth reached number three in the US in 1971. They also wrote the number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 of "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" by the Temptations and received three Grammy Awards in 1973.

Their anti-Vietnam War song "War" was first recorded by the Temptations but it reached number one in 1970 on the US Billboard Hot 100 when recorded by Edwin Starr.