Sounds Of The 60s Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Easybeats

Formed in Sydney in 1964, The Easybeats were the first rock and roll band from Australia to score an international pop hit.

Their single "Friday On My Mind" reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1967; number one in Australia; and number six in the UK. The band folded in 1969.

The song has also been covered by David Bowie and Brice Springsteen, among others.

"Sounds of the 60s" first aired in February 1983, with Keith Fordyce at the microphone. The aim was to play pop songs from both sides of the Atlantic that had been hits, or near-hits, in the 1960s.

During the 1980s, guest presenters hosted the show each Saturday.

From 1990, Brian Matthew was the sole host, with a few breaks, until November 2016. In February 2017, the veteran DJ Tony Blackburn took over as host.

Answer: Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin covered most music genres during a distinguished career.

His first million-selling single, "Splish Splash", was released in 1958 and he followed this with "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife", and "Beyond the Sea".

"Multiplication" was a 1961 song that topped out at number 30 in the Billboard charts.

Answer: Pinkerton's Assorted Colours

Pinkerton's Assorted Colours were an English group active between 1965 and 1969.

"Mirror Mirror" was UK number nine in 1965.

The band went through several line-up and name changes and under the name The Flying Machine, had a 1969 US number five with "Smile a Little Smile for Me".

Answer: Elvis Presley

"Kissin' Cousins" was on the soundtrack of the 1964 movie of the same name.

It starred Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Glenda Farrell, Jack Albertson and Pamela Austin.

Presley played a dual role as an US Army officer and his look-alike cousin. The story centred around the officer trying to persuade family in the Great Smoky Mountain to allow the Army to build a missile site on their land.

The single reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Sam Cooke

"The King of Soul" was an influential pioneer on the early pop scene and died all-too-young in 1964 at the age of 33.

"Twistin' the Night Away" was written by Sam Cooke and reached number nine in the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard's R&B chart. It reached number six in the UK.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

"I Wanna Be Your Man" was, of course, a Paul McCartney (mainly) and John Lennon composition, but they gave it to the Stones.

The Stones released it as a single on November 1, 1963 and it reached number 12 in the UK. The Beatles - with Ringo Starr on lead vocals - included it on the LP on "With the Beatles" in November 1963. In the USA it was on "Meet the Beatles!" in January 1964.

Answer: Jerry Reed

Hands up everyone who thought this was a Johnny Cash song...

Jerry Reed Hubbard, March 20, 1937 - September 1, 2008, was an American country music singer, guitarist, and songwriter. As an actor, he appeared in more than a dozen films.

Reed wrote "A Thing Called Love" in 1968 and included it on the LP "Nashville Underground", though did not release it as a single.

Johnny Cash took it into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1972. It was a number one in Canada and in Ireland, and number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

As Tony Blackburn commented in introducing the song on "Sounds Of The 60s" in December 2017, there was not a whole lot of difference between the singing styles of the two men (on this song, anyway).

Jimmy Dean also recorded it, and hit number 21 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Answer: The Monkees

The Monkees were a fabricated band put together for a television show aimed at cashing in on the mid-1960s pop sensations.

The show ran from 1966 to 1968, although they were active from 1965 to 1971. Initially the fabricated foursome were allowed little time in the recording studios. Some of the best songwriters around provided the material, and session musicians recorded it.

They fought for the right to collectively supervise all musical output, and when the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued to record and perform together until 1971.

The Monkees had six top ten singles in the US charts, including three number ones, "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer."

Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote "Pleasant Valley Sunday". It reached number three on the Billboard charts in 1967.

Answer: Ben E. King

"Stand By Me" was perhaps the most famous of songs sung by Ben E. King. It was a US top ten hit in 1961 (number four), and again in 1986 (number nine), when it was used as the theme song for a movie of the same name. It reached number one in the UK in 1987.

The song was based on a hymn written by a Philadelphia minister, Charles Albert Tindley, in 1905. (The song was credited as being written by Leiber, Stoller and King.)

Between 1961 and 2010, the song charted nine times in the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, a version by Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali) was number 102 on the charts in 1964.

Answer: New Vaudeville Band

The New Vaudeville Band was created by songwriter Geoff Stephens in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral".

The song became a transatlantic hit, reaching the Top Ten in the United Kingdom and rising to number one in the United States.

The song had been recorded by session musicians, so Stephens had to put together a band to tour on the strength of the hit.

Answer: The Nashville Teens

Despite their name, the Nashville Teens were an English group.

The band formed in 1962 and their 1964 release "Tobacco Road was their top hit.

"Tobacco Road" was written by John D. Loudermilk and reached number six in the UK Singles Chart and number 14 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Despite a busy touring schedule, the band only managed three more top 50 singles

Answer: Pink Floyd

Original Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett wrote the song about a cross-dresser named "Arnold Layne" who used to steal women's underwear from clotheslines in Cambridge, England.

The song became Pink Floyd's first single, although was not released on an album. The subject matter was rather too delicate for Radio London, which banned it.

It reached number 20 in the UK charts in 1967.

Answer: Cliff Richard & The Shadows

"Don't Talk to Him" reached number two in the UK charts in December 1963.

Between 1958 and 1968, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, and sometimes just The Shadows, charted in the UK with 69 songs.

The Shadows were formed to be the backing group for Cliff Richard, and initially were called The Drifters. That did not go down well with an American outfit of the same name, who threatened legal action. After a short time as The Four Jets, they became The Shadows.

The Shadows continued to record in their own right after Cliff Richard left for a solo career.

Answer: Guy Darrell

Born John Swail in Kent, England in 1944, Guy Darrell had a successful career during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1966 he released "I've Been Hurt". It had already been covered with some success in the USA by The Tams, but the Darrell version failed to chart in the UK.

In the 1970s, he was part of the group Deep Feeling.

In 1973, Deep Feeling re-released "I've Been Hurt" and it reached number 12 in the UK.

Answer: Eden Kane

Richard Graham Sarstedt, aka Eden Kane, was born in India in 1940 recorded throughout the 1960s.

His first single, "Well I Ask You" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in August 1961.

"Forget Me Not" reached number three in the UK in 1962.