The Bottom 40: America's Worst Number Ones? Part 1 Online Trivia | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In our list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time" is a song released in 1958 by Alvin And The Chipmunks that topped the Billboard Hot 100. What was it called?

Answer: The Chipmunk Song

The Billboard Hot 100 was in its infancy when Alvin And The Chipmunks went to number one for four weeks in December 1958. It was only the eighth number one on the Hot 100.

In one form or another, the animated Chipmunks were to continue until 2012.

2. Apologies in advance for putting this song into your heads, but on our list of the "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time" is "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". Who sang it in 1960?

Answer: Brian Hyland

Fortunately, American audiences only had to put up with this as top of the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in 1960. Brian Hyland was bracketed at the top by Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley.

The song was to be a hit in other countries, including the UK, Austria, Norway, and Ireland.

In 1990 children's entertainer Timmy Mallet took a cover version to the top of the UK charts under the name of Bombalurina.

3. In a list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time" was a song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. What was it called?

Answer: The Monster Mash

"The Monster Mash" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in 1962.

So, you hate it: but did Bobby Pickett care? - not a bit, it got wheeled out every Halloween and he picked up the royalty checks each year until his death in 2007.

The Beach Boys also liked it enough to play it in concert.

4. Now this one may surprise you, but the Four Seasons were placed in a list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time". Which of these songs was it?

Answer: Big Girls Don't Cry

In 1962, The Four Seasons scored their second Billboard chart topper with "Big Girls Don't Cry". It stayed there for five weeks.

The three wrong answers, you may have noticed, were by the The Four Tops. "I Can't Help Myself..." was their first number one. The second was "Reach Out I'll Be There".

5. It may have spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but that did not stop a sweet song by Johnny Gilmer and The Fireballs being listed as one of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time". What was it called?

Answer: Sugar Shack

The 1963 hit was about a girl working in a coffee shop.

"Sugar Shack" was the only number one for Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, although they reached number nine in 1967 with a cover of Tom Paxton's "Bottle Of Wine".

Sometimes billed as simply "The Fireballs", the group took their name from Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire".

6. It must have been very chagrining for the Rolling Stones to have "Satisfaction" bumped off the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but more so when it was a novelty song called "I'm Henry VIII, I Am". Which fellow Brits were behind this entry that also appeared on a 2013 list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time"?

Answer: Herman's Hermits

A chart topper for one week in 1965, "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" was the second US number one for the Hermits. They had previously topped the charts with "Mrs. Brown You Have a Lovely Daughter".

Fortunately, Sonny and Cher came along with "I Got You Babe" to return some sanity to the charts.

Incidentally, The Allisons kept the Stones off the top of the "New Musical Express" UK chart with their Eurovision runner-up "Are You Sure?" in 1961.

7. Everyone loved Bobby Goldsboro didn't they? Well not the compilers of a list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time". Which sweet song was on it?

Answer: Honey

"Honey" topped the Hot 100 for five weeks in 1968.

Indeed, CNN agreed when, in 2006, it noted "Honey" was one of the worst songs ever recorded.

8. Imagine if you practically invented rock and roll music and your only number one hit was a novelty song - and it got placed on a list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time". Which guitar hero was it, and what was the song?

Answer: Chuck Berry - "My Ding-a-Ling"

"My Ding-a-Ling", a song about something that it unmentionable in polite society, was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in 1972.

Berry had a troubled childhood before turning to music. He was to serve as an inspiration for many rock and rollers in the formative years of the genre.

In an obituary in March 2017, 'The Times" described Berry as: "Founding father of rock'n'roll who lit the flame of teenage rebellion in 1950s America and was himself never far from trouble."

It also noted: "If Elvis Presley was early rock'n'roll's pre-eminent singer, Berry was its premier songwriter, acknowledged as such by pop music's two most celebrated poets. Leonard Cohen declared that 'all of us are footnotes to the words of Chuck Berry', while Bob Dylan dubbed him 'the Shakespeare of rock'n'roll'".

9. Which song by an easy-listening crooner raised the hackles of women's groups in the USA, and got a place in our list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time"?

Answer: "(You're) Having My Baby" - Paul Anka

"(You're) Having My Baby" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in 1974.

A song about abortion was always likely to prove controversial, but even more so when he referred to "my" baby rather than "our" baby.

This was Anka's third number one.

In 2006, it was voted the "Worst Song of All Time" in a poll by CNN.com. The responders to that poll must never have heard of "Remember Me" by Blue Boy - which gets this quiz author's vote as worst song ever.

10. On a list of "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time" was a disco hit that became the biggest-selling instrumental single in the history of recorded music. Of which 1977 movie was "Cantina Song" the theme?

Answer: Star Wars

"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Song" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

The song was featured in the original in the franchise movie in 1977, with alien creatures as the musicians.

"Strange, I didn't think it was so bad", do I hear you say? CBC Radio in Canada agreed saying: "...it would be hard to find a catchier, more charming song performed by an alien band..." Unless that's an example of Canadian humour, of course.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Bottom 40: America's Worst Number Ones? Part 1 Quiz

A US website known for its 'lists' once published "The 40 Worst Number One Singles Of All Time". Without asking if you agree or disagree, try to identify some of those songs.

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