The Day the Music Died Trivia Quiz

Answer: Winter Dance Party

The "Winter Dance Party" tour started on January 23, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was scheduled to end February 15 in Springfield, Illinois. There were 24 cities involved with only one venue being cancelled which was on February 1, Appleton, Wisconsin.

Answer: Surf Ballroom

The Surf Ballroom was opened in 1933, burnt down in 1947 but re-opened across the street in 1948. It has a seating capacity of 2,100 and a 6,300 sq.ft (590 sq.m) dance floor. Since that day in 1959 performers such as The Temptations, The Righteous Brothers and the Beach Boys have performed there.

The Clear Lake Music Hall and the Clear Lake Arts Center are current buildings but the Lady of the Lake is actually a ferry that traverses the lake.

Answer: Frankie Sardo and Ritchie Valens

Frankie Sardo opened the show with his song "Fake Out" and Ritchie Valens closed the show with "La Bamba". The sequence of the performers was Frankie Sardo (1 song), The Big Bopper(1 song), Ritchie Valens (4 songs) Dion opens the second act (3-4 songs), Buddy Holly (6-10 songs), Buddy, Ritchie and The Big Bopper (1 song -a trio) and Ritchie Valens (1 song).

The whole show lasted about 2 hours.

Answer: Dion and The Belmonts

Dion and The Belmonts consisting of Dion DiMucci, Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano and Angelo D'Aleo. Their biggest hits were "When or Where" (3) and "A Teenager in Love" (5). Bobby Vee & The Shadows were asked to fill in for Buddy Holly and The Crickets on February 3, at Moorhead, the day of the fatal accident.

The Jitters were a Canadian rock band which was formed in 1981 well after 1959. The Tyrones were a rock and roll group of the 1950s but were not on the tour.

Answer: Moorhead, Minnesota

February 3, 1959 was at The Armory, Moorhead but the group were flying to Fargo, North Dakota as that was the nearest airfield. Distance 1.07 m (1.61 kms) from Moorhead. January 23, 1st stop on the tour was at the George Divine's Million Dollar Ballroom, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Davenport was January 29 and Des Moines was February 5.

Answer: Beechcraft Bonanza

The aircraft that Roger Peterson was flying on that fateful day was a Beechcraft Bonanza. There was speculation at one time that name of the plane was "American Pie", but that was not the case. The owner of the plane was Dwyer Flying Service. The flight was to be from Mason City, Iowa to Hector Airport, Fargo, North Dakota which was the closet to Moorhead, Minnesota.

The fee for the flight was $us 36 per passenger for the 90 minute flight. After the show at the Surf Ballroom the manager Anderson drove the stars to the Mason City Municipal Airport.

The owner of Dwyer Flying Service was Hubert Jerry Dwyer (1930-2016). After failing to get any response from the airport in Fargo, after the plane had taken off at 12.55am February4,it was Hubert Dwyer that found the crash scene 6mi (9.7km) northwest of Mason Airport at 09.35am.

Answer: Jiles Perry "J.P" Richardson Jr.

Jiles Perry "J. P. Richardson Jr. is better known to us as The Big Bopper. He was a musician, songwriter and disc jockey. His biggest hit was in 1958 "Chantilly Lace". The song breached No: 6 on the pop charts and was the third most popular song in 1958. Ernest Evans was the birth name Chubby Checker. Bobby Darin was born Waldon Waldo Robert Cassotto and Del Shannon entered this world as Charles Westover.

Answer: Tommy Allsup (guitarist)

Ritchie Valens won the seat on the plane from a toss of a coin with guitarist Tommy Allsup (1931-2017). The drummer, Carl Bunch (1939-2011) had already been hospitalised on February 1, due to frostbite while travelling in the unheated bus on the tour.

The Big Bopper, who had the flu, swapped places with Waylon Jennings (1937-2002). Norman Petty (1927-1984) had been the manager of Buddy Holly and members of the Crickets. However, he and Buddy split their relationship in December 1958 but the other members of the group retained him.

He was not on the tour. Allsup, Bunch and Jennings were studio musicians and travelled on the tour as The Crickets with Buddy Holly. The Crickets original members Jerry Allison (drummer), Joe B. Mauldin (bassist) and Niki Sullivan (rhythm guitarist) did not go on this tour with Buddy Holly as he had broken with Norman Petty their manager in December, 1958.

They planned to join up with Buddy after the tour.

Answer: 17

Richard Steven Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens) b. May 13, 1941-February 3, 1959 (17 years). Charles Hardin Holley (Buddy Holly) b. September 7, 1936-February 3, 1959 (22 years). Jiles Perry "J.P" Richardson Jr.( The Big Bopper) b. October 24, 1930-February 3, 1959 (28 years) and Roger Peterson (pilot) was recorded as being 21 years at the time of the fateful accident.

Answer: That'll Be the Day

"That'll Be the Day" (1957) was his only hit that reached number one on the US Billboard Best Seller lists on September 23, 1957. "Peggy Sue" peaked at No: 3 in 1957. "Oh, Boy!" reached No: 10 in 1957 and "Maybe Baby" peaked at No: 17 in 1958.

Answer: Ronnie Smith

Ronnie Smith replaced Buddy Holly for the rest of the tour together with The Crickets (Allsup, Bunch and Jennings). When the tour finished the four recorded together as the "Jitters". In 1962 Ronnie Smith was committed to a State hospital in Texas for drug abuse and committed suicide in October 1962. Jimmy Clanton, Fabian and Frankie Avalon joined the tour in the days after the fatal accident.

Answer: Maria Elena Santiago

Maria Elena Santiago (b. 1932) married Buddy Holly on August 5, 1958 after only a few months of courtship. When her husband died she was one month and a half pregnant but had a miscarriage shortly after the accident. She eventually remarried and had three children, however, to this day she spends most of her time protecting Buddy Holly's legacy.

She is a co-founder of the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. Deanne Lenz was the wife of pilot Roger Peterson. They were married in September 1958. Adrienne Joy Wenner was the wife of The Big Bopper and they had a five year old daughter named Debra.

His son Jay Perry was born two months after the accident in April 1959. Peggy Sue Gerron was the girlfriend and later wife of Jerry Allison the drummer of The Crickets. Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison and Norman Petty wrote the song "Cindy Lou" but later changed the title to "Peggy Sue" with reference to Peggy Sue Gerron.

Answer: Running Bear

"Running Bear" was written by The Big Bopper but the song was sung by Johnny Preston (1939-2011) in 1959. There were back-up vocals by The Big Bopper and George Jones. The producer Bill Hall provided the "Indian chanting" of "uga-uga" during the song.

The single reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 from three weeks in January 1960. "White Lightning" was also written by The Big Bopper and recorded by country western singer George Jones. It reached number one on the US Billboard Country & Western in April-May 1959. "Chantilly Lace" was co-written by The Big Bopper and was his biggest hit in 1958. "Treasure of Love" was co-written by George Jones and The Big Bopper and reached Number six on the US country charts in 1958.

Answer: Donna

"Donna" was positioned at No: 3 at the time of the accident but went to No: 2 three weeks after the accident. The song was recorded on December 16, 1958. "La Bamba" is a folk song from the Veracruz region of Mexico. It peaked at No: 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1958.

However, it was revised by the group Los Lobos in 1987 and stayed at the No: 1 spot for three weeks in the summer of 1987. "Come On, Let's Go" reached No. 42 and "That's My Little Suzie" reached No: 59 in 1959.

Answer: It Doesn't Matter Anymore

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly in mid-October 1958 in New York. Paul Anka donated his composer royalties from the song to Holly's wife. "Raining in My Heart" was on the B side of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and peaked at number 88 on the US charts.