The Music of the Night Trivia Quiz

Answer: Georgia

Vicki released "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" in November of 1972. It was written by Vicki's then husband Bobby Russell and she recorded the demo. The song was meant for other hot artists at the time but none of them would touch it because of the controversial lyrics. The song is a Southern Gothic murder ballad that tells the story of an innocent man who is put to death for a murder he did not commit.

Vicki decided to record and release the song herself and was rewarded with her only number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 of her career. At the time of its release Vicki was a regular on "The Carol Burnett Show" and was given her gold record for the song by Carol herself at the end of one of the shows. The song was covered by country legends Tanya Tucker in 1981 and Reba McEntire in 1991.

This question was executed by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: The Five Satins

The Five Satins originally recorded the song in the basement of St. Bernadette Church in New Haven, Connecticut, and released it in 1956 as the B-side to the upbeat track, "The Jones Girl". It was apparently styled as "In the Still of the Nite" to avoid confusion with Cole Porter's popular 1937 song, although such misspellings were also trending in doo-wop at the time. Radio disc jockeys favored the flip side of the record, and thanks in part to some generous airtime, "In the Still of the Night" became one of the most recognizable doo-wop tracks. Remarkably, The Five Satins charted with the original version on the Hot 100 three separate times (reaching #24 in 1956, #81 in 1959, and #99 in 1961).

This question was composed in the still of the night by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.

Answer: Bee Gees

The Bee Gees manager, Robert Stigwood, was producing a movie called "Saturday Night" and asked them to write a song with that name. They didn't like that name and convinced Stigwood to change the name of the movie to "Saturday Night Fever" and came up with the song "Night Fever". The single was released two months after the movie and made its way to number one on the US Billboard Top 100 and the UK Singles charts. At the time of its release, two other Bee Gees songs from the soundtrack were in the Billboard Top 10. "Saturday Night Fever" was the biggest selling soundtrack album until 1992 when "The Bodyguard" album overtook it.

Phoenix Rising's lg549 worked feverishly day and night to get this question on track.

Answer: Do it all again

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" was inspired by a wild night singer Katy Perry had with her friends. Most of the activities in the song are true. In the song, she danced on tabletops, drank too much, spent a lot of money, streaked in the park, and skinny-dipped in the dark, among other unrestrained behaviour. She had so much fun that this Friday night, she wanted to "do it all again".

The catchy song did very well on the music charts and made Katy Perry the first female artiste to have five number one singles from one album on Billboard's Hot 100, equalling Michael Jackson's feat in 1988.

This question was skinny-dipped before being streaked into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Al Capone

The lyrics say:
"When a man named Al Capone
Tried to make that town his own
And he called his gang to war
With the forces of the law"

The song tells the fictional story of a shoot out between Al Capone's gangsters and the Chicago police. Paper Lace was a British band who had never been to Chicago and only knew about it from the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre and old gangster movies. During the real massacre Al Capone's men ambushed and gunned down seven of Bugs Moran's men but the police were never involved in that shootout. The song also references the east-side of Chicago but Chicago is only known for its north, south, and west sides. The Chicago mayor at the time, Richard Daley, hated the song.

The song became a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 for Paper Lace. It would be their only number one in America. The song sold over 3 million copies.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619 in honor of his great-grandfather who was a Chicago cop in the days of Al Capone.

Answer: Lemonade

In the movie version of Grease, released in 1978, Olivia Newton-John played the lead role of Sandy Olsson, while John Travolta played Danny Zuko. The song "Summer Nights" is a duet sung by Danny and Sandy who had had a summer dalliance. The two did not expect to see each other after their beach-side love affair as Sandy was going back to Australia with her family; however, they returned to high school and discovered they were both attending the same one.

The song occurs while Danny and Sandy are telling their respective friends how their holiday fling had transpired. Danny sings: "Took her bowling in the arcade, We went strolling; drank lemonade, We made out under the dock, We stayed out till ten o'clock."

The soundtrack from the movie was the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States in 1978 and was listed at No. 9 on Billboard's "Best Summer Songs of All Time" in 2010.

Just like a Siren, Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid lured this question into the quiz.

Answer: A dog

The opening lines of this famous Beatles' track inform the listener that:
"It's been a hard day's night
And I've been workin' like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleepin' like a log"

"A Hard Day's Night" is about how putting in a hard day's work is worth the effort when you are returning home to a loved one afterwards. The inspiration for the title is credited to a throw-away line by drummer Ringo Starr about the fact that it was generally late at night when the band finished work after a performance. The song was the title track for their film and album of the same name and first released as a single in July 1964. It reached number one on the singles charts in both the UK and the US, as well as in various other countries around the world.

While the incorrect options are all animals noted for working very hard, they don't tend to rhyme so well with common similes for how well you sleep after an exhausting day in the office!

This question was toiled over by a very tired Fifiona81 of Phoenix Rising.

Answer: Oh, What a Night

"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" was released in the US in December of 1975. It was the last number one for the group on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was based on the song "December 5, 1933" that celebrated the end of Prohibition but was changed into a more current love song by the group. It celebrated the love story of the group's keyboardist Bob Gaudio and his wife Judy Parker. The pair wrote the lyrics.

The song is unique in that the group's lead singer Frankie Valli did not sing lead but rather their drummer Gerry Polci. Valli sang backup vocals and the bridges with bass player Don Ciccone singing the falsetto parts. The song was a worldwide hit reaching number one in Canada, the UK, and South Africa, number two in Australia and New Zealand, and number three in Belgium and the Netherlands. It ranked number four for the 1976 US Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart.

This question was bootlegged into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: A rainy night

The story goes that while in his twenties, Eddie Rabbitt was in his apartment one night when it started pelting down outside and he realised how much he loved the rain. He recorded the words "I Love a Rainy Night" a couple of times on a cassette and forgot about it. Years later he discovered the tape in the basement and he and David Malloy and Even Stevens, fellow song writing companions, finished it off. They wrote:

"Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good."

Released on the 'Horizons' album in November 1980, it reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the US Hot Country Songs chart. It was also used in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" in 2004.

This question was watered carefully into the quiz by Phoenix Rising teammie, VegemiteKid.

Answer: One More Night - Maroon 5

Directed by Peter Berg, the video is a portrait of a troubled relationship painted by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and Minka Kelly. In the video, Levine takes up boxing to support Minka and their baby, but the cost is too great for his girlfriend, and she ultimately leaves him. Berg and Kelly were acquainted through the television series "Friday Night Lights", which the former adapted from his film of the same name. The show was Kelly's first starring role. As the story goes, Berg invited Kelly to feature in the music video, she said yes, and the band said thank you. "One More Night" topped the US Billboard 100 for nine straight weeks.

This question was overexposed by Phoenix Rising frontman JCSon.