The Night Was Dark Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wilson Pickett

From the early 60s through the mid 70s, Wilson Pickett was a major force in R&B as both writer and performer. He was an important, but unseen, character in the 1991 film, "The Commitments". Pickett co-wrote "Midnight Hour" with guitarist Steve Cropper, also in the Hall Of Fame as a member of Booker T. & The M.G.s.

Answer: Darkness

Albert Hammond, Jr. who plays guitar and keyboards for The Strokes comes from a rock and roll bloodline. His father, Albert Hammond, Sr. was a successful songwriter and performer during the 60s and 70s. Senior reached number five in the US in 1972 with "It Never Rains In Southern California" and wrote or co-wrote "The Air That I Breathe" for the Hollies, "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" with Hal David and Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".

Answer: Nightmare

"Nightmare" was the first single the band released without their deceased drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. The video is included as an Easter egg in the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and the song is available to play on the "Rocksmith" game.

Answer: Saturday Night

Peaking at number 12 on the Billboard chart. It was the only one of Elton John's 13 singles released between "Rocket Man" in May, 1972 and "Island Girl" in October, 1975 that failed to crack the Top Ten.

Answer: Nights On Broadway

The Bee Gees released three singles from their "Main Course" album. "Nights On Broadway" was the second. The brothers' disco phase peaked two years later with back-to-back number ones, "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever".

Answer: Eddie And The Cruisers

The 1983 film about a New Jersey band featured "On The Dark Side" as the band's big hit. When the film gained popularity with a cult following, the soundtrack took off, too, and "On The Dark Side" became The Beaver Brown Band's biggest hit in their two year flash of recording success. Unlike "Eddie Wilson" of "Eddie And The Cruisers", John Cafferty hasn't disappeared and the Beaver Brown Band continues to tour.

Answer: Zulu

Originally titled "Mbube", the song was written and recorded in 1939 by Zulu singer Solomon Linda. Rediscovered during the US folk music boom of the 1950s, it was recorded by such artists as Miriam Makeba, The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, Jimmy Dorsey, R.E.M., The Muppets and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The title has variously been rendered as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", "Wimoweh", and "Mbube".

Answer: Patsy Cline

Cline debuted "Walkin' After Midnight" on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" and it sold a million copies, peaking at number two on Billboard's Country chart. She didn't put another song on the charts for four years, when "I Fall to Pieces" established her as the biggest female country singer of her time.

Answer: Albert DeSalvo

"Midnight Rambler" is dark, brooding and more operatic than most Stones songs. The Boston Strangler (Albert DeSalvo) was a serial rapist/killer thought to have killed 13 women between 1962 and 1964. The Stones have never stated that the song is about DeSalvo, but in her 1987 book "The Age Of Sex Crime" Jane Caputi points out that many of the goriest lyrics are lifted almost verbatim (some lines word-for-word) from DeSalvo's confession to the murder of Beverly Samans.

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song was recorded about a year after Tony Curtis won the Golden Globes' Best Actor Award for his film portrayal of DeSalvo. "Midnight Rambler" is still a concert fixture for the Stones and as Jagger's portrayal developed, it grew from about seven minutes on the album to live performances of 12 minutes and more. DeSalvo was stabbed to death in the Walpole Prison infirmary in 1973. No one was ever convicted in his death.

Answer: Maria Muldaur

Despite peaking at only number six on the Billboard Hot 100, "Midnight At The Oasis", written by David Nichtern, received Grammy nominations for both Record and Song Of The Year. Maria Muldaur (born Maria D'Amato) has continued to record into the 21st century.

Answer: The Youngbloods

Written by Jesse Colin Young, "Darkness, Darkness" has been covered over the years by artists as varied as Plant, Richie Havens, Mott The Hoople, and The Cowboy Junkies. It has also appeared in several movie soundtracks.

Answer: Pat Benatar

"Promises In The Dark" was a minor hit released from Benatar's "Precious Time" album. It followed "Fire And Ice" which won the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy for Benatar in 1982.

Answer: Van Morrison

"Here Comes The Night" was Them's biggest US hit, but peaked at only number 24. They're better remembered for garage rock standard "Gloria" which was covered several times over the years on both sides of the Atlantic. Them took their name from a 1954 sci-fi movie about giant mutated ants.

Answer: England Dan And John Ford Coley

Danny Wayland "England Dan" Seals and John Edward "John Ford" Coley were mainstays of the soft rock genre throughout the 70s. When the duo split, Seals performed as Dan Seals and had a very successful career as a country singer. His older brother was Jim Seals of Seals And Crofts.

Answer: George Harrison and Katy Perry

George Harrison's "Dark Horse" was the title track from his 1974 album. The single was a modest hit in the US. Katy Perry released her very different "Dark Horse", featuring rapper Juicy J. in 2013.