The Top Hits Of 1957 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wake Up Little Susie

Yep, the singer and Susie fell asleep at a lousy movie and didn't wake up until 4:00 A.M. Suuuuure! It seems that's what the morality police thought when they agitated for this song to be pulled off the airwaves. Amazing how much things have changed in less than fifty years!

Despite this censorship, the song still rose right to the top of the charts for two weeks during its 26-week chart run in the Top 100, good for 1592.44 points.

Answer: Round And Round

The other songs were also Como standards but "Hot Diggity" was released in 1956 and was the number 24 rated song for that year; "Catch A Falling Star" was the number 27 rated song in 1958; "It's Impossible" was Como's last top ten hit in 1971 and it rated number 52 for that year.

"Round And Round" hit number one for one week during its 29-week presence on the Top 100 chart. It had a catchy melody, simple yet meaningful lyrics and was a great song to sing along to... yet for some reason, it's almost totally forgotten today while some of Como's lesser hits are well remembered. It's a juxtaposition of the incongruous.

Answer: It's Not For Me To Say

In the 1982 movie "Diner", two of the male characters debate who recorded the best "making out" records - Frank Sinatra or Johnny Mathis. The character opting for Mathis, I think, made the more persuasive argument. His singing made the juices flow!

I'm expecting that this will prove to be a difficult question. It's another great song that, for some reason, has been swept under the carpet of time. But just one listen puts you in the cuddling mood!

Mathis trained for the opera but ultimately chose the popular music avenue to fame. Right from the outset, he catered to the "contemporary adult" audience with romantic renditions of pop and light jazz standards and stayed with that formula right into the new millennium. Although his success on the singles charts has been modest - 20 "top 40" hits in 25 years from 1957 to 1982 - he recorded dozens of albums for Columbia Records that have sold millions upon millions of copies. As of 2005 and at the age of 70, he continues to record and perform on a regular basis.

This song earned 1613.78 points although it only rose to number five on the Top 100 chart. However, it accumulated lots of points for stamina having maintained a presence within the top 100 for 34 weeks. In comparison, my favorite Mathis song, "Chances Are", also released in 1957, made number 1 on other charts but again peaked at number five on the Top 100 chart. It rated as number 16 with 1534.01 points, fewer than "It's Not For Me To Say", probably because it only charted in the top 100 for 28 rather than 34 weeks.

Answer: Searchin'

All these songs were top 10 songs for the Coasters recorded between 1957 and 1959. However, "Searchin'" was the Coasters first big hit and it does contain all those sleuth's names... just like them, the singer would keep searchin' for that girl until he brought her in, the girl presumably being the true love he has yet to find.

Like The Platters, The Coasters have splintered into several 'shadow' groups and shuffled personnel many times over the years. Only one member from the original quartet is still alive, Carl Gardner, so if The Coasters are coming to a stage near you, be sure that Gardner is with that group... it is he that owns the name and the trademark to the original "The Coasters". On the other hand, the splinter groups are probably just as entertaining!

The Coasters would have ten top 40 charting hits over their recording career. Only one, "Yakety Yak", would hit number one on the Top 100 chart in 1958, but only stayed on the Top 100 chart for 16 weeks. "Searchin" peaked at number three during a 22-week chart run. As such, it accumulated 1618.12 points while Yakety Yak earned a little over 1000. Longevity on the charts is a good thing with this system!

Answer: Honeycomb

With 1670.16 points, "Honeycomb" was easily the biggest hit of Rodgers' career and the only one to top the charts. It was number one on the Top 100 chart for two weeks but on the Disk Jockey's chart it was number one for four weeks. The other songs listed were all Rodgers hits but not "the big one".

Almost all of Rodgers' chart successes were achieved in a two-year span between 1957 and 1959. He might be considered the precursor to folk-rock music. In a timeline continuum it went more or less like this: The Weavers (the artists who revived folk in the early 1950s), Jimmie Rodgers, The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, then the Byrds and all the rest who carried folk-rock to its apogee in the mid-1960s.

By the early 1960s, Rodgers was considered antiquated by contemporary standards but seemed to be making a comeback in 1967 when he suffered a fractured skull in a controversial incident with a motorcycle cop. It effectively stifled the resurgence and with that, his career. I'm presuming that without his own website, he no longer performs.

Answer: Little Darlin'

The trick answer there was "Only You" but that was a Platters hit. "Words Of Love" was done in the late 1960s by The Mamas and the Papas. "Love, Love, Love" was a Diamonds recording but it was only a modest hit.

The Diamonds were originally formed in Toronto, Ontario in the early 1950s. A black doo-wop vocal group from Detroit named The Revelaires often performed in Toronto and took the young, white Canadians under their wing. The Diamonds learned well, ultimately achieving stardom with a series of doo-wop hits throughout the late 1950s. The last of the original members left the group sometime in the 1970s and numerous changes in personnel have taken place over the years but a Diamonds group still exists, playing lounges, casinos and other venues on the "oldies" circuit.

The song earned 1687.36 points mostly due to that eight-week stretch at number two.

Answer: Bye Bye Love

This song by the Everly Brothers was number two on the charts for four weeks, stymied in its quest for number one by the song that would eventually rate number two for the year. It spent 15 weeks in the top 10, and 22 weeks in the top 40 to gather 1777.14 points.

With a long string of hits from 1957-1967, The Everly Brothers were the most successful duet in the history of rock music until Hall & Oates usurped that title. They were born to country/folk entertainers in Kentucky and featured beautiful harmonies in their songs. After a very public falling out in 1973, they broke up for ten years before patching things up and reuniting. Apparently, critics noted in their first performance together again in 1983 that their harmonies were in absolute perfect pitch as if they had never been separated... and this was without any prior rehearsals. God given talent one supposes! As of 2005, the brothers continue to tour but have not recorded any new disks since the late 1980s.

Answer: Young Love

A version by The Crew-Cuts peaked at number 17 on the charts and didn't make enough of an impression to rank among the top 100 songs of the year. Sonny James' version was a big country hit topping that chart for nine weeks but it also crossed over to the pop charts. It was number one on the Disk Jockey charts and number two on the Top 100 chart. His disk was worthy of 23rd place for year-end ratings. with 1350.30 points. Actor Tab Hunter performed the version that would hit number one on the Top 100 chart for six weeks. It garnered 1805.80 points.

Now Tab Hunter was definitely a good looking hunk but he was no singer! A follow-up number peaked at number 11 later in 1957 and one last release squeaked into the top 40 in 1959 but that was it for his singing career, thanks! He went on to star in many movies throughout the 1960s and 1970s and now in the 2000s, stays quasi active in the industry as a producer.

Sonny James was a fixture on the country charts prior to this song crossing over and he subsequently made an earnest effort to concentrate on making his music more pop oriented. It really didn't work... only one more of his songs would make the pop charts. Finally in 1964, he saw the light and focused once again on country music. Brilliant move... 21 of his next 25 releases would hit number one on the country charts. That's dominance! He slowed up his recording pace in the late 1970s and channeled his energies into record production and music publishing. In 1983, he left the music industry altogether and became a gentleman rancher in retirement in his home state of Alabama.

Answer: Jailhouse Rock

With six weeks at number one, the song earned 2035.30 points.

In January 2005, to commemorate what would have been Elvis' 70th birthday, this song was re-released in Great Britain and shot to the top of the U.K. pop charts. As the song itself was 48 years old, it has the distinction of being the oldest song ever to be number one there. It also is the third song to be number one twice on the British charts... the other two were also posthumous re-releases - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen and "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison.

Answer: Jimmy

Jimmy was the eldest of the Dorsey brothers, born in 1904. His brother Tommy was born a year later. Lee was a 1960s R&B singer and Sam Dorsey is fictitious.

There are a couple of curious tidbits about this hit. First, it never reached number one but languished in number two for four weeks. However, for all the records rated in 1957, it spent the most weeks in the top 10 (17), the most weeks in the top 40 (26) and the most weeks in the Top 100 (38). Perhaps if it could have nudged into the number one spot for a week or two, it might have earned the points necessary to reach number one for the year. Secondly, the record was the last one taped in a session in March 1957. It entered the top 40 in late April and as it approached its apex on the charts in June, Jimmy Dorsey passed away, succumbing to throat cancer.

Answer: Tammy

The Ames Brothers recorded the minor hit while it was Debbie Reynolds who scored the biggest hit of her career with this number.

Cutting chart records wasn't Reynolds' priority. She was an actress who sang and since her stellar performance in 1952's "Singin' In The Rain", she had emerged as a significant Hollywood star. She sang this particular song in the movie "Tammy And The Bachelor" with her in the starring role opposite Leslie Nielsen so it was a natural release as a pop single. She would only have two more charting hits in her career, neither of them particularly noteworthy.

She maintained her status as a major movie star until the late 1960s. By the end of the next decade, she had all but quit Hollywood concentrating instead on the musical stage and her nightclub act. By the early 1980s, she had established her own hotel/casino in Las Vegas and preoccupied herself not only with its management but also regularly appearing in that venue's nightclub. I'm unsure as to whether she still has an interest in that particular operation... it seems that she is devoting much of her energy in the establishment of her "Hollywood Motion Picture Museum" scheduled to open in 2005 in Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee.

Answer: Teddy Bear

Prior to doing this research, I was quite unaware of the magnitude of this hit! It spent seven weeks at number one and ultimately it would become the fifth biggest hit of "The King's" career. Despite that, if you asked me to hum a bar, I'd be stymied! Perhaps it's just me... I preferred other artists at the time and didn't hop on the Presley wagon until the early 1960s.

Answer: Pat Boone

It's rock and roll! Think of the contrasts. Elvis - swivelly hips; beckoning, sly sneer; raunchy music and lyrics; black leather jacket; raw energy. Pat Boone - white buckskins; the milk-on-the-upper-lip smile; sanitized lyrics of R&B songs; a crooner! But it's true... in the late 1950s, Presley and Boone were ranked number one and two. Now one is remembered as the "King of Rock & Roll", the other is barely remembered period, at least in the rock & roll context.

Boone charted a total of 38 songs in the top 40 from 1955 to 1962. Throughout this era, Boone made no secret of his devotion to religion and when the passage of time rendered him passé in the world of rock & roll, he smoothly segued into Gospel music. He remains active in the contemporary Christian entertainment scene in all its aspects well into the new millennium.

Answer: All Shook Up

This would be the only year that a Presley release would finish at the top of the yearly rankings for the Top 100 chart using the ranking formula.

By general consensus and taking the other music charts of the day into consideration, the biggest hit of Presley's career was "Don't Be Cruel" from 1956. If your only criterion is Top 100 chart points, then "All Shook Up" becomes his biggest hit of all time. What do you think? I'll opt for "Don't Be Cruel", points notwithstanding!

Answer: Day-O

Here's the lowdown:

Belafonte's version charted at number 5 and finished rated number 36.
The Tarriers version charted at number 4 and finished rated number 41.
None of the other versions had enough points to get into the top 100 rankings. The Fontane Sisters' version peaked at chart position 13, Steve Lawrence's at number 18, Sarah Vaughan's at number 19 and Stan Freberg's parody at number 25.

The song was revived to brilliant comedic effect in the dining room scene of the 1988 movie "Beetle Juice" starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder.