The Top Hits of 1960 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Theme From "A Summer Place"

This melody, written and performed by Percy Faith, spent 21 weeks in the Hot 100, 17 of those in the top 40 and 12 in the top 10. It was number one for nine weeks and in terms of numbers, gathered 2514 points based on this chart performance, almost 1000 more than the record that would be rated number two for the year. In the whole historical scheme of things, during the rock/pop era that I designate as 1955-1990, it ranks as the 12th biggest hit during that period.

Needless to say, this would be Percy Faith's biggest hit ever and in fact he would only have one further top 40 charting hit, the number 35 "Theme For Young Lovers" later in the year. Faith was primarily the arranger/conductor for the stable of singing stars under contract to Columbia Records such as Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, et al. He continued on in that role until his death from cancer in 1976 at the age of 67.

Regarding the other answers, "The Apartment" was a top 10 instrumental hit for Ferrante & Teicher that finished the year rated at number 32. There was no "Never On Sunday" theme song per se. An instrumental version by Don Costa in 1960 and a vocal version by The Chordettes in 1961 were moderate chart hits but neither was directly related to the movie. Singer Dionne Warwick recorded the theme from "Valley Of The Dolls" in 1968 and had a number two-chart success with it.

Answer: It's Now Or Never

Normally, a record that tops the chart for five weeks and has a five-month run in the Hot 100 would have a good shot at being rated number one for the year. That wasn't the case for this song, however; "A Summer Place" was a juggernaut of popularity that couldn't be overtaken.

This song introduced the public to the new, mature Elvis Presley, just returned from his military stint in Germany. "O Sole Mio" was written in 1899 and was a staple for operatic tenors for many years thereafter. In fact, Caruso first recorded it in 1916 and it rose to number three on the charts of the day. With fresh English lyrics written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold, Presley's version is hardly operatic. Instead, it oozed sensuality with the promise of commitment... a love song. With the saucy Latin tempo, it couldn't miss. It remains my personal favorite Presley song of all time. It recorded 1596 points, 61 more than the record at number three for the year.

Answer: He'll Have To Go

Jim Reeves recorded this hit and it was by far and away his biggest pop chart entry. It spent 12 weeks in the top ten, 20 weeks in the top forty and 23 weeks in the Hot 100. He only had four top 40 hits altogether, all crossing over from the country charts where he had considerably more success. Tragically, he died in a plane crash in Nashville in 1964 just three weeks before his 40th birthday. Such was his popularity in the country music scene that songs he recorded years earlier were still being released and finding success on the country charts in the 1980s.

In fact, a new CD of overdubbed Reeves' songs was just released in 2005!

Answer: I'm Sorry

Of the other choices, "I Want To Be Wanted" was another Brenda Lee hit that was number one for her later in 1960 and ranked at number 35 for the year. "Who's Sorry Now" was a 1958 hit for Connie Francis and "Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)" was the only top 40 entry that The Impalas would ever have, a number two hit in 1959.

Lee is primarily remembered for her powerful voice, hence the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". However, most of her hits were soft ballads such as this one and it's the compelling, emotive manner in which she sings that surely appealed to most of her fans. In my opinion, she was vastly under-rated as a vocal stylist but I think it was this strength that enabled her to connect with audiences and listeners for over forty years in both the pop and country music streams. She is still active in the country music sphere as of 2005.

Answer: Running Bear

One of the first and probably the best of the early rock and roll "tragedy" songs... Running Bear and Little White Dove, trying to escape their warring tribes, both dive into the torrent and as they touch and kiss, are pulled under. They spend eternity together in "the happy hunting ground". It was number one for three weeks and spent a total of 27 weeks in the Hot Hundred to garner 1425 points.

The singer, Johnny Preston, was a protégé of J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper". In fact, he discovered Preston singing in a Port Neches, Texas nightclub, befriended him and actually wrote this song for him in 1958 when it was recorded. Among the "back-up Indian chanters" heard on the record were both George Jones and Richardson himself. The song wasn't released until the late fall of 1959 but didn't peak on the charts at number one until January 1960. By then, Richardson had been dead for almost a year, one of the victims of the infamous Buddy Holly plane crash. Preston would only have two more top 40 hits, both in 1960. A visit to his website suggests that he continues to reside in Texas and was actively performing as of 1999.

Answer: Cathy's Clown

"Cathy's Clown" would turn out to be the second biggest hit of the Everly Brothers' long career. Only "All I Have To Do Is Dream" would have more chart success. It was also their first hit on the Warner Brothers label as all their previous hits were recorded on the Cadence label.

While doing research for this song, I noted that it was an even bigger hit in the U.K. where it sat atop the charts for seven weeks. One website reported that this was the first hit ever to be number one on both the U.K. and U.S. charts simultaneously. In fact, it only was for a recording act from the U.S.A. In September 1957 "Diana", by Canadian Paul Anka, was the first to achieve the feat. Just another piece of useless (but maybe interesting) music trivia!

Answer: The Twist

"The Twist", with 1310 points, spent 18 weeks in the Hot Hundred hitting number one on September 24, 1960.

Born Ernest Evans in South Carolina, he grew up in the musical hotbed of Philadelphia. Dick Clark's wife thought he bore a resemblance to a youthful Fats Domino and suggested he change his name to Chubby Checker.

Although Hank Ballard wrote and recorded the song before Checker, it was the latter's version that stormed the nation and created the worldwide dance craze. Even after "The Twist" fell off the charts in 1960, the craze continued to such a degree that it was re-released in late 1961 and it topped the charts once again for two weeks in January 1962. It was the first time in rock and roll history that this had ever occurred although precedence was set prior to the rock era... "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby was number one in 1942 and then again on two further occasions during the 1945 and 1946 Christmas seasons.

Checker would only have one other number one song, "Pony Time" in 1961, but he persisted in churning out and charting with new dance songs right up to 1966 when the bubble finally burst. He continues to tour regularly on the nostalgia circuit as of this writing in 2005.

Answer: El Paso

Marty Robbins was, like Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Horton and Jim Reeves, a predominantly C&W artist whose recordings struck a chord with the music public in general. From 1955 until his death of a heart attack in 1982, he would have 94 hits on the C&W charts, 24 of which would cross over onto the Hot Hundred. "El Paso" also spent seven weeks at number one on the country charts and Robbins received the Grammy for Best Country and Western Performance for his flawless rendering of a song that has now become a classic.

Answer: Nome

The song was "North To Alaska", the artist was Johnny Horton and regrettably, it would be his last hit. As the song was marching up the charts in November of 1960, Horton was returning to his Shreveport, Louisiana home from a concert in Austin, Texas when he would perish in a car accident on a foggy East Texas highway. Essentially, it became a posthumous hit.

Sad irony abounds in the realm of entertainment! In the early 1950s, Horton was a struggling rock-a-billy entertainer before finally becoming a big enough name in the country field to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Country legend, Hank Williams, took a shine to Horton and became something of a mentor to him, professionally speaking. When Williams died (or committed suicide through drugs and drink as some surmise) in 1952, Horton became close to his widow, Billie Jean, and they were married nine months later. Little would she have believed at the time that she would be grieving again seven years later!

Answer: Last Date

"Last Date" spent four weeks at number two during its 20 week tour of the Hot Hundred, stymied in its quest for the top spot by Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight" in December 1960. Oddly enough, Presley's hit doesn't make the list for this year but appears in the top rankings of 1961, apparently garnering most of its points that year.

The other choices given in this question were also instrumentals but performed by other artists; "Exodus" by Ferrante and Teicher in 1961, "Walk - Don't Run" by The Ventures, the number 21 ranked song in 1960 and, "Teen Beat" by drummer Sandy Nelson in 1959. "Last Date" earned 1269 points based on its chart performance.

Answer: Stuck On You

Fifteen days after Elvis was discharged from his military commitments, he cut this track. Just a few weeks later, the song was number one! Do you suppose his fans missed him?

"Stuck On You" was a relatively short lived song chart-wise... 16 weeks in the Hot Hundred, 10 weeks in the top 10, so despite its four week run at number one, it only accumulated 1237 points.

Answer: Everybody's Somebody's Fool

From 1958 with her debut hit "Who's Sorry Now" until the mid-1960s, Connie Francis was easily the number one female vocalist in pop music with only Brenda Lee providing anything of a challenge to that status. Occasionally, other female artists would have a big hit, Miss Toni Fisher, Shelley Fabares, Dee Dee Sharpe and Little Eva come to mind, but only Connie and Brenda were able to sustain their careers over a period of time with a series of hits.

Francis started performing professionally at the age of ten in 1948. Ten years later, she was prepared to abandon her musical aspirations and attend medical school when fate intervened. During the last recording session she had remaining in her contract with MGM records, she recorded "Who's Sorry Now" only as a favor to her father who loved the song. Dick Clark debuted the record on his show, told the world that Francis had the stuff to be a star and the rest was, as they say, history. Like many other artists of that era, her popularity waned in the late 1960s and she left the music scene for several years to raise a family. She attempted a comeback in the mid-1970s but underwent a number of physical and emotional traumas that derailed those ambitions. Eventually, by 1989, she overcame those difficulties and the new millennium sees her performing concerts on a regular basis around the globe.

Answer: Yes

Both songs were written by different lyricists so it is somewhat ironic that hair combing was a feature of both lyrics! Only peaking at number three, the record achieved it's lofty status of 1223 points largely due to a 24 week run in the Hot Hundred.

Stevens would only have two songs chart in the top 40 and these were them. She did cut a few other tracks that had more modest chart success but she was primarily an actress and a regular on "Hawaiian Eye" at the time. The series was cancelled in 1963 and she then maintained a steady profile as a movie actress in fluffy comedies until the mid-1980s. Now virtually retired from show business, she spends her days as a business woman and philantropist.

Answer: Greenfields

Folk music ceased to be a factor on the musical charts following the break-up of The Weavers in the early 1950s but it still was an active musical force, particularly among the liberally minded populace of America's institutions of higher learning. Virtually every campus would have a folk club where students perpetuated this musical heritage.

The Brothers Four formed at the University of Washington in 1958 and had no particular intent on making music their career. A series of fortuitous events, accidents actually - and talent - led to a number of engagements at various folk clubs around the country when The Kingston Trio struck gold in 1959 with "Tom Dooley".

The group was quickly signed to a recording contract, cut this song and it also became a huge hit, spending 20 weeks on the Hot Hundred, four of them at number two. 47 years later, The Brothers Four continue to be active performers with one original member, Bob Flick, and another, Mark Pearson, who has been with the group since 1969.

Although they no longer can be considered "folk singers" per se, their blend of folk songs and easy listening pop stylings remain popular with a legion of MOR fans around the world.

Answer: General Custer

"Mr. Custer" was written by... naw, I won't embarrass them that way, but here's a sample of their handiwork:

"Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go
Listen, Mr. Custer, please don't make me go
There's a redskin a-waitin' out there, just fixin' to take my hair
A coward I've been called 'cause I don't wanna wind up dead or bald"

Larry Verne was in L.A. looking to get into the movie business. He was working at a photo studio in the same building as the songwriters who concocted this effort. They became friends and drafted him to do the demo. It wasn't an easy task to get this tripe released but after numerous rejections, Era Records, for some reason, agreed to distribute it. Why the public embraced it is an unexplained mystery!

As a postscript, the same writers wrote another song for Verne as a follow-up, "Mr. Livingstone". I've never heard that particular song, but somehow I have the "comic" vision of David Livingstone, the famous African explorer, sitting in a big pot with a tribe of Zulu warriors hanging around waiting for lunch to boil. That effort peaked at number 75 and Verne left the music industry forever. As of 2003, he was working in the movie industry as a set foreman and assistant set art director.