The Top Hits of 1971 - Final Chapter Quiz

Answer: Family Affair

Sly and The Family Stone were becoming something of a conundrum in the early 1970s. Consisting of members that were both black and white, male and female, their earlier works in the late 1960s dwelt on themes of racial harmony such as "Everyday People" and "Stand" or just plain old, feel good, toe-tapping fun harmonies like "Dance To The Music" and "Hot Fun In The Summertime".

But this song and others which were included on the Number One album "There's A Riot Goin' On" were considerably darker in mood and content.

As Stone became increasingly disenchanted with the direction the civil rights movement was headed among militant blacks and the pace of equal rights toward blacks by the whites, he seemed to lose his way musically. That he was increasingly dependent on narcotics certainly didn't help the cause either. Eventually, core members of the group left and the public stopped buying the product. By 1979, the band ceased to be and Stone was frequently in trouble with the law over his drug addictions.

He has not been active in the music industry since the late 1980s.

Answer: Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves

Although Cher hit the top of the charts with Sonny Bono in 1965 with "I Got You Babe", this song marked her first Number One as a solo act. She would follow it up with a couple of others, "Half Breed" in 1973 and "Dark Lady" a year later but it would be 24 long years before she would achieve that lofty status again with the hit "Believe" in 1998.

It should be noted that from 1975 to 1988, she did much less recording as she chose to pursue an acting career culminating with an Oscar award winning performance in "Moonstruck" in 1987. Only one other person can lay claim to a Billboard Number One hit and an Oscar for acting during the "rock era". Think you know who it was? Sorry, no bonus marks! Answer at the end of the quiz.

Answer: Just My Imagination (Running Away From Me)

Alas, the object of the singer's admiration doesn't even know he exists! That singer was Eddie Kendricks, one of the original members of The Tempations, and right after he recorded this hit he left the group in favor of a solo career. In 1973, he would have his own Number One with "Keep On Truckin'". Meanwhile, another original, Paul Williams, also left the group around the same time. Haunted by personal problems and alcoholism, he committed suicide in 1973.

Although The Temptations would have one more big hit in 1972 with the Number One "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", they never fully recovered from the loss of Kendricks and Williams and by the 1980s, they were essentially an "oldies" touring group.

Answer: Superstar

This song was The Carpenters' fifth consecutive top five hit. Ironically, an entirely different song with the same title by another recording artist also cracked the rankings that year at 63rd. That "Superstar" was performed by Murray Head and was taken from the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Answer: Theme From "Shaft"

This song earned Isaac Hayes an Oscar (the first black composer to earn the coveted award) and a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement. The song was unique in a couple of ways. It had an instrumental opening that lasted over two and a half minutes long and the lyrical presentation was a sort of funky monologue that surely was a precursor to modern rap music.

The background vocals were provided by Tony Orlando's back up singers, "Dawn". Although perhaps best known today as the roguish, but good natured "Chef" on "South Park" from 1997 to 2006, here are a few tidbits that you may not know about him.

He was a long time session musician for Stax records in the early 1960s and later co-wrote many of their biggest hits for such acts as Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas and Johnnie Taylor.

Although he was frequently in financial difficulties for much of his career and lost virtually everything through bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, he's always been engaged in philanthropic activity. Because of his humanitarian efforts in Ghana, he was accorded royal status as King Nene Katey Ocansey I and sat in the royal court.

As of 2008, he remains active in charitable causes while continuing to work in the entertainment industry as a composer, arranger, musician and actor.

Answer: What's Going On

The song was originally written by Motown staffer Al Cleveland and Four Tops member Renaldo Benson. It was intended for The Originals, another Motown group but Marvin Gaye showed interest in it and recommended some chages to the lyrics. Ultimately, Cleveland and Benson insisted that Gaye record the song himself. Gaye agreed only if he could produce the recording and the album for which it was intended. Motown executives were reticent but given Gaye's star power at the time, finally relented.

Gaye's career had several definitive stages. His early Motown works were typical for the label at the time - high energy R&B. However, he wasn't entirely happy doing that style of music instead seeing himself as the crooner of love ballads. He succeeded, cutting several romantic duets with Tammi Terrell in the late 1960s. Upon her untimely demise of a brain tumor in 1970, Gaye's life changed dramatically. In mourning, he became despondent and unproductive at first but a series of issues provoked him to shake out of those doldrums. The Vietnam War (his brother survived a tour of duty), ghetto poverty among blacks, ecological issues... all these inspired him to write and record protest songs like this one despite Motown's resistance. The suits at Motown weren't keen on their recording acts meddling in political issues and now Gaye AND The Temptations were getting involved in protest movements. On the other hand, so long as those songs charted and made money, the execs tolerated those efforts with a blind eye. By the mid-1970s, drug use, marital strife, financial difficulties and mental health issues all caught up to him at once. For the most part, studio work was put on the back-burner while he strived to get his life back in order. After a three year hiatus in the U.K., he returned home, left Motown for Columbia and recorded the top 10 hit "Sexual Healing" in 1983. Tragically, his comeback bid and his life ended on April 1, 1984 when his father fatally shot him during a domestic dispute.

Answer: You've Got A Friend

James Taylor copped the "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male" Grammy award for his work on the song and Carole King also won the "Song of The Year" honor for composing it. It was enormously popular and I would have thought that it would have ranked much higher in the hierarchy of songs for that year. Carole King also released the song as a single and although it didn't even crack the Hot 100, perhaps it received just enough air play and sold sufficient copies to detract from Taylor's numbers.

Incidently, the other three songs listed were ranked in the top 10 for 1970.

Answer: Brown Sugar

This was recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1969 but stayed on the shelf prior to its release in 1971 and I don't know why... although I can guess. The Stones were playing this song when the outbreak took place at Altamont where a young fan was stabbed to death. Maybe they thought it best, under the circumstances, to let the incident die before bringing it forward to the public again. Jagger has stated that he originally named the song "Black Pussy". Now do you think that might have had censorship issues back in 1971?

Answer: Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey

This was Paul McCartney's debut Number One hit following his departure from The Beatles. It was actually labeled "Paul and Linda McCartney" but essentially, it was a solo project.

When the Beatles disbanded in 1970, music buffs lost the pleasure of anticipating their next release. But that was replaced with equal curiosity as to what the individual members would do for their solo projects. Harrison, the spiritual one, not surprisingly provided us with "My Sweet Lord". Lennon was the social activist and recorded "Power To The People". Starr, the entertainer, gave us "It Don't Come Easy". McCartney? Well he was the fun one... the romanticist. So following the love ballad "Another Day", he presented us with this, a song that you either loved or hated! Silliness, really, but you can't argue with success.

Answer: Imagine

Much controversy surrounded this song by John Lennon when it was first released. Clearly, he was somewhat disenchanted with the state of world affairs at the time, not unlike Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone as alluded to in earlier questions. His message was basically this... if we removed religion, borders, personal possessions and war from the world, it would be a much nicer place. We could all live in harmony. He cleverly wrapped up the lyrics with a lovely piece of music that belied his discontent but eventually, when people really started to listen to the words and the sentiments Lennon expressed, there was fallout. No religion? No capitalism? He was even branded a Communist by his harshest critics and if it had have been the McCarthy era of the early 1950s, he surely would have been black listed. Perhaps that is why it had such a short shelf-life on the charts.

Perhaps time has softened public reaction to the song and its sentiments. When it was first released in the U.K. belatedly in 1975, it charted at Number Six but following Lennon's death in 1980, it was re-released and shot to Number One. It's been covered by numerous artists over the years and it seems that the focal point, as it should be, has been Lennon's vision of peace and human brotherhood, living harmoniously with each other.


I haven't forgotten... the other singer/performer to win an Oscar for acting and have a Number One Billboard single during the rock era was Barbra Streisand. Both Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra performed the feat before the rock era.