The Top Hits of 1972 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

This song personifies the reluctant hit that has to be dragged fighting and screaming to the top. It was composed in less than an hour in 1957 by Ewan MacColl, the famous Scottish folksinger/songwriter/poet/playwright in response to a request by Peggy Seeger, his wife, who required a sweet ballad for a stage production in which she was appearing. Between 1962 when both MacColl and his wife recorded it and 1966, it seems to have been used as album filler by seven different artists. Among them were Gordon Lightfoot, Peter, Paul and Mary and Marianne Faithfull. Roberta Flack did the same for her initial album "First Take" recorded in 1969.

Enter Clint Eastwood of all people! He utilized the song as a romantic backdrop for his movie "Play Misty For Me" in 1971 and it created quite a buzz. Atlantic Records quickly edited the song for release as a single and voila... Number One. Immediately, the album followed suit after languishing in bargain bins for three years! Flack was on her way. The recording won two Grammys - Flack for Record of the Year and MacColl for Song of the Year.

Answer: American Pie

Everyone agrees that "the day the music died" was February 3, 1959, the day Buddy Holly perished in a plane crash. The song was certainly not about Buddy Holly, but an allegorically filled synopsis of what happened to music and America subsequent to that fateful day. Many a pint was drunk by music aficionados comparing their interpretations of what McLean wrote following this song's release. For perhaps the best analysis, I suggest readers go this link - http://www.fiftiesweb.com/amerpie-1.htm.

On one occasion, a reporter asked McLean what "American Pie" meant to him. His response was "It means that I'll never have to work again for the rest of my life". In fact, the song probably hung around his neck like an albatross for the rest of career. Certainly, he could never be expected to duplicate it and he never did... nor tried to, particularly. His subsequent releases peaked at progressively worse positions on the chart and it looked like he was effectively finished as a charting influence by 1975. He did recover with another big hit with a cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying" in 1981 and another three songs which managed Hot 100 appearances but those would be it. McLean still continues to tour on a regular basis and he makes it a point to sing this song at every performance.

Answer: Alone Again (Naturally)

Gilbert O'Sullivan made this his debut smash hit. Despite its obvious popularity with listeners and the buying public, it has been rated as the 45th worst song in pop music history in one website which ranks these sorts of things in a rather subjective fashion... perhaps a poll of one? O'Sullivan takes pride in this song observing that it means an awful lot to a lot of people and therefore, refuses to release it for commercials or for use in Karaoke.

He followed it up with a couple of big hits in America - the Number Two "Clair" later in the year and the Number Seven "Get Down" in 1973, both of which reached Number One in the U.K. Later releases were not nearly as successful and his last chart appearance was in 1974.

He still performs and records, however, and apparently has a loyal following in Japan and other Asian countries. Almost all of his recordings from the late 1980s thereafter have been exclusively released to those markets.

Answer: I Can See Clearly Now

Reggae music was primarily the domain of West Indian artists, popular there and wherever ex-pats of that culture lived around the world. In 1968, Johnny Nash initiated the introduction of the genre to North America with the Number Five "Hold Me Tight". Jimmy Cliff made further inroads with his Number 25 hit "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" in early 1970 but it was this hit by Nash which really raised the consciousness of reggae to the general public. He followed it up early in 1973 with Bob Marley's composition "Stir It Up" but reggae failed to take hold as a popular musical form over the long haul. Probably the next reggae tinged song to make an impression was Blondie's Number One hit in 1980, "The Tide Is High".

Nash was a native of Houston and was performing regularly on local TV in the early 1950s when he was just 13 years old. By 1956, when he was 16, he was a regular on Arthur Godfrey's radio and TV shows for the next seven years and also broke into the movies, most notably starring in the black drama "Take A Giant Step". As his career waned on all fronts by the mid-1970s, he gradually withdrew from the entertainment business altogether and spent some time in residence in England. At last report, he was again residing in Houston and contemplating a return to recording.

Answer: Without You

"Without You" originally appeared on a 1970 album by Badfinger. Written by Tom Evans and Pete Ham, the leaders of the group, their version lacked the desperate intensity that Nilsson provided with his rendering, the factor that no doubt made it the hit it was.

Nilsson was composing songs, recording demos and singing jingles in L.A. throughout the early and mid-1960s hoping for his big break. In the meantime, he worked in a bank for close to seven years to make ends meet. In 1967 he released an album, "Pandemonium Shadow Show", which didn't sell enough to crack the Billboard album charts but brought him to the attention of others in the business. Indeed, Lennon and McCartney claimed that he was their favorite American performer at the time! His next album, "Aerial Ballet", didn't do much better commercially but it did introduce a couple of songs that would later become hits... "One" for Three Dog Night and "Everybody's Talkin'" that he re-released as a single in 1969 after it was used in the movie "Midnight Cowboy". "Without You" would mark the pinnacle of his career. It would be his only Number One hit and the song also garnered him a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. His last top ten hit was the Number Eight "Coconut" later in the year. Subsequent album releases were not well-received by neither the public nor the critics and by the end of the decade, he more or less left the industry to pursue other business ventures. As a curious side note, Nilsson made the occasional TV appearance but never performed live in concert. He succumbed to a massive heart attack in 1994 at the age of 52.

Answer: Brand New Key

Lest someone intends to send me a correction notice that this hit actually peaked at Number One on Dec. 25, 1971 and should be classified as a song for that year, I'll review the ranking process. Since this song overlapped two years, the researchers who did the point analysis for this study calculated the number of points a song earned for each year then placed it in the rankings for the year it accumulated the most points... in this instance, 1972.

"Brand New Key" was written by Melanie in 15 minutes while she was walking home from McDonald's. It would prove to be her only Number One triumph and the many fans who thought that her first big hit "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" was a far superior song are probably not wrong. But, this one was good for laugh!

Melanie has never come close to duplicating the success of either of these two hits despite being quite active in the studio after a brief hiatus when she devoted her energies to raising three kiddies. As a star of Woodstock and a poster child for that generation, she remains a popular draw at concerts and continues to tour extensively around the world.

Answer: I Am Woman

This was Helen Reddy's contribution to the Women's Liberation movement of which she was an active proponent. She wrote most of the lyrics although Ray Burton, a fellow Australian who wrote the music, adjusted the lyrics here and there to fit the meter of the score. The recording earned Reddy her only Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Following this hit, she would have three more Number One songs to her credit - "Delta Dawn" and "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)" both in 1973 and "Angie Baby" a year later. She slowly curtailed her recording as the decade advanced making a stab at a movie career that didn't pay many dividends. However, she did make her mark in several Broadway productions and also performed regularly on the London stage. She abandoned show business altogether in 2002, returned to Australia and now is active as a practicing hypnotherapist and motivational speaker.

The "distracter" answer "I'm A Woman" was an actual song recorded by Maria Muldaur that peaked at Number 12 in 1975. If you chose that answer by mistake or otherwise, sorry, but you were forewarned to be careful!

Answer: Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me

Okay, I'll admit it... this was a tough question unless the lyric was particularly memorable to you. Certainly, all the choices dealt with the same subject matter, that of a younger woman falling for the singer who was older and reluctant, for whatever reason, to become committed to her. The true music buff would recognize that the other choices were never Number One hits and were recorded in the late 1960s; "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" was a Number 10 song for Neil Diamond in 1967; "Young Girl" was a Number Two song for Gary Puckett in 1968; "This Girl Is A Woman Now" was also recorded by Puckett in 1969 and peaked at Number Nine. The song in question was recorded by Mac Davis. He started in the music biz as the regional manager for Vee-Jay Records in Atlanta, then became the manager of the company's publishing division in L.A. All along, he was writing music and became a favorite of Elvis Presley especially after composing 'The King's' hit "In The Ghetto" in 1969. After deciding to enter the performing side of the business full time following "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me", his successes were somewhat mixed, particularly on the pop side of the ledger where he would only have four Top 40 hits. He did do marginally better on the Country charts but perhaps is best remembered for his recording of "It's Hard To Be Humble" in 1980. Rounding out his resume, he hosted a television variety show in the mid-1970s and appeared in a couple of movies, most notably "North Dallas Forty" with Nick Nolte. It seems that he retired from the business altogether in the early 1990s now listing his office as "the golf course"!

One further footnote. The astute observer will notice that the hits that should have been included in the 6th and 8th ranked positions have been omitted. At number six was "I Gotcha" by Joe Tex, a raucous R&B dance number devoid of any memorable lines. Number eight was "The Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. Not a bad song at all, but again, lacking a lyrical hook that would be suitable for inclusion in this sort of quiz. Sorry to those who loved those hits for their omission.

Answer: Me And Mrs. Jones

Looking back at all the Number One songs from 1955 to when this one topped the charts in December 1972, it is the one and only to unabashedly deal with the issue of an extramarital affair. The song was composed by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Carey Gilbert. Gamble and Huff regularly frequented a little café across the street from their office and whenever they were there, so was another couple, same place, same time. Eventually, Gamble and Huff called them Mr. & Mrs. Jones and their muses took over.

Critics have surmised that three things made this a big hit. First, the lyrics speak to human emotions. The principles know what they're doing is wrong but the "feeling is just too strong". Second, Gamble wrote a lovely piece of music to frame the song and as producer, gave it a lush, orchestral treatment. Finally, Billy Paul's emotive rendering of the song was perfect and justified the Grammy he won for Best Male Vocal R&B Performance. He was 38 years of age at the time and the maturity in his voice was a decided asset. It would be his only big hit although he did have a few more middling chart entries on the R&B charts throughout the decade.

Answer: Brandy

"Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" recorded by the group Looking Glass falls into the category "juxtaposition of the incongruent". They were a hard rock band formed by Eliot Lurie in 1970 while the members were students at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Their only big hit was this one - a classical, AM friendly, soft pop offering. So far as that goes, their follow-up release and only other charting hit, the Number 33 "Jimmy Loves Marianne", was of the same ilk. This presented problems in their live performances.

These songs sounded quite different without the support of a full orchestra (as they were recorded) and the rest of their material was what they had always done... hard rock. Audiences were disenchanted and the group itself was having difficulty in dealing with the "split personality" they had conjured up for themselves. By 1974, Eliot Lurie left and the remaining members dissembled a year later.

Answer: Lean On Me

"Lean On Me" was the centerpiece of Bill Withers' three top ten solo releases and the biggest hit of his career. It followed his 1971 debut Number Three hit "Ain't No Sunshine" and later that year, he released his third and final top 10 solo hit "Use Me", a Number Two hit that was ranked 72nd for the year.

In the 1989 movie "Lean On Me", the title song was recorded by Thelma Houston but it failed to make an impact on the Hot 100 charts.

Answer: A Horse With No Name

The group America recorded this song as their debut release and in their long career, would never have a bigger hit both in terms of chart status and sales. Based on this release and their work on their eponymously titled album, they were awarded the 1972 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Curious as to whether the lyric sample here was an aberration or typical of the group (another example from this song - "the heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound"), I reviewed their lyrics from some of their other hits. I concluded that they tended to compose lyrics that were at best, esoteric, at worst, banal. However, they seemed to create interesting, sophisticated music and it is that which probably contributed most to their success.

The group, consisting of Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, were formed in England in the late 1960s. All the lads were sons of American Air Force personnel and met at the base where their parents were stationed. Peek and Beckley were born in the U.S., Bunnell in England. Following this song's success in the U.K., the band went to the U.S. to promote its release overseas and remained there. Peek left the group in 1976 to record contemporary Christian music while the other two have continued to tour and record as America right up to 2008. Altogether, they have had six top 10 hits including another chart topper with "Sister Golden Hair" in 1975. However, they last entered the pop charts in 1983.

Answer: Heart Of Gold

By far and away, this was Neil Young's biggest commercial hit ever and it probably surprised him somewhat. Not because it was a good song well-received by the masses but more because chart success has never been at the forefront of his intentions. In fact, after this success he was said to say "This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch."

Describing Young's career is not easy but it can probably be summed up with two words - versatility and perseverance. Since the mid-1960s when he began as a coffeehouse folksinger, he has explored rock music as part of bands that went nowhere - The Mynah Birds - and others that did - Crazy Horse. He was a member of two folk-rock bands that are now enshrined in the R&R Hall of Fame, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash. He has explored the gamut of musical fields from country to electronic music to grunge (name another legend from the 1970s who's ever jammed with Pearl Jam) and has recorded roughly an album per year over the past forty years. Some have been critically acclaimed and more than a few have been mercilessly panned by the critics but virtually every one of them assumed a relatively lofty position on Billboard's album charts. Incidentally, if you are a fan, I would highly recommend viewing "Neil Young: Heart of Gold". Filmed live in Nashville's Ryman Theatre by director Jonathan Demme, it was recorded in August 2005 just a few days before Young was scheduled for delicate brain surgery for an aneurysm. It's as good as it gets.

Answer: Garden Party

Ricky Nelson, or Rick as he preferred to be called by this time, was one of the original rock and roll icons of the 1950s. From 1957 to 1963, he managed 17 top 40 hits including two at Number One, "Poor Little Fool" in 1958 and "Travelin' Man" in 1961. By the mid-1960s, Nelson's influence on the charts had been reduced considerably. The Beatles and the British Invasion were certainly a factor but Nelson himself had been slowly edging toward a softer, country oriented sound. From rock 'n' roll idol to "has been" in a few short years!

Performing at a rock oldies show at Madison Square Gardens sometime in late 1971 or early 1972, the whole conceit of the industry finally struck home. While his older material was reasonably well-received, he was virtually booed off the stage when he tried to perform one of his contemporary songs. Another few lines of this song put things in perspective - "But if memories were all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck" and "It's all right now, learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself". From that point on, Nelson apparently was rather content trying to expand his musical horizons with the genre he now favored even if it didn't net fame or fortune. He never played a rock revival concert again for the rest of his life.

Answer: Anticipation

Creating this quiz and looking for good material with lyrical hooks to hang a question on, I came to the rather startling conclusion, to me anyway, that music was slowly changing. Fourteen questions of this quiz came reasonably easily... the fifteenth was a stumper. Not only were those "hooks" less apparent but perhaps the "music" was becoming more important than a song's lyrical content by this time. I suppose that was another excuse for choosing this particular piece to round out this quiz. Again, as Nelson wrote in the previous question, "you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself"!

At any rate, this hit was composed by Carly Simon and was featured on her second album of the same name. She later noted that she wrote this song while eagerly awaiting in anticipation for her date to arrive. That date was Cat Stevens! She would truly hit the big time later in the year and into 1973 with "You're So Vain". The "commercial" reference in the question alluded to the Heinz Ketchup commercial later in the decade when the song was played while people waited for the slow pouring condiment to come out of the bottle. Brilliant is what it was! Thanks for playing... hope you join me for a review of 1973.