Two-Hit Wonders - 1965 to1967 Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Groovy Kind of Love

The Mindbenders were formed in 1963 with Wayne Fontana at the helm. They scored a few hits in England before their breakthrough release of "Game of Love" which brought them to the attention of music fans abroad. While on tour in Britain shortly after this song broke, Fontana quit the group in mid-concert with Eric Stewart taking over the reins. It was assumed The Mindbenders would soon fold without their star vocalist and that Fontana would soar to stardom. Things didn't quite evolve that way. Fontana seems to have had some mental health issues unless you think setting fire to a bailiff's car normal, especially when the bailiff was still in it! Anyway, his career foundered while The Mindbenders did manage that second big hit before fading away.

It's difficult to assess where the group went wrong. In 1966, a full year before The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper", they released one of rock's first concept albums "With a Woman in Mind". A critical success in Britain but unreleased elsewhere and hence a commercial failure, the group also received significant exposure through their appearance in the 1967 movie "To Sir With Love" starring Sidney Poitier and Lulu but nothing seemed to help... their record releases just didn't chart. In 1968, Elliot Gouldman replaced the group's original bassman, Bob Lang, and other personnel shuffles ensued. Rather than persevere with a splintering assemblage, Stewart and Gouldman left to form Hotlegs, later to become 10cc, and now leaderless, The Mindbenders quietly ceased to be.

Answer: 96 Tears

One of the seminal garage bands to achieve significant success, they formed in 1962 in Saginaw, Michigan. The lead singer, ?, now known to be Rudy Martinez, was the last of the original members to join the group and he was the missing piece of the puzzle which enabled them to hit the big time, at least briefly as it would turn out.

All the members of the group except for one were born in Texas, the odd one out being born in nearby Bay City, but they all grew up in Saginaw. All were of Mexican heritage and although I don't know much about the ethnic make-up of Michigan, it seems odd to me that five people of Mexican ethnicity would wind up in Saginaw! After all, Saginaw, unlike El Paso or Santa Fe, is pretty far removed from Mexico! In any event, when Rudy wrote a song entitled "69 Tears", the reception it received at local events was so overwhelming they decided to record it and hope for the best. To assure that it wouldn't be banned for radio play anywhere, the title and lyrics were changed to "96 Tears" for obvious reasons and, no, it wasn't recorded in a garage but rather on the porch or in the living room of their manager, accounts varying. When it proved popular in the local market, the Cameo label picked it up for national distribution and, as we know, it raced to the top of the charts. Their next release, "I Need Somebody", peaked at Number 22 but as subsequent recordings resulted in diminishing returns, all of the original members except for Rudy sought greener pastures elsewhere. Inevitably, the original group would reunite for a brief period of time then break up once more, the last of several such occurrences taking place in 1990s. With the new millennium, Rudy persists with a constantly changing cast of Mysterians, using Flint, Michigan as their home base.

Answer: Gimme Some Lovin'

Two of your choices were those two Spencer Davis hits "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man" with the lyric sample coming from the former. It was the Number Seven hit, "I'm a Man" peaking at Number Ten. They were Number Two and Number Nine hits respectively in the U.K., pretty good but not quite the equal of their first two British hits. Of your other choices, "Good Thing" was a Number Four hit for Paul Revere and The Raiders in 1967 and "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five reached Number Five in late 1966.

The Spencer Davis Group came to be in 1963 when Davis recruited a young Stevie Winwood (15 at the time) and his older brother Muff to play keyboards and bass and Pete York to play drums. The key to the group was Stevie Winwood and in fact, he was the real leader, Davis serving as such because of his maturity and ability to handle the business end of things and the media. It was Winwood, however, who wrote most of the group's material and provided the energy with his searing vocals and brilliant work on the keyboards. By 1967, he was ready to lead his own group and that's what he did with the formation of Traffic. Muff went into A&R work with Island records. Stripped of the heart and soul of the group, Davis tried to carry on with replacements but the effort was futile and the group disbanded in 1969. He went into production work for many years although he did assemble another group briefly in 1973-4, without success. In 2006, he formed the group once more, primarily for touring the oldies circuit.

Meanwhile, Traffic was also a short-lived group that did okay in the U.K., less so abroad. Winwood then went on to play with the super group Blind Faith for their brief existence but it was as a solo artist during the 1980s which truly made him a superstar in the industry. He remains active in 2012, touring and recording.

Answer: Sunny

Bobby Hebb, born in Nashville in 1938 had one big hit, "Sunny", one minor hit with a cover of Porter Wagoner's "A Satisfied Mind" that reached Number 39 on the Hot 100, then just one other charting song that stalled at Number 84... all during a six month period in the last half of 1966.

He was introduced to show business at the age of three when his elder brother Hal pulled him onto a theatre stage to sing while he tap danced. The duo played a number of theatres and nightclubs before Bobby ever attended school. Hal eventually would graduate to a more professional gig with The Marigolds and Bobby continued with his education until he joined Roy Acuff's backup group in 1952, becoming one of the first black singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. His career was interrupted in the 1950s when he served in the navy but after his discharge, he had the opportunity to replace Mickey Baker in the duo of Mickey & Sylvia. Nothing of substance evolved out of the union now known as Bobby & Sylvia and ultimately, Hebb went solo but started to devote some of his energy to song composition. In November of 1963, JFK was assassinated on the 22nd and on the 23rd his beloved brother was killed in a mugging. Both these events had a significant impact on Hebb. I believe he wallowed in sorrow over these events for some time before he decided to compose a song that focused on a bright, forward looking future in tribute to both his brother and the president. This was it.

It seems that Hebb only continued to record and perform for a couple of more years before completely immersing himself in song composition. He did break his recording silence in 2005 with a CD but it was his last hurrah. Suffering from lung cancer, he succumbed to the disease in 2010.

Answer: I Fought the Law

Bobby Fuller was born in 1942 in Baytown, Texas. His father worked in the oil business and the family moved around quite a bit before finally getting established in El Paso. When the R&R craze broke in the mid-1950s, Fuller was mesmerized by the new sound and its energy and from the early age of thirteen, became committed to becoming a rock star. In the early 1960s, he started performing in local venues and in anticipation of hitting it big, he built his own recording studio in the family residence. He wrote and recorded several songs that attained local popularity before moving to Los Angeles in 1964. There he formed his group, The Bobby Fuller Four and achieved the fame he sought with "I Fought the Law". Three months later, his second release, "Love's Made a Fool of You", rode up the charts to Number 26. Within another three months he was dead.

His body was found in his vehicle just outside his apartment. He was slumped over the wheel, the doors weren't locked, the windows were rolled up and an open gas can 1/3 full was sitting beside him. The official death report stated that there was no sign of violence to his body but anecdotes persist that his face and upper body were bruised. It's possible that this "bruising" might actually have been "petechial hemorrhages" caused by the gasoline fumes and daytime heating. The official cause of death was listed as suicide but everyone who knew him and saw him the night before insist the ruling was rubbish. Many feel he was murdered, the motive being some insurance money that might have been directed to his record company. Another theory that did the rounds was that he became involved with a Mafioso's girlfriend and was rubbed out. One of his band mates believed that Charles Manson was involved. In any event, the case is officially closed - we'll likely never know for sure.

Answer: San Francisco

No doubt about it, San Francisco was the center of the hippie universe that year and peace and love were in the air.

Scott McKenzie, nee Philip Blondheim, was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1939 but grew up in North Carolina and Virginia. It was in the mid-1950s that McKenzie and Phillips first met each other and became friends. Together they formed a doo-wop group that later changed focus and became a folk group in the early 1960s thanks to the success of The Kingston Trio and others. It was about that time he changed his name; Scott, because a fellow entertainer thought he looked like a Scottish terrier and McKenzie, the name that Phillips also gave to his daughter when she was born in 1959. That folk group became The Journeymen then The New Journeymen. By then, McKenzie had broken away intent on making it as a solo act. Eventually, The New Journeymen turned into a group you may have heard of... The Mamas and The Papas. Phillips tried to recruit McKenzie for the group but he steadfastly insisted on pursuing his solo career. Ultimately, both the group and McKenzie would achieve meteoric stardom that would be short lived. The Mamas and the Papas scored numerous big hits but flamed out by 1969. McKenzie followed up "San Francisco" with another Phillips composition, "Like an Old Time Movie" that reached Number 24 on the Hot 100 and then virtually disappeared for almost two decades until he finally became a Papa. When Phillips formed a new Mamas and Papas group in 1986, McKenzie was part of the mix until 1998 when he essentially retired from the business. He passed away in August, 2012 following a two year battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Answer: Pied Piper

St. Peters was another fellow who changed his name early in his career. He was born Robin Smith in Swanley, England in 1939 and began his career singing with a variety of bands in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1963, he was "discovered" by a fellow named Bob Nicolson, a publicist for EMI records, who became his manager and suggested the name change.

His earliest efforts as a solo artist yielded poor results but in January of 1966, he released a cover of a folk-pop song performed by the Canadian duo of Ian & Sylvia, "You Were On My Mind". It soared up the British charts to Number Two and led the way for "Pied Piper" and its Number Five position on that chart. In the U.S., "Pied Piper" was his debut hit at Number Four, "You Were On My Mind" already a huge success for the group We Five in 1965. I guess it was a little too soon for its release in America but it was re-released in the U.S. in 1967 where it ultimately became St. Peters' last Hot 100 hit at Number 36. Thereafter, at home and abroad, his career suffered mightily and much of the blame could be placed squarely on his shoulders. Not lacking in self-confidence, he claimed to be a better singer than either Elvis Presley or Tom Jones, had written at least 80 songs that were better than any Lennon/McCartney composition and that The Beatles were on the way out. He later claimed that his remarks were meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek but at the time, they certainly were not, neither by the press nor by an irate public. It could very well be that his subsequent record releases were just sub-par and that's why they didn't sell but most analysts think that he was just being punished by the public for his braggadocio.

At any rate, he soldiered on as a country and western artist after 1970 without significant success, wrote and arranged music for others and toured the nostalgia circuit until a stroke in 1995 curtailed most of his public performances. He formally retired in 2001 and passed away in 2010 after a long series of illnesses.

Just in case you were never familiar with Crispian St. Peters or his big hit, let's debrief your other song options. "This Masquerade" reached Number Ten for George Benson in 1975. "Follow You Follow Me" made it to Number 28 for Genesis in 1978 and "Elusive Butterfly" was Bob Lind's only big hit. It peaked at Number Five in 1965.

Answer: Gloria

Where I lived in Canada, Calgary, "Gloria" was probably a much bigger hit than Number Ten on the local charts and it was the version by Them that we always heard. I never heard The Shadows of Knight version until twenty years later! There were reasons for both these observations. When Them released their version in 1965, it contained one particular line - "she comes to my room, then she made me feel alright"- that ran afoul of many station manager's moral code. Simply put, it was banned in many local markets. Thus, while it was a huge hit in places like California and Florida (and Canada, too, one supposes), it didn't capture a significant national share of sales and airplay and consequently, foundered on the chart. Meanwhile, The Shadows of Knight sanitized the offending line and it seemed to do well where Them's version had been previously banned, and conversely, wasn't played at all where Them scored the hit a few months before.

The Shadows of Knight were a prototypical garage band from Chicago that specialized in blues and R&B stylings. They followed up "Gloria" with a cover of Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah" that managed to top out at Number 39 on the charts. When subsequent releases failed to capture the public's attention, the group abandoned their bluesy sound for a pop orientation. That was the death knell as the group splintered until finally disbanding in 1969. In the early 1970s, the group's lead singer, Jim Sohns, revived the name with a new lineup and with countless personnel shuffles in the interim, the band continued to tour on the oldies circuit into the 2010s.

As for Them, they formed in Belfast in 1964 and clearly depended on Van Morrison to propel the group forward. He wrote the material and performed the gritty vocals for their charting hits, "Here Comes the Night" (Number 24) and "Mystic Eyes" (Number 33). Along with "Baby Please Don't Go", these were much bigger hits in the U.K. than they were in the U.S. When Morrison got fed up with the intervention of record label executives in the band's affairs in 1967, he had an answer. He went solo and starting with "Brown Eyed Girl", went on to have a sensational solo career. Them, now seemingly rudderless, persisted for a few more years before packing it up in the early 1970s.

Answer: A Lover's Concerto

"A Lover's Concerto" was a major global hit for The Toys selling over two million copies. The song was composed by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and they based the melody on a minuet found in a 1725 notebook owned by Anna Magdelena Bach, Johann Sebastian's wife. Originally, it was thought that Bach composed the piece known as "The Minuet in G Major" but in 1970, evidence was uncovered that attributed it to a Dresden organist named Christian Petzold.

The Toys were formed in 1961 in Jamaica, New York, a suburb of Queens, by a trio of high school girls. They performed on street corners and talent shows until they were discovered by a talent scout who introduced them to Linzer and Randell. They linked the song to the group and voila, a huge hit that was only prevented from hitting Number One by a couple of groups known as the Beatles ("Yesterday") and The Rolling Stones ("Get Off of My Cloud"). The girls' next hit peaked at Number 18 with another Linzer/Randell composition, "Attack", then they went on an extensive tour in the U.S. and Europe, appeared on numerous TV music shows like "Shindig" and even made a musical appearance in a movie, "It's a Bikini World". Despite all this exposure, their next releases barely squeezed onto the Hot 100 chart and by 1969, they went their separate ways. Two of the members joined one of the many Marvelettes groups that were circulating at the time, while the lead singer, Barbara Harris, strove for a solo career without much success before forming a new Toys group in the 1990s for touring the oldies circuit.

Answer: Fontella Bass

One critic noted that "Rescue Me" was the "best record Aretha Franklin never made". Listening to the song now, Fontella really does sound like Aretha in this track! Actually, Franklin only became a Hot 100 force to be reckoned with a couple of years later in 1967 but had she connected with this song in 1965, we may never have heard of Fontella Bass.

Fontella Bass, like Aretha, was a gospel singing prodigy. Born in St. Louis in 1940, she made her debut with the church choir at the age of five as both her mother and grandmother were influential performers in that milieu. While growing up, she often performed with one or the other on tours throughout the southeastern states forming the Bible belt but in her later teen years, felt the urge to perform more secular music. She joined the band of Blues legend Little Milton in 1961, fell in love with Lester Bowie, who was a trumpet player with the band, and married him. They moved to Chicago in 1964 and Fontella signed with Chess records, recorded this song and it became one of the biggest hits that record label would ever have. As noted, her follow-up record did okay but she fell out of favor with Chess over the royalties accrued from "Rescue Me" since she co-wrote the song but was not getting payment as such. The dispute became a schism and in retrospect, she thinks she may have developed a reputation as a trouble maker within the industry as a result of this episode. Essentially, her recording career was over, at least at that time.

She moved to Paris with her husband who was developing a burgeoning reputation as a jazz trumpeter and went into retirement for several years preferring to serve as homemaker and mother to their four children. As the family grew older, she began recording again in the 1990s, this time in the Gospel genre returning to the music she was raised in. She continued to record and tour into the new millennium.

Answer: Make it Easy on Yourself

The enticing alternatives were not Walker Brother songs: "Run to Him" was a Number Two hit for Bobby Vee in 1961; "Goodbye" was Mary Hopkin's follow-up hit to "Those Were the Days", peaking at Number 13 in 1969; "Cry Baby" reached Number Four for Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters in 1963.

Like most North Americans back then and before internet searches made it easier to research a group's background, I was certainly convinced that the Walker Brothers were British although I wasn't sure about the sibling connection. Turns out they were from California and unrelated, similar to a group they sounded like, The Righteous Brothers.

The group consisted of harmony singer and guitarist, John Maus (who changed his name to John Walker while still a teenager), bassist and lead vocalist Scott Engel, and drummer Gary Leeds. Walker and Engel had been performing together with another drummer when they met Leeds in late 1964. Leeds, having just returned from England after touring with P.J. Proby, convinced the other two that their style of blue-eyed soul would be popular there. Engel and Leeds became "Walkers" too and the Walker Brothers made the big move across the pond.

Amazingly, Leeds' prediction about the group's success in the U.K. was provident. Their first three releases went Number One, Number Three, Number One on the British charts while only securing Number 16, Number 65 and Number 13 chart rankings on Billboard. Their Number 13 Hot 100 hit, "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", was very similar to our featured song and for good reason - they both were Bacharach-David compositions. For a brief period in late 1965, early 1966, they were arguably as popular in the U.K. as The Beatles while in the U.S. they were perceived as just another British Invasion group!

The group continued to score hits regularly in the U.K. throughout 1966 and 1967 although none would crack the Top Ten. In the States, their output was completely ignored and I don't know why. By the end of 1967, breaches were starting to form within the group. Scott and John were having creative differences and Scott was starting to achieve significant success as a solo artist. As their releases became less successful, it became apparent that their music was losing currency with the British public as well. They were no longer Beatle rivals and by 1968, they broke up entirely, although they briefly reunited in 1976.

As of 2012, John resides in California and established a recording studio. Gary continues to tour in the U.K. with other groups while Scott performs and records on an occasional basis.

Answer: You Were On My Mind

"You Were on My Mind" was the We Five hit. "Ramble Tamble" was a cut from CCR's album "Cosmo's Factory" while your other choices were hits from another folk rock group from the same era, The Seekers.

The group was formed in 1964 by Mike Stewart, the brother of John Stewart of the Kingston Trio. Three of the other members were university chums with the exception of vocalist Beverly Bivens who was introduced to Stewart by Terry Kirkman, a member of The Association, who was dating her sister. Their records were produced by Frank Werber who was also serving as the Kingston Trio's manager.

The song was written by Sylvia Fricker of Ian and Sylvia fame and Stewart discovered it on one of their albums, "Northern Journey". She was no doubt very happy that he did. Not only did the We Five cover make her a fortune in residuals but when Chrispian St. Peters did yet another cover which soared to Number Two in the U.K., her bank account was further embellished! Stewart did adapt the song somewhat from the original although other reports suggest that he asked Fricker to make some adjustments to the lyric to make it more marketable. Whatever, clearly its success lay with the voice of Bivens. She was compared to many peers at the time; Mary Travers, Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, Judith Dunham of The Seekers, Dusty Springfield and many others. However, while all those others were committed to entertaining, Bivens had different long term goals.

After "You Were on My Mind", We Five had another modest Number 31 hit with "Let's Get Together" later in 1965. That song later became "Get Together" and was a big hit for The Youngbloods in 1969. They would have no more charting single releases and shortly after recording a second album in 1967, the group split up. Two reasons have been cited. First, it was perceived that perhaps Werber was devoting too much time toward the Kingston Trio and because the members of We Five were given too much autonomy considering their ages and experience, they sort of lost their way. Secondly, and maybe because of the first reason, Bivens could see no future for herself in the business. She got married in 1966 and slowly drifted away from the music scene altogether.

Stewart formed a new group shortly after the original group folded but it failed to survive the decade. Since then, various We Five groups have surfaced to tour the oldies circuit but all had several degrees of separation from the original. Meanwhile, Bivens continued to distance herself from mainstream music for the rest of the century. Occasionally she would make an appearance here, or some back-up session work there but always remained on the periphery while raising her two children.

Answer: Walk Away Renee

The song was written by 16 year old Michael Brown who was the keyboardist for the group and its creative force. It was a tribute song to a gal named Renee Fladen who was the girl friend of the group's bass player. Brown apparently had a rather significant crush on her and when she was present in the studio for the recording, Brown later admitted he was so nervous that he muffed several takes. He returned to the studio later, on his own, to get the track right. Taking the song in context, the singer realizes that his love for the girl will be unrequited and he's resigned to his fate.

"Just walk away Renee
You won't see me follow you back home"

The group's follow-up song is also reported to have been inspired by Brown's infatuation with Renee. "Pretty Ballerina" peaked at a creditable Number 15 but the group's next release, "Desiree", barely squeaked onto the charts at Number 98 and shortly afterward, the band broke up. One would think that having the group's leader writing songs dedicated to the girlfriend of a band mate would be sufficient cause to create fatal discord. Apparently that wasn't it though. Internal differences tended more toward creative disagreements, Brown's desire to write and produce rather than perform and interference by Brown's father into the group's affairs. Nevertheless, despite a couple of half hearted reunions, the band finally disbanded for good in the late 1970s.

Answer: Red Rubber Ball

If you mistakenly selected "Turn Down Day", at least you were close... that was the title of their follow-up hit.

The group was formed in Easton, Pennsylvania, the home of Lafayette College, in 1961 by a couple of students, Don Danneman on vocals and guitar and bassist Tom Dawes. Earl Pickens joined them on keyboards with Marty Fried on drums. By 1965, they were a pretty tight group with a wide selection of cover songs and as such, became a popular attraction at various venues along the Jersey shore. They garnered the interest of an entrepreneur named Nat Weiss who introduced the group to none other than Brian Epstein. He also liked the group's sound and agreed to manage them as well as The Beatles!

In early 1966, Danneman was called up by the Coast Guard for a six month stint to complete his military obligations. With the band on hiatus and through the intervention of another friend who was part of the back-up band for Simon and Garfunkel, Dawes became their bassist for a tour following the success of "The Sounds of Silence". Paul Simon went to England just after that song was recorded convinced it would go nowhere and certain that his partnership with Garfunkel was doomed. While there, he immersed himself in songwriting while pondering his fate. Among his compositions were a couple of pieces he wrote in partnership with Bruce Woodley, a member of The Seekers. Those songs were "Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day". Simon didn't view those songs as appropriate for he and Garfunkel and gave them to Dawes. When Danneman returned from the military, they were put to vinyl and there you have it... two big hits.

Sadly, for The Cyrkle, they couldn't rely on Simon throwaways any further and the death of Epstein in 1967 was a fatal blow they would not overcome. Four subsequent releases ranged from Number 59 to Number 95 on the Hot 100. As the group's fortunes were tumbling, however, both Dawes and Danneman were starting to reap individual rewards writing jingles. The other members of the group also had other irons in the fire - Pickens had already left for medical school while Fried was intent on pursuing a career in law. With their future vocations in view, the group folded their tent in early 1968 and they all went on to successful careers in their chosen fields. They only reunited once to perform at a benefit concert in 1986.

Answer: The Ballad of the Green Berets

The big hit, of course, was "The Ballad of the Green Berets". "The 'A' Team" was Sadler's follow-up hit which peaked at Number 28. "War" was an anti-war screed recorded by Edwin Starr. It hit Number One in 1970. "Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley" was a spoken word recording featuring D/J Terry Nelson and a group of studio musicians that called themselves C Company for this enterprise. It pleaded the case in defense of Lt. Calley who was found guilty in Military Court of murdering 109 Vietnamese civilians in the infamous My Lai massacre. Although it only managed a Number 37 ranking on the Hot 100, it sold over two million copies!

SSgt Barry Sadler was born in 1940. His parents were both professional gamblers who divorced while he was a child. Living with his mother, he moved frequently throughout the S.W. States as she sought job opportunities as a restaurant/bar manager. He quit school after grade ten and lived the life of a vagabond for a year before entering the Air Force. Upon his discharge, he then re-upped in the Army and volunteered for the Special Forces, earning his Green Beret as a medic and weapons expert.

Deployed in Vietnam, he was injured in a raid by a "punji" stick, a feces covered bamboo spear designed to wound through infection and it worked very well on Sadler. Seriously ill and in danger of having a leg amputated, perhaps even dying, he was flown back to the States to receive treatment at the Walter Reed Hospital. While recuperating, he composed this song and often sang it to fellow patients to elevate their spirits. On one such occasion, his impromptu performance was filmed by a local TV crew and the reaction by the public was so overwhelming that the song was recorded, selling two million copies within five weeks of its release. Although Sadler had dabbled as a troubadour during those vagabond days, he never had intentions of being an entertainer. Probably suffering from lack of experience in the business and commitment to it, further recordings stiffed and he was out of the industry by the end of the decade.

In the 1970s he became a successful author and then, moving to Guatemala in 1983, he dabbled in the supply of weapons and transportation to the Nicaraguan Contras during their civil war. In 1988, while riding in a cab, he was shot in the head by either an assassin or a would-be thief. Although he survived, he remained bedridden for the last year of his life, succumbing to a heart attack in 1989.