We're Number Two! - VOL I Trivia Quiz

Answer: Louie Louie

The reason for the confusion about the song was that Ron Ely, the lead singer for the Kingsmen who recorded this hit, garbled the lyrics so thoroughly that it was virtually unintelligible even to the most discerning listener.

"Louie Louie" was written by one Richard Berry. While a member of The Pharaohs, a group based in L.A., he wrote the song and the group recorded it as the "B" side of one of their releases in 1957. It garnered some local attention and over the years, became a popular song among bands along the West Coast until The Kingsmen finally made a hit of it, first regionally in the west then nationally. Originally, as written and performed by the Pharaohs, it was a calypso/reggae styled number and told the story of a Jamaican sailor who was going to sea in search of his true love. He tells his story to Louie, a bartender and ends with the classic words, about the only ones we could understand in The Kingsmen version, "Louie, Louie, me gotta go". Berry died in 1997 at the age of 61 and this was his only composition that achieved any sort of commercial success.

Two songs denied "Louie Louie" access to Number One on the charts. "Dominique" by The Singing Nun was Number One for the first two weeks and when it surrendered the top spot, Bobby Vinton leapfrogged "Louie Louie" with his "There! I've Said It Again" for the final four weeks. All prospects of rising to the top were done when Beatlemania arrived... "I Want To Hold Your Hand" took over the Number One spot for the next seven weeks! Maybe it never made it to the top but its notoriety as perhaps the biggest "garage rock" song ever is some solace.

All your other choices were Number Two hits so remember those for later installments of this series. Of those, only "Puff" charted in 1963, but it reached its peak seven months earlier in May. "Bread and Butter" by The Newbeats was Number Two for a pair of weeks in 1964 as was "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965.

Answer: 19th Nervous Breakdown

Certainly, the popularity of "The Ballad of the Green Berets" could not be challenged at the time. It was a patriotic attempt by SSgt. Barry Sadler to boost the morale of American soldiers battling away in what proved to be an unpopular and unwinnable war in Viet Nam. But when the war ended, this song became a curio, a blip in Billboard chart history.

Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown", a scathing indictment of whiny, spoiled brats who have everything and still are discontent with their lot, is as relevant today as it was when first released... perhaps even more so. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

"Psychotic Reaction" was a Number Five hit in 1966 for Count Five, Buffalo Springfield scored a Number Seven hit with "For What It's Worth" in 1967 and "Runaway Child, Running Wild" reached Number Six in 1969 for The Temptations.

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Those songs, in order, were "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Green River". "Proud Mary" peaked at Number Two on March 8 and stayed there for three weeks, stymied in its quest for the top by "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone for one week, then by Tommy Roe's "Dizzy" for the other two. "Bad Moon Rising" sat at Number Two for the week of June 28th, denied Number One by "Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet" as performed by Henry Mancini and his Orchestra. "Green River" was held at bay for the Number One position on the Hot 100 by "Sugar, Sugar", The Archies smash hit, on Sept. 27th.

Ultimately, Creedence Clearwater Revival would establish the record for "most hits peaking at Number Two without having a Number One hit". In 1970, the star-crossed group would have two more Number Two hits - "Travelin' Band" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door" but the Number One song eluded them for the balance of their days. The group disbanded in 1972.

Answer: Blood, Sweat and Tears

The first of those lyrics came from "You've Made Me So Very Happy". It peaked at Number Two on April 12, and there it stayed for three weeks. Unfortunately, that same week "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", by the 5th Dimension, reached Number One and it remained at the top for six weeks. Undeterred, Blood Sweat and Tears released their second song of the year, "Spinning Wheel".

It raced up the charts and reached Number Two on July 5th just behind Mancini's "Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet". The next week, another song that was destined to top the charts for six weeks, "In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans, took over top spot. "Spinning Wheel" Became the second consecutive Blood, Sweat and Tears release to peak at Number Two for three weeks. That's just terrible luck! Their third song was "And When I Die".

The Fifth Dimension broke the boy's hearts once again. Their "Wedding Bell Blues" denied "And When I Die" the Number One position on the Hot 100 for the only week it peaked at Number Two on Nov. 29th. Sadly for the group, that was as close as they would come to topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In fact, they would never again have a Top 10 hit before calling it quits in 1975.

Answer: Snoopy

That song was "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen. It peaked on December 31, 1966 and was lodged at Number Two for four weeks. The Number One song for those four weeks and three more to boot was "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees.

The Royal Guardsmen survived for four years largely on the backs of Snoopy and The Red Baron. Altogether, they would release four albums and 14 singles based on those characters before the well ran dry in 1969 when the group disbanded.

Snoopy's owner, Charlie Brown, was the subject of a Number Two song by the Coasters but in 1959. The cartoon character "Alley-Oop" was also the lead character in a song of the same name by the Hollywood Argyles. However, it actually reached Number One in 1960. There was never a song during this era about Superman that became a Number Two charting hit. Herbie Mann recorded a Number 26 hit in 1979 with the title "Superman" but being unfamiliar with the song, I'm unsure whether it was about the "caped crusader" or not. Donovan's Number One hit "Sunshine Superman", also in 1966, makes an oblique reference to Superman as well as The Green Lantern but the song was not about him, per se.

Answer: Like A Rolling Stone

When Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" reached its peak position for a couple of weeks, "Help" by the Beatles was Number One for three weeks. Dylan would also score a Number Two hit the following year, 1966, with "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35". On that occasion "Monday, Monday" by The Mama's & The Papa's held sway at the top of the charts. Your other choices were also Bob Dylan titles but, obviously, never Number Two hits. "Just Like a Woman" peaked at Number 33 in 1966, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" at Number 39 and "Positively 4th Street" at Number Seven, both in 1965.

As this is being written in 2009, Dylan is 68 years old and still active. However, his last charting single in 2006 peaked at a rather dismal Number 98 on the Pop 100 chart so the odds of him ever having a Number One hit are long indeed. Should he beat those odds, he would become the oldest person ever to top the Billboard charts. That distinction has been held by Louis Armstrong since 1964. He was 62 years of age when "Hello Dolly" reached Number One.

Answer: Those Were the Days

"Those Were the Days" was a song dating back to the early 1900s of Russian Gypsy origins. It was "Anglicized" by a British folk singer, Gene Raskin, in the early 1960s when Paul McCartney first heard it and became intrigued with it.

Early in 1968, Mary Hopkin won several episodes of a televised talent contest in the U.K., "Opportunity Knocks". Fashion model Twiggy thought highly of those performances and touted this 17 year old talented Welsh girl to her friend McCartney who auditioned her. He was also impressed and thought he could mentor her to stardom using "Those Were the Days" as the vehicle. He was right!

This song and "Hey Jude" were the first major hits released by the then fledgling Apple record label. In a peculiar turn of events, "Hey Jude", Number One for nine weeks, was the hit that denied Mary Hopkin a chance to earn the Number One spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Conversely, "Hey Jude" topped the U.K. charts for only two weeks and it was "Those Were the Days" that replaced it for six solid weeks.

Your other choices were all Number One songs in the U.K. in 1968 but not really big hits in America. The Lennon/McCartney composition "With a Little Help From My Friends" peaked at Number 68 for Joe Cocker. The Bee Gees' "I've Gotta Get a Message To You" was the biggest Billboard hit of those three peaking at Number Eight. "Baby Come Back" was a minor Number 32 hit for The Equals, Eddie Grant's group.

Answer: Twist and Shout

Now don't feel bad that "Twist and Shout" never reached Number One... it was The Beatles' own fault! For its entire four-week stint at Number Two, another Beatles' song was Number One - "Can't Buy Me Love". The other Beatles' hits offered as your choices were all 1964 releases and their chart performances were as follows: "I Saw Her Standing There" peaked at Number 14 and "Please Please Me at Number Three earlier in the year; "P.S. I Love You" managed a Number 10 chart placement later in May.

"Twist and Shout" had one other charting distinction... it was the only Top 40 Beatles' song to be re-released and chart again. Thanks largely to its inclusion as part of the soundtrack of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", it returned to the Hot 100 in 1986 as a Number 23 hit.

Answer: A Lover's Concerto

An all female trio of New York City schoolgirls named The Toys scored with "A Lovers Concerto" and it was easily the biggest hit of their brief union. Their follow-up, "Attack", was reasonably successful as a Number 18 hit but two subsequent releases barely made an impression on the Hot 100 in 1966 and later material didn't even do that. By 1968, they disbanded with one member, Barbara Harris, getting married to a musician and becoming part of the New York bar scene in partnership with him for decades afterward. The other two gals, Barbara Parritt and June Montiero, became members of one of several touring "Marvelette" groups extant at the time.

"A Lovers Concerto" was really a lovely song adapted from Johann Sebastian Bach's Minuet in G... except for one notoriously inept version performed by the musical joke known as Mrs. Miller. Check it out on youtube... you deserve a laugh today, that is, if you can stand it! Believe it or not, Mrs. Miller charted at Number 95 with her... ah, rendition!

Answer: He'll Have To Go

Since "He'll Have To Go" was Jim Reeves' only Top 10 hit on the Hot 100, it was certainly his biggest pop hit ever. He had several Number Ones on the country chart including five that were posthumous Number Ones following his untimely death in a plane crash near Nashville in 1964. Shortly after the release of this song, an "answer" song, "He'll Have To Stay" by Jeanne Black had a nice chart life of its own, peaking at Number Four during a 15 week chart run.

Of your other choices, "Last Date" was an instrumental hit by pianist Floyd Cramer that peaked at Number Two for four weeks in 1960. "Come Softly To Me" was a four week Number One hit for The Fleetwoods in 1959 and "Secretly" was a Number Three success for Jimmie Rodgers in 1958.