We're Number Two! - Vol VII Trivia Quiz

Answer: Those Were The Days

In August 1968, Apple Records commenced operations by releasing four singles: "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin, "Sour Milk Sea" by Jackie Lomax and "Thingumybob" by The Black Dyke Mills Band. The latter two went nowhere and have long been forgotten but the first two would go on to hold the Number One and Two positions on both the Billboard and U.K. charts at the same time. The label had a very auspicious debut!

Paul McCartney adapted this old Russian song, passed it on to Mary Hopkin, produced the record and played acoustic guitar for the recording session. As a McCartney protégé, one would have thought that the sky would be the limit for Hopkin but it wasn't to be. Her follow up release "Goodbye" did reasonably well in all markets but subsequent releases were largely ignored in North America and by 1970, in England too. Although she continued to record sporadically right into the new millennium without much acclaim, she continues to perform at concerts and special events in Great Britain.

"Reach Out, I'll Be There" hit Number One for The Temptations in 1966, "How Can I Be Sure" by The Rascals soared to Number Four in 1967 and "Hello Stranger" was Barbara Lewis' biggest hit at Number Three in 1963.

Answer: She's Not There

The lyrics to this Number Two song come from The Zombies biggest hit "She's Not There". One of your other choices was also a Number Two hit, "She's A Lady" by Tom Jones in 1971. "She's Just My Style" by Gary Lewis and The Playboys peaked at Number Three in 1966 while "She'd Rather Be With Me" achieved the same placing for The Turtles the following year in 1967.

The Zombies were formed by Rod Argent during the early 1960s in the London suburb of St. Albans. They won a talent contest in 1963, the prize being a record contract with the Decca label. "She's Not There" was their first release on the label followed up with the Number Six hit "Tell Her No" which, peculiarly, did not chart in the U.K. Unlike many of their contemporaries of the era, the Zombies were musical experimenters and produced several songs that were decidedly different from the norm. They explored unique melody lines and experimented with tempo shifts in the middle of their songs. Although many of their creations were critically acclaimed, they were deemed by most radio stations to lack listener appeal and without air play, they weren't commercially successful either. Hence, only a couple reached the lower realms of the Hot 100 and none charted in Britain at all. In 1967 and now with the Columbia label, they decided to record one more album as their swan song then go their separate ways. Lo and behold, one track from that album attracted attention and became a big Number Three hit in early 1969, "Time Of The Season". Thoughts of reforming were briefly considered but by then, Rod Argent had already formed a new group, Argent, and other members of the group were otherwise settled as well. Deciding that "Time Of The Season" was the aberration, not the three long fallow years, they chose to leave well enough alone.

Answer: Lil' Red Riding Hood

All these were songs recorded by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and "Lil' Red Riding Hood" was their second biggest hit after another Number Two, "Wooly Bully", released in 1965. "Ring Dang Doo" could chart no higher than Number 33 in 1965 while "The Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin" rose to Number 22 in 1966. Two different hits prevented "Lil' Red Riding Hood" from the coveted Number One spot, "Wild Thing" by the Troggs and "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful.

Domingo Samudio was "Sam the Sham", the "Sham" jokingly hung on him by band mates mocking his vocal talent. He actually started in the music biz in the mid 1950s, then joined the Marines for six years until 1962. He worked as a carny for a while before giving music another whirl and when the leader of the band he was playing with left the group, he took over the reins and the Pharaohs were born. They focused on novelty songs and had nine charting recordings between 1965 and 1967 but outside of "Wooly Bully" and this hit, most were mid-chart or lower offerings. Tiring of the Pharaohs shtick, he changed the musical direction of the group in 1968 without meaningful success then went solo in 1970 with similar results. Over the years, he has dabbled in enterprises such as motivational speaking and serving as a street preacher in Memphis and with the new millennium, he continues to record the occasional new CD.

Answer: Soul Man

Along with Aretha Franklin and James Brown, Sam and Dave epitomized the "soul" sound prominent in the late 1960s. Sam Moore and Dave Prater met in Miami in 1961 and joined forces shortly thereafter. Early recording efforts proved fruitless but when they were signed to Atlantic records in 1965, they gained access to the writing and production work of Isaac Hayes and David Porter with Stax records, an Atlantic subsidiary. Hits like this one, "Hold On! I'm A Comin'" and "I Thank You" swiftly followed. Unfortunately, the deal between Atlantic and Stax terminated in 1968 and Sam and Dave's fortunes quickly declined. Even more crucially, they came to despise each other personally so their break up in 1970 was inevitable. In an interview later, Sam admitted that the source of their animosity was his addiction to drugs. They reunited in 1979 shortly after the success of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's successful parody of Sam and Dave's style in the "Blues Brothers" but the reunion was short lived. Prater was killed in a car accident in 1988 while Moore released his first album in over 35 years in 2006.

When "Soul Man" had its three week run at Number Two, "To Sir With Love" by Lulu was topping the charts. "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley also peaked at Number Two in 1967 as did "Little Bit O' Soul" for The Music Explosion. "Cowboys To Girls" was a Number Six hit for The Intruders in 1968. "Soul Man" peaked at Number 24 on the U.K. charts.

Answer: Crying

All the other songs listed were Number Twos... but a year later in 1962. "Ramblin' Rose" was performed by Nat King Cole, "Only Love Can Break A Heart" scored for Gene Pitney and "You Don't Know Me" was a classic by Ray Charles. Our featured tune was provided by Roy Orbison, of course, and another Ray Charles hit, "Hit The Road, Jack", prevented it from climbing to Number One.

Bill Dahl, a music critic with American Music Guide, describes Roy Orbison's "Crying" this way; "Under no circumstances should Roy Orbison's "Crying" ever be listened to by anyone who's even remotely depressed. The grief, regret, and eternal damnation to an existence drenched in tears that Orbison vividly invests with typically breathtaking vocal bravado could be overwhelming enough to drive anyone so inclined to end it all." Orbison actually wrote this piece after a chance encounter with an old flame, a relationship that he hadn't personally reconciled as over... the emotions were truly heartfelt!

"Crying" made three charting appearances altogether both on Billboard and in Britain, this original hit peaking at Number 25 over there. It reappeared on Billboard as a Number 25 hit for Jay and The Americans in 1966 then at Number Five for Don McLean in April 1981. McLean's version forged its way right to Number One in the U.K. much earlier in May of 1980. Its final charting appearance in the U.K. took place in 1992 when a version that was recorded by Orbison and k.d. lang in 1988, just before his untimely death, was released as a single in its own right abroad. Originally, it was the B-side to one of Orbison's last single releases, "She's A Mystery To Me".

Answer: Bread And Butter

In the course of "Bread And Butter", beyond the titled words and those noted in the lyric sample provided, The Newbeats mention toast and jam, mashed potatoes, t-bone steaks and peanut butter. I'm getting peckish! "Lady Marmalade" was a Number One hit for LaBelle in 1975 and in 2008, the band Weezer released "Pork And Beans". It reached Number 64 on the Billboard chart. I don't know of a song entitled "Toast And Jam" but since it was in the lyric, I thought it a nice counterbalance to the correct answer.

The Newbeats consisted of brothers Dean and Mark Mathis with lead vocalist Larry Henley, he of the falsetto voice featured in this song. They got together in 1964 and Hickory Records signed them up on the basis of a demo recording of this song. Unfortunately, they would only have four Top 40 hits for the label and none after 1965 although they persisted as a group until 1974. Henley would later achieve some measure of fame for co-writing Bette Midler's big hit "Wind Beneath My Wings".

"Bread And Butter" spent two weeks at Number Two. The first week, The Animals sat at Number One with their classic "House Of The Rising Sun" then "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison took over top spot for the second week.

Answer: Bang, Bang

Cher temporarily took a break from Sonny Bono to record "Bang Bang" and was rewarded with her biggest solo hit up to that time. But as was the case between those two at the time, Sonny wasn't far away both composing and producing this piece. It wasn't unusual for Cher to do solo recordings. During the period that they were married from 1963 to 1974, she would have 11 Top 40 solo hits, exactly the same number that Sonny and Cher would have as a duo. The song was the subject of a couple of cover versions although neither made charting appearances. One was by Vanilla Fudge and the other was a version sung by Petula Clark in both English and French.

"1, 2, 3, Redlight" was a Number Five hit for the "bubblegum" group, 1910 Fruitgum Company, in 1968. "Games People Play" by Joe South peaked at Number 12 in 1969. "Game Of Love" soared to Number One in 1965 for Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders. The Righteous Brothers impeded Cher in her quest for her first Number One hit with their ballad "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration".

Answer: Blowing In The Wind

"The answer my friend is blowing in the wind" and that was the next line in the lyric. Bob Dylan's song was given a glossy treatment by Peter, Paul and Mary and the only thing that stood between it and the Number One spot on the Hot 100 chart was Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips - Pt 2".

In assessing what "folk" songs actually reached Number One, the fuzzy line between "folk" and "pop" must be considered. Folk music first came to national attention in the late 1940s and early 1950s with the likes of Pete Seeger and The Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives and Hudie Leadbetter, was revived later in the 1950s with groups like The Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four, then in the 1960s with Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, among others. Most of these acts had their genesis in the coffee house circuit and folk festivals and it probably should be conceded that that's what made an entertainer a "folk singer". With that premise, The Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" is generally recognized as the first folk song to hit Number One in 1958. "Honeycomb" by Jimmie Rodgers was Number One in 1957 and it may have been a folk song - it sounded like one - but Rodgers is normally considered a pop act rather than a folk singer. Arbitrarily, others that followed would be "Michael" by The Highwaymen in 1961, "Walk Right In" by The Rooftop Singers in 1963 and maybe "Dominique" by The Singing Nun that same year. Now the line gets blurry. Were all those folk-rock songs from 1965 really, I mean really, folk songs? Let's list them: "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds, "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher, and Barry McGuire's "Eve Of Destruction". Then in 1966, Simon and Garfunkel and Donovan made the scene. They were certainly folkies once but were they by then? If you respond to this quiz by offering a comment with your rating, I'd be interested in getting your personal views.

Tying up loose ends, the other two choices provided in the question that haven't been mentioned yet were both Peter, Paul and Mary hits. "If I Had A Hammer" nailed a Number 10 charting position in 1962 and "Tell It On The Mountain", an old spiritual, peaked at Number 33 in 1964.

Answer: The Wanderer

The next lines were:
"They call me the wanderer, yeah the wanderer
I roam around around around..."

Whenever I hear this song, I think of Fonzie on "Happy Days". The ultra cool guy who's a chick magnet but also the type that those girl's mothers would warn to stay clear of... and it wouldn't matter a lick! In fact, the song was not autobiographical in any way but Dion did have a person in mind for a song of this nature. A neighbourhood chum was a sailor, traveled around the world and like sailors do, he was covered with tattoos. Many of those tattoos were names of girls that he had dated and that was actually referenced in the song - "Well there's Flo on my left and there's Mary on my right", those being the arms where those tattoos were placed. The song was actually written by Ernie Maresca, another pal of Dion's, and I assume that an idle conversation between the two stimulated its creation.

It seems that Dion was in a "wandering" mood in 1962 since his next hit was "Lovers Who Wander". It charted at Number Three. "Hey! Baby" was a Number One song that year for Bruce Chanel while "My True Story" hit Number Three for The Jive Five in 1961.

Answer: Tell It Like It Is

While all the other choices emphasized the "playing with a toy" aspect of the lyric, it was Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It Is" that was your correct answer. "Puppet On A String" was an Elvis song that charted at Number 14 in 1965, a period in time when "The King" struggled to achieve Top 10 results with any of his recordings. "I'm Your Puppet", on the other hand, was the biggest hit that the R&B duo, and cousins, James and Bobby Purify would ever have. It reached Number Six in 1966. Fans of The Osmonds would recognize "Yo-Yo" as one of their hits, a Number Three in 1971. "Tell It Like It Is" did not chart abroad. "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees, a song that dominated the Hot 100 for seven weeks, rained on Neville's parade.

Aaron Neville recorded with his brothers and as a solo artist throughout the early 1960s and according to my research, most of their stuff was pretty good. But even under the watchful eye of noted producer Allen Toussaint, none of those efforts yielded anything other than some positive notoriety in their hometown of New Orleans. At least until this hit! Unfortunately, the song was released on the little known Par-Lo record label that went bankrupt right after its release. Naturally, Neville was unable to immediately capitalize on its success with follow up recordings but it is a mystery, which I was unable to resolve, as to why he would fall between the cracks for over 20 years. That's how long it was before his next charting appearance as part of a duet with Linda Ronstadt on the Number Two 1989 hit "Don't Know Much". Ronstadt made a point of saying at the time that she had never performed with anybody who had a purer singing voice than Aaron Neville! He had another Top 10 hit in 1991 with the Number Eight "Everybody Plays The Fool" and that would be his last Top 40 action. Nevertheless, with the new millennium, he continues to perform and record but it seems that most of his newest work would be of the Spiritual or Gospel genre.