The Ultimate Where Were You In '62? Quiz | 1960s Music

Answer: If I Had a Hammer

"If I Had a Hammer" was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in 1949 and was originally recorded and released by their band The Weavers in 1950. 12 years later Peter, Paul and Mary scored a top ten hit with the tune, but just barely, the single peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962.

A live version by Trini Lopez fared even better, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.

Answer: Green Onions

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were the house band for Stax Records and they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Sam & Dave, just to name a few. In their spare time they released recordings under their own name, with "Green Onions" being their biggest hit. The single peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1962.

Answer: Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee (born Brenda Mea Tarpley) was only 14 years old when she scored her first top ten hit with her single "Sweet Nothin's", which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1959. During the late '50s and early '60s she had 12 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with two of these singles reaching number one. Lee's original version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", which she recorded in 1958 at the age of 13, has become a holiday staple with sales of over 25 million copies.

Answer: The Stripper

David Rose had recorded and was ready to release the single "Ebb Tide" as an A-side in 1962, but his record company, MGM Records, realized they had no B-side. Rose was out of town at the time, so they went through some of his unreleased material and came across "The Stripper", which they used as the flip side of the record.

The B-side became the hit reaching number one and ranking number five on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles chart. The song was also famously used in a TV commercial for Noxema shaving cream in 1967.

In the ad a man is seen shaving while a lovely young lady says, "Take it off, take it all off", as "The Stripper" plays in the background. Seems appropriate to me.

Answer: Dion DiMucci

Dion and the Belmonts formed in the Bronx, New York in 1957. The name Belmonts came from the street that two of the members lived on, Belmont Avenue. Between 1957 and 1960 the group had eight songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100, with three of these reaching the top 20. Due to musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and the group, he decided to pursue a solo career in October 1960. Dion had nine top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts between 1960 and 1968, one of these being "The Wanderer", which peaked at number two in 1962.

Answer: Palisades Park

"Palisades Park" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1962. It also was ranked number 14 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles chart, making the song the biggest hit of Cannon's career. The song was written by Chuck Barris, and if that name sounds familiar to you, there is a good reason. Barris is probably best known for his work in television, especially game shows.

He either created, produced or hosted some of the most iconic game shows of the '60s and '70s, including "The Dating Game", "The Newlywed Game" and "The Gong Show".

Answer: Gene Pitney

"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance)" reached number four and "Only Love Can Break a Heart" peaked at number two on the 1962 Billboard Hot 100. Both of these tunes were written by the song-writing team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but Pitney was quite a song-writer in his own right.

He wrote "Rubber Ball" recorded by Bobby Vee and "Hello Mary Lou" recorded by Ricky Nelson, both of which were top ten hits. Pitney also wrote "He's a Rebel", a number one tune by The Crystals, which ironically kept "Only Love Can Break a Heart" from reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in November of 1962.

Answer: Little Eva

"The Loco-Motion" was written by the song-writing team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King in hopes of having it recorded by Dee Dee Sharp, who had a big hit at the time with "Mashed Potato Time", but she turned it down. Eva, who was actually King's babysitter, had already recorded the demo for the song, so after Sharp turned it down, Eva's version of the song was released and her name was changed to Little Eva. Even though "The Loco-Motion" was considered a dance song, there was no dance associated with the tune when it was originally written. Once the song became popular Little Eva had to create a dance to go along with the song.

The single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 1962 and ranked number seven on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles chart.

Answer: Chubby Checker

"The Twist" was written by Hank Ballard and was originally released in 1959 by his group Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. It was a minor hit, reaching number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. Checker released a cover version in 1960 and after an appearance on American Bandstand, it rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in September of 1960.

In late 1961 the twist craze caught on again. Sightings of celebrities doing the dance made the song popular with adults and it reappeared on the charts, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1962. Chubby Checker is still twisting today, 56 years after the song's initial release.

Answer: Sheila

"Shelia", which was written by Roe, reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1962 and remained there for two weeks. Although Roe had several top ten hits after "Sheila", he didn't hit the top spot again until "Dizzy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1969. Tommy Roe turned 74 in May 2016, but he is still active and doing concerts around the country.