Which Bobby Was it? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bobby Vee

Bobby Vee got his chance at fame when the tragic death of Buddy Holly forced the promoters to find replacements so Bobby Vee and the Shadows were hired. Bobby's first chart appearance was with "Suzie Baby" which made the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 and made it to number 77.

A number of hits followed including in 1961 "Run to Him" which made it all the way to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was a top ten in Australia and the UK.

Answer: Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965 with "Little Things", climbing to number thirteen. The song did not chart in the UK but was a top ten in Australia. This record was Bobby Goldsboro's first hit outside the USA; he had previously charted with four entries during 1964 and early 1965.

The most notable hit was "See the Funny Little Clown" which had been a top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

Answer: Bobby Rydell

The song "Volare" Had been a worldwide hit in 1958 for singer/composer Domenico Modugno and a top hit for Dean Martin. In 1960 Bobby Rydell reworked the tune and put the song back in the top ten. Rydell's record went to number four on the Billboard Hot 100, number three in Australia and number four in the UK.

A minor trivial note here, the song has been a number one in 1958, 1960 and 1976 (Al Martino) - three decades and three different versions must be a record for a record.

Answer: Bobby Rydell

"Wild One" came at just the right time in 1960; some were saying that Rock and Roll was dead then this record appeared and gave Bobby Rydell his highest charting record. Number two on the Billboard Hot 100 behind "The Theme from A Summer Place" which was number one for ten weeks. "Wild One" stayed in the top ten for eight weeks.

The song was number twelve in Australia and made the top fifty in the UK.

Answer: Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin parlayed a song from 1938 into a top ten hit when "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was from a 1938 movie "Hard to Get" where it was introduced by Dick Powell. Early recordings of the song were by Russ Morgan, Tommy Dorsey and Bing Crosby who topped the charts with the song in late 1938. The record by Bobby Darin also made the top ten in Australia and the UK.

In the early seventies I found a 45 in a second hand store of "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" recorded by Robert Clary who played LeBeau on one of my favourite comedies, "Hogan's Heroes".

Answer: Bobby Vee

"Stayin' In" was by Bobby Vee, with its memorable line "so I let him have it in the cafeteria". The song made 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the flipside "More than I Can Say" only made it to number 61. In Australia it just made the top twenty, however in the UK the record went to number thirteen and the flipside made it to number four.

The song "More Than I Can Say" was written by Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis of the Crickets, whose version had made the charts in 1960. In 1980 Leo Sayer took the song to number one in Australia and Number two on both the UK charts and The Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Bobby Goldsboro

Undoubtedly Bobby Goldsboro's biggest hit was "Honey" in 1968. The record went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed for on top for five weeks. The song was a number two hit in the UK behind the Rolling Stones hit "Jumping Jack Flash" and in Australia was a number one hit for four weeks pushing "Lady Madonna" by the Beatles out of that position.

The song was written by country singer/songwriter Bobby Russell whose other memorable songs of the time were, "Little Green Apples" a hit for O.C.Smith and Roger Miller, also "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" for his then wife, Vicki Lawrence.

Answer: Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell's first charted hit, "Kissin"' Time", went to number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. The song did not chart in the UK. The song only made the top forty in Australia. The record made a teen idol of Bobby Rydell and his management, keen to capitalise, sent him on tour to Australia in a package show.

The show featured Rydell, The Everly Brothers, Marv Johnson and headlined by an act, unknown in his native America, Billy 'Crash" Craddock who was taking Australia by storm in 1960. Bobby Rydell had re-recorded "KIssin' Time" with Australian place names substituted for those of the USA.

This version made the charts in Australia climbing to number seven.

Answer: Bobby Darin

"Things" was written and recorded by Bobby Darin in 1962 for his album "Things and Other Things". The song was thought to be a hit by Jerry Wexler, Atlantic A&R man and producer, who convinced Darin to let it be released as a single. Jerry was right, the song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed at number three for four weeks behind "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka and "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva; both of these records made number one.
In Australia the record made the top ten and in the UK it peaked at number two behind Frank Ifield with "I Remember You".

Answer: Bobby Rydell

"Sway" was written as a Mexican ballad; Norman Gimbel wrote the English words and livened the song up a little and it was recorded in 1954 by Dean Martin who had a top twenty hit with it.
Bobby Rydell recorded "Sway" in 1960 and took it to number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. In Australia the song made it to number two behind Elvis's "Are You Lonesome Tonight". The record made number twelve on the UK charts. "Sway" was Bobby Rydell's sixth of seven tracks to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, four of them making the top ten.

Bobby Rydell was one the of early sixties teen idols and was extremely popular in the period 1959-1962 along with Elvis, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Vee and Ricky Nelson. Neil Sedaka, Gene Pitney, Del Shannon and Roy Orbison were very popular and had many hits in that period, but were not considered teen idols.

"Sway" was recorded by Canadian crooner Michael Buble on his self titled album in 2003, released as a single in Australia it made it to the top twenty.

Answer: Bobby Vee

"Take Good Care of My Baby" was the biggest hit for Bobby Vee on the Billboard Hot 100, making the number one slot in 1961. The record reached number two in Australia kept out of the top spot by Bob Moore's instrumental hit "Mexico". In the UK where Bobby Vee was very popular the song made it to number three.

Answer: Bobby Darin

"Dream Lover" was Bobby Darin's best charting hit outside the USA. It made number two on the Billboard hot 100. It made number two in Australia and stayed in the charts for five months. In the UK the song was a number one hit in 1959.
The song was written by Bobby Darin and spawned a number of cover versions by such artists as Dion, Ben E. King and Don McLean.

Answer: Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro hit the charts late in 1973 with "Summer (The First Time)"; the song was banned in some places as it is about a young man's sexual awakening. We had survived the sixties but some still held on to old mores and it was banned on some stations in Australia. That only helped it chart performance and consequently sales.

The record made twenty one on the Billboard Hot 100, seven on the Australian chart and number nine in the UK.

Answer: Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin wrote and recorded "18 Yellow Roses" in 1963 and scored a top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The song went to number seven in Australia and competed with a version by a local crooner, Sandy Scott, whose version stalled at number twenty. In the UK the song peaked at number seventeen.
According to a theory of the time Darin wrote this song when he heard of Joe DiMaggio's weekly offering of eighteen roses each week to Marilyn Monroe's grave.

Answer: Bobby Goldsboro

"Voodoo Woman was Bobby Goldsboro's first chart entry of 1965 on the Billboard Hot 100; he charted later that year with "Broomstick Cowboy". Despite much airplay these two very good records did not chart much outside North America. Some of Bobby Goldsboro's other hits were "Molly" (1962) "See the Funny Little Clown" (1964) "It's Too Late" (1966) "Autumn of My Life" (1968) "The Straight Life" (1968) "Watching Scotty Grow" (1970) and "The Cowgirl and the Dandy" (1980). Bobby Goldsboro placed 26 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

In all these four Bobbys placed over 140 titles on the Billboard Hot 100, 25 of which were top tens. They totalled over 1100 weeks in that period on the Hot 100 and between them had over 50 albums on the Billboard Album chart. In their glory days (1958-1975) they created many memories for the baby boomer generation.