Whose Line Was It Anyway? UK Number One Hits 1960 Quiz

Answer: Michael Holliday

The lyrics are from the song "Starry Eyed" which was the first UK number one of the 1960's and Michael Holliday's second and last number one. He had two more minor hits in 1960 but sadly commited suicide in 1963, just a year after fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles hit the UK charts.

Frankie Vaughan another singer from Liverpool had number one hits in 1957 and 1961 but no top twenty entry in 1960. Marty Wilde a great British Rock 'n' Roller had six top ten hits in the late 1950's and early 1960's but never hit the number one spot. Marty Robbins only had two top twenty entries in the UK charts but had many hits in the US on the pop and country charts. He had a US top 20 pop hit in 1957 with "The Story Of My Life" which was Michael Holliday's first number one on the UK charts in 1958.

Answer: Adam Faith

The song was "Poor Me" which was Adam Faith's second and last number one. Adam Faith had numorous chart hits including nine more top ten hits and then had a successful acting career but sadly died of a heart attack in 2003.

Johnny Preston had a number one hit with "Running Bear" and four other chart hits in 1960 and then said goodbye to the UK charts. Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash in 1959 was still having hits in the UK and hit the charts with three records in 1960 the highest at number 25 was "True Love Ways" which was a hit again for Peter and Gordon at number two in the UK and number 14 in the US in 1965. Bobby Vee, who along with Adam Faith sounded a lot like Buddy Holly, never scored a number one hit in the UK but had seven top ten hits from 1961 to 1963 and had a minor hit in the US in 1960 with a cover version of Adam Faith's first UK number one "What Do You Want"

Answer: Lonnie Donegan

This song, "My Old Man's A Dustman" was Lonnie's third and last UK number one. Lonnie Donegan who died in 2002 had a massive influence on UK music in the 1950's and 1960's and was known as The King of Skiffle in his heyday and although he faded from the scene after the British music explosion in the 1960's his record speaks for itself. He had seventeen top ten UK hits, three of which reached number one and was the first British male singer to have two US top ten hits.

Nat 'King' Cole had fifteen top ten hits in the UK but never had a number one. His one UK top ten hit in 1960 was "That's You" and he had another one, a reissue of "When I Fall In Love" in 1987, twenty two years after his death in 1965. Neil Sedaka was another singer that never reached the top of the UK charts but had seven top ten hits including "Stairway To Heaven" in 1960. He wrote many songs for other artists but like many others faded after the British invasion in the 1960's. His career was revived in the 1970's when he had two number one hits in the US to add to the one he had in 1962 "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" which reached number seven in the UK. Matt Monro rated as one of the best UK singers in the Sinatra, Bennett mode never had a UK number one but had five top ten hits including "Portrait Of My Love" which reached number three in 1960. This was at a time when singers did not need a chart hit to be popular and he had very successful TV shows and tours to Australia and Spain where he was particularly popular. He died in 1985

Answer: Anthony Newley

The song in question was "Why" the first of two number one hits in 1960 for Anthony Newley an internationaly successful British Actor/Singer/Composer who had played the Artful Dodger in the movie "Oliver Twist"

Frankie Avalon's original version of the song reached number one in the US in 1959 but only got to number 20 in the UK in 1960. Ronnie Carrol had been hitting the british charts since 1956 and had two top ten hits in 1962 and 1963. Like Matt Monro he had a successful TV career despite the lack of chart hits after 1963. This also applied to The King Brothers another popular act of the time who had top 20 hits from 1957 to 1961. Their biggest hit was "Standing On The Corner" which reached number four in 1960.

Answer: Johnny Kidd & The Pirates

These lines are from "Shakin' All Over" the only number one for Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. They made the top ten again in 1963 but Johnny (real name Frederick Heath) was killed in a car crash in 1966.

What more can be said about Sir Cliff & The Shadows, they had numerous number one's together and separate and Cliff is looking for another number one to make it a UK number one in six decades. Brian Poole & The Trems had one number one then Brian left and they had one more number one and six top ten hits. Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers had two top ten hits in 64 & 66 one being a cover of the Beatles "Got To Get You Into My Life" and that was it for them.

Answer: Elvis Presley

"It's Now Or Never" was the song, Elvis Presley's first of eleven UK number one's in the 60's.

Bobby Vinton never had a number one hit in the UK and only two minor hits in the 60's. His "Blue Velvet" a US number one in 1963 reached number two on the UK chart in 1990. Bobby Rydell another singer with many US hits only had three UK top 20 hits, "Wild One" reaching number seven in 1960. Yet Another Bobby (there was a lot of them around in the 60's), Bobby Darin had more success in the UK than his namesake's with two number one's in the 50's and seven top ten hits in the 60's. He had many singing styles, played piano, wrote songs and appeared in movies but died age 37 in 1973 of heart failure.

Answer: The Everly Brothers

"Cathy's Clown" was the song and the second of four UK number one's for the Everly's who were one of the most popular and influential acts of the 50's & early 60's. Inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame & The Country Music Hall Of Fame, they split up in 1973.

The Kalin Twins, also from the US on the other hand were one hit wonders in the UK although they did hit the number one spot with "When" in 1958. The Allisons a UK duo just missed out on a number one in 1961 reaching number two with "Are You Sure" but only had two minor hits after that. The Brook Brothers another UK duo had a similar fate, reaching number five with "Warpaint" in 1961 then four minor hits and chart oblivion.

Answer: Eddie Cochran

"Three Steps To Heaven" was the song, a posthumous UK number one in May 1960 for Eddie Cochran, who was killed in a car crash in Wiltshire UK barely a month before, in which Gene Vincent was injured. It never entered his home top 100 chart in the US but like fellow Americans Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and Del Shannon, Eddie had more hits in the UK than in the US.

Buddy Holly died in 1959 but four years later in 1963 he had three UK Top ten hits and was still having number one albums in the 90's. Gene Vincent never had any chart hits after 1961 but was continually touring the UK until his death in 1971. Del Shannon (one of my favourites from the early 60's) had a similar number of chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic but had eight top ten hits in the UK and four top ten hits in the US. His only number one in both countries was the 1961 multi-million seller "Runaway". He took his own life in 1990.

Answer: Roy Orbison

The track was "Only The Lonely", Roy Orbison's first UK chart entry and number one. A good start for the big O, who would go on to have two more number one's in 1964, right in the middle of Beatlemania when not many Americans had hits in the UK. After a 30 year chart gap he had a posthumous UK number three hit with "You Got It".

Ricky Nelson (he later dropped the y) was a child star on TV in the US and had many chart hits in the UK but never a number one. Ricky's father had topped the US charts in the 1930's and his two sons as the duo Nelson did the same in 1990. Bobby Vee, a very popular teen idol in the early 60's had seven UK Top Ten hits beween 1961 and 1963 but no number one. James Darren had a few minor chart hits in the UK between 1960 and 1962 but was a successful film & TV actor and played the part of Vic Fontaine the holographic crooner in Star Trek-Deep Space Nine.

Answer: Jimmy Jones

After Jimmy Jones had got to number three earlier in the year with "Handyman" he had perfect timing with this UK number one hit "Good Timin'" but only had three minor hits after that.

Tommy Roe had three top ten hits in the early 60's but had to wait until 1969 for a number one with "Dizzy". Clyde McPhatter lead singer with the origional Drifters had many solo US hits in the 50's & 60's but only one minor UK hit "Treasure Of Love" in 1956. Del Shannon's hits didn't start until 1961 when he had a world wide number one with "Runaway" but his later hits (including a cover version of Jimmy Jones's "Handyman") became more popular in the UK than at home in the US, although he did return to the US top 100 in 1981 with "Sea Of Love".