Wrapping up the Hits from 1963 Quiz

Answer: Our Day Will Come

"Our Day Will Come" was composed by Mort Garson and Bob Hilliard and they intended the song to be recorded by a "name" act. Before she had a "name", Dionne Warwick recorded the demo and it attracted the attention of Kapp Records who thought it would be the perfect vehicle for one of their new prospects, Ruby and The Romantics. The composers agreed only with the proviso that if their recording bombed, it would be given to their label mate, Jack Jones. No need... the original recording ran lickety-split up the charts right to Number One.

Ruby and The Romantics were a quintet of vocalists who emigrated from various other Akron groups in 1962 and moved to New York City when they signed up to the Kapp label. Unfortunately, they started at the top and slowly regressed with each subsequent release despite their resonant harmonies. Their Top 40 catalogue consists of three releases from 1963 and no others. They persisted without any line-up changes, to no avail, until disbanding in 1971 and it seems that everyone in the group left show business entirely at that time. Lead singer, Ruby Nash, still resides in Akron as this is being written in 2019 but the other four male singers of the group are now all deceased.

Answer: (You're the) Devil in Disguise

For chart-oriented geeks like me, it's interesting to follow the arc of Presley's career via Billboard's Hot 100. From his 1956 debut hit "Heartbreak Hotel" and for the next couple of years, he owned the Top 40 chart with twenty hits cracking that barrier. He lost some career momentum due to his army stint in 1958-9 but rebounded in a big way in 1960 and 1961. The start of his decline, in terms of chart dominance, began in 1962, continued in 1963 then fell off considerably into 1964 and thereafter... the Beatles era! From 1963 to mid-1969, he only had one Top Ten hit, the Number Three "Crying in the Chapel" in 1965, a song he actually recorded in 1960!

I attribute the waning of his recording career primarily to two factors. First, he was now more a movie star than a recording star and quite frankly, the stuff he sang in the movies wasn't stellar material. Looking at his charting "hits" in that period, they were either lifted from movie soundtracks or, like "Crying in the Chapel", were recorded much earlier and released from the vault. Second, he was 28 years old in 1963 and in those days, that was pretty creaky. I note that John Lennon was the guest panelist on a British TV show that rated new releases and he gave "Devil in Disguise" a miss. He suggested that at the time, Presley was becoming a Bing Crosby! Ouch! A little harsh in my opinion but point made. Personally, I liked this song.

Answer: Green, Green

Of your alternatives, "Eve of Destruction" was Barry McGuire's solo Number One hit from 1965, "Don't Let the Rain Come Down" was a Number Six hit in 1964 by another rival ensemble group, The Serendipity Singers, while "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" was a rockin' Number 17 hit by the Bob Seger System in 1969. "Green, Green" was written by Randy Sparks in collaboration with McGuire.

Singer/songwriter Randy Sparks formed the New Christy Minstrels in 1961 just as the folk music craze was building up momentum. Most folk music acts at that time ranged from solo performers to quintets but Sparks envisioned a large group that would enhance the act's versatility and project a more voluminous sound. Eventually, they would grow to fourteen voices and their earliest albums were extremely popular. Originally meant to be a recording entity only, problems ensued when a management team, brought aboard by Sparks, started negotiating live performances, TV engagements and the like. Several members of the group joined to avoid that very commitment. They enjoyed the studio work but had other interests or avocations they wished to pursue otherwise. Barry McGuire and several other members quit at that time setting in motion a revolving door of personnel. By 1964, Sparks himself decided to leave the group and as the folk music movement was also winding down, the ever-shuffling line-up turned to a combination of folk, pop, showtunes and assorted other genres for their act. Sometime during the 1990s, with engagements and public interest declining, the group finally gave up the ghost.

Early in the new millennium, Sparks revived the group with some of the original members and continues to lead them on a limited number of live performances.

Answer: Deep Purple

"Deep Purple" was a piano composition written by Peter DeRose in 1933 and became so popular through sheet music sales that lyricist Mitchell Parish added lyrics to the piece in 1938. Many bands recorded the composition in 1939 with Larry Clinton and Jimmy Dorsey garnering the greatest success with their recordings. Clinton's version proved to be the biggest hit of 1939, topping the charts of the day for nine weeks. Dorsey's rendition peaked at Number Two.

It remains a mystery to me why the duo recorded a song that was 25 years old but, presumably based on its surprising success (rated the 18th biggest hit of the year based on Billboard Hot 100 chart performance), they followed up with two other old standards and had reasonable charting results with those as well. Their rendition of "Whispering", a Number One Paul Whiteman hit from 1920, peaked at Number 11 in early 1964 while "Stardust", Hoagy Carmichael's classic standard and also a Number One hit for Isham Jones in 1931, stalled at Number 31 a couple of months later. Further attempts at reviving other old standards proved fruitless. Later, Tempo became a session man and producer for other artists while Stevens seems to have gradually faded from the music scene altogether.

If you listen to the song, you'll immediately notice that Stevens sensuously speaks much of the middle part of the song while Tempo sings the same words immediately after. Stevens later confirmed the rumor that her brother was forgetting the lyric when they were recording a demo so she spoke the words for him to mimic. When the producers heard the demo, they thought it was a cute touch and decided to leave it in the final product, much to Tempo's chagrin.

Originally, "Deep Purple" was to be the "B" side of the record with the "A" side being this memorable song - "I've Been Carrying a Torch For You So Long That It Burned a Great Big Hole in My Heart"! After the songs "switched sides", that verbose title held the record for being the longest "B" side title for a Number One hit until the "B" side of Prince's Number One from 1984, "When Doves Cry", edged it out. You can look that one up for yourself!

Answer: Judy's Turn to Cry

In "It's My Party", she was left crying when that tart Judy apparently stole her boyfriend Johnny. But with the sequel, Johnny sees the light, returns to Lesley and presumably they get married and live happily ever after. Now it was "Judy's Turn to Cry". Thankfully, there wasn't a sequel to the sequel!

During the period of time when I was attentive to popular music (1950s to the early 1990s), there weren't many "sequel" hits at all. I'm going to discount all the "dance songs" right off. I think a sequel should follow up on a story line rather than serve as encouragement to continue dancing to the latest craze. Similarly, songs like "(I'm the Girl on) Wolverton Mountain", a Number 38 entry from Joanne Campbell in 1962, and Jeanne Black's Number Four hit, "He'll Have to Stay", in response to Jim Reeves "He'll Have to Go" in 1960, are "answer songs" not sequels by my arbitrary definition. Buddy Holly followed up "Peggy Sue" with "Peggy Sue Got Married" but despite being a pretty good song, it failed to chart. I could only come up with two examples that fit my criteria... this one and Harry Chapin's sequel to his 1972 hit "Taxi" with the aptly titled "Sequel" in 1980.

If any of you readers in Quizzyland can come up with others, let me know. I'll add them to this list and acknowledge the source! But remember my rules!

Answer: Up on the Roof

As a group, The Drifters have an amazing biography over their 66 years of existence as this is being written in 2019. From their inception by Clyde McPhatter in 1953, there was a continuous thread of Drifters into the early 1970s although the lineup of personnel was constantly morphing. Then in the 1970s, several splinter groups emerged and for the next twenty years, lawsuits flew back and forth challenging who the "real" Drifters were. Even in 2019, it appears that there may be two Drifter groups extant. The one certainty was that during their halcyon days from 1959 to 1964, they produced some wonderful music and that should be their legacy.

Certainly, they may be the only group to have at least four big hits featuring four different lead singers! In 1954 when black R&B groups had no chance of having their music being played on commercial radio stations, they managed to have a million selling gold record, an incredible feat! McPhatter sang lead on "Honey Love" which managed to climb up to Number 21 on the pop chart but was Number One for several weeks on the R&B or "colored" chart. When McPhatter deserted the group a short time later, there was a long fallow period until the group resurfaced in 1959 with "There Goes My Baby", a Number Two hit featuring Ben E. King as lead singer. He also performed that role with the group's only Number One hit "Save the Last Dance For Me" in 1960. When King departed for a solo career, The Drifters found a lead singing jewel in Rudy Lewis. He was at the mic when they recorded "Up on the Roof" and a Number Nine hit, "On Broadway". The day before they were scheduled to record "Under the Boardwalk", Lewis died suddenly from either an O.D., a heart attack or choking from a food binge... it's never been clarified to this day. In the shadow of that catastrophic tragedy, Johnny Moore filled the breach and that song became their final Top Ten hit peaking at Number Four.

I take away three things from all of this: 1. The group and their many members were resilient and tenacious; 2. They were the fortunate recipients of many fine compositions; 3. Collectively they had the talent and synergy to make those compositions memorable experiences to the listening masses.

Answer: because the night has a thousand eyes

Careers for teen idols like Bobby Vee in the early 1960s were generally remarkably brief. He was 17 when his first hit, "Devil or Angel", debuted at Number Six on the Hot Hundred in 1960 and wasn't yet 20 when "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" cracked the charts in early 1963. That song did very well globally; Number Three in the U.K, Number Two in Canada and Number Five in both Australia and New Zealand.

It would be his penultimate Top Ten Hot 100 hit, his last coming in 1967 with "Come Back When You Grow Up" which also peaked at Number Three. By 1970, he would have no more Hot 100 chart entries at all, effectively washed up as a leading edge recording act at the age of 27! Thereafter, he dabbled in movies but primarily earned a livelihood touring the oldies circuit until 2012 when Alzheimer's forced his retirement.

He passed away from the disease in 2016.

Answer: Blue on Blue

"Blue on Blue" was our featured song but Bobby Vinton's big "blue" hit that year was "Blue Velvet" which topped the charts for three weeks and based on Hot 100 chart performance, was deemed to be the fourth biggest song of 1963. "Blue on Blue" was ranked 49th that year. The other two alternatives were also on that album, aptly titled "Blue on Blue". "Mr. Blue" was a cover of the Fleetwoods' Number One hit from 1959 while "Am I Blue" was an old standard recorded in 1929 by many artists but most notably by Ethel Waters and Annette Hanshaw.

Vinton never had another hit based on this "blue" theme but did go on to have many more Hot 100 charting hits, one of the very few artists who managed to maintain his popularity during and subsequent to the British Invasion of 1964. Vinton was 29 years of age when that occurred and if John Lennon is to believed regarding his put down of Presley noted in an earlier question in this quiz, he was like Bing Crosby. But the point is Vinton WAS like Der Bingle! He was a crooner personified and his target audience was not the teens but mature adults and there is no doubt his longevity was due to his own maturity.

Answer: Busted

"Busted" was written in 1962 by Harlan Howard and it lists the myriad of problems one poor farmer is struggling with to get by. Here we go: the stack of bills are growing daily and most are now due; the baby needs shoes; the fields are bare and the cotton won't grow and even if it did, the price for cotton is down; the cow went dry; the hen won't lay; the county's probably going to seize his possessions; last summer's canned food is all gone; and, as noted in the lyric I quoted, his plans to perhaps borrow some cash from his brother fell flat because he's just as poorly off. Looks like he's going to pack up his family and move who knows where just to make a living.

I'm not sure how Cash and Ives delivered the song but despite the bleak circumstances outlined, Ray Charles' version hints at comedy, a genuine juxtaposition of the incongruous. How can you smile at this poor guy's plight... but you do! In that respect, it reminded me of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs minor hit, "Oh That's Good, No That's Bad".

Of course, Ray Charles had a long and glorious career and this was his tenth Top Ten hit. He would have 14 more Top 40 hits but only one more that would crack the Top Ten, the Number Six "Crying Time" in 1966.

Answer: So Much in Love

In 1956 when The Tymes had their genesis in Philadelphia, they were known as the Latineers. As a doo-wop and gentle R&B group, they worked the clubs in the Philly area. The name change occurred when they drafted a new lead singer into the group in 1960, George Williams. Finally, after winning a radio station talent contest, they were signed to the local record label, Cameo-Parkway, in 1963. They had been singing an original composition they called "As We Strolled Along" but with some fine tuning and input from their producer, it became "So Much in Love" and their first studio creation. For it to climb to Number One on the Hot 100 was beyond their wildest expectations.

Their next two releases also performed satisfactorily on the charts; a cover of Johnny Mathis' "Wonderful! Wonderful!" did better than the original by seven spots, Number Seven as opposed to Number 14, and "Somewhere" climbed to Number 19 before stalling. Both followed the same format as "So Much in Love", that is sung A Capella with finger snaps setting the tone before the orchestral arrangement kicked in.

However, the group may have become too predictable... their next three releases barely eked onto the charts at Numbers 78, 99 and 92 and they essentially disappeared from the charting scene for ten years before staging a brief comeback in 1974. At that time, they were actually more popular in the U.K. where they scored a Number One hit with "Ms Grace", a song that floundered to Number 91 on the Hot 100. That was to be their last hurrah and they slowly drifted onto the nostalgia circuit where two of the original members still perform as part of a new "Tymes" quintet. Williams, and two of the other original members passed on in the early 2000s.

Answer: Danke Schoen

The choices I provided were the only Wayne Newton titles that achieved Top 40 status on Billboard's Hot 100. Of those, "Danke Schoen" was a Number 13 hit while his biggest charting success was the Number Four "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" in 1972.

I know I have never seen Wayne Newton perform live. Maybe I caught a performance of his years ago on TV but I really don't have any idea what he does on stage that has made him such an iconic image in Las Vegas. I'd guess that it probably is inoffensive in every way, very middle-of-the-road and an act that I would have scorned 30 years ago as hopelessly hokey and geared to old folks. Now that I am one, I'd bet I'd like it! Whatever, it seems that he has elevated himself into the elite ranks of acclaimed Vegas performers with the ilk of Elvis, Sinatra and Liberace. Moreover, early in the game he recognized the promise that Las Vegas offered having been a stalwart presence there since the early 1960s. He invested heavily on its future growth and now owns his own casino and acres of property in that region. In other words, he's a very wealthy man with no need to perform except for the love of doing so.

Answer: Hello Stranger

"Hello Stranger" was that song; "Welcome Back" was John Sebastian's Number One hit from 1976 and the theme song for TV's "Welcome Back Kotter"; "How Long" was a 1975 Number Three hit for a group called Ace; "Be My Baby" was the right era, 1963, but it was a Number Two hit for the Ronettes.

I've liked everything that Barbara Lewis has done... I just wish there had been more of it!

Lewis was born just north of Detroit in 1943 and started writing music in her teens. Through the intervention of a Detroit DJ/record producer, she recorded an album of songs she had written herself, "Hello Stranger" included. It wasn't until 1965 that she returned to the charts in a significant way with a couple of Number 11 hits, "Baby I'm Yours" and "Make Me Your Baby" then capped off her charting efforts with "Make Me Belong to You", a Number 28 hit in 1966.

It's hard to say how her career was derailed thereafter. Perhaps suitable material didn't come her way. Maybe she was mismanaged. I don't think it was because her sweet romantic style went out of favor. Later in the decade, she signed with Stax records and recorded an album that had a grittier edge consistent with that label but nothing came from that either and she simply drifted out of the public eye for several years. She was remembered again when Yvonne Elliman covered "Hello Stranger" and took it to Number 15 in 1977, but outside of royalty revenue, it did nothing to resurrect her dormant career. She still resides in Michigan as this is being written in 2019 but health issues forced her retirement from music in 2017.

Answer: Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer

"Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" was originally a German "Schlager" song composed in 1962 and entitled "Du Spielst 'ne Tolle Rolle" which, if Google Translate is to be believed, means "You Play a Great Role". English lyrics were written for the melody by Charles Tobias and I'm assuming that it was an entirely different song lyrically.

Nat "King" Cole was the recording artist. He started his career in music in the mid-1930s as the pianist for a group led by his brother and formed his own famed trio in 1939. They became one of the most popular musical acts of the era recording such hits as "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons", Number One for six weeks in 1946 and "Nature Boy", a chart topper for eight weeks in 1948. When he commenced his solo career in 1950, he didn't miss a beat, immediately topping the charts for eight weeks with "Mona Lisa". He continued to record moderately successful soft pop/jazz oriented hits right into the 1960s, his biggest hit of the rock era being "Ramblin' Rose" peaking at Number Two in 1962. However, by 1963, he was seriously ill with lung cancer, was forced to quit performing in 1964 and died in February 1965. His loss was mourned by all but especially by the black community. Along with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, he was among the few black performers of that era whose talent transcended color barriers.

Answer: Two Faces Have I

Janus was the Roman god of time and transition and is usually depicted as having two faces as he looks to the past and portends the future.

Lou Christie (nee Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco) was born in 1943 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Glenwillard and developed an interest in music while attending high school. Although he had a couple of regional hits as a member of local groups, he decided to relocate to NYC and initially performed as a session vocalist while endeavouring to record some of his own compositions. His first release, now under the stage name of Lou Christie, was "The Gypsy Cried" which managed a peak of Number 24 on the Hot 100. It was followed up by "Two Faces Have I" at Number Six but then military service interrupted his career for a couple of years. Upon his discharge, he scored his only Number One hit, "Lightnin' Strikes", in 1966 but only had one more Top Ten hit in 1969 with the Number Ten "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" before his career fell into decline in the USA. For most of the 1970s, he was battling drug addiction issues and worked outside the music industry while rehabbing. Eventually, he made his way onto the oldies circuit in the 1980s while continuing to write new compositions. The new millennium sees him active in both respects with the occasional new CD release for good measure.

Of the two other song options among your possible answers, "Mr. Blue" was a Number One hit in 1959 for The Fleetwoods and "Cry Baby" reached Number Four for Garnet Mimms and The Enchanters in 1963.

Answer: If You Wanna Be Happy

Jimmy Soul (nee James McCleese) was born in Weldon, N. Carolina in 1942. He became a preacher at the age of seven and derived his stage name of "soul" from his congregation. Singing with various gospel groups in the Southern States, he was discovered by record producer Frank Guida. Soul would only have two charting hits, the Number 22 "Twisting Matilda" in 1962 and "If You Wanna Be Happy" the following year. Guida was also the producer for most of Gary U.S. Bonds hits and he had originally earmarked both songs for Bonds to record. When Bonds rejected them, Soul gladly and wisely took them for his own. Soul recorded several other songs with the same calypso orientation but they flopped and he left the music business shortly thereafter and joined the army. Sadly, by 1986 he was addicted to drugs and was imprisoned for various drug related violations. He died of a heart attack in 1988 while serving his prison term.

If you're not totally familiar with this song, its premise is that it's better to marry an ugly girl rather than a pretty one. Here's more of the lyric expounding on that premise:

"A pretty woman makes her husband look small
And very often causes his downfall
As soon as he marries her then she starts
To do the things that will break his heart

But if you make an ugly woman your wife
You'll be happy for the rest of your life
An ugly woman cooks meals on time
And she'll always give you peace of mind"

While researching info about this song, I came across an anecdote worth sharing. A fellow was driving around with his fiancée when this song came on the radio. He was laughing and singing along when his girlfriend piped up "What are you laughing about? We are getting married, right?" He was trapped and saw no escape! If he agrees with premise of the song, she's ugly... if she's pretty, they wouldn't be engaged. She called the wedding off! So, a word of warning to you fellows... in the unlikely event that this song is being played while you're with your wife or girlfriend, act appropriately!