Backup Artists Trivia

1. Bill Haley is revered as one of the big innovators of that startling, new sound of the 50s called "Rock & Roll". His backup band got mentioned many times also. Who were they?

From Quiz What is the Name of the Backup Group?

Answer: His Comets

"Rock Around The Clock" was a ground-breaking hit, but it's popularity didn't take off until the song appeared in the movie "The Blackboard Jungle". Haley's band was formed in 1952. Bill Haley died in 1981 at age 55.

From Quiz Guest Musicians

Answer: Freddie Hubbard

"Zanzibar" was released in 1979 on Billy Joel's "52nd Street" LP.

From Quiz We Need Backup Vol. II

Answer: System

The System was formed in 1968 and he had one big hit with them ("Ramblin' Gamblin' Man"). He formed The Silver Bullet Band in 1976 their first big song being "Still the Same" in 1977.

From Quiz We Need Backup

Answer: The Zodiacs

They had a #1 Billboard hit with "Stay" in 1960. The Charioteers were a group from 1930 to 1950, Billy Williams was the lead singer. The Gladiolas were the group, with Maurice Williams as the singer, who in 1959 became the Zodiacs. They hit the Billboard Charts in 1957 with a rendition of "Little Darlin'". The Romantics are part of Ruby & The Romantics who scored big with "Our Day Will Come" in 1963.

From Quiz I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Answer: Michael Jackson

During the Motown career of the Jackson 5, Gordy became childhood friends with Michael and Jermaine. Later on Jermaine married Gordy's sister Hazel and he knew he could get the record promoted if he could persuade Michael to provide the background vocals, especially since Michael at the time was in the height of his solo career. The song was Rockwell's only charted hit, however it did soar up the charts peaking at number two.

From Quiz Backing Bands - Odd Member Out

Answer: Freddie Garrity

Gerry and the Pacemakers were, and are an enormously popular Liverpool band with hits such as "I Like It", "How Do You Do It", "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Ferry Cross the Mersey". Freddie Garrity was the lead singer of Freddie and the Dreamers.

From Quiz Session Musicians

Answer: The Funk Brothers

The story of the Funk Brothers is told in the award-winning documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown." Those gentlemen played on literally hundreds of Top Ten singles, but most people don't even know their names.

From Quiz Classic Rockers Introduce Their Backup Groups

Answer: Teenagers

The Teenagers are Herman Santiago, Jimmy Merchant, Joe Negroni and Sherman Garnes. Behind the scenes production chaos eventually separated Frankie from The Teenagers. They went on to meet with only minimal success. Confirmed deceased are Negroni (cerebral hemorrhage 1978) and Garnes (died in prison, cause unknown 1977). Regrettably, the enormously influential Lymon died of a drug overdose in 1968. He influenced a number of performers including Ronnie Spector who sounded quite a bit like him.

From Quiz Backing Bands for Fifties and Sixties Artists

Answer: Brian Poole

Brian Poole and the Tremoloes formed in Essex, England, in 1958. They began performing locally and their close harmonies brought them a wide audience. In 1962 Decca Records was looking for a Beat group to sign and chose Brian Poole and the Tremoloes over The Beatles. The following year both groups released a cover of "Twist and Shout" with Brian Poole and the Tremoloes' version reaching Number Four in England. When Brian Poole left to pursue a solo career The Tremeloes switched to CBS Records and began a string of hits in 1967 with their rendition of a Cat Stevens song titled "Here Comes My Baby". The Tremeloes continued to perform for several decades. Poole never achieved solo recording success. Ian Page was with Secret Affair. Dick James was a London singer and publisher who co-founded Northern Songs. Alexis Korner was associated with Blues Incorporated in the sixties.

From Quiz What is the Name of the Backup Group?

Answer: The Bluecaps

Vincent Eugene Craddock, otherwise known as Gene Vincent, had a top ten hit with "Be Bop A Lula". Listen for the phrase "Go Cat Go" in the song; it became a standard cry in the early years of rock and roll.

From Quiz Guest Musicians

Answer: Steve Miller

Paul and Steve co-wrote and traded lines on "Used To Be Bad", with Steve on guitar and Paul playing bass and drums. Almost 30 years earlier, in 1969, as Paul Ramon, Paul played on Steve Miller's "Brave New World" LP, performing on "Celebration Day" and "My Dark Hour".

From Quiz We Need Backup Vol. II

Answer: The MGs

The group had 18 top 100 Billboard hits between 1962 and 1971, the biggest hit being "Green Onions" in 1962. MG stands for Memphis Group.

From Quiz We Need Backup

Answer: The Dakotas

Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas had a string of hits in 1964 & 1965, including "Little Children". Union Station is the backing band for Alison Krauss who had a very minor hit with "When You Say Nothing at All" in 1995. The Rhythm Orchids were the backup band for Buddy Knox. They topped the Billboard Charts in 1957 with "Party Doll". The Pips are, of course, the other members and relatives of Gladys Knight's group, who were named after their manager and another relative James "Pip" Woods.

From Quiz I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Answer: Sting

Sting co-wrote the song with Dire Strait's lead guitarist Mark Knopfler. Sting can be heard in the background of the song proclaiming those famous words, "I want my MTV" which was by the way to the tune of the Police's "Don't Stand So Close To Me" (1980). The idea for the song came from Knopfler's visit to an appliance store where he noticed several employees were moving refrigerators and microwaves and commenting on the music videos which were on MTV. It became one of the biggest hits of 1985 hitting number one for three weeks.

From Quiz Backing Bands - Odd Member Out

Answer: Billy J Kramer

Freddie and the Dreamers were a popular Manchester band, Roy Crewdson completed the line up, they had such hits as "I'm Telling You Now" and "You Were Made For Me". Billy J Kramer was the lead singer of Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas.

From Quiz Session Musicians

Answer: Andy White

Ringo Starr tapped on a tambourine, but session drummer Andy White played the drums on the Beatles' first single.

From Quiz Artists and their Backing Groups

Answer: ?

? and the Mysterians signed away the rights to all their songs by mistake, but they are still working together.

From Quiz Who's That Singing Backup?

Answer: Linda Ronstadt

James Taylor also sings backup on "Heart of Gold."

From Quiz Backing Bands for Fifties and Sixties Artists

Answer: The Midnighters

Hank Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks and fronted Hank Ballard and the Midnighters beginning in the early fifties. They had a Number 22 US single in 1954 with "Work With Me, Annie". They landed some songs on the Rhythm and Blues charts but didn't enjoy Billboard Top Forty Pop success until 1959 when "The Twist" reached Number 28. The song was originally the "B" side of "Teardrops on Your Letter" but when Chubby Checker's version topped the charts a few months later the original version by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters also climbed the charts. The group had other minor hits until disbanding in 1965. Hank's cousin Florence Ballard was a founding member of The Supremes. In the eighties Hank reformed The Midnighters and they performed until 2002. Hank passed the following year from throat cancer. The Imperials backed Little Anthony. The Five Keys and The Ravens did not feature a front man in their name.

From Quiz What is the Name of the Backup Group?

Answer: The Midnighters

Hank Ballard wrote and recorded the first version of the mega-hit "The Twist". Chubby Checker covered it and it became a historical recording under his name instead of Ballard. Ballard had other hits, most notably "Work With Me Annie", a very catchy melody indeed. Ballard died in Los Angeles at age 75.

From Quiz Guest Musicians

Answer: Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash recorded his vocals in Dublin where this song appeared on U2's "Zooropa" CD. Cash even performed it live once with his band before he passed away.

From Quiz We Need Backup Vol. II

Answer: Mike Smith

Mike Smith also played keyboards. Dave Clark was the drummer,Rick Huxley was the bassist, Lenny Davidson played guitar, and Denny Payton blew on the saxophone. The group had 24 charted Billboard hits including "Over and Over" which reached #1 in 1965.

From Quiz We Need Backup

Answer: The Mindbenders

They were a short lived group who topped the Billboard Charts in 1965 with "The Game of Love". Fontana left in October 1965 but the group went on to score a #2 hit with "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1966. The Shadows were the backup band for Cliff Richard, they disbanded in 1969 but he kept on going. The Mechanics were Mike & the Mechanics an English group consisting of Mike Rutherford and Paul Carrack among others, their biggest hit being "The Living Years" in 1989. The Casual Teens aka The Casuals were Brenda Lee's backup band.

From Quiz Backing Bands - Odd Member Out

Answer: Hank Marvin

Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas were a popular Manchester band who had hits with "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and "Little Children". Ray Jones was replaced in July 1964 with Robin MacDonald. Hank Marvin was the lead guitarist with The Shadows.

From Quiz Session Musicians

Answer: The Wrecking Crew

Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew played for artists of every imaginable genre, from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley to the Byrds to the Partridge Family to John Denver. And while Micky Dolenz pretended to play the drums on the TV sitcom "The Monkees", Blaine was usually the one playing the drums on the Monkees' records.

From Quiz Classic Rockers Introduce Their Backup Groups

Answer: Fireballs

The Fireballs were George Tomasco, Stan Lark, and Eric Budd. The group had a cool instrumental hit entitled "Torquay". After the success of "Sugar Shack" neither Gilmer or The Fireballs made much further impact, except for the Fireballs release of 'Bottle of Wine' in 1969.

From Quiz Who's That Singing Backup?

Answer: Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams's songwriting partner, Jim Vallance, co-wrote several songs for Glass Tiger, including "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)."

From Quiz Backing Bands for Fifties and Sixties Artists

Answer: Hurricanes

Johnny and the Hurricanes originally formed in Toledo, Ohio, as The Orbits in 1957. Saxophonist Johnny Paris was born John Matthew Pocisk and adopted his stage name while in a band in school backing a Rockabilly singer. They signed a deal with Twirl Records and recorded a song titled "Crossfire" in an empty theater to enhance the reverb sound. The record reached Number 23 in the US. They followed with "Red River Rock" which became a Top Ten single beginning a succession of Rock Instrumentals. Their last Top Forty single was "Beatnik Fly" based on "Blue Tail Fly". The band developed a following in Europe and in 1962 their opening act in Germany was The Beatles. They toured Europe frequently with various members until 2005. Paris passed the following year.

From Quiz What is the Name of the Backup Group?

Answer: The Stingers

This instrumental group's claim to fame was taking old classics and putting a whole new high-powered spin on them. Most notable are "Nut Rocker" (1962) and "Bumble Boogie" (1962). Their recordings did well on both sides of the Atlantic.

From Quiz Guest Musicians

Answer: Eric Clapton

One-time Yardbird Eric Clapton played uncredited lead guitar on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the "The Beatles".

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Last Updated Apr 13 2024 5:49 AM

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