Muffin's Common Bond Quiz # 6

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. During the 1960s, a song that hit number one on December 31 in the American charts, and thereupon reigned supreme for many weeks, was credited with being "song of the year" for the preceding year when it debuted. Name this song that eventually became the number five hit of that decade.

Answer: 'I'm a Believer' - The Monkees

The top hit of 1966 was "I'm A Believer", which spent seven weeks on top of the Billboard charts before being replaced by The Buckingham's "Kind Of A Drag" on the 18th of February 1967. The three other mentioned songs were also "overlappers", with Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" finishing as the top song of 1968 under the same circumstances and ranked number six for the decade. Elvis' "Are You Lonesome Tonight" occupied top position for seven weeks, starting at the end of 1960, but being beaten for that years' top record by Percy Faith's "The Theme From A Summer Place".

The second-only British number one on the Billboard charts, namely The Tornadoes' "Telstar", reached top spot for three weeks at the end of 1962.

2. What is the name of the eminent New York high school that has such notable alumni as playwright Arthur Miller, actor John Forsythe, and the songwriting legends Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln High School

Abraham Lincoln High School has also had such celebrated people as actor, writer, and director Mel Brooks; actor Lou Gossett Jr.; bandleader Buddy Rich; and the members of The Tokens who had the number one hit for three weeks on the Billboard charts with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

3. What was the year that Orson Welles' classic movie "Citizen Kane" was first released and Franklin D Roosevelt was sworn in as President for his third term? It was also the year that former vice-president Dick Cheney, singer Joan Baez and Manchester United football club manager Alex Ferguson were born.

Answer: 1941

The year that those events happened was 1941 and, as we all know, it was the year that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on the morning of December 7th. It became "the day of infamy" according to US President FDR. Incidentally, Joan Baez was born on January 9th, Dick Cheney on January 30th, while Sir Alex Ferguson made his entry on December 31st. "Red Devils'" supporters could well say that it was the only time he had ever finished last.

4. Who was the 19th century educator often described as the greatest American poet/lyricist, with magnificent offerings such as "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Song of Hiawatha"?

Answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The US Postal Service celebrated Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 200th birthday on the 15th day of March 2007 with the issuance of a 39-cent stamp in his honour. Ralph Waldo Emerson is lauded as the most original of American philosophers and essayists, and Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his tales of horror and the macabre, as well as his work in pioneering detective-fiction. Louisa May Alcott's most famous work was her novel "Little Women", which was based on her own childhood and family.

It has since been adapted for the stage and screen, including a 1933 classic movie starring Katherine Hepburn.

5. In 1927, film producers Warner Brothers introduced to the screen the first motion picture with "synchronized dialogue", which means "talking pictures"--and so the "silent movie" era was finished. What was this film that starred Al Jolson and May McAvoy?

Answer: The Jazz Singer

As the movie's title suggests, "The Jazz Singer" tells the story of a young Jewish boy defying his family's traditions and venturing out into the world to become an entertainer. Unfortunately, he is always up against duty to his heritage. "Don Juan" (1927) was the first movie with a pre-recorded score and synchronised sound effects, and "On With The Show" (1929) was the first movie musical shown entirely in technicolour.

In 1929, "The Broadway Melody" was the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

6. What ladies' name would you identify with the following: a former US President's daughter, a European Princess, and a number five hit on the UK record charts by Status Quo? Another song by this name was taken into the Modern Rock Tracks Top 40 by US alternative group Concrete Blonde.

Answer: Caroline

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is the daughter of the late John F Kennedy. Princess Caroline is the Hereditary Princess of the Principality of Monaco. British rock group Status Quo took their song "Caroline" to fifth place on the UK charts in 1973 and Concrete Blonde's own song went to twenty three on the Modern Tracks in 1990. Maureen, Barbara and Chelsea are the daughters of Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Bill Clinton respectively.

7. In 1855, a British missionary explorer to Africa became the first European to see the mighty Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe). Who was the notable African pioneer who named this find in honour of the Queen of the British Empire?

Answer: David Livingstone

David Livingstone's obsession with finding the source of the River Nile upon his return to Africa in 1866 led to his losing contact with the outside world. It was assumed that he met his demise, until found in 1871 by Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley was employed by the "New York Herald" to solve this disappearance. James Augustus Grant, like Livingstone, was born in Scotland and was an explorer of eastern equatorial Africa during the 19th century, while English explorer Richard Francis Burton did extensive research in central Africa during that period.

8. What was the title of a 1958 movie that was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress Jean Simmons and Best Supporting Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.?

Answer: Home Before Dark

"Home Before Dark" was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award that year. Jean Simmons won a Golden Globe for Best Actress Musical/Comedy in "Guys And Dolls" in 1955 and was nominated for "This Could Be The Night" in 1957 and "Elmer Gantry" in 1960.

Footnote: Jean Simmons passed away on the 22nd January 2010.

9. Marlee Matlin, one of the youngest performers to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, and Anne Archer, herself an Oscar nominee and human rights activist, share the same birth date. What is the date?

Answer: August 24th

Anne Archer, who is the founder of Artists for Human Rights, was born on 24 August 1947, while Marlee Matlin was born on the same date in 1965. Others to share this birth day include former Indiana Pacers basketball legend Reggie Miller (1965), English actor and comedian Stephen Fry (1957), and classical guitarist Mason Williams (1938).

10. By now I hope that everyone has a good idea about who this celebrity is, but just in case, here is some more info: this person has had at least thirty-eight entries into the Billboard Top 40 charts since 1966, and is a prolific music composer and is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Name the artist.

Answer: Neil Diamond

Now to explain the nine clues leading up to this answer:
1. Neil Diamond wrote "I'M A BELIEVER" which became a monster hit for The Monkees.
2. Neil graduated from Brooklyn's ABRAHAM LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL in June 1958.
3. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on the 24th January 1941.
4. "LONGFELLOW Serenade" was a song that he took to number five on the Billboard Charts in 1974.
5. Neil Diamond wrote the score for, and was leading actor in the 1980 remake of the original Al Jolson movie "THE JAZZ SINGER" from which three Top Ten hits were produced, namely "Love on the Rocks" - number two for three weeks, "Hello Again", number six, and "America", number eight position.
6. "Sweet CAROLINE" was a number four hit for Neil in 1969.
7. He won a Golden Globe award for "Best Original Score" in the 1973 movie "Jonathan LIVINGSTONE Seagull".
8. "HOME BEFORE DARK", believe it or not, was Neil's first number one album on the American Charts, as it was in the UK! Even "Hot August Night" only got to number five on the American Charts, although it hit number one in Australia, along with three other albums of his.
9. The aforementioned "Hot August Night" concert from which the album was recorded took place at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on the 24th AUGUST 1972.

P.S. The duet that Neil Diamond took to number one for two weeks was "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand in 1978. His two solo chart toppers were "Cracklin' Rosie" in 1970 and "Song Sung Blue" in 1972 for one week each.

Source: Author muffin1708

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
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Thank you for the positive feedback I received for my recent contributions, so here's another quiz with nine clues leading to the identity of an entertainment legend who started out in the mid-1960s.

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