Anatomy of a Song:"Return To Sender" Quiz

Answer: Otis Blackwell/Winfield Scott

"Return To Sender" was written by Otis Blackwell/Winfield Scott and reached number two on the US pop chart in 1962. It went to number one for three weeks on the UK chart the same year.

Among the songs Otis Blackwell wrote were "Fever", "Don't Be Cruel", "Great Balls Of Fire", and "Handy Man". He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the National Academy of Popular Music's Hall of Fame in 1991. Among the songs Winfield Scott wrote were "Burn That Candle", "Tweedle Dee" and "Many Tears Ago". He also co-wrote with Otis Blackwell "One Broken Heart For Sale", "(You're The) Devil In Disguise" and "(Such An) Easy Question" for Elvis Presley.

Answer: Girls! Girls! Girls!

"Girls! Girls! Girls!" in 1962 was the 11th movie out of 31 that Elvis Presley made and starred in.

"Girls! Girls! Girls" starred Elvis Presley as Ross Carpenter and Stella Stevens as Robin Gantner. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and directed by Norman Taurog. The movie was 19th on the list of top grossing movies for the year in the US, grossing over $26,000,000.

Answer: Early next morning

The letter came back twice. The first time the line goes; "Bright and early next morning, he brought my letter back". The second time the letter came back the line goes; "Bright and early next morning, it came right back to me".

Answer: Zone

When Elvis is singing "No such number, no such zone" he is singing about postal areas in the US that used to be called zones. In 1963 the USPS changed from zones to ZIP codes which stands for Zone Improvement Plan.

Answer: Boots Randolph

Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III played the baritone saxophone on "Return To Sender". Best known for being a part of the Nashville sound, he had a number 35 hit on the US pop chart with "Yakety Sax" in 1963. It did not chart in the UK but became universally known as the theme tune to the speeded up chase routine in "The Benny Hill Show".

Plas Johnson played the tenor saxophone on "The Pink Panther Theme", Stan Getz played the tenor saxophone on "The Girl from Ipanema" and Raphael Ravenscroft played the alto saxophone on "Baker Street".

Answer: Special D

Elvis sings, "So then I dropped it in the mailbox and sent it special D".

Ah the good old days when people wrote letters to each other. If Elvis had made the record today he would have sent his girlfriend an e-mail or a text. The only good thing about that is, we don't have to lick the horrible tasting glue that was on the reverse of the stamps way back when.

Answer: They had a quarrel

Elvis sings, "We had a quarrel, a lover's spat. I write I'm sorry but my letter keeps coming back".

We never get to know what the lover's spat was all about. Why didn't someone make an answer record? Answer records to hit songs were a popular short lived craze back in the day.

Answer: The Jordanaires

The Jordanaires formed in 1948. They are still performing well into this century although the group has had many personnel changes over the years.

Elvis Presley asked them to back him while he was still recording for Sam Phillips on the Sun record label. They first sang with him when he moved to a new record label and the story goes that it was at Elvis's insistence that their name appeared on the record label. As well as making their own records they have performed as backing singers for many singers including Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash and Ringo Starr.

Answer: He delivered it himself

Elvis sang "This time I'm gonna take it myself and put it right in her hand and if it comes back the very next day, then I'll understand".

I think he got the message in the end, yes even Elvis had trouble with girls. Elvis (born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935) filed for divorce from his wife Priscilla (born in Brooklyn, New York in 1945) and it became final in 1973.

Answer: RCA

"Return To Sender" by Elvis Presley was released on the RCA record label in 1962.

In the UK Elvis Presley records were released on the HMV record label for the first few years. The last one to chart on the HMV label was "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" in 1958. After that his records were released on the RCA record label.