Int'l Billboard Number One Lyrics Quiz

Answer: Italy

Domenico Modugno's hit song "Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)" went to the number one spot on the US Billboard chart the week of August 18, 1958. It became the second song ever to hit number one during the Billboard Hot 100 era (the first number one being Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool"). Domenico Modugno was an Italian singer, songwriter, and actor that hailed from the Brindisi province in Italy. After suffering a stroke in 1984, he was forced to give up his music career and focus on rehabilitation. He eventually became a member of the Italian Parliament fighting against the inhumane treatment of psychiatric patients. He died after a suffering a heart attack in 1994.

"Volare, oh oh...
Cantare, ohohoho...
Nel blu dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù"

Answer: Belgium

Jeanne Deckers, aka The Singing Nun, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and member of the Dominican Order (a Catholic religious order to fight against heresy). Her song "Dominique" was a French language song that went to number one on the Billboard chart the week of December 7, 1963 and spent four weeks at this position. It was only the second foreign language song to make the Billboard chart (the first being Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki"). Tragically, Deckers would not see further success in the industry and was plagued by financial and tax issues. She would commit suicide in April 1985.

"Domi-nique -nique -nique s'en allait tout simplement,
Routier, pauvre et chantant.
En tous chemins, en tous lieux,
Il ne parle que du Bon Dieu,
Il ne parle que du Bon Dieu."

Answer: Netherlands

Shocking Blue were a Dutch rock band that formed in The Hague in 1967. Their career would last less than a decade as they disbanded in 1974. "Venus" would spend one week at the number one spot on the Billboard chart the week of February 7, 1970. The had a minor hit in 1969 called "Send Me A Postcard". "Venus" would regain popularity in 1986 after British female pop group Bananarama covered the song where it would once again reach the number one spot on the Billboard chart.

"A goddess on a mountain top
Was burning like a silver flame,
The summit of beauty and love,
And Venus was her name.
She's got it,
Yeah, baby, she's got it.
Well, I'm your Venus,
I'm your fire at your desire.
Well, I'm your Venus,
I'm your fire at your desire."

Answer: Sweden

"Dancing Queen" went to the number one spot on the Billboard chart the week of April 9, 1977 and would become the only US number one hit for Swedish pop group ABBA. It was an international success topping the charts in many countries around the world including Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The song has been ranked many times including on the Rolling Stone "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and VH1's "Greatest Dance Songs in Rock and Roll". In 2015, "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

"You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl
Watch that scene
Dig in the dancing queen"

Answer: Ireland

Irish band U2 topped the Billboard chart in 1987 when "With or Without You" went to number one the week of May 16th. It spent three weeks in the number one spot and was ranked at number 132 on Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010. Q Magazine has even ranked the song as high as the 17th greatest song in history and VH1 ranked the song as the 13th greatest song of the 80s. The song has been included as part of two compilation albums; "The Best of 1980-1990" and "U218 Singles".

"See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait, without you"

Answer: Australia

Australian singer and actor Rick Springfield topped the US Billboard charts the week of August 1, 1981 with his hit single "Jessie's Girl". The song originally debuted on the chart March 28, 1981 taking it sixteen weeks to finally reach the number one spot. Rick Springfield in an interview with Oprah Winfrey stated that he had tried to find the real "Jessie's Girl" but to no avail. As the story goes, Springfield was taking a stained glass course with his friend Gary (who he named Jessie in the song) and Gary's girlfriend. Springfield was briefly introduced to her and only stared at her from afar. This encounter became the basis for the song.

"Jessie is a friend, yeah
I know he's been a good friend of mine
But lately something's changed that ain't hard to define
Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine
And she's watching him with those eyes
And she's loving him with that body, I just know it
Yeah 'n' he's holding her in his arms late, late at night
You know
I wish that I had Jessie's girl
I wish that I had Jessie's girl
Where can I find a woman like that"

Answer: Spain

Spain's Enrique Iglesias' "Be With You" topped the US Billboard chart the week of June 24, 2000 spending three weeks in the top spot. The song received a Grammy Award for the category of "Best Dance Recording". It was produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling (both who were responsible for Cher's hit song "Believe"). Spanish artists were no stranger to the US Billboard chart having released two previous number one hits with Los Del Rio's "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" and Enrique Iglesias' "Bailamos" in 1996 and 1999 respectively.

"Monday night I feel so low
I Count the hours they go so slow
I know the sound of your voice
Can save my soul
City lights, streets of gold
Look out my window to the world below
Moves so fast and it feels so cold
And I`m all alone (I'm all alone)"

Answer: Norway

Norwegian synthpop group A-ha went to number one on the Billboard chart the week of October 19, 1985 with their song "Take On Me". The song is remembered for its music video featuring Morten Harket and Bunty Bailey. In the video, a restaurant customer (played by Bailey) gets brought into the world of a comic book only to witness a winning car racer (played by Harket) get attacked. In the end, Harket escapes from the comic book only to become a real human. The band would have minor hits in the US, most notably "The Sun Always Shines on TV".

"We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, okay?
Take on me, (take on me)
Take me on, (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two"

Answer: Canada

Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams had a number one hit on the US Billboard chart on July 27, 1991 with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". It would stay at the number one spot for seven weeks. In doing so, Adams was the first Canadian to remain atop of the Billboard chart in the Hot 100 era since Percy Faith's "Theme From A Summer Place" (which went to number one for nine weeks) for more than a three week period. The song was featured on two albums upon its release, Adams' "Waking Up The Neighbours" album and the soundtrack "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". In 1992, the song won a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television". It was also nominated for an Academy Award in the category of "Best Song" but lost out to the song "Beauty and the Beast".

"Look into my eyes,
You will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart,
Search your soul
And when you find me there, you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do,
I do it for you"

Answer: Austria

Austrian musician Johann Holzel, better known by his stage name "Falco" was one of three international bands/musicians that had a number one Billboard hit in late 1985 and early 1986; the others being A-ha from Norway and Jan Hammer from Czechoslovakia. "Rock Me Amadeus" spent three weeks in the number one spot starting the week of March 29, 1986. As the song is mainly sung in German, Falco is credited as being the first German speaking artist to be credited with a number one hit in the US. Sadly, two prior to his 41st birthday, Falco died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.

"Uh, rock me Amadeus
Er war ein Punker
Und er lebte in der großen Stadt
Es war in Wien, war Vienna
Wo er alles tat
Er hatte Schulden denn er trank
Doch ihn liebten alle Frauen
Und jede rief:
Come and rock me Amadeus"