No. 1 Hits of the 80s Vol.11 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Olivia Newton-John

"Magic" was a number one hit for Olivia Newton-John in 1980. It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer that year. The song was included in the soundtrack of the 1980 motion picture "Xanadu". It also reached the top of the charts in Canada, and was a top ten hit in both Australia and New Zealand.

The other songs with the same title listed were from the 1970s and '80s (Pilot, The Cars) and the Bruce Springsteen song off the album of the same name, recorded in 2007.

Answer: 8

The title here is going to take up lots of room. The Stars on 45 were a Dutch group of studio musicians that recreated the songs of many popular groups of the 1960s and 1970s. The hit medley they produced for release in 1981 included a total of ten tunes not including their own intro and closing riff. Of the ten songs used, eight were imitations of Beatles tunes.

The only songs that were not Beatles tunes were the intro which was a copy of Shocking Blue's "Venus", and a short copy of The Archies "Sugar Sugar".

The medley spent two weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1981. For the record the title is as follows. "Medley: Intro Venus/Sugar Sugar/No Reply/I'll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want to Know a Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You're Going to Lose That Girl/Stars on 45." Whew!

Answer: Who Can It Be Now?

"Who Can It Be Now" was the second cut off Men at Work's very successful album called "Business as Usual". The song was actually released in Australia during 1981 and made number two on the charts there. When released in the U.S. in 1982, it spent a week at the time of the Billboard charts in October that year.

Answer: Maniac

Michael Sembello was a studio guitarist who had worked during the 1970s with such artists as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Diana Ross among others. In 1983 he released a solo album and his cut called "Maniac" was included in the soundtrack to the 1983 motion picture "Flashdance".

The song spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. In a strange twist, the song was nominated for an Academy Award, but then disqualified, since the song was not originally written for the motion picture.

Answer: When Doves Cry

Prince had been on the scene since the late 1970s but it took "When Doves Cry" to finally get him to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song spent five weeks at the top of the U.S. charts in the summer of 1984. As for the other songs listed, "Little Red Corvette" was a number six tune, "1999" got as high as number 12 and "Uptown" did not break the top 100, although it was number five on the Dance charts.

Answer: Heaven

"Heaven" first appeared on the soundtrack from the 1983 motion picture "A Night In Heaven", and Bryan Adams included the song in his 1984 smash release called "Reckless". It was this release that yielded the single called "Heaven" which reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1985 for a two week stay.

Answer: Greatest Love of All

George Benson originally recorded the tune for the soundtrack of the 1977 film called "The Greatest" documenting the life of Muhammad Ali. His version was a big R&B hit and did score on the U.S. Hot 100 charts as well. The Whitney Houston cover spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard charts in the spring of 1986.

Answer: False

Of course it was U2, led by Paul Hewson (better known as Bono), and these lyrics begin their most recognizable song ever "With Or Without You". The song spent three weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in the spring of 1987. The song also topped the charts in Canada and the group's home Ireland, and was a top ten tune in many other countries.

It is listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's compilation of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at number 131.

Answer: Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean was a Trinidad born popular singer who had a number of major hits during the mid 1980s. "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" was one of them and it made it to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts for a two week stay in the spring of 1988. Ocean had previously scored major hits with "Caribbean Queen", "Loverboy" and "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going", the theme song from the Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner 1985 motion picture "The Jewel of The Nile".

Answer: Like a Prayer

It was Madonna's "Like a Prayer" which hit the top of the U.S. Hot 100 charts for three weeks in the spring of 1989. The music video was very controversial in that it recounts the witnessing of a murder of a white girl and the false arrest of a black man for the crime. Amidst burning crosses and church scenes, many found this video offensive.