Rock Me Silly Trivia Quiz

Answer: Surfin' Bird

"Surfin' Bird" was a combination of songs originally performed by The Rivingtons. You had "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird is the Word" which that group had recorded and released prior to the appearance of "Surfin' Bird". The Trashmen were performing in a club and combined the two songs. By coincidence a record producer heard the performance and offered them a recording contract.

They cut the record and it eventually shot to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Answer: Purple People Eater

Wooley recounted how a strange monster came to earth to join a rock band. The monster was described as "a one eyed, one horned flying purple people eater". "I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line?
He said eating purple people, and it sure is fine
But that's not the reason that I came to land
I wanna get a job in a rock 'n roll band". So went the lyrics.

Wooley's cannibalistic monster did ok for himself. The song hit the top of the Billboard charts reaching number one in 1958.

Answer: The Playmates

"Beep Beep" peaked at number four on the Billboard charts in 1958 for The Playmates. They had recorded two songs prior to this, but with limited success. Interestingly, during this time, American Motors was marketing their Rambler, one of the vehicles which are prominently mentioned in the song. (The other car in the song was a Cadillac).

As a result of the song, sales of the Nash-Rambler reportedly shot up. Also of note was the fact that a different version of the song was recorded for British audiences due to a ban on airplay for songs with brand names mentioned in the lyrics.

Answer: The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

Bagdasarian a.k.a. David Seville, was the voice behind Alvin and The Chipmunks on all their recordings. "The Chipmunk Song" is the tale of Alvin and his anticipation of Christmas Day and the hope of getting a hula hoop for Christmas. Funny stuff from the genius Bagdasarian.

The song became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1958. Bagdasarian also scored with "The Witch Doctor" earlier that same year.

Answer: Soupy Sales

"Hey, do The Mouse yeah". Guess anything could do well if it was catchy. "The Mouse" was a fictitious dance created in the mind of comedian Soupy Sales. Soupy probably holds the record for getting the most pies thrown in his face during a career. Anyway the song was a novelty hit for Sales in the New York City area in 1965 scoring Top 20 status on several local music station surveys.

He even performed it on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which was the premier variety show of the era.

Answer: The Monster Mash

"The Monster Mash" was a 1962 number one Billboard Hot 100 charting hit for Bobby (Boris) Pickett, an aspiring actor who was moonlighting between auditions by performing with a band called The Cordials. This song was a pure accident, after he imitated a Boris Karloff type voice while singing during one of his gigs.

He then wrote the lyrics to this song which has been going strong for over 40 years. The song was released two more times, in 1970, and in 1973, when it again got to the Top Ten on the Billboard charts.

Answer: Laundromat

This funny tune was a response tune, spoofing the Shangri-Las' tune "Leader Of The Pack" which had been a number one tune in late 1964. The group was led by Ron Dante, who later would go on to fame and fortune as the mastermind of The Archies. ("Sugar, Sugar").

Answer: They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa

The song was recorded under the name of Napoleon XIV, a.k.a. Jerry Samuels.
"Some groups protested the apparent mockery of mental illness, while other groups attacked the apparent comparison of Napoleon's wife to a "mangy mutt". Few women are likely to be 'put in' the ASPCA, so it is most likely that the song was about a lost dog (see also attached record cover). The protesters put pressure both on radio stations directly and on the stations' advertisers. This was especially felt in New York City, where Top 40 stalwarts WABC and WMCA soon dropped the record from airplay and skipped it during their countdown shows, much to the confusion of the young teens that made up a large part of those broadcasters' audience. The record was soon banned from airplay as BMI took the unprecedented step of withdrawing its certification."*

Despite all the controversy, the song managed a number three placing on the Billboard charts before being pulled from the airwaves. It was recertified eventually, but by that time it had lost all its momentum and disappeared from the charts.
* Wikipedia

Answer: True

It actually was what was called a "break-in" record where you would have a narrator describing an event or telling a story and interviewing people. The responses would be in the form of snippets from well known recordings. The label says the artist was Vik Venus, but most radio aficionados know him as Jack Spector, a legendary New York disc jockey.

The recording simulates an interview of two astronauts who return from a trip to the moon. The snippets are taken from popular recordings on the Buddah record label, on which this record was also released. Coincidentally (or not) 1969 marked the first manned excursion to the moon.

Answer: Gitarzan

Stevens recorded this hilarious tune complete with the warbling sound of a Tarzan like character, a wife named Jane, and a pet monkey grunting. Also included is a laugh track. The song recounts a musical evening in the jungle with Jane and the monkey singing along. Funny stuff.

The song actually did very well on the charts, peaking at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, and number ten in Canada.

Answer: Chick -A -Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)

Daddy Dewdrop a.k.a. Dick Monda, cut this tune backed by some studio musicians, for a cartoon series entitled "Sabrina and the Groovey Ghoulies". The song was rerecorded and released in the U.S. to a number nine placing on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The lyrics told the story of a crazy dream that the singer had, and chasing a girl in a black bikini through a series of rooms.

Answer: The Streak

An odd fad of the 70s was Streaking, the act of stripping to your birthday suit and running through a public place. Ray capitalized on this for one of his biggest all time hits, "The Streak", the story of a news reporter interviewing a man and his wife who had been in the presence of a streaker in various venues around their small hometown. Eventually "Ethel", the wife, decides that it's enough fun for her to try it herself.

The song ended up selling over five million copies worldwide. It went to number one in the U.S. and the U.K. and was a hit in many other countries as well.

Answer: True

Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots recorded "Disco Duck" in 1976. Dees, a disc-jockey who was working in Memphis Tennessee at the time, created this parody of the 60s hit "The Duck" and took it to the top of the Billboard charts for one week that year. The basic premise was that of a guy at a dance party who has this uncontrollable urge to get up and dance like a duck when the music plays.

The song was complete with a Donald Duck like voice singing verses in the background.

Answer: Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

Yes, it was "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer", first released in 1979 with the husband and wife team of Elmo and Patsy Shropshire as the singers. The song took about five years to become a Christmas standard, beginning on the West Coast and gradually spreading eastward in various local releases and airplays between 1979 and 1984, when it became a national hit.

By the end of 1984, the song had sold almost 500,000 copies on various record labels throughout the U.S.

Answer: Shaddap You Face

"Shaddup You Face" actually was a major international hit for Joe Dolce in 1981. It is rich with Italian humor. Dolce is of Italian ancestry and sang the song with a heavy Italian accent. It actually was a number one song in 11 different countries including the U.K. and Dolce's adopted homeland of Australia. The song was also covered in 35 different languages.