Signature Songs 10: Rock & Roll Hall of Famers 2 Quiz

Answer: The Bee Gees

The Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, along with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Jackson 5, Joni Mitchell, Parliament-Funkadelic and The Rascals.

Recorded and released in 1977, The Bee Gees released "Stayin' Alive" on the soundtrack to the film "Saturday Night Fever". The song went to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in early 1978. Dennis Byron was the band's drummer. Unable to find a drummer due to the death of Dennis Byron's mother, which led him to be away during the recording of the track, the band took two bars from the already recorded song "Night Fever" and endlessly looped the recording, crediting the drummer to "Bernade Lupe". The track's title would later be used for the 1983 sequel to "Saturday Night Fever", entitled "Staying Alive". Sylvestor Stallone directed "Staying Alive".

Answer: James Taylor

James Taylor was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, along with Eric Clapton, Earth Wind and Fire, The Loving Spoonful, The Moonglows and Bonnie Raitt.

James Taylor released the song on his second studio album "Sweet Baby James" in 1970. In a 2005 interview with NPR, Taylor said the first part was about his friend Suzanne who committed suicide. The second part was about overcoming drug addiction, and the third part was coping with fame and fortune. He also has said in 2008 at a live concert in Madrid that the song was composed in 1968 in the Spanish island of Formentera.

In a 1972 "Rolling Stone" interview, Taylor had this to say about the song:

"'Fire and Rain' has three verses. The first verse is about my reactions to the death of a friend. The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it ... And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs which lasted about five months.

[Suzanne] committed suicide sometime later while I was over in London. At the time I was living with Margaret [Corey], and Richard [Corey] was around a lot, and so was Joel O' Brien. All three of them were really close to Susie Schnerr. But Richard and Joel and Margaret were excited for me having this record deal and making this album, and when Susie killed herself they decided not to tell me about it until later because they didn't want to shake me up. I didn't find out until some six months after it happened. That's why the 'They let me know you were gone' line came up. And I always felt rather bad about the line, 'The plans they made put an end to you,' because 'they' only meant 'ye gods,' or basically 'the Fates.' I never knew her folks but I always wondered whether her folks would hear that and wonder whether it was about them.

The nadir of the nadir for The Flying Machine was a booking in the Bahamas at a failing nightspot called the Jokers Wild Club in Freeport; after three weeks of bad food and no pay, the group used their return tickets to flee. They disbanded once their flight landed in New York."

Answer: Gladys Knight & the Pips

Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 along with David Bowie, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground.

Gladys Knight & the Pips scored a number one hit with "Midnight Train to Georgia" in 1973. The song was originally recorded by Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney Houstin and released as a single a year ealrier. The track was originally written and recorded under the title "Midnight Plane to Houston" by the song's author Jim Weatherly. Jim Weatherly wrote the song and has this to say:

"It was based on a conversation I had with somebody... about taking a midnight plane to Houston. I wrote it as a kind of a country song. Then we sent the song to a guy named Sonny Limbo in Atlanta and he wanted to cut it on Cissy Houston... he asked if I minded if he changed the title to 'Midnight Train to Georgia.' And I said, I don't mind. Just don't change the rest of the song." (Quote Source: Songfacts)

In Knight's Autobiography, "Between Each Line of Pain and Glory", she stated she hoped the song was a comfort for people who go to Los Angeles seeking a career in music and movies and never making it.

Answer: Madonna

Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, along with Leonard Cohen, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Ventures, and The Dave Clark Five.

"Like a Prayer" was the title cut to Madona's fourth album, released in 1989. Madonna stated "the song of a passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life. The theme of Catholicism runs rampant through my album [...] It's me struggling with the mystery and magic that surrounds it. My own Catholicism is in constant upheaval. When I left home at 17 and went to New York, which is the city with the most sinners, I renounced the traditional meaning of Catholicism in terms of how I would live my life. But I never stopped feeling the guilt and shame that are ingrained in you if you are brought up Catholic." (Quote: Holden, Stephen (1989-03-19). "Madonna re-creates herself - again". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.)

There's always been a heavy emphasis on sexuality in Madonna's work. Although somewhat ambiguous, the song has been interpreted as a heavily sexual song.

Although there is ambiguity in the lyrics, the video, however, is explicitly sexual. The video for Madonna's signature song "Like a Prayer" from 1989 features Madonna in a romantic liaison with the Catholic saint Martin de Porres. Mary Lambert, who also directed the videos to "Borderline", "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl" and "La Isla Bonita", made the video with Madonna in 1989. The video was highly controversial due to burning crosses, the various Catholic references, and Madonna developing stigmata. Martin de Porres could also be interpreted as a black Christ.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard.

Elvis, like The Beatles, has a large catalogue with several songs that could be contenders for his "signature song", and surely "Suspicious Minds" is one of those contenders. The 1969 single "Suspicious Minds" by the King featured backup vocals from Grateful Dead band member Donna Jean Godchaux. Godchaux provided backup vocals for this hit single before she joined The Grateful Dead. "Suspicious Minds" was Elvis's last number one single in the United States until his death in 1977. Donna meet and married Keith Godchaux in 1970. She contributed vocals to recordings by Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Cher, and The Jerry Garcia Band.

Mark James also cowrote the Willie Nelson standard "Always On My Mind".

Answer: The Byrds

The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, along with LaVern Baker, John lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed, and Ike & Tina Turner.

The Byrds had access to the recording made by Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliot in the sessions for "Another Side of Bob Dylan". Dylan scrapped that version and re-recorded the song for "Bringing It All Back Home". The Byrds' version came out a mere two weeks after Dylan's. Roger McGuinn is the only member of The Byrds actually on the recording; the rest of the musicians were session players from L. A.

Judy Collines also covered the song in 1965. The Crickets and The Kinks are also great bands.

Answer: The Who

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, along with Hank Ballard, Bobby Darin, The Four Seasons, Four Tops, The Kings, The Platters and Simon and Garfunkel.

The Who released "I Can See For Miles" on October 14, 1967. It was the only song by the band to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Townshend was disappointed in the reception of the record. He said "To me it was the ultimate Who record, yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer." (Quote Source: The Who's official website)

McCartney said he read in the press that The Who had written this really crazy, dirty rock and roll song. McCartney got so inspired by them he decided to write his own hard rock song, resulting in "Helter Skelter" ("Mojo" magazine, October 2008).

Answer: Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, along with Madonna, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Ventures, and The Dave Clark Five.

Leonard Cohen wrote "Suzanne" after meeting Suzanne Verdal, who was the wife at the time of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt. Verdal and Cohen only met twice after the song's initial popularity: once in the 1970s and once in the 1990s, and both times only in passing. The lyrics first appeared in the 1966 book "Parasites of Heaven". Judy Collins, who is also associated with the song, recorded and released her version before Cohen himself. Collins recorded the song for her 1966 album "In My Life". The song appears on Cohen's debut album, the 1967 "Songs of Leonard Cohen". Pearls Before Swine, Harry Belafonte, and Bruce Springsteen have also performed the song.

Answer: Metallica

Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, along with Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Run-DMC, and Bobby Womac.

"Master of Puppets" was the first single and title cut to Metallica's 1986 album, "Master of Puppets". The song primarily deals with drugs according to James Hetfield.

"['Master of Puppets'] deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing, it's drugs controlling you"

Quote source: Hetfield, James. Interview with Pushead. Interview with Metallica, from Vol. 6, No.8. 1988.

It was Cliff Burton's favorite song. VH1 listed this as the third greatest heavy metal song of all time.

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, along with Billy Joel, Curtis Mayfield, Paul McCartney, Dell Shannon, Dusty Springfield and The Staple Singers.

The album "Born to Run" was Springsteen's last-ditch, pull out all the stops shot at the big time. His first two albums were critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. "Born to Run" was his breakthrough album. Every thing about the album, from its iconic cover to its famed songs, scream "epic". The album, along with the song, truly made Springsteen's reputation.

The first recording of the track "Born to Run" was actually by Allan Clarke of The Hollies; however it was not released until after Springsteen's version.