The #1 hits of 1963 Part 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Shadows

Starting out as The Drifters and backing band for Cliff Richard, The Shadows were famous in their own right. Written by the Shadows' main men, Bruce Welch and Hank Marvin, "Foot Tapper" is just that, a catchy tune that reached the number one spot in the UK and top ten throughout Europe. It also made the top ten in Australia and New Zealand.

Answer: The Chantays

The Chantays, from Santa Ana California. They hit the big time with their arpeggio driven instrumental hit, "Pipeline" in 1963. They never troubled the charts again but the success of "Pipeline" ensured their place in Rock 'n' Roll history. The Chantays have a street named after them in Santa Ana. "Pipeline" has been recorded by many acts ranging from Lawrence Welk to Dick Dale and Stevie Ray Vaughan. "Pipeline" featured in the repertoire of many aspiring pop bands of the early 1960s.

Answer: The Tornados

Produced by Joe Meek, this timely record coincided with the launch by NASA of Telstar 1, the first communications satellite. The Tornados toured as Billy Fury's backing band in 1961 and 1962. Bass Guitarist Heinz Burt had chart success in 1963 with "Just Like Eddie", and "Country Boy". "Telstar" was Number one in the UK and USA and Number two in Australia.

The Tornados released a number of other instrumentals which were quite good but did not make much of an impact on the charts, notably "Joystick", "Globetrotter" and "Hot Pot".

Answer: The Shadows

"Dance On" by the Shadows was their fourth UK number one. The song made the top ten in many European countries; it was top ten in both Australia and New Zealand and top ten in Canada. Petula Clark recorded the song in both Italian and French making it to number five in Italy and number two in France. English vocalist Kathy Kirby hit the charts in the UK in September 1963 with an English lyric; this recording made number one in Australia for three weeks in October 1963.

A unique occurrence of the same song making number one as an instrumental then later as a vocal.

Answer: Bill Justis

Although this record did not chart in his native USA or the UK, due to massive airplay the Bill Justis's instrumental "Tamoure" reached number one in Australia and due to a early style video started a mini dance craze. Starting as an producer/arranger and staff writer at Sun records in the 1950s Bill Justis had a number two hit on the Billboard Chart (number one on Cashbox) in 1957 with his rock instrumental "Raunchy". Bill Justis wrote the soundtrack music for the Burt Reynolds 1977 hit movie "Smokey and the Bandit".

Answer: The Shadows

The Shadows reached number one in Australia during February 1963 with "The Boys". Written by Hank Marvin, Brian Bennett and Bruce Welch for a movie titled "The Boys" and released in the UK only on an EP and reached number one on the British (short lived) EP Chart. The Shadows had five number ones in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany and Japan. They are the only act to date to have their first ten releases make the top ten in Australia.

Note: This is the third solo entry in this quiz for The Shadows, their popularity in the period 1960-1964 in the UK, Europe and Australasia equalled Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. I can't believe they did not receive the airplay their records warranted.

Answer: Rob E.G.

Rob E.G. playing a lap steel guitar had a number of instrumental hits in the early 1960s in Australia. His number one hit was the theme from the Samuel Bronston produced film about the Boxer Rebellion in China around the turn of the twentieth century, "55 Days at Peking". Rob E.G. later recorded under his real name, Robert (Robbie) Porter, with some success.

It was however as a producer that he shone, producing a bestselling album "Daddy Who? Daddy Cool" for the Melbourne band Daddy Cool. He also produced albums in the USA for Rick Springfield and Air Supply.

Answer: Jet Harris and Tony Meehan

In mid 1962 Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, founding members of the Shadows, left the group to strike out on their own. Their success came immediately as their first release "Diamonds" went to number one on the British charts and made the top ten in Australia. "Diamonds" was written by Jerry Lordan who had written the number one hits for the Shadows, "Apache" and "Wonderful Land". Jet Harris and Tony Meehan followed "Diamonds" with another Jerry Lordan composed tune "Scarlett O'Hara" which climbed to number two on the British chart.

Answer: The Atlantics

The Atlantics, a local Sydney instrumental band, like many other groups of the time played covers of tunes by The Shadows and to a lesser level The Ventures and the Spotniks. In late 1962 The Atlantics started to stand out with the addition of another guitarist making them unique by having two lead guitarists. This led to the band writing their own music which led to their smash hit and number one single "Bombora". They followed this late in 1963 with "The Crusher" another surfing instrumental which was a top ten hit for the group. "Bombora" was not a national hit in the USA but was a favourite on DJ playlists and made the California and Oregon charts. Until Fleetwood Mac made number one in the UK for one week in 1969 with "Albatross", "Bombora" was the last instrumental number one of the 1960s in Australia UK and the USA as the beat groups took over the charts.

The Atlantics became a vocal group in 1966 with the addition of pioneer Aussie rocker, Johnny Rebb. The Atlantics released a number of singles; the best and most popular was their version of the Screaming Jay Hawkins classic, "I Put A Spell on You".

Answer: Cliff Richard and The Shadows

Another hit from Cliff and the Shadows. "Summer Holiday" was Cliff's fourth movie, the soundtrack of which generated a number of hits. "Summer Holiday" was number one for three weeks on the UK pop chart and was number three for four weeks in Australia. As usual for Cliff, no airplay in the USA meant no chart success so whilst the record performed well in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the USA did not chart any of his songs until the mid 1970s.
Note: Cliff Richard's first seven (he has had fourteen) number ones on the British charts are credited to Cliff Richard and the Shadows
Note 2: All the songs prior to this question in this quiz were Instrumentals, showing how popular they were prior to the "British Invasion".