Vinyl Memories: My First Record Vol.II Quiz

Answer: Oh! Carol

Singer/songwriters Neil Sedaka and Carole King dated while in high school, and she was his inspiration for this song. In retaliation, and as a joke, Gerry Goffin (King's husband and songwriting partner) wrote the comedy response song "Oh, Neil", which Carole recorded and released the same year. There was a spate of "Answer" songs around the late '50s and early '60s.

"Oh! Carol" made the Top Ten in the US and UK but "Oh, Neil" did not chart. "Diana" was co-written and sung by Paul Anka. "Barbara Ann" was sung by The Beach Boys with Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean fame sharing lead vocals with Brian Wilson. "Donna" was written and sung by Ritchie Valens who was killed in the same plane crash as Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson) in 1959.

Question submitted by Fifiscot

Answer: Del Shannon

The "Hats Off to Del Shannon" album peaked at number nine on the UK album chart in 1963. It was not released in the US at the time.

Del Shannon's first UK album "Runaway with Del Shannon" failed to chart in the UK. His second UK album "Hats Off To Del Shannon" was for all intents and purposes a greatest hits album. It featured the hits "Hats Off To Larry", "So Long Baby", "Hey! Little Girl", "Cry Myself To Sleep" and "Swiss Maid" and their UK B-Sides. It also had the US B-Side to "Hey! Little Girl", "I Don't Care Anymore" and a non-charting US A-Side "I Won't Be There".

Del Shannon was my first musical hero and also inspired Jeff Lynn and Tom Petty. It was rumoured that he was going to be invited to join The Traveling Wilburys on the death of Roy Orbison. His own death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1990 ended that speculation. He was the first singer to take a Lennon/McCartney song into the US chart, when "From Me To You" peaked at number 77 in 1963. He wrote the 1965 US number nine hit "I Go To Pieces" by Peter And Gordon. He produced the 1969 US number five hit "Baby It's You" by Smith and the 1970 US number three hit "Gypsy Woman" by Brian Hyland.

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Fleetwood Mac

"Judas Priest" (1983) is a bit of an oddity. It compiles six songs from Judas Priest's catalogue from 1976 - 1981. It's a 7" which plays at 33 1/3 RPM, so I'm not sure if it's an EP or an LP, although I have always thought of it as the former. Another oddity is that the photo on the cover includes drummer Les Binks who had left back in 1979. Binks hadn't played on the earliest track here ("The Ripper") from the album "Sad Wings of Destiny" (1976) either. The drummer back then had been Alan Moore.

"Green Manalishi (with the Two Pronged Crown)" (as it's listed on the back) had been on Priest's US album "Hell Bent for Leather" (1978), which was actually the UK album "Killing Machine" plus the Fleetwood Mac cover. The song is also on the live album "Unleashed in the East" (1979).

"The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown)" was one of the last songs that Peter Green wrote before leaving Fleetwood Mac. The nightmarish visions of a malevolent dog might have had something to do with the vast quantities of LSD that he was ingesting at the time.

About the other red herrings: The Melvins did an excellent cover of "Green Manalishi" on their album "The Maggot". Peter Green apparently, was a huge Hank Marvin/The Shadows fan when growing up and even played in a band named Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes doing covers of pop, rock 'n' roll and The Shadows.

Question submitted by thula2

Answer: Rock-A-Hula Baby

The song "Rock-A-Hula Baby" was used in the movie to showcase Elvis Presley's singing and fast-dancing talents; the scene was set at a party that featured a traditional Hawaiian luau-style dinner.

"Blue Hawaii", a Hal Wallis production, was released in 1960 and co-starred among others, Angela Lansbury as Elvis' character's mother. My best friend and I paid to see the movie three times in three weeks, out of our allowances!

Question submitted by elmo7

Answer: Please Please Me

Capitol Records were initially offered but turned down the rights to the US distribution of the Beatles' music. This opened the way for Vee-Jay Records (an independent rhythm and blues recording company), to sign a five-year contract with EMI in 1963. "Please Please Me" hit the stores in February, followed by "From Me to You" in May but neither record made the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Unfortunately for Vee-Jay records, they lost distribution rights three months later after failing to pay the required royalties.

Capitol Records failed a second time to realize the Beatles' potential and the next Beatles' single, "She Loves You", was distributed by Swan Records. Capitol Records finally signed a contract to distribute the Beatles' music in November 1963. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" went on sale in December 1963 and was The Beatles first US number one hit.

Question submitted by pitegny

Answer: "Piaf at the Paris Olympia" - Edith Piaf

I loved this Edith Piaf album, and still own it! It was released in 1961. Piaf had given a series of concerts at the Paris Olympia in the '50s and early '60s. Her 1961 concerts there were made in an effort to save it from bankruptcy.

Edith Piaf was born Edith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris, France, in 1915. She died in Plascassier, Grasse, France, in 1963 aged 47. Edith took the stage name Piaf, her nickname, and French slang for "little sparrow", (a reference to her tiny physique). She had been ill and semi conscious for months before her death after a lifetime of alcohol and medication abuse. After numerous car accidents, a stomach operation and a failing liver she weighed at one point only 66 pounds. In December 2015 France celebrated the centenary of Edith Piaf's birth.

Petula Clark was born in England but made her home in France and was extremely popular there. Mireille Mathieu was very popular in France and certain other countries in Europe. She was hailed in the press as the "Sparrow from Avignon". Francoise Hardy was very popular in France, she was moderately popular in the UK in the 60's, but mainly for her fashion sense!

Question submitted by Fifiscot

Answer: An American in Paris

George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwine, in Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA, in 1898. He became one of the world's greatest composers and song writers and wrote some of the most wonderful music ever. He died of a brain tumour in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1937 at the age of 38.

Hugely talented, he wrote "Rhapsody in Blue" when he was 25, and "Porgy and Bess" just two years before he died.

My LP had 'An American in Paris' on one side, and 'Rhapsody in Blue' on the other and I think I played it until the needle went right through the record!

Question submitted by Waitakere

Answer: The Monkees

Although all of the Monkees were experienced singers and/or musicians they did not work as a group to make this album. Individual members sang lead vocals on the different songs and Peter Tork played guitar on two tracks but all other instruments and background vocals were performed by session musicians.

The Monkees consisted of Davy Jones from England and Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork from the US. Although they all had turns doing lead vocals this job went primarily to Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. Once the band members took over the actual job of playing their instruments Micky Dolenz was taught how to play drums, Peter Tork played bass and Michael Nesmith played guitar. Davy Jones filed in with percussion.

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers, among the Stones best work, included such hits as "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses". The cover of the 1971 release featured a close up of jeans and a real zipper that you pulled to expose underwear below. Andy Warhol came up with the controversial idea at a party he attended with Mick Jagger. Some stores refused to display the album and the cover was actually changed for sales in Spain. The album went triple platinum in the USA and gold in the UK.

Mail-order vinyl clubs date back to the 1950s. The Columbia House and RCA record clubs were among the first. Free albums were used to entice new subscribers, who would sign commitments to buy a fixed number of albums at regular prices plus shipping and handling, usually over a two- or three-year period. While the clubs did not save their subscribers much money in the long run, they did offer exposure to a wide range of artists and were a great start for my vinyl collection.

Question submitted by pitegny

Answer: Johnny O'Keefe

"Shout" was written and originally recorded by the Isley Brothers in 1959 but it only reached No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. A few months later Australain Johnny O'Keefe featured this song on his TV show "Six o'clock Rock". He released it as a single and it rose to number three on the Australian Top 40.

Scottish singer Lulu had a number seven hit with this song in the UK in 1964, re-releasing it again in 1986, when it made number eight in the UK. The song has been covered many times by artists which included The Beatles, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen. "Shout" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Johnny O'Keefe, also known as "JOK" in Australia, was born in Bondi Junction, New South Wales, Australia in 1935. He died from a heart attack in St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, Australia in 1978 aged 43. He was the first Australian rock'n'roll performer to make the Australian Top 40 chart and between 1959 and 1974 he had over 28 Top 40 hits. He has been posthumously inducted into Australia's Aria Hall of Fame.

Question submitted by wenray.