Movies/Actors - Songs/Singers of the 1970s Quiz

Answer: Elton John

"Pinball Wizard", written by Pete Townshend, peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart for Elton John in 1975. It was not released as a single in the U.S.A.

"Pinball Wizard" was originally released by The Who and entered the UK Singles Chart on March 19, 1969 where it peaked at number four. It was also included on The Who's 1969 album "Tommy".

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Robert Cray

"Otis Day and the Knights" band were entirely made up for the film. Their performance of the song "Shout" was a fun part of the film. The lead singer, Otis Day, was played by actor DeWayne Jessie.

"Shout" was originally written and performed by the Isley Brothers in 1959. Other noteworthy covers of this include The Beatles; in 1964 they recorded a version for the television special "Around the Beatles", which was later collected on their album "Anthology 1". Lulu recorded it twice, in 1964 and 1968. The Chambers Brothers also recorded a version in 1968.

Although actor DeWayne Jesse played the part of the singer in the film, The version of "Shout" in the movie was sung by Lloyd Williams. Because of the success of the film, Lloyd Williams formed a band called Otis Day and the Knights and toured for a few years.

Question submitted by JamesFree

Answer: The Impossible Dream

The 1972 film "Man of La Manch" was an adaptation of the smash Broadway hit of the same name, music provided by Mitch Leigh and Joe Davion. Sung in the movie by Peter O'Toole but actually dubbed by Simon Gilbert, this song was covered by many singers including Frank Sinatra, Robert Goulet, Elvis, Jim Nabors and Andy Williams. The most commercially successful version was recorded by Jack Jones, reaching number one on the "Billboard Easy Listening Chart".

"Hopelessly Devoted To You" was from "Grease".
"I Don't Know How To Love Him" is from "Jesus Christ Superstar".
"Suicide Is Painless" is from "M*A*S*H".

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Saturday Night Fever

"Saturday Night Fever" with music by the Bee Gees garnered four Billboard Hot 100 number one hits for the group. "You Should Be Dancing", "How Deep Is Your Love", "Staying Alive" and "Night Fever". A further number one written by the Bee Gees, "If I Can't Have You", was a number one hit for Yvonne Elliman.

In 1978 songs written by the Gibb brothers accounted for over half of the number one weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 with five number one hits by the Bee Gees.

Question submitted by Desimac.

Answer: Martin Scorsese

"The Last Waltz" concert was held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. "The Last Waltz" was filmed and was directed by Martin Scorsese. Later it was heralded as one of the best documentary concert films ever made. The film was selected by the Library of Congress in 2019, for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Some of the notable guest appearances on the show include Neil Young, Muddy Waters, and Van Morrison along with dozens of other musical legends from the 1970s.

The Band and all its guests, with the addition of Ringo Starr on drums and Ronnie Wood on guitar, then sang "I Shall Be Released" as a closing number.

Question submitted by JamesFree

Answer: Hilda Baker and Arthur Mullard

"You're The One That I Want" was written by John Farrar and peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart for comedy actors Hilda Baker and Arthur Mullard in 1978. The UK is possibly the only country it charted in.

"You're The One That I Want" was originally sung by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie "Grease". It was number one on the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks in 1978. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

The song writer John Farrar was a member of the British instrumental group The Shadows in which he played guitar.

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Paul Williams

Paul Williams wrote many pop songs of the late sixties and seventies, including "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" for The Carpenters.
He also wrote, among many others, "Old Fashioned Love Song" for Three Dog Night and the words for the theme to "The Love Boat". Williams also acted, playing Little Enos Burdette in three "Smokey and the Bandit" movies.

The movie "A Star is Born" has been made four times and the 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson is considered to be the weakest. The other versions were;

1937 with Janet Gaynor and Frederic March
1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason (my favourite version) and
2018 with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

Question submitted by player Desimac

Answer: The Rainbow Connection

"The Muppet Movie", released in 1979, was written by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns and stared Jim Henson's Muppets. The music was written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher.

In the movie "The Rainbow Connection" song was performed by Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The song reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 17 weeks in 1979. In 2020 "The Rainbow Connection" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry because it was felt to be "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant".

"The Candy Man" is from the 1971 movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".
"Evergreen" is from the 1976 movie "A Star Is Born".
"Staying Alive" is from the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever".

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Sammy Davis Jr.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", staring Gene Wilder, was based on the 1964 book by Ronald Dahl, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".
The song "The Candy Man" was created by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and was performed in the movie by Aubrey Woods in his role of the candy store owner.

Singer Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the song as a single with "I Want to be Happy" as the B-side. It was number one for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, for two weeks on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and was on the US Cash Box Top 100 chart.

It's been said that Sammy Davis Jr. never really liked the song and thought it wouldn't go anywhere!

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Slightly different arrangement and a children's choir

The original version of the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for Bill Conti on July 2, 1977, eight months after the movie was released. The song was written by Bill Conti, Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins.

The version recorded for "Rocky II" didn't chart. The song was again tweaked for "Rocky III" however it wasn't used at the title song. That went to Survivor with the song "Eye Of The Tiger".

Question submitted by JamesFree