Sounds Of The 60s Rewound Part 50 Quiz

Answer: Chubby Checker

In 1958, Hank Blared and the Midnights put out a B side called "The Twist". Soon everyone was dancing to that kind of music. In 1960 they had a US number 28 with the song and Chubby Checker cheekily took it to number one.

The following year Checker followed it up with "Let's Twist Again", which reached number eight on the Hot 100 and number two in the UK.

There followed a plethora of songs about dances. Scores of songs with "twist" in the title can be found.

Answer: Peter Sarstedt

Sometimes you just have to ask if a song is musical genius or a crime against good music. This quiz author would say file "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?" in the latter. (It's such a sugary sweet composition it would give everyone an overdose of C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁).

In 1969 the song went to number one in the UK, but only reached number 70 on the Hot 100. It did not chart in Canada, perhaps proving once again that people from the land of the maple leaf, two million lakes and Sgt Preston have taste.

Answer: Tom Jones

Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this for the movie "What's New Pussycat?".
In 1963 it reached number three on the Hot 100 and number 11 in the UK.

Bacharach convinced Jones to sing this. "When I first heard it I thought, Christ! What the bloody hell do they want me to sing this for?" Jones said in an interview with 'Q' magazine. "But Burt Bacharach explained, I want the big voice to sing this bloody crazy song, and you put it on, it's a classic."

Answer: Traffic

"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" was a familiar children's ditty from the mid-800s. The song of the same name by Traffic was nothing like that.

In 1968, the song reached number eight in the UK.

Answer: The Dixie Cups

Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich wrote "Chapel Of Love" and The Dixie Cups made it a US and Canada number one in 1964. It reached number 22 in the UK.

The Dixie Cups were a trio from New Orleans that had originally been called the The Mel-tones.

Bette Midler, The Beach Boys and Elton John were among those to cover the song.

Answer: The Beatles

In 1963, "Can't Buy Me Love" was the fourth UK number one from the fab four. It also topped the US charts, but peaked at number three in Canada.

Paul McCartney wrote the song and was the only Beatle to sing in the released version.

Ella Fitzgerald took the song to number 34 in the UK, making her the first artist to chart with a Beatles cover.

Answer: Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield wrote "Calendar Girl" and it became a US number four in 1960, reaching number eight in the UK and topping the charts in Canada.

For all his prolific recording, Sedaka only had three US chart-toppers.

Answer: The Everly Brothers

Bo Diddley wrote "Love Is Strange" and it was first recorded in 1956 by Mickey and Sylvia. It reached number 11 on the Hot 100.

In 1965, a cover by Phil and Don Everly made it to number 11 in the UK.

Answer: Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston

In 1967, "It Takes Two" made it to number 14 on the Hot 100 and number 16 in the UK.

Although Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston recorded this together in the studio, they never got to sing it live. Weston later told 'Mojo' magazine: "Being in the studio with Marvin, I saw a new side to him. I'd traveled and shared bills with him so we knew how each other worked. In the studio he was really encouraging. He added little ad libs, intonations here and there and suggested things for the arrangements. I saw the genius shine out of him but also the frustration. You could hear it in his voice. He wanted more control."

Answer: Cream

Eric Clapton and George Harrison were the songwriters behind "Badge". It was a UK number 18 in 1969, but fared less well in North America.

On paper, Cream were a band of super musicians - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were at the top of their profession. But internally things were different. Ultimately Clapton became tired of being the peacemaker between Baker and Bruce. Indeed, it has been said that Baker and Bruce despised each other.

Answer: Wayne Fontana

Graham Gouldman, later to become one of the main players in 10CC, wrote "Pamela Pamela". It was a UK number 11 for Wayne Fontana in 1966.

Fontana had had several hits with The Mindbenders before going solo. "Pamela Pamela" was his best charting position, also reaching number five in Australia.

Even today critics ponder what might have been for Wayne Fontana. He had the talent, but made some disastrous career choices.

Born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis in 1945, at high school in Greater Manchester he formed a skiffle group called The Velfins. A band called Wayne Fontana and the Jets followed and they played local venues before ending up in Hamburg in 1962. They got a record deal and became Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. Several hits followed, then Fontana showed early signs of poor decisions. He rejected "I'm Alive", which The Hollies took to the top of the UK charts and "There's A Kind Of Hush", which was a hit for Herman's Hermits.

More misfortune followed and his solo career failed to last. He soldiered on for a time depute erratic behaviour and addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. A fuller description of his path from rock and roll hero to near zero can found in an October 2020 article by Alan Clayson online at 'Record Collector' [Search for Record Collector 510 Wayne Fontana].

Answer: Carole King

Carole King and then husband Gerry Goffin wrote "It Might As Well Rain Until September" for Bobby Vee, but King was the first to release it as a single, hitting number 22 on the Hot 100 and number three in the UK in 1962.

The song was written in the Brill Building in New York City, a hotbed of songwriting talent. Let's list just some of the songwriting partnerships: Burt Bacharach and Hal David; Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield; Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry; Gerry Goffin and Carole King; Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil; Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.

Answer: The Doors

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger wrote the melody and most of the verses. Jim Morrison wrote the second verse.

It reached number one on the Hot 100 in 1967, and number seven in the UK.

The song was the subject of a number of parodies.

Answer: Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys

A first entry in this series for Linda Ronstadt. She was just 21 when she recorded this Mike Nesmith song. It reached number 13 on the Hot 100 and number 12 in Canada in 1967. After that, for the next 30-odd years, Ronstadt rarely failed to have at least one Hot 100 entry. The 1970s were, effectively, her best decade.

Ronstadt came to be admired by her peers and she encouraged many other musicians - Eagles were born out of her backing band.

She has claimed: "I'm not the greatest singer that ever was, and I'm certainly not the most successful singer that ever was, but maybe I was the most diverse singer during the period of time I was working..."

In a feature with 'Music & Musicians', she was asked if she paid attention to critics and replied: "No. I learned early on not to read reviews, because if you believe the good ones you have to believe the bad ones. You don't do it for prizes or praise or publicity. You do what you need to do."

Answer: Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears took "Spinning Wheel" to number two the Hot 100 in 1969.

This was the second of three singles that just missed out on the top spot - although all three were number ones in Canada

In 1970, BS&T won a Grammy for Album of the Year, then they hit the skids. Why? "The quality just wasn't there..." opined one reviewer, Phil Bausch. In addition they didn't have the songwriting chops of some rivals.

Then there was a tour of Eastern Europe sponsored by the US State Department (actually it threatened to remove the green card of Canadian David Clayton-Thomas if they didn't go). While the shows in Europe were a success, North American audiences reacted badly.

But as Phil Bausch put it: "That Blood Sweat & Tears only had one truly great album, does not take away from the band's innovative sound, nor the fact that their best songs are still a treat to hear all these decades later."