Sounds Of The Sixties Rewound Part 16 Quiz

Answer: Eddie Floyd

"Knock On Wood" was written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee - the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. It was repurposed as the National Civil Rights Museum.

In 1966, the song reached number 28 on the Hot 100 and number 19 in the UK. A disco version by Amii Stewart was a number one in 1979.

Answer: Doris Day

Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April 1922. She turned to singing after a car crash wrecked her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.

And while she got the break as a singer in the 1940s, she was also later able to take up an acting career. It took her through the 1940s and 1950s in television and the big screen - all the while keeping on singing.

"Move Over Darling" was the theme song of a 1963 movie of the same name, in which Day appeared with James Garner, and Polly Bergen. It reached number eight in the UK - even though it was banned by some British radio stations for being "too sexy". It dd not chart in the USA.

Answer: Johnny Keating & The Z Men

This quiz author remembers those early school days when the radio show "Singing Together" was almost mandatory in UK schools. One song that was played was "Johnny Todd", a traditional song, and being able to proudly answer that the song was the inspiration for the theme music to the television cop show "Z Cars".

"Johnny Todd he took a notion
For to cross the ocean wide
And he left his love behind him
Walkin' down by the Liverpool tide..."

To digress, "Z Cars" was set in a fictional town loosely based on Liverpool and was one of the first gritty television shows on UK TV - a big change from cosy rivals.

In 1962, the theme music reached number eight on the Record Retailer chart in the UK.

Answer: The Supremes

In 1965, "Stop! In The Name Of Love" was the fourth consecutive US number one for The Supremes. No female band had ever done that before, and they were to have a fifth consecutive number one.

In 2024, 'The Guardian' newspaper ranked 20 songs by The Supremes and put "Stop! In The Name Of Love" at number two.

As well as topping the Hot 100, the song reached number seven in the UK.

Answer: The Beach Boys

Mike Love wrote the lyrics and Bran Wilson the music for "California Girls". Love sang lead vocals, and, you've probably guessed it, most of the instruments in the recording were played by the Wrecking Crew - Hal Blaine on drums and Carol Kaye on bass to name but two.

It has been said that The Beatles wrote "Back In The USSR" as a parody.

In 1965, "California Girls" was a US number three and reached number 26 in the UK.

Answer: Dinah Washington & Brook Benton

Priscila Bowman was first to record "A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)" in 1958.

Two years later Dinah Washington and Brook Benton took it to number one on the R&B charts. It was the second partnership by Dinah Washington and Brook Benton to be successful in 1960.

Washington was known as the 'Queen of the Jukeboxes', and had an eventful life. She married seven times and battled with medical drugs dependency. She died at the age of 39 from a mixture of prescribed pills.

Quincy Jones, one of the most influential producers of the time, said Washington "could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator and you would've still understood every single syllable."

Answer: The Rolling Stones

Who would have thought that Jumpin' Jack Flash" was based on a real person? In this case it was Keith Richards' gardener.

Richards told 'Rolling Stone' magazine: "The lyrics came from a grey dawn at Redlands. Mick and I had been up all night, it was raining outside, and there was the sound of these boots near the window, belonging to my gardener, Jack Dyer. It woke Mick up. He said, 'What's that?' I said, 'Oh, that's Jack. That's jumping Jack.' I started to work around the phrase on the guitar, which was in open tuning, singing the phrase 'Jumping Jack.' Mick said, 'Flash,' and suddenly we had this phrase with a great rhythm and ring to it."

The song made number three in the UK charts in 1968 and number three on the Hot 100.

In 2013, 'Rolling Stone' magazine put "Jumpin' Jack Flash" at number seven in their list of '100 Greatest Rolling Stones Songs'. I won't mention the number one on the list, since it was also released in the 1960s. Suffice to say it spurred this quiz author.

Answer: Johnny Rivers

In 1966, "The Poor Side Of Town" became the first and only US chart-topper for Johnny Rivers. He co-wrote it with Lou Adler.

Rivers had 29 songs reach the top 100, and nine in the top ten.

Rivers later said: "I had this tune I'd been working on, and I kept playing it for Lou. It took me about six months to finish. We cut it with Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn and Hal Blaine. I did my vocal performances live with the band. I sat and played my guitar and sang."

Rivers meanwhile, is reported to have had something of a spat with Elvis Presley. After hearing of Presley's intentions for one song, Rivers got in first with his version.

Answer: The Velvelettes

In 1964, "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" peaked at number 64 on the Hot 100 - a surprisingly poor result for a song that the band had high hopes for.

In the UK in 1982, the all-girl Bananarama joined with the all-boy Fun Boy Three to take a cover to number five.

The Velvelettes got together in 1961, but failed to set the charts alight. Their best return on the Hot 100 was a number 45.

So, why did they not do better? Some say that Motown did not give them the support they needed, plus there were so many other rival bands about - The Supremes, Four Tops, and The Temptations to name three.

Answer: Linda Lyndell

Lynda Lyndell had been around for a few years as a backing singer before cutting "What A Man" in 1968. It reached number 50 on the Billboard R&B charts.

Lyndell (born Linda Rowland) was a childhood singer in church choirs. Although she was white, she sang with choirs and later bands of all races. This was to draw her to the attention of the Ku Klux Klan in the mid 1960s, leading to her retirement as a performer.

Answer: Roy Orbison

"In Dreams" was a US number six and UK number five for Roy Orbison - he claimed to have written the lyrics in a dream. The song featured in the 1986 movie "Blue Velvet".

While the song was climbing the charts, Orbison was on tour in the UK with a then relatively unknown band called...The Beatles.

Years before Taylor Swift was obliged to re-record many of her earlier songs, Orbison had to do something similar. He did not own the rights to many of his own songs, so cut them again for an album "In Dreams: The Greatest Hits".

Answer: Barbara Randolph

"I Got a Feeling" was a track by the Four Tops for their 1966 album "On Top".

In 1967, Barbara Randolph released it as a single. It did not quite make the Hot 100 - 'bubbling under' at 116.

Barbara was the adopted daughter of actress Lillian Randolph. Among her own acting roles, Barbara appeared in the movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".

She also toured with Marvin Gaye when his partner Tammi Terrell fell ill.

Answer: Betty Everett

In 1964, Betty Everett reached number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)". It sold a million copies back then when physical records were all that mattered. The first recording had been by Merry Clayton in 1963, but it failed to chart.

Betty Everett was yet another product of a church choir in the deep south of the USA. She moved on to singing the blues, but was probably left behind in the fame stakes by her shy and nervous character. She also did not like many of the suggestive songs she was asked to sing.

Answer: Bobby Vee

"Take Good Care Of My Baby" was the second song by Carole King and Gerry Goffin to hit the top of the US charts. In 1961, it also reached number three in the UK. The tune was by King, the lyrics by Goffin. This was also Bobby Vee's first number one. He had spent some time earlier singing with The Crickets after the death of Buddy Holly.

The Beatles included the song in their audition for Decca Records in 1961.

Answer: Glen Campbell & Bobbie Gentry

"All I Have to Do Is Dream" was written by Boudleaux Bryant for the Everly Brothers.

Phil Everly later said: "I remember hearing 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' on an acetate with Boudleaux's version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux's out and it would have been a hit. It's just a great, great song. It's beautiful. Boudleaux was the main man who wrote all the great songs for us, and we love him."

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant wrote several songs for the Everlys. This was a number one for Phil and Don in 1958.

In 1970, Glen Campbell and Bobby Gentry took it to number 27 on the Hot 100.
It has been covered many times, and one of this author's favourite versions is by the amazing Austrian MonaLisa Twins. Their career has majored on faithful interpretations of 1960s songs - as well as writing their own originals.