Sounds Of The Sixties Rewound Part 19 Quiz

Answer: The Archies

"Sugar Sugar" was a song written for a cartoon group, The Archies, for a kids' TV show.

Some people at the time liked to denigrate the song (to borrow a line from the comedian Bob Newhart, "denigrate means 'put down'), but Lou Reed said he wished he had written it, and among those to cover the song were Ike and Tina Turner and Bob Marley.

This was the best-selling song in the USA in 1969, sweeping aside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, among others. It topped the charts in both the UK and the USA.

Andy Kim, who wrote the song, told songfacts website ""It wasn't written for anything other than to satisfy a Saturday morning animated show. 'Sugar, Sugar' was one of those songs that I kept humming. I kept loving it. It would not leave me. And with the magical mind of Jeff Barry, a great record was made. There was no time to analyze and to pontificate and to see if it made any sense. The writing and the recording and the euphoria of being part of it just excited me."

Answer: Thunderclap Newman

"Something In The Air" was the first single this quizwriter every bought and it still sounds great after all these years. In 1969 the song spent three weeks at the top of the UK charts.

The song was written by the drummer Andy 'Speedy' King, who sang lead vocals, Jimmy McCulloch played guitar and the amazing piano part came from Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman. (The Who's Pete Townshend produced the record and played bass.) McCulloch was aged just 16 at the time and went on to be a crucial part of Wings with Paul McCartney.)

Sadly, the band only lasted two years and had no follow-up success.
"Something In The Air" was to be used in television commercials by American Airlines and TalkTalk broadband.

Answer: Linda Scott

Witten by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, "I've Told Every Little Star" was a US number three and UK number seven in 1961.

Linda Scott was to have two more hits, but her music career wound down by 1967 and she got out of the business.

Answer: Eden Kane

Eden Kane had a UK number one in 1961 with "Well I Ask You" and followed it up with "Get Lost", which reached number ten.

Kane was one of those whose star shone brightly for just a few years; his hits were all between 1961 and 1964.

Answer: Toni Fisher

"The Big Hurt" was released in 1959 and topped out at number 30 in the UK in February 1960. It reached number three on the Billboard 100. It sold a million copies worldwide.

Answer: Ruby & the Romantics

Was this one that got away from Dionne Warwick? She recorded a demo, but the song went to Ruby & the Romantics, who took it to the top of the Hot 100 in 1963.

Warwick had always liked the song and included it in her album "Heartbreaker" in 1983.

The song became something of a staple for singers in the 1960s. Even Frankie Valli had a crack at it, making it a number 11 in 1975.

Answer: The Monkees

"Daydream Believer" was the third and last number one for The Monkees. We Five and Spanky & Our Gang both passed on the song.

It was written by folksinger John Stewart after he left the Kingston Trio and it was part of his repertoire initially.

Although they did not play on many of their other hits, The Monkees did play on "Daydream Believer". Davy Jones, who handled the lead vocals, said it was one of his favourite songs by the band. The song sold five million copies worldwide.

In a 'Rolling Stone' readers' poll in 2012, "Daydream Believer" was named as the favourite Monkees song.

Answer: The Cascades

Cascades lead singer John Gummoe claimed to have started to write the song while serving in the US Navy "I was standing a mid watch on the bridge while we were underway to Japan. We were sailing up in the north Pacific and it was raining heavily and the seas were tossing," he told 'songfacts' in 2008.

In 1962 it reached number five in the UK and number three in the US. It was their biggest hit.

It was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles with top musicians in attendance, including Hal Blaine on drums and Glen Campbell on guitar. Hal Blaine, incidentally, is estimated to have played on 35,000 recordings, including 40 number one hits.

Answer: The Paper Dolls

'Something Here In My Heart (Keeps A-Tellin' Me No)" reached number 11 in the UK in 1968. It was the debut single from the female trio Paper Dolls - and their biggest hit.

Answer: The Beatles

Songs by The Beatles have been forensically examined for meaning for decades, none more so than "Ticket To Ride". Certainly this one could have harmless, or less innocent connotations. Whatever, it made the top of the charts in both the UK and USA.

John Lennon regarded it as a heavy metal song. Carl Palmer described Ringo Starr's drumming on the track as "stellar". "One of the most exciting, rhythmical patterns and parts and songs that I ever heard, which I thought was really big-time and had it all going is a track by The Beatles called 'Ticket To Ride,' The drum part on that I always thought was exceptional," he said.

The song was later revamped as "He's Got A Ticket To Ride" by The Carpenters and made number 54 on the Hot 100.

Answer: Elvis Presley

As Tony Blackburn observed when talking about this song on the show, "A Mess Of Blues" does not make much sense as a title or in the lyrics.
Elvis sang at the end of each verse "Since you're gone I got a mess of blues" while the British rockers Staus Quo got it better when they sang "Since you're gone I got a mess of the blues."

In 1960, "A Mess Of Blues" was a B side on "It's Now Or Never" but still made number 32 on the hot 100. It was an A-side in the UK with "The Girl Of My Best Friend" as B-side and reached number two on the charts.

In 1983 Status Quo - a band revered by their fanatic followers but generally, and unfairly, dismissed by too many others - made it a number 15 in the UK.

Answer: The Shadows

In 1960, the instrumental "Apache" reached the top of the charts in seven territories, UK, Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa. This version did not chart in the USA, although in 1961 Danish jazz guitarist Jorgen Ingmann took it to number to on the Hot 100.

The Shadows were an influential band, either on their own or when Cliff Rchard was lead singer. The guitar work of Hank B. Marvin inspired many. John Lennon famously noted that The Shadows were one of the only things in British music "worth listening to" before The Beatles came along.

The was the first instrumental to top the UK charts in the 1960s and The Shadows were to have four more by 1963.

The Shadows had a 30-year career from 1959 and 1989 and after a break returned in 2004 for 12 years. "Unofficial" Shadows continued to perform thereafter.

Answer: Ricky Valance

File this one under 'songs that were banned but topped the charts'.
Ray Petersen released this in the USA and it went to number seven on the Hot 100. But in the UK it was banned by the BBC, which had a general ban on songs about death.

Ricky Valance, an ex-RAF serviceman, was recruited to sing a cover and, despite that ban, it went to number one in the UK and stayed there for three weeks.

Incidentally, there is a catalogue of songs 'Banned By The Beeb' that went on to become hits, and you can play my quiz of that name elsewhere on this site.
To give a flavour of some banned songs: "Lola", by the Kinks; "Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols; Glad To Be Gay" by Tom Robinson; "Jackie" by Scott Waker; "Je t'aime... moi non plus" by Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin and "Creep" by Radiohead.

Other songs were banned because of wars and conflicts.

Answer: Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

If you ever need to remember which finger a wedding ring should go on, just sing "Third Finger Left Hand" to yourself.

This was the B side of their 1967 song "Jimmy Mack", which peaked at number ten.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

In 1962, "19th Nervous Breakdown" topped out at number two on the charts in the UK and USA. It was about Mick Jagger's inability to cope with the stresses of touring. (Ironic given their constant tours in the years afterwards.)

According to 'Far Out' magazine, Jagger said of the song: "We had just done five weeks hectic work in the States, and I said, 'Dunno about you blokes, but I feel about ready for my nineteenth nervous breakdown.' We seized on it at once as a likely song title. Then Keith and I worked on the number at intervals during the rest of the tour. Brian, Charlie and Bill egged us on - especially as they liked having the first two words starting with the same letter."