The Misplaced - Songs of My Family Quiz

Answer: The Carpenters

The Carpenters of course, powered by the beautifully melodious voice of Karen Carpenter. Over a ten year period the group placed 12 songs in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 with four making it to number one. Karen sadly passed away in 1983.

The 1996 road trip from Dallas to Los Angeles which resulted in my daughter's dislike of the Carpenters was when she was 17. We only had one cassette tape which was "The Carpenters Greatest Hits". When we stopped for gas I bought another Carpenters tape "Yesterday Once More". My daughter still shudders when the Carpenters are mentioned.

Question submitted by Desimac

Answer: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote the song for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". It didn't have the western/country tone of some of the rest of the soundtrack. Co-star Robert Redford even said he thought the song was wrong to be in the movie. Later after the film was released Redford changed his mind and realized that even with no rain in the scene the song was featured, and the more contemporary sound, he thought it was the right decision.


Question submitted by James Free

Answer: El Paso

"El Paso" was written by Marty Robbins. It was number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 for Marty Robbins in 1960. It was also the first number one hit of the 1960s on both charts. It peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart the same year.

When my daughter was in junior school in the early 1990s she heard me singing this song and asked what is was called. For a bit of fun I said it was something I had written but not got a title for yet. Some months later she came running from her room saying that she had just heard my song on the radio and asked would I be getting paid for it.

When I told her that I didn't write it and that I had just said that I had for a bit of fun, she told me that she had told already her school friends that I had written the song and repeated the few lyrics that I had sung, to them.

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: You

"I Remember You" was a UK hit for Frank Ifield, in June 1962. UK born, his family moved to Australia when he was a child. He returned to the UK in 1959 where he had four number-one hits on the UK Singles Chart in the early 1960s. He had an unusual singing voice, in that he had a built-in yodel sound.

Question submitted by Esspee

Answer: "Butterfly" (1957)

My mother's favourite singer was Bing Crosby until she read his biography. So Bing was demoted and Andy Williams took his place. Andy's biggest hit on the Billboard Top 100 was "Butterfly". The song was written and recorded by Charlie Gracie who also reached number one with his version. Andy Williams had three weeks at number one in March 1957 and Charlie Gracie had two weeks in April. The other songs listed were all top ten hits for Andy Williams.

"Can't Get Used to Losing You" was number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in March and April 1963 for four weeks, kept out of the number one slot by, "He's so Fine" by The Chiffons and "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March. Cashbox has "Can't Get Used to Losing You" number one for one week.

"The Village of St Bernadette" was number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1960.

"Canadian Sunset" was number seven on the Billboard Top 100 in 1956.

Question submitted by Desimac.

Answer: Yellow (River)

"Yellow River", written by Jeff Christie, was number one for one week on the UK Singles chart for Christie in 1970. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

Christie was a trio formed by Jeff Christie on bass guitar and vocals with Mike Blakley on drums and Vic Elmes on guitar. The song was first offered to the Tremeloes who recorded it but did not release it as they were moving to more progressive rock and said that the song was too pop-orientated. Record producer Mike Smith just removed The Tremeloes' vocals from the record, added Jeff Christie's vocals and released it.

I heard the record on the radio, then later that day there was horse racing on TV and a commentator gave a tip for a race and that tip was a horse named Yellow River. I bet £1 on it and it won. This was 55 years ago and I don't remember the price it won at. I am still waiting for another coincidence like that to happen.

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Mel Torme

Crooners first became recognized in the twenties and thirties with their smooth singing and romantic songs. They often performed with big bands and reached the height of their popularity from the forties through to the late sixties.

Mel Torme was born Melvin Howard Torme on September 13, 1925 in Chicago Illinois. Due to his smooth singing voice he was given the nickname "The Velvet Fog" by New York disc jockey Fred Robbins. His most popular song was "The Christmas Song" which he wrote with Bob Wells. Among his US pop chart songs were "Careless Hands" which reached number one, "Again" which reached number three and "Bewitched" which reached number eight.

The other choices were all well known singers considered to be "crooners".

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Human Highway

The movie was a flop and was released in just a few movie theaters in 1982. It wasn't released on VHS until 1995. Devo and Neil Young collaborate on a version of "Hey Hey My My" and Mark Mothersbaugh, the lead singer and main song writer for Devo, is credited along with Neil Young on the soundtrack. They both are listed as actors for the film. Some of the other songs in the film ended up on Neil Young's 1993 album "Trans".

Question submitted by James Free

Answer: New World In The Morning

Roger Whittaker, born March 22, 1936 in Nairobi, Kenya, had a wide fan base in both North America and Europe as well as South Africa and New Zealand. He was known for his soothing vocals and his very talented whistling. The album "New World In The Morning", released in 1971, had twelve songs including "New World In The Morning" and "The Last Farewell" which was considered by many to be his most famous song.

"New World In The Morning" was written by Roger Whittaker. It was first sung and released in 1969 but gained popularity with the release of the song on the album of the same name in 1971.

The three other choices were all popular songs released in 1971

"Joy To The World" was sung by Three Dog Night
"Knock Three Times" was sung by Tony Orlando and Dawn.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" was sung by John Denver.

Question submitted by dekeaunt

Answer: Del Shannon

"Hey! Little Girl" was written by Del Shannon. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart for Del Shannon in 1962. It peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

I had seen Del Shannon singing "You Never Talked About Me" in the 1962 pop movie "It's Trad Dad" ("Ring-A-Ding Rhythm") in the U.S.A. I went to record stores all over Merseyside including Brian Epstein's store in Liverpool, NEMS. Finally I went to a small local store but they never had it either.

The assistant said that they did have his latest record, "Hey! Little Girl", so I bought that instead. It was only when I looked on the B-Side I saw it was "You Never Talked About Me". None of the store assistants had bothered to suggest his latest record or look on the B-side; it would have saved me hours of searching if they had! There was a different song on the B-Side of the US release, "I Don't Care Anymore".

Question submitted by shipyardbernie