Musicians who Passed in 2018 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Cranberries

Dolores O'Riordan was the youngest of nine children. In 1989 brothers Noel and Mike Hogan formed The Cranberry Saw Us band in Limerick, Ireland, with Fergal Lawler playing drums and singer Niall Quinn. Quinn left the group within a year and Dolores O'Riordan responded to their ad for a singer and helped compose lyrics for a song called "Linger". With Dolores on board the group changed their name and began working with Xeric Records, recording "Nothing Left at All". After changing to Island Records they released "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" (1993) and "No Need to Argue" the following year.
The group continued to record and tour until they disbanded in 2003. Dolores' biggest release as a solo artist was "Ordinary Day" in 2007. In January, 2009, the group reunited.
The Corrs consists of siblings Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim. The Dublin based Chalets were active between 2001 and 2008. The Chieftains formed in 1963.

Answer: Grazing in the Grass

Actor and singer Philemon Hou composed "Grazing in the Grass" and Hugh Masekela released it as a single in 1968, topping the US charts. In 2018 Masekela's version was inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame.
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela was born in South Africa. He began playing Jazz in the fifties using various horns. In 1959 he was part of a band called Jazz Epistles who recorded the first African Jazz album. In 1967 he appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival and released "Grazing in the Grass" the following year, selling over four million copies. He also performed on recordings by many artists including The Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel. In the eighties he toured with Paul Simon supporting his "Graceland" (1986) LP with other South African musicians and singers.
Hugh was nominated for three Grammy awards, was nominated for Broadway's 1988 Tony Award for Best Score (Musical)and MTV Africa Music Awards Legend Award.
Hugh was also an anti apartheid-activist who recorded songs including "Bring Him Back Home" (1987) and "Soweto Blues" (1977).
"Love or Let Me Be Lonely" and "Real Friends" were 1970 singles from Friends of Distinction. "Going in Circles" was released by the band in 1969.

Answer: The Temptations

Dennis Edwards was born in Alabama. His father was a minister and the family moved to Detroit when Dennis was ten years old. Dennis sang in his father's church and eventually led the choir. As a teen he studied at the Detroit Conservatory of Music and joined a group called The Mighty Clouds of Joy. Dennis formed Dennis Edwards and the Fireballs in 1961. Following a stint in the service Edwards was signed by Motown and filled in when the Contours' singer Billy Gordon was sick. He came to the attention of The Temptations who wanted to replace their lead singer. In 1968 he formally joined the group and they released hits including "Cloud Nine" (1968), "I Can't Get Next to You" (1969) and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972. In 1977 Edwards tried recording as a solo artist with Motown but reunited with The Temptations in 1980 and later in the eighties he toured with fellow members David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks as Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards, followed in the nineties by The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards.
Edwards married Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters in 1977.
Lionel Ritchie fronted The Commodores, Smokey Robinson headed the Miracles and Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Lawrence Payton performed as The Four Tops from 1953 until 1997.

Answer: The Ventures

Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards was born in Oklahoma. He had begun playing a variety of instruments by the time he was five years old. His family later moved to Puyallup, Washington. In the late fifties Edwards worked with Buck Owens in the Tacoma, Washington, area and was also part of the house band for local radio stations. Don Wilson and Bob Bogle of The Ventures met Edwards at station KTNT and Edwards soon joined the band on lead guitar. He left the band in 1968 for a solo career, rejoining them in 1972. In 1984 Edwards relocated to Nashville where he worked with Lefty Frizzel. From 2004-2006 Edwards was a regular character on the "Deadwood" television series. Nokie also toured Japan occasionally with the Ventures until 2012.
In 2008 Edwards and the other Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by John Fogerty.
In the sixties The Routers recorded "Let's Go (Pony"), The Surfaris released "Wipe Out" and the Champs recorded "Tequila" in 1958

Answer: Drums

Louisiana native D. J. Fontana was the house drummer for the Louisiana Hayride radio broadcast in the early fifties. He was recruited by Sam Phillips to back a band called The Blue Moon Boys comprised of Elvis Presley along with bass player Bill Black and guitarist Scotty Moore.

The lineup played on most of Elvis' early hits including "Hound Dog", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Don't Be Cruel" in 1956. They made several appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948) between 1955 and 1957 but broke up in 1958 when Bill Black departed. Fontana continued to record with Elvis and worked with him on his 1968 NBC television comeback special. D. J. authored a book titled "D.J. Fontana Remembers Elvis" (1983).

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 in the Sideman category and was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame the same year.

He passed in 2018 from complications following hip surgery at age 82.

Answer: The Blues Brothers

"The Blues Brothers" was the Number Ten ranked film of 1980. In addition to Matt Murphy The Blues Brothers recruited Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Steve "the Colonel" Cropper playing lead guitar, Willie "Too Big" Hall on drums and "Blue Lou" Marini on saxophone among others.
Born in Sunflower, Mississippi, Matt learned to play guitar as a child and when the family moved to Chicago Matt got work backing artists such as Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Little Junior Parker and Memphis Slim. He was also hired to play on sessions at Chess Records for artists including Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon. In the seventies he recorded seven albums with harmonica player James Cotton. It was during a performance with Cotton that John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd recruited him to perform in "The Blues Brothers" playing Aretha Franklin's husband. He worked with the band until 2000 and was also featured in "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998).
In 1990 he released a solo album called "Way Down South" followed by "The Blues Don't Bother Me!" in 1996.
Murphy relocated to Florida where he passed from a heart attack at age 88.
"All That Jazz" (1979) was directed by Bob Fosse and starred Roy Scheider. "More American Graffiti" (1979) starred Candy Clark and Ron Howard. "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980) featured Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones.

Answer: George Michael

In addition to having a major US Number One with "Faith" in 1987 George Michael teamed up with Aretha to top the US charts the same year with "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". In 1992 Aretha recorded "Ever Changing Times" with Michael McDonald.
Aretha began singing in her father's church in Detroit as a young girl. When she was 18 she signed with Columbia Records but did not have a major hit until signing with Atlantic Records in the mid-sixties and releasing "Respect" and "Chain of Fools" in 1967 followed by 110 charted singles on the US Billboard charts. She garnered 18 Grammy awards and sold over 75 million records. Twenty years after her success with "Respect" she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" was a 1987 release from Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" was released by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett the same year. In 1992 Aretha recorded "Ever Changing Times" with Michael McDonald.

Answer: Strawberry Alarm Clock

Edward Calhoun King was a native of Glendale, California. As a teen he was part of a group called Thee Sixpence. In 1966 members of the band merged with members of another local band called Waterfyrd Traene to form Strawberry Alarm Clock. Their initial release, the US Number One "Incense and Peppermints", would be their biggest hit. John S. Carter co-wrote the song with Tim Gilbert. The band was not happy John Carter's vocals and recruited Greg Munford from Shapes of Sound to record the lead vocal.
When Strawberry Alarm Clocked folded in 1972 King joined Lynyrd Skynyrd and co-wrote "Sweet Home Alabama". He left the band in 1975 but became part of the reformed band in 1987 until heart problems forced him to leave in 1996. In 2006 King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the early lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
King died in his Nashville, Tennessee, home from cancer in 2018 at age 68.
"The Letter" was a 1967 hit single from the Box Tops. The Buckinghams had success with "Kind of A Drag" the same year. In 1967 The Easybeats released "Friday on my Mind".

Answer: True

In 1962 Cincinnati native Martyn Jerel Buchwald changed his named to Marty Balin after relocating to San Francisco and embarking on a recording career. After releasing "I Specialize in Love" for Challenge Records he formed a Folk Music group called The Town Criers in 1964.

The following year he co-founded Jefferson Airplane and handled vocals with Grace Slick. In 1967 he was with the band when they played at the Monterey Pop Festival and two years later when the group appeared at Woodstock. Later that year the band was performing with The Rolling Stones at the Altamont Free Concert when Balin was knocked out by security guards from Hell's Angels. He left the band in 1971 but was asked to join the reformed Jefferson Starship in 1975.

He left in 1979 when Grace Slick departed and produced a Rock Opera called "Rock Justice". Balin and the original line-up of Jefferson Airplane were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Answer: Annie

Tony Joe White grew up on a cotton farm in Louisiana where he performed in school dances and went on to play in night clubs and other venues around Texas and Louisiana. In the late sixties he signed with Nashville based Monument Records but failed to have any success until his 1968 recording of "Polk Salad Annie" was released the following year. It climbed to Number Eight on the US Billboard charts and would be his biggest hit as a singer. Elvis and Tom Jones also recorded the song.
He wrote "Rainy Night in Georgia" which became a hit for Brook Benton in 1970. Dusty Springfield recorded Billy's song "Willie and Laura Mae Jones" on her 1969 "Dusty in Memphis" LP.
In 1973 White was in the film "Catch My Soul", a Rock Opera version of Shakespeare's "Othello". White performed four songs and composed seven others for "Catch My Soul".
In 2014 White appeared with The Foo Fighters on "The Late Show with David Letterman" performing "Polk Salad Annie". He passed from a heart attack in his Tennessee home in 2018.