Just Walkin' in a Song... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Simon and Garfunkel

"The Sound of Silence" was originally released on Simon and Garfunkel's first, unsuccessful, album, "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.", in 1964. At that point, Paul Simon was definitely a better poet than a musician, and, musically, most of the songs on that album were not that memorable.

The song started getting some late-night buzz, though, and was remixed by producer Tom Wilson; this version became a hit. The remix was released as a single and then on their second album, "Sounds of Silence". Their careers were on their way.

Answer: New Orleans

The song was specifically written for Fats Domino, by Bobby Charles, who also gave us such great songs as "See You Later, Alligator".

Antoine (Fats) Domino Jr. was a New Orleans native, and almost lost his life there during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Rumours went around that he had in fact been killed in the flooding, but he and his wife were rescued by Coast Guard helicopter. He passed away in 2017 of natural causes at the age of 89.

Answer: Chantilly Lace

"Chantilly Lace". This 1958 fun little number was from The Big Bopper, JP Richardson. Richardson was a DJ, and it shows - his line of patter is what really makes this song. The actual "sung" part is less than half of it. It was a big hit at the time, and Jerry Lee Lewis released a cover in 1972 which also did very well.

Answer: Walk Right In

"Walk right in, sit right down
Daddy, let your mind roll on"

"Walk Right In" was originally recorded by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929, and is worth checking out on Youtube if you're a fan of jug band music - it's a honey.

The Rooftop Singers' version, recorded in more of a folk/hootenanny style with a couple of 12 string guitars, spent some time at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Cannon was down on his luck at the time, but the royalties and attention from this version helped him revive his career - he died in 1979, in probably his 90s (birth date is a little obscure).

Answer: 12:00

"Walking After Midnight" was written by Alan Block and Donn Hech, a few years before it was given to Patsy Cline. She recorded it, along with a few other songs, in the fall of 1956, with Owen Bradley involved in the production; Bradley was to go on to produce all her hits (and a good many others in 1950s and '60s Nashville).

Cline was still a mostly unknown singer at this point. She performed this song on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts", and blew the roof off. It was her first hit, going to Number Two on the Country chart, and Number Twelve on the Pop chart.

Answer: Walk Like a Man

"Walk like a man, talk like a man
Walk like a man, my son
No woman's worth crawlin' on the earth
So walk like a man, my son"

Frankie Valli's astonishing falsetto comes through again for this third smash hit for The Four Seasons, from 1963, written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. The story of its recording is pretty amazing - the building the studio was in caught fire during recording, and fire fighters had to break through the locked door to pull Bob Crewe away from the board, with smoke and water leaking into the room from above!

Answer: heart of mine

"I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine
I walk the line"

"I Walk the Line" was written by Johnny Cash in 1956, when he was newly married to his first wife. A great song about fidelity and principle, with a boom chicka boom rhythm from the Tennessee Two (Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins, who met Cash through working at a car dealership with his brother, and who were his backing band for decades.)

Answer: Bob Dylan

"Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?"

"Ballad of a Thin Man" was on 1965's "Highway 61 Revisited". It's one of those Dylan songs that lays itself open to endless interpretation - apparently Black Panthers Stokely Carmichael and Huey Newton were big fans of the song, and figured it had something to say about racism. As good an explanation as any, I suppose.

Answer: To fall down at your door

"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" from Scottish twins The Proclaimers took a while to make a splash in North America. The album it was on, "Sunshine on Leith", was released in 1988, was a big hit in Australia and New Zealand, and did well with the critics, but mostly sank without a trace in the US. Then it was used on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie, "Benny and Joon", and that exposure took it to Number Three on the Billboard Hot 100.

Such a fun, shouty song - once you hear it, you'll never forget it.

Answer: Katrina and the Waves

A piece of pure pop from the mid 80s, "Walking on Sunshine" hit AM radios worldwide in 1985 from the band's self-titled album.

My soon-to-be-husband and I were renting our first house, and got a deal on the rent if we'd paint the whole place. Spent a couple of very happy weeks in May, windows open, radio blasting - and I can't hear this song without smelling paint.

Katrina and the Waves went on to win Eurovision for the UK in 1997.