One-Word Song Titles - 1960s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ken Dodd

First recorded by Rudy Vallee in 1929, "Tears" was a UK number one single for comedian Ken Dodd in 1965. "Tears" was the biggest-selling single of 1965 -- remarkable really in a year that saw some real classics top the chart: "Go Now" by The Moody Blues, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers, "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones, "Crying in the Chapel" by Elvis, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds, "King of the Road" by Roger Miller, "The Last Time" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out" "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles.
The third-bestselling single of the decade (behind "She Loves You" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"), "Tears" spent 24 weeks in the chart, five of those in the number one spot. Although Ken Dodd is primarily known as a comedian, this was not his only foray into music -- "Love is like a Violin", his debut single, reached number eight in 1960 and he had nine more releases in the early 1960s, although none of them made it into the Top 20 until "Tears".
Of the alternatives, Australian actor/comedian/musician Rolf Harris scored the last UK number one of the 1960s with "Two Little Boys". "Dad's Army" star Clive Dunn scored a UK number one single with a one-word title ("Granddad"), but not until November 1970. English country singer Frank Ifield was one of the most successful recording acts of the 1960s, scoring four number one UK singles (although none of those had one-word titles).

Answer: Surrender

A number number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1961, with sales of more than fivve million worldwide "Surrender" is one of a handful of Elvis releases to be ranked amongst the 'bestselling singles of all time". Elvis's five other US number one singles in the 1960s are "Stuck on You", "It's Now or Never", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (all in 1960), "Good Luck Charm" in 1962 and "Suspicious Minds" in 1969.
Elvis had even more success in the 1960s across The Pond, with eleven releases making it to the number one spot in the UK chart: "It's Now or Never" (1960), "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", "Wooden Heart", "Surrender", "Little Sister"/"(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (all 1961), "Rock-A-Hula Baby"/"Can't Help Falling in Love", "Good Luck Charm", "She's Not You", "Return to Sender" (all 1962), "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" (1963) and "Crying in the Chapel" (1965). "Surrender" is again, though, the only one-word title in the list.
Of the alternatives, "Don't" was a US number one for Elvis, but in 1958 -- this was the last single he released before departing for his U.S. military service. Elvis released his version of "Suspicion" in 1964, but it stalled just outside the Top 100 in the US chart. "Rubberneckin'" was released in 1969 as a double A-side with "Daddy Don't Cry" and made it to number six on the Billboard 100 chart.

Answer: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

The group began in Nashville TN as The Royal Charms before changing their name first to the Gladiolas and then to the Excellos. In 1959, they came across a new production from Ford Motor Company that inspired them to adopted the name Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, and it was under this name that they achieved their only notable chart success, reaching number one in the US Billboard 100 in 1960 with "Stay". They managed only a one-week stay at number one before being dislodged by Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?".
The song was actually written by Maurice Williams in 1953, when he was just 15. With a playing time of just one minute 50 seconds, it was (and remained more than 50 years later) the shortest single ever to reach number one. Sales of the original recording jumped massively (to more than eight million) more than a quarter of a century later when an even shorter version featured on the soundtrack of the cult 1987 film "Dirty Dancing".
The alternatives are three more one-hit wonders of the 1960s: The Hollywood Argyles reached number one in the US chart with "Alley Oop" in 1960. J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers made it to number two in the U.S. chart with "Last Kiss", a song that was later covered by Pearl Jam (topping the Canadian and Australian charts but also stalling at number two in the U.S.) in 1999. John Fred and His Playboy Band topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 with "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)".

Answer: Rain

The Beatles issued a number of Double A-sides (eg. "Eleanor Rigby"/"Yellow Submarine" and "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane"), but there were also some notable B-sides too. Inspired by the terrible weather when the band arrived in Melbourne, "Rain" is essentially about people constantly complaining about the weather. Recorded in April 1966 during the same session as "Paperback Writer", both songs were originally intended for the "Revolver" album (released later that year) although neither eventually appeared on it.
John Lennon singing the lyrics backwards (and everyone laughing) appears in the final verse of the song, and was the first experiment with the fade-out fade-in ending that was later famously used on "Strawberry Fields Forever".
Of the alternatives: "Girl" first appeared on the 1965 album "Rubber Soul" and was the B-side to 1966 hit single (another one-worder) "Michelle"; one version of "Revolution" appears on the 1968 self-titled album otherwise known as "The White Album" but a hard rock variation was released as the B-side of "Hey Jude"; "Misery" appeared on the band's first album, "Please Please Me" in 1963, and was the B-side of "Ask Me Why" that same year. It was also the B-side for the Beatles' version of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven", which was released as a single in 1965.

Answer: Petula Clark

The song was originally called "Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)" when Lolita reached number five in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with it in 1959 -- the most successful German-language single in America until Nena's 1984 "99 Luftballons". The English words were written by noted 1950s record producer Norman Newell OBE writing under the pseudonym of David West. Two singers released versions of the song in the UK in 1961: Anne Shelton reached number ten with what would be her last chart single, whilst Petula Clark's version was her fifth foray into the Top Ten but her first number one. Clark scored her only other UK number one in 1967 with "This Is My Song" which was written by Charlie Chaplin. Curiously, Chaplin wrote the song for Al Jolson, not knowing that he had died 15 years earlier.

When finally convinced that Jolson was not available, Chaplin used an instrumental version in his film and allowed Clark, who lived near him is Switzerland at the time, to record the song as a single. Perhaps she should have recorded more songs written by 'unlikely songwriters'!?!

Answer: Apache

Written by English composer Jerry Lordan, "Apache" was the first of five UK number one singles for The Shadows between 1960 and 1963. It also reached number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, France, South Africa and Spain. Danish jazz guitarist Jørgen Ingmann's version of the song then reached number two in the U.S. and topped the Canadian chart in 1961.

A 1973 version of "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band, although not a hit at the time, is now considered one of the first classic hip-hop releases. Of the alternatives, "Kon-Tiki" was The Shadows' second UK number one, in 1961; "Atlantis" was a 1963 Shadows single that stalled at number two; and "Telstar" was a 1962 instrumental track by The Tornados that topped the singles chart on both sides of the Atlantic.

Answer: Juliet

A pop foursome founded in Blackburn, Lancashire in 1962, the group's name came from the location of the music shop (on Penny Street) where they met to practice. Not quite "one-hit wonders", they scored four Top 20 singles in the mid-60s, but by far their most-notable success was "Juliet", with which they reached number one in May 1964.
Of the alternatives, "Diane" was also a 1964 UK number one single, but by The Bachelors; "Jessica" was a 1973 instrumental single by The Allman Brothers; and "Clair" was a 1972 UK number one for Gilbert O'Sullivan,

Answer: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Formed in London in 1967, "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" comprised vocalist Arthur Brown, bassist Nick Greenwood, drummer Drachen Theaker and Vincent Crane on keyboards. The band's 1969 tour of American featured a young Carl Palmer (later of "Emerson, Lake & Palmer") on drums.
The group became famous for their stage act, which involved Brown wearing a flaming helmet. Mishaps were common: he was arrested and deported from Italy after a performance where he set his hair on fire -- why was he deported, you may wonder, but did I mention that he was naked on stage at the time? The band also once toured as support for Jimi Hendrix, but were asked to leave due to trouble arising from an incendiary accident.
The single, "Fire" reached number one in both the UK and Canada in 1968 and has since been covered by performers as diverse as The Who, The Prodigy, Ozzy Osbourne and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
The alternatives are three more 1960s one-hit wonders: Zager and Evans reached number one in the US, UK, Canada and Switzerland in 1969 with "In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)"; Ohio rock band The Lemon Pipers reached number one in the U.S. in 1968 with "Green Tambourine", a song covered by Status Quo on their debut album later the same year; and British novelty group The New Vaudeville Band reached number one in the US and Canada and number four in the UK with "Winchester Cathedral" in December 1966.

Answer: Albatross

Written by guitarist Peter Green, "Albatross" is surely a contender for the greatest song ever written using only two chords (they are Emaj7 and F#m, if you are interested). The track is one of the few from the band's early period (with the original line-up) that appears on their "Greatest Hits" and "Best of..." albums.

Indeed, when the group's "Greatest Hits" album was released in 1973, "Albatross" was re-released as a single and again climbed to number two in the UK chart.

Answer: The Aces

"Israelites" was the first Jamaican reggae song to top the UK singles chart and is perhaps still one of the best-known from that genre ever to make it into the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten. Written by Dekker and Kingston ice cream parlor restaurant owner Leslie Kong, the Pyramid Records single was released under the name Desmond Dekker and the Aces.

Originally, the Cherrypies and then the Maytals, the original Aces were Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard. Dekker (original name Desmond Adolphus Dacres) subsequently performed for some four decades with The Aces, although with changing personnel, until his death at the age of 64 in 2006.