Easy The British Invasion Rocks the Ed Sullivan Show Trivia Quiz | Music

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1. Seventy-three million viewers can't be wrong: That was the number of people who tuned in to "The Ed Sullivan Show" on February 9, 1964 to see the first appearance on US TV of a British pop band that was riding the crest of popularity in the UK. Who were they?

Answer: The Beatles

"Beatlemania" was at its height when the Fab Four first came across the radar of Ed Sullivan. It is said that Sullivan and his wife, on a visit to London, saw hordes of young girls waiting for the Beatles to land from a tour of Sweden in 1963. Reportedly, Sullivan was determined to have the band on his show but their manager, Brian Epstein, was determined to hold out until the first US number one. On December 26, 1963, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was released ahead of schedule and within a month had sold more than one million copies.

The Beatles were to appear on Ed Sullivan's show nine times in all: some of them on tape that had been recorded in front of an audience before that historic live show, during which they sang five songs.

From September 18, 1955, "The Ed Sullivan Show" became the longest-running variety show on US television. It was renamed from "Toast of the Town", which had been running since 1948. It was last broadcast on June 6, 1971.

2. In the 1960s, the "Ed Sullivan Show" broadcast an "invasion" of British pop groups and soloists. But which British star could have danced all night in beating them by almost a decade?

Answer: Julie Andrews

Ed Sullivan was an admirer of musical shows and devoted an entire evening to the music of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe. On July 15 1956, Julie Andrews sang "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "Show Me" from the musical "My Fair Lady".

And again on March 19, 1961, Andrews sang songs from "Brigadoon" and reprised "I Could Have Danced All Night". She and Richard Burton sang a duet, "Camelot".

In her autobiography, Andrews credited her appearances on the show as having exposed her to a wider audience.

3. Which British pop band were glad all over when they made an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on March 8, 1964?

Answer: Dave Clark Five

The Dave Clark Five were fresh from seeing "Glad All Over" knock The Beatles off the top of the UK charts.

They were perhaps a little lucky. After turning down one invitation, they accepted it at second time of asking and went on to make 12 appearances on the show.

4. As the British pop music invasion of America continued in the early 1960s, "The Ed Sullivan Show" featured a group from Liverpool who were to appear two weeks running. Who were they?

Answer: Gerry & The Pacemakers

Gerry & The Pacemakers were rivals of The Beatles, but were also part of the Brian Epstein 'stable'. They very quickly had two British chart toppers.

Then, on May 3, 1964, they made their first appearance on the show. At the end, Sullivan invited Gerry Marsden back on stage to take a bow. One week later the band were back for another show. A third was to follow in April 1965.

5. They may have tried to sound like California surfers, but which band in the British invasion of America found themselves into something good when they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show"?

Answer: Herman's Hermits

On June 6, 1965, Herman's Hermits made their first appearance on the show on the back of their 1964 hit "I'm Into Something Good".

The Sullivan show appearance also came after their song ""Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Their rendition of a British music hall favourite "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" became a US number one.

The Hermits were to appear three times in all on the Sullivan show.

6. In 1965, a British solo singer flew to New York City and dashed downtown to sing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" within 45 minutes of landing. Who was that singer?

Answer: Petula Clark

On her first appearance on the show, Clark sang her number one hit "Downtown". During a later "Best of the 1960s" special, Ed Sullivan said Clark had performed live and without rehearsal within 45 minutes of her plane landing.

In all, Clark made 13 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" between 1965 and 1969. She was also to have her own highly successful television show.

7. Many British bands were greeted with audience hysteria when they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Even the entreaties for quiet from Sullivan failed to curb it when a young Geordie five-piece appeared to perform their single that was then a chart topper on both sides of the Atlantic. Who were they?

Answer: The Animals

At that time, The Animals were top of the pops with their cover of "House of the Rising Sun", a traditional American song set to an English ballad that the folk music collator Alan Lomax had discovered being sung by a young girl in 1937.

"House of the Rising Sun" was to be the only chart topper for The Animals. At over four minutes in length (UK version) it was recorded in just one take. The US version was edited down to about two minutes.

In all The Animals made six appearances on the Sullivan show. By the mid 1960s, The Animals' heyday was over. John Steel, the original drummer, blamed psychedelic drugs for bringing about the end.

8. "Would you let your daughter marry a member of this band?" was one of the jibes thrown at a rocking British outfit that made their debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on October 25, 1964. Who were they?

Answer: The Rolling Stones

The Stones had just released their third album when they first appeared on the show. They were regarded as a wild bunch: the bad boys of rock.

They arrived in the USA for their first tour to newspaper headlines such as "Would You Let Your Daughter Marry a Rolling Stone?". Allegedly that headline had been planted by the Stones' media savvy manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

The Stones were to appear on the show six times, even though Sullivan was rumoured to have said after their first time: "I promise you they'll never be back on our show. It took me 17 years to build this show and I'm not going to have it destroyed in a matter of weeks."

9. It was not unusual for a musical act to regard an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" as a stepping stone to bigger things. Which Welsh singer who had initially had a song banned at home took full advantage?

Answer: Tom Jones

The second single recorded by Tom Jones was "It's Not Unusual", which was immediately banned by the BBC because of the raucous, overtly sexy, image that Tom Jones had created. The pirate radio stations picked it up and the song went on to top the UK charts.

He made his first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on May 2 1965 - on the same night as the Rolling Stones. Tom Jones was to make four more appearances on the regular Sullivan show in the 1960s and one in September 1970 at the "Entertainer of the Year Awards" Sullivan hosted at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

10. The "British invasion" of the USA in the 1960s was well marked by "The Ed Sullivan Show". Amid all the hysteria of some were a group who did not treat themselves too seriously and were noted for a zany lead singer and crazy choreography. Who were they?

Answer: Freddie & the Dreamers

Freddie & the Dreamers appeared for the first time on April 25, 1965 and sang "I'm Telling You Now", a UK number two that went on to top the Billboard Hot 100.

Freddie Garrity, the lead singer, was noted for his zany dance routines while singing. The group recorded "Do The Freddie" in the USA, which was covered by Chubby Checker.

The last original Sullivan show was on March 28, 1971. Two days later, CBS announced it was being cancelled. Sullivan had not known this at the time the show went out and reportedly "never forgave" CBS. Some repeats went out until June of that year. The reason for the cancellation was the feeling by CBS that the show was attracting too old an age group of viewers.

Source: Author darksplash

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The British Invasion Rocks the Ed Sullivan Show Quiz

For more than two decades, "The Ed Sullivan Show" was a feature of the CBS television schedules in the USA. Over those years he introduced many acts, including those that spearheaded the British music "invasion" of the 1960s. Find these 10 musical acts.

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