Monday, December 15, 2008

My First Trivia Quiz: The Answers




Most of the feedback (and there's been darn little) about my first trivia quiz is that it's A) too long, and B) too hard. Sorry about that. If I do another one, I'll try to lighten things up a little. As it is, only Dixie and Sean even took a stab at it. I had hoped it would be more fun than that. Anyhoo, as promised, here are the answers (just in case anyone didn't see comments on the original post, I'm including all of them):

1) In the chorus of Donovan's song "Mellow Yellow", the words "quite right, Slick" are whispered. Who's doing the whispering there?
Paul McCartney

2) Speaking of Donovan, what famous actress is his daughter?
Ione Skye is the daughter of Donovan and model Enid Karl.

3) Speaking of famous daughters, who is Nora Jones' father?
Ms. Jones is the daughter of sitarist and Beatles mentor Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones.

4) What late sixties/early seventies group had 7 platinum albums without ever producing a #1 hit?
Creedence Clearwater Revival.

5) What artist has the most top-10 records for an artist who's never had a #1 hit? (not the same artist as 4)
Bruce Springsteen, although several of his albums were #1 on the charts for weeks.

6) In 1965, The Easybeats had a top-20 hit with "Friday On My Mind". It was the only top-40 hit they ever had. The guitarist for The Easybeats was the brother of two guys in an eighties hard rock group that's still performing today. Who was he and who are his brothers?
George Young was the guitarist for The Easybeats. His younger brothers are Malcolm Young and Angus Young of AC/DC.

7) What's Alice Cooper's real name?
Vincent Furnier.

8) What's David Bowie's real name and why did he change it?
David Jones. He changed his name so as to avoid any confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. Like that was possible.

9) What famous novel was the basis of a rock opera written by David Bowie which was never produced because the estate of the author wouldn't grant permission?
George Orwell's 1984. A couple of the songs (1984 and Big Brother) did make it onto Bowie's Diamond Dogs album.

10) What female dance singer was the only artist to produce 4 top-10 hits from an album that didn't even make it to the top 20?
Taylor Dayne. Tell It To My Heart, Prove Your Love, I'll Always Love You, and Don't Rush Me from her self-titled debut album all reached the top 10 on the singles chart, but the album itself peaked at #21.

11) Two songs have reached #1 on the charts, then been off the charts for 12 months or more, and then reached #1 again. What are they? (Hint: One of these is not actually a rock & roll song, but it did make #1 on the pop charts.)
Bing Crosby's White Christmas (December, 1942 and December, 1955) and Chubby Checker's The Twist (August, 1960 and November, 1961). White Christmas is the best-selling Christmas record of all time.

12) Who played the steel guitar on Crosby, Still, Nash & Young's "Teach Your Children"?
Jerry Garcia.

13) Who was the first white group to record for Motown Records?
Rare Earth.

14) Where did Elton John & Bernie Taupin come up with the name "Levon"?
Mr. John and Mr. Taupin were big fans of The Band, in particular member Levon Helm, who played drums, mandolin, guitar, bass and sang.

15) What garbled lyrics gave us the title "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"?
In The Garden of Eden.

16) What singer has had at least one top-10 hit in each of the last five decades, including this one?
Cher.

17) What song hit #1 in 1964, but wasn't a certified million-seller for another 17 1/2 years?
The Beach Boys' I Get Around.

18) What was the only group to have #1 singles on 4 different labels?
The Beatles (Capitol, Swan, Tollie and Apple). By the way, Yesterday is the most-recorded song of all time. By the late '80s, there were more than 2500 versions of it recorded. I suspect there are even more today.

19) What do Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods, The Spencer Davis Group and Manfred Mann's Earth Band all have in common?
They are groups who are named after a member that's not the lead singer.

20) Which duo had more hits than any other duo?
The Everly Brothers.

21) What name did Arnold Dorsey record under?
Englebert Humperdinck.

22) Who won the first Grammy in the "Heavy Metal" category? This may surprise you as much as it surprised the members of Metallica, who thought they were a cinch to win.
Jethro Tull.

23) Which #1 hit boasts the longest title of any #1 hit (excluding multiple-song medleys)?
That distinction belongs to B. J. Thomas' (Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.

24) With 58 charted hits, 44 top-40 hits, and 26 top-10 hits, who is #3 in all-time hits after Elvis Presley and The Beatles?
Stevie Wonder.

25) In the '70s, there was an occasion in which a hit song, the album from which the song came, and the name of the artist were all the same. What was it?
Bad Company, Bad Company and Bad Company.

26) What's unique about Led Zeppelin's most famous song, "Stairway To Heaven", among all of their other hits?
Led Zeppelin's most famous song was never released as a single and therefore never made any of the top single hit lists.





Well. I thought it was fun. Thanks to all of you who at least looked at these.

12 comments:

Herb said...

I liked your quiz. I just like it better with the answers!

So I am lazy...

Gilahi said...

Herb - Thanks. As one of my three loyal readers, I appreciate the feedback.

urban bohemian said...

I started answering it in my head and was amazed at how many answers I knew and how... old it was making me feel. That's not right, is it? Am I old for knowing this stuff!? Gah!!

Gilahi said...

Brian - Yes. Yes you are. Welcome to the gray side.

Mike said...

I hope there's not going to be a test. This type of stuff 'does not take' in my head.

Gilahi said...

Mike - That's OK. I'm not good at geography. Or trigonometry. Or calculus. Or anything else that's really useful.

fiona said...

I looked...hard.
Made not one iota of difference. I had no clue but now I do! Looking forward to the next "easier" one :)

Sean said...

One more point. I think Dancing in the Dark was a #1 song for Bruce for #5

Sean said...

I don't think my first comment stuck. Thanks for providing the answers. I never knew that Paul McCartney was the "quite right slick" guy.

Gilahi said...

fiona - I'm gonna rename my blog "Blue's Clues"... that may already be taken.

sean - Both comments "stuck". You're welcome. I'm sorry to tell you that "Dancing In The Dark", made it to #2, its highest point, on May 26, 1984 and stayed on the top 40 charts for 15 weeks. It only reached #4 on the British charts.

Quondam Washington said...

Well, I couldn't answer any of them except the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida...and of course, your quiz brought back memories. It was 1967, spring, I think, when I first heard the Easybeats' Friday on my Mind. I was "going steady" with a boy named Peter. We were both just turning 13. It was "our song."

I love the song still, for along with "Incense and Peppermints," it really sums up the era--we were on the cusp of some of the most interesting times, musically, politically...and to this day, if I hear either song, I'm no longer post-50, but that young girl of 13.

Peter and I broke up after a lengthy, completely monogamous and tumultous relationship of two weeks:) Sigh. I don't even think I got my first kiss out of him...but he did give me a silver ring which I taped up with band aids so it would fit my finger.

Thanks for the memories!

Gilahi said...

Caroline - You're very welcome! I love having these musical associations in my mind. There are certain songs that I feel compelled to listen to at certain times of the year (not just holiday songs) because I have some association in my head.

 
Add to Technorati Favorites