Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hey rock trivia buffs. Welcome to another edition of Rock Talk. This week – a potpourri of questions. That means it could be about anything in the rock genre. You’ve got three choices, so if you don’t have a clue as to the answer, you’ve got a 33 1/3 chance of getting it right. As usual, there are 10 questions, so score yourself 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the final question – here we go.

1. Which British musician once played guitar on a Cheech &
Chong hit record? Was it:
a. Peter Frampton
b. Jeff Beck
c. George Harrison

2. Which Hollywood movie icon co-wrote a film for The Monkees?
Was it:
a. Jack Nicholson
b. Peter Fonda
c. Dennis Hopper

3. Which Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame member once was in the group Attila? (HINT: His

songs have been covered by such diverse performers as Frank Sinatra and Barry
White). Was he:
a. Elton John
b. Billy Joel
c. Stevie Wonder

4. Which guitar player once opened for The Supremes in front of 10,000 + people with his

then group when he was 13 years old? (HINT: He’s from the same state as The
Supremes and is still performing today). Is it:
a. Bob Seger
b. Ted Nugent
c. Stevie Wonder

5. Which legendary Canadian group was originally known as Chad Allen & The

Expressions? Was it:
a. The Guess Who
b. Rush
c. Loverboy

6. Which legendary singer/songwriter and member of a Rock’N’Roll Hall of Fame group

has a brother who won a Silver medal for swimming in the 1968 games in Mexico City?
(HINT: He’s also a producer and quite the guitar player). Is it:
a. Roger McGuinn of The Byrds
b. Pete Townshend of The Who
c. Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac

7. One of this groups’ members had a father who worked for the C.I.A. Was it:
a. Cheap Trick
b. The Eagles
c. The Police

8. This performer, who’d previously played with Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and

Joey Dee & The Starlighters, was the opening act for The Monkees in 1967. Was it:
a. Barry White
b. Jimi Hendrix
c. Marvin Gaye

9. This famous producer once played a drug dealer in a classic film from the 1960’s and

didn’t utter even one word? Was he:
a. Phil Spector
b. George Martin
c. Smokey Robinson

10. This superstar played guitar on recording sessions for The Rolling Stones, The

Kinks, Petula Clark, The Who, Brenda Lee, Joe Cocker and Them (with lead singer
Van Morrison). Is he:
a. Pete Townshend
b. Keith Richards
c. Jimmy Page

ANSWERS

1. c. George Harrison played guitar on Cheech & Chong’s hit record, “Basketball Jones”,

which reached # 15 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in the fall of 1973.

2. That would be a. Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson who co-wrote the script for

The Monkees 1968 movie “Head”. Jack also starred in 1969’s “Easy Rider” with Peter
Fonda and Dennis Hopper.


3. b. Billie Joel, born William Martin Joel, was in Attila, which was actually a duo

consisting of Billy and drummer Jon Small. Both had previously been in the band The
Hassles. Attila had one album released in July 1970 and they broke up 3 months later.

4. b. Detroit native Ted Nugent, who was born in December of 1948, has been performing

since 1958 when he was 10. His early success came with the group The Amboy
Dukes, who had the hit, “Journey To The Center of Your Mind” which made it as far as
# 16 on the charts in 1968. A longtime advocate for hunter’s rights. Ted almost
decided’ to run for Governor of Michigan in 2006.

5. a. The Guess Who were once known as Chad Allen & The Expressions and had the hit,

“Shakin’ All Over” in 1965. They had originally been called Chad Allen & The
Reflections, but changed their name to The Expressions after the U.S. group The
Reflections hit with “Just Like Romeo & Juliet”. After Chad Allen left, the group
recruited a new lead singer named Burton Cummings and the rest, as they say…is
rock’roll history.

6. c. Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame was also into athletics, but music was

a stronger draw. It was Lindsey’s brother Greg who won the Olympic Silver medal in
Mexico City in 1968.

7. Stewart Copeland, drummer with c. The Police, had a father who worked for the CIA.

Copeland, who was once ranked ‘the 5th greatest drummer of all time’ by Rolling Stone
Magazine, grew up in Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon. Stewarts’ older brother, Miles
Copeland III, who managed Squeeze, The Police and later Sting, formed a record

company called I.R.S. Records and a company to book bands called F.B.I.

8. It was b. Jimi Hendrix, who was born in Seattle on November 27, 1942, who opened for

The Monkees on that 1967 tour. Jimi joined the tour, already in progress, on July 8th
in Jacksonville, Florida and left on July 16th after a concert in Forest Hills, New York. In
total, Jimi only played 7 tour dates with the Pre Fab 4.

9. a. Phil Spector was the legendary producer who played a non speaking drug dealer in

the landmark film “Easy Rider”. In the credits, Phil is listed as ‘Connection’.

10. That session guitar player would be c. Jimmy Page. Before launching Led Zeppelin,

Jimmy played guitar on hundreds of other peoples sessions. In that studio world,
Jimmy was known as ‘Little Jim’ as the other session guitar player was ‘Big Jim’
Sullivan.

Friday, August 20, 2010

This week is not for the faint of heart – or for the casual music fan. The questions are all about specific song titles – days of the week, girls names, colours, love songs, you get the drift. If you know your music, you’ll be fine. I do suggest that you get a pen and paper and write your answers down, as it’ll be a whole lot easier that way. There are 10 questions, as usual, so score yourself 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the questions, so let’s get rolling.

1. There are 7 hit songs that made the top twenty on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart with
‘Saturday’ in the title from 1963 until 1976. Elton John, Chicago and The Drifters had
three of them. How many of those 7 hits can you name? (You must name the song and
the performer – half points if you only get one or the other correct).

2. Now, let’s move to Sunday. 9 songs with ‘Sunday’ in the title made Billboard’s Hot 100
chart in the 1960’s, although two of those were the same song performed by two
different artists. All 9 songs made it into the top thirty. How many can you name?

3. Monday had the third most songs written about it. There were only 5 'Monday' songs

that made the Top Ten in Billboard’s Hot 100 chart from 1957 until 1986. Can you name
them all?

4. This one is about the late Michael Jackson. How many number one hits in the 1980’s

did Michael Jackson have with a girl’s name in the title? How many can you name?

5. Let’s get a little bit sweeter now. The word ‘Sugar’ shows up in the title of five Top 10

Billboard hits. The first one charted in 1958 and the last one in 1988 and they all made
it to the number one or number two position. Can you name all 5?

6. ‘The eyes are the window to the soul’ is a very famous quote. According to Billboard’s

Hot 100 chart, 9 songs with the word ‘eye’ or ’eyes’ in the title became top five hits
during the 1980’s. Female singers had 3 of those, male solo singers had 2, the rest
were sung by duos or groups. You’ll be considered a musical genius by your friends if
you can name them all. Good luck.

7. The most important muscle of the body is the heart. Literally, hundreds of hit songs

have the word ‘heart’ in the title, but this time, we’re looking for solo female artists who
made it into Billboards’ Top Ten with songs about the ‘heart’. There are 15 songs in

total from 1960 until 1998. How many can you name?

8. There are 6 songs about the colour blue that made it to Number One on Billboards’ Hot

100 singles chart from the late 1950’s through to the early 1970’s. How many of those 6
songs and their performers can you name?

9. How many of Elvis Presley’s seven top ten charted hits with the word ‘love’ in the title

can you name? (HINT: The first one charted in 1956 and the last in 1972. 1957’s
“Loving You” only made it to number 20, so that one obviously doesn’t count).

10. We couldn’t do a rock’n’roll trivia column about song titles without including

‘rock’n’roll’, or more specifically, the word ‘rock’. There are hundreds of songs with
‘rock’ in the title, but this time, we’re only looking for hits from the 1970’s with
either the words ‘rock’, ‘rockin’’ or rock’n’roll’ in their title and all of them made the Top

10, so how hard can it be? Do your best and come up with at least 7 out of 10 titles.


ANSWERS

1. “Another Saturday Night” Sam Cooke 1963 # 10
“Saturday Night At The Movies” The Drifters 1964 # 18
“Come Saturday Morning” The Sandpipers 1970 # 17
“Saturday In The Park” Chicago 1972 # 3
“Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” Elton John 1973 # 12
“Another Saturday Night” Cat Stevens 1974 # 6
“Saturday Night” The Bay City Rollers 1976 # 1

2. “Never On Sunday” Don Costa 1960 # 19
“Never On Sunday” The Chordettes 1961 # 13
“That Sunday, That Summer” Nat ‘King’ Cole 1963 # 12
“Sunday And Me” Jay & The Americans 1965 # 18
“Pleasant Valley Sunday” The Monkees 1967 # 3
“Sunday Will Never Be The Same” Spanky & Our Gang 1967 # 9
“Sunday Mornin’” Spanky & Our Gang 1968 # 30
“Sugar on Sunday” The Clique 1969 # 22
“Beautiful Sunday” Daniel Boone 1972 # 15

3. “Blue Monday” Fats Domino 1957 # 5
“Monday Monday” The Mamas & The Papas 1966 # 1
“Rainy Days And Mondays” Carpenters 1971 # 2
“New Moon On Monday” Duran Duran 1984 # 10
“Manic Monday” The Bangles 1986 # 2

4. Michael Jackson only had two number one hits with a girl’s
name in the title during the 1980’s. Those songs were “Billy
Jean” in 1983 and “Dirty Diana” in 1988.

5. “Sugartime” The McGuire Sisters 1958 # 1
“Sugar Shack” Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs 1963 # 1
“Sugar Sugar” The Archies 1969 # 1
“No Sugar Tonight” The Guess Who 1970 # 1 (This one was the flip side of The Guess

Who’s “American Woman” 45 which was a number one hit – so, this one counts as a
number one as well).
“Pour Some Sugar On Me” Def Leppard 1988 # 2

6. “Sexy Eyes” Dr. Hook 1980 # 5
“For Your Eyes Only” Sheena Easton 1981 # 4
“Private Eyes” Daryl Hall & John Oates 1981 # 1
“Bette Davis Eyes” Kim Carnes 1981 # 1
“Eye Of The Tiger” Survivor 1982 # 1
“Eye In The Sky’ The Alan Parsons Project 1982 # 3
“Eyes Without A Face” Billy Idol 1984 # 4
“Hungry Eyes” Eric Carmen 1988 # 4
“Lost In Your Eyes’ Debbie Gibson 1989 # 1

7. “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own” Connie Francis 1960 # 1
“Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You” Connie Francis 1962 # 1
“My Heart Belongs To Me” Barbra Streisand 1977 # 4
“Heart Of Glass” Blondie 1979 # 1
“Total Eclipse Of The Heart” Bonnie Tyler 1981 # 1
“Queen Of Hearts” Juice Newton 1982 # 2
“Heart Attack” Olivia Newton-John 1982 # 3
“Two Of Hearts” Stacey Q 1986 # 3
“Change Of Heart” Cyndi Lauper 1987 # 3
“Open Your Heart” Madonna 1987 # 1
“Where Do Broken Hearts Go” Whitney Houston 1988 # 1
“Tell It To My Heart” Taylor Dayne 1988 # 7
“With Every Beat Of My Heart” Taylor Dayne 1989 # 5
“Where Does My Heart Beat Now” Celine Dion 1991 # 4
“My Heart Will Go On” Celine Dion 1998 # 1

8. “Mr. Blue” The Fleetwoods 1959 # 1
“Blue Moon” The Marcels 1961 # 1
“Blue Velvet” Bobby Vinton 1963 # 1
“Blue Christmas” Elvis Presley 1964 # 1
“Love Is Blue” Paul Mauriat 1968 # 1 (Instrumental)
“Song Sung Blue” Neil Diamond 1972 # 1

9. “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’ 1956 # 1
“Love Me Tender” 1956 # 1

“Love Me” 1956 # 2
“I Need Your Love Tonight” 1959 # 4
“A Big Hunk O’ Love” 1959 # 1
“Can’t Help Falling In Love” 1961/62 # 2
“Burning Love” 1972 # 2

10. “Rockin’ Robin” Michael Jackson 1972 # 2
“Crocodile Rock” Elton John 1973 # 1

“Rockin’ Pneumonia – Boogie Woogie Flu” Johnny Rivers 1973 # 6
“Rock On” David Essex 1974 # 5
“Rock The Boat” The Hues Corporation 1974 # 1
“Rock Me Gently” Andy Kim 1974 # 1
“Rock’n Me” Steve Miller 1976 # 1
“Rock And Roll Music” The Beach Boys 1976 # 5
“That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll” Shaun Cassidy 1977 # 3
“We Will Rock You” Queen 1978 # 4

Monday, August 9, 2010

They are the unsung heroes of the record business. The producer is the man who helps and guides the artist in the recording studio. Sometimes they are in complete control, but most producers work WITH the artist to get the best recording they can. This week, we’re asking questions about some of these producers. Many are household names, and all are certainly well known enough to not send you screaming from the room. This one may be a little tougher than usual, but if you know your music, you should do just fine. As always, there are 10 questions, so score yourself 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the questions, so let’s have a go, shall we?

1. This producer, who is also a songwriter and performer, makes Miami his home
base, but he was born across the ocean from the U.S.A. His songs have been
recorded by everyone from Elvis Presley to Celine Dion. The list of artists he’s
produced includes Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, and Barbra Streisand. His
brothers were extremely helpful in his career. What is the name of this
producer?

2. A pioneering producer, this man almost single handedly changed the course of

contemporary music by recording many legendary performers. He loved the
blues and the ‘sun’ shone brightly on his career. His studio later became
a mecca for artists such as U2. He died in 2003 in his 80th year. Who is this
southern gentleman?

3. Although he’s not known primarily as a producer, this multi platinum selling

singer/songwriter has done quite well in that department. His productions
include several number hit singles as well as albums. He started out playing
the trumpet, but switched to left-handed guitar for a few years until he started
playing the instrument he’s most known for in the early 1960’s. He’s one of the
richest men in the music industry and holds the record for having the most
covers of one of his songs. Who is this sometimes producer?

4. This one should be easy. This pioneering producer created a hit making ‘wall

of sound’ in the 1960’s that many others tried to copy. He was born in the
Bronx, but started in the record industry with two school mates in Los Angeles.
The artists he’s produced include Canadian poet Leonard Cohen, Celine Dion,
Ike & Tina Turner and ‘60’s musical icon Dion and those aren’t even his most
famous clients. He’s known for being rather eccentric. These days, he’s not
producing anyone and has a lot of time on his hands. Can you name
this producer?

5. This artist/producer was born in Chicago but when his family moved to Seattle,

he met and became close friends with Ray Charles. He later played trumpet
with Lionel Hampton’s big band and became an accomplished musical
arranger. Some of the artists that he created arrangements for include Frank
Sinatra, Count Basie and Ray Charles. One of his most famous musical
compositions is the theme for the Austin Powers films. Lesley Gore, Michael
Jackson are two artists whose records he’s produced. His close friends call him
by the first initial of his first name. He’s scored dozens of movies and won
Academy Awards as well as a whole lot of Grammys. One of his daughters stars
on a hit NBC TV series. Who is this music business legend?

6. Before he met the group that would make him world famous, this British

producer was creating records for comedians Peter Sellers and Charlie Drake
(“My Boomerang Won’t Come Back”) as well as hits for British crooner Matt
Monroe. America, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion, Cilla Black, Jimmy Webb, Little
River Band and Neil Sedaka are just a few of the artists he’s produced, although
I have left out his most famous group. He’s been knighted by Queen Elizabeth
and has officially retired from producing. Can you name this producer?

7. AC/DC, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, The Cars and Foreigner all owe a debt of

gratitude to this producer, whose skills have made them all millions of dollars.
He got very close to one of his artists and eventually married her. He lives
a reclusive life in Switzerland and hasn’t given an interview in several decades.
He lets his work speak for itself. His nickname is something you’d call a stray \
dog. Who is he?

8. This duo wrote and produced hits for The Drifters, The Coasters, Peggy Lee,

Ben E. King and Procol Harum. They turned the ‘hillbilly cat’ into a ‘hound dog’
and sentenced him to ‘rock’ in the ‘jailhouse’. They ‘stood by’ each other
throughout their decades long career. Both were inducted into the Rock ‘N’
Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Who is this dynamic duo?

9. Billy Joel and Paul Simon call this recording engineer/producer their secret

weapon. Other artists this South African born legend has recorded or produced
include Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter, Julian
Lennon, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Liza Minnelli,
George Michael, Aretha Franklin and Clay Akin. He was one of the owners of
A&R Studios in New York (HINT: He’s not the ‘A’ part). Who is this 14 time
Grammy Award recipient?

10. This native New Yorker was the first to make Tiny Tim a chart success.

He ‘pointed’ a sister group to the top of the charts, made a solo ‘Starr’ out of
Ringo and made Burton Cummings “Stand Tall”. A cushion in his Los Angeles
office reads, “Rich. Richer. Richard”. I’ve given you his first name. Now all
you have to do is come up with his last.


ANSWERS

1. That would be Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, who was born on the Isle of Man,

England. Although he didn’t produce his own group, he was responsible for
writing most of their hits, including “Stayin’ Alive”, “Jive Talkin’” and dozens
more. Barry wrote “Islands In The Stream”, a 1983 number one hit for Dolly
Parton & Kenny Rogers. He also wrote hits for, and produced his younger
brother Andy Gibb, who died in 1988.

2. Sam Phillips launched Memphis Recording Service in January, 1950. In 1954, a

young truck driver for the Crown Electric Company walked in to cut a record for
his mother. That truck driver was Elvis Presley. For his Sun Records label,
Phillips produced all of the early Elvis recordings, including “That’s All Right”,
“Blue Moon Of Kentucky”, “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, “Baby, Let’s Play House”
and “Midnight Train”. RCA bought Elvis’ contract from Sam in 1955 for
$35,000. Phillips invested some of that money in a new venture called Holiday
Inn and became very wealthy. Sam also produced Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison,
Rufus Thomas, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. He was inducted into the
Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of existence, 1986.

3. Sir Paul McCartney is that sometimes producer. As a member of The Beatles,

he worked with producer George Martin. On his own, he wrote and produced
Badfinger’s 1970 Top Ten hit, “Come And Get It”, Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were
The Days”, a number two hit in 1968. He also self produced the albums
“McCartney”, “Ram” and “McCartney 2”, plus 7 Wings albums, including, “Wild
Life”, “Red Rose Speedway”, “Band On The Run’, “Venus And Mars”, “Wings At
The Speed Of Sound” and “London Town”. McCartney’s song “Yesterday”,
originally recorded by The Beatles, has been covered by 2,200 artists.

4. If you’re looking for producer Phil Spector these days, you’ll find him in a

prison cell. Spector, who created that ‘wall of sound’ in the 1960’s and
produced hits for The Ronettes, The Crystals and The Righteous Brothers as
well as albums for John Lennon, George Harrison, The Beatles (“Let It Be”)
and The Ramones, was convicted in 2009 of the murder of actress Lana

Clarkson and is currently serving a 19 years to life sentence in California.

5. That would be Quincy Jones, whose friends call him ‘Q’. In the early 1960’s,

Quincy went to work for Mercury Records in their New York office. He
discovered Lesley Gore in 1963 and produced all of her ‘60’s hits, “It’s My
Party”, “Judy’s Turn To Cry”, “You Don’t Own Me”, “Maybe I Know”,
“Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” and “She’s A Fool” among others. Quincy

has won over 40 Grammy Awards, including 3 in 1984 for Michael Jackson’s
“Thriller” album. 'Q' has released 40 albums under his own name and written
the scores for dozens of hit movies, including “In Cold Blood”, “In The Heat Of

The Night”, “The Wiz”, “The Pawnbroker”, “Enter Laughing”, “The Color
Purple”, “The Getaway” and “The Italian Job”. His composition, “Soul
Bossa Nova” is the recurring theme song for the 3 Austin Powers movies. In

1985, Quincy produced the charity song “We Are The World”. Rashida Jones,
Quincy’s daughter with TV actress Peggy Lipton (The Mod Squad), co-stars on
the hit TV series, “Parks And Recreation”.

6. It’s The Beatles’ producer George Martin. A classically trained musician, Sir

George was the head of the Parlophone label for EMI in England when he signed
those four lads from Liverpool. During the time he was recording all of the Fab
Four’s material, (Martin didn’t produce “Let it Be”, that was Phil Spector),

George also produced Cilla Black, Gerry & The Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer.
The group America hired him to produce 7 of their albums. After The Beatles
broke up, George produced the “Pipes Of Peace” and “Tug Of War”albums for
Paul McCartney. He was named a ‘knight bachelor’ in 1996.

7. Robert John ’Mutt’ Lange is the name we’re looking for. His production credits

include “Highway To Hell”, “Back In Black” and “For Those About To Rock” for
AC/DC; Def Leppard’s “High ‘n’ Dry” and “Pyromania” albums plus
Foreigner’s “4”. ‘Mutt’ was born in Northern Rhodesia, now known as Zambia

and moved to England in 1970. His work with Canadian singer Shania Twain
resulted in their marriage, the birth of their son, many successful albums
(including 1997’s “Come On Over” album, which became the best selling album
by a female of all time), and their divorce.

8. That duo is Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. The two met in school in Los Angeles

and discovered they both had a deep seeded love for the blues. For The
Coasters, they wrote 24 songs that made Billboards’ singles chart, including
“Yakety Yak”, “Youngblood”, “Searchin’”, “Along Came Jones”, “Poison Ivy” and
“Charlie Brown”. Elvis Presley took their song “Hound Dog” to the top of the
charts. For ‘The King’, they wrote classics like “Don’t”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “King
Creole” and “Loving You”. Ben E. King recorded Jerry & Mike’s song “Stand By

Me” which made it to number four on the Hot 100 and later was the title song
for the 1986 movie “Stand By Me” starring River Phoenix, COrey Feldman and
Keifer Sutherland. In 1959, Wilbert Harrison’s version of “Kansas City”, a song
Leiber & Stoller had originally called ‘K.C. Lovin’”, went to number one. Other
classic Leiber & Stoller written songs include: “Tell Him” (The Exciters), “She

Cried” (Jay & The Americans), “Love Potion # 9” (The Clovers/The Searchers,
“Is That All There Is?” (Peggy Lee). The Stealers Wheel song, “Stuck In The
Middle With You” was produced by the duo. The Broadway Play, “Smokey Joe’s
CafĂ©” features the songs of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller.

9. He’s Phil Ramone. A&R Studios in Manhattan was once his home base. He

recently finished producing Canadian singer Nikki Yanofsky’s new album. You
might remember her from the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010
Olympics. Ramone was born in South Africa and was playing violin from the
age of 3. He played for Queen Elizabeth when he was 10 years old. Phil was a
longtime engineer producer for both Billy Joel and Paul Simon, producing such
classic albums as “52nd Street” and “The Stranger” for Joel – “There Goes
Rhymin’ Simon” and “Graceland” for Simon. Phil Ramone has also produced
music for many television specials and motion pictures, including “A Star is
Born”, “Flashdance” and “Midnight Cowboy” and “Yentl”.

10. Richard Perry is the man who produced Tiny Tim’s “Tip Toe Through The

Tulips” and his “God Bless Tiny Tim” album. Other artists Perry has worked
with include The Pointer Sisters, Burton Cummings, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon,
Harry Nillson, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart and Art Garfunkel. For the 1978
movie, “American Hot Wax”, based on the life of pioneering disc jockey Alan
Freed, Perry played a New York record producer. He produced the first three
albums for Rod Stewart’s “Great American Songbook” series.