Monday, May 30, 2011

TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

50 years ago in 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy said, in a speech to Congress, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." And of course, the U.S. did exactly that in the summer of 1969.

Well in the 50 years since JFK made that speech, there have been plenty of songs recorded about space travel. For example, there's "Moon River", both instrumentally by Henry Mancini and with lyrics by Andy Williams. KISS took their hit, "Rocket Ride" to # 39 on the singles chart in 1978. David Bowie had a # 15chart hit with "space Oddity" in 1973 (so obviously those aren't questions in this quiz - or are they?). This week's quiz is based on songs about space and space travel. See how many you can guess.

Thanks to our pal John H. in Kingston, Ontario for the idea.

QUESTIONS

1. This singer, songwriter, producer discovered the group Genesis and produced their first album, 1967's "From Genesis To Revelation". By then, he'd already had a top 20 'space' hit of his own all over the world. In fact, he wrote and produced several hits during the mid 1960's. He also later worked with 10cc and The Bay City Rollers and was the 'King' of the record charts for several years. Who is this singer and can you also name his 'space' hit from 1965?

2. Reginald Kenneth Dwight is a legend in pop music with dozens of hits to his credit. Well actually, they're credited to the name he took when he entered the music business. His 'space' hit happened in 1972 and 'rocketed' up the charts. OK, I practically gave you this one, but if you know your music, you should already have known it. Can you name the singer and his 'space' hit?

3. This musician was a member of Lester Lanin's dance band out of New York in the 1950's and later worked as an accompanist for Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier and Peggy Lee. Later on in the 1970's, he became the band leader for TV's Mike Douglas Show. His name was Joe Harnell and in 1963, his instrumental 'space themed' hit zoomed up the charts, landing in the Top 20. You'll need to rhyme with June and spoon for this one. So what's the name of this hit?

4. He played keyboards on several hits for The Beatles. In fact, he was the only 'outside' musician credited on a Beatles record. Previously, he'd been in Little Richards' band and met The Beatles while on tour with him in the early 1960's. This amazing performer had a couple of 'space themed' hits during the 1970's. Can you name either one?

5. It wasn't Sputnik, but this 'spaced themed' song was named after a famous satellite and was the first North American # 1 hit for a British group. It was an instrumental and the year was 1962. The same group, The Tornados, had another minor hit the next year called "Ridin' The Wind" but that one only made it to # 63 on Billboard's singles chart. Do you know the name of this 'space' hit?

ANSWERS

1. Jonathan King was an undergraduate at Cambridge University in England in 1965 when he hit the charts with "Everyone's Gone To The Moon", which went to # 17 on Billboard's Hot 100. For many years, he was the BBC correspondent on pop culture based in New York. Other hit songs he wrote and produced include 1965/66's"It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous.

2. Elton John took his 'adopted' name from two other members of the group Bluesology, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry. Elton's first North American Top Ten hit was "Your Song" in 1970. His 'space' song was "Rocket Man" from the summer of 1972.

3. Joe Harnell recorded the bossa nova instrumental "Fly Me To The Moon", which debuted on the charts in December of 1962 eventually making it to # 14 on Billboard's singles chart. He was a producer at Kapp Records in New York and was asked to record some Bossa Nova instrumentals. He decided to record "Fly Me To The Moon" and in 1963 it became a hit. In 1973, Harnell moved to Hollywood where he wrote many film and television scores for which, in 1986, he won an Emmy Award. Joe Harnell died of heart failure in 2005.

4. Billy Preston had a couple of 'space' songs hit the Top Ten during the 1970's. In 1973, his "Space Race" song made it to # 4 on the charts, but two years prior to that, Billy took "Outta-Space" to # 2.

5. It was the first 'rock' hit by a British group in North America. English producer Joe Meek recorded the instrumental "Telstar" as the 'A' side of a 45 single along with the B side, "Jungle Fever" in 3 just hours. Ironically, the same year as The Tornados # 1 success, another British artist, Acker Bilk, took his clarinet instrumental, "Stranger on The Shore" to the top of the North American singles chart.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

EVERYBODY'S BREAKIN' UP

Well, well, there've been a lot of break ups recently - Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver (25 years together) as well as Tipper & Al Gore (after 40 years. Although that happened last year). That got me to thinking about all the break up songs that have been written over the past 40 years. Some may have 'Goodbye' in the titleSo let's see how many you can guess.
Here we go.

QUESTIONS

1. This singer had a Top Ten song in 1959 with a 'break up' song. Although he was born in Canada, his success happened in the U.S. He charted 19 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 from 1958 until 1961. His first hit, "My True Love" went Top 5. You shouldn't have to 'Burn Bridges' to come up with his name. The 'break up' song we're looking for from this artist made it to # 8. Can you name this artist as well as the song in question?

2. Phil Collins was a member of Genesis as well as a super successful solo artist. His 'break up' song was featured on the 1980 Genesis album "Duke". Not many clues here, but let's see how good you really are. Name that 'break up' song.

3. OK, this one should be really easy if you know your '60's music. Neil Sedaka was a prolific hit maker with 30 songs charted on Billboards Hot 100 chart (including 9 Top 10s and 3 number ones). His 'break up' song was actually a hit for him twice - once in 1962 and again in 1976, although that version was slower. Can you name Neil's song?

4. This Philadelphia duo had over 30 chart hits during the 1970's and '80's. They made it to number one 6 times with songs such as "Rich Girl", "Kiss On My List", "Private Eyes" and "Out of Touch". This 'break up' song was actually a hit twice, although it was much bigger the second time around. What's the name of this 'break up' song and who sang it?

5. Time to throw your mind back to the 1970's (even if you weren't born yet). This duo became famous for their intricate harmonies and for being brother and sister (you know who we're talking about now don't you?). They had nearly 30 hits on the singles chart. Their 'break up' song made the Top 10 in 1972. And with this last question, I'll say 'Goodbye' til next time.

ANSWERS

1. Jack Scott (real name Jack Scafone, Jr) took his hit "Goodbye Baby" to # 8 in the Spring of 1959. Some of Jack's other hits include "Burning Bridges", "What In The World's Come Over You", "The Way I Walk" and "Leroy". Fleetwood Mac also recorded a song called "Goodbye Baby", but it was totally different than Jack Scott's version.

2. Phil Collins wrote "Misunderstanding" while he was recording his debut solo album "Face Value". The lyrics, about missed communication, were inspired by the divorce that Phil was going through at the time.

3. It was "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" which made it to # 1 in 1962. A slower version went to # 8 in 1976 while Neil was signed to Elton John's Rocket Records label.

4. "She's Gone", written and recorded by Daryl Hall & John Oates, first hit Billboards' singles chart in 1974. It came from the duos RCA Records album, "Abandoned Lunchonette". That time it only made it as far as # 60. Two years later, the single was re-released and jumped all the way to # 7. Hall & Oates met while both were students at Temple University in Philadelphia.

5. "Goodbye To Love" was the 11th hit in a row for Karen and Richard Carpenter. It was written by Richard and John Bettis and two lines from the lyric, "What lies in the future is a mystery to us all. No one can predict the wheel of fortune as it falls", took on a whole new meaning after Karen Carpenters' untimely death from a heart attack brought on by her anorexia nervosa in February of 1983 at the age of 32.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

CHARLIES, CHARLIES, CHARLIES...EVERYWHERE

Well you can't watch or read the news without hearing about Charlie Sheen's antics on his current tour. He got booed in Detroit and New York, but did much better in Chicago, Cleveland and Connecticut. His tour is still out there (and I mean that in more ways than one), so that got me to thinking about the name Charlie. Over the decades, there've been several songs by Charlies and about Charlies...there was even a rock group from England called Charlie that had several minor hits in the late 1970's/early '80's...so let's see how good your music trivia knowledge really is. All of these questions come from the 1950's, 60's and '70's.
And away we go.....

QUESTIONS

1. This band was fronted by a Charlie who plays a mean fiddle. For a time, he was a Nashville session musician and played on Bob Dylan's 1969 album "Nashville Skyline". His biggest hit came in 1979 about the devil and a southern U.S. state. So who is this famous Charlie?

2. From 1984 until 1990, there was a TV series called "Charles In Charge" starring Scott Baio, but he was never called Charlie. In 1976, a new hit TV series debuted featuring 3 female investigators, but you never saw the title character throughout the entire run of the show which ended in 1981. Since then, there have been several movie remakes of this series and in 1977, Henry Mancini had a Top 50 hit (but just barely) with the instrumental theme song to the TV series. Name this TV Charlie if you can.

3. "Pilot of the airwaves...here is my request" are the opening lyrics from a hit song from 1980. It was sung by a British female performer and was very popular at the time. Can you name this Charlie?

4. This songwriting/producing duo wrote and produced many, many hits from the 1950's through to the '80's. They're in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, as well they should be. The artists they've worked with include Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Stealers Wheel, Peggy Lee, Ben E. King and The Coasters. Some of their biggest hits are "Hound Dog", "There Goes My Baby", "Jailhouse Rock", "Is That All There Is?", "Love Potion #9", "Yakety Yak", "Kansas City" and "Stand By Me". In 1958, they had a number one hit with The Coasters' "Yakety Yak". The following year, they made it to number two with a song that had "Charlie" in the title. Do you know the name of this 1959 classic?

5. So far, these questions have been pretty easy. This one may not be. During the years 1960 to 1972, there was a successful TV series about a widower named Steve Douglas who was raising his family. The star of this TV series had been a major movie actor who'd acted in such features as "Double Indemnity" (1944), "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), The Apartment" (1960) and "The Absent Minded Professor" (1961). On the TV series, he smoked a pipe and was constantly having to deal with the everyday problems of his sons, Chip, Ernie and Robbie. In this series, there was an older relative who lived with the family to help out. What was this character's name? (Remember the theme of this trivia quiz)

ANSWERS

1. Charlie Daniels is the Charlie we were looking for. The Charlie Daniels Band biggest hit (# 3 on the singles chart) was "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". The Charlie Daniels Band was featured in John Travolta's 1980 movie, "Urban Cowboy". For Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" album, Charlie played guitar and bass.

2. The Tv series and the subsequent movies were called Charlie's Angels. The TV series starred Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jacklyn Smith. In 2000, the first "Charlie's Angel" movie was released starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Bill Murray. "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" came out in 2003 with Barrymore, Liu and Diaz reprising their roles. This time, Bill Murray was gone and Bernie Mac was in. Later this fall (maybe), there's a new "Charlie's Angels" series set to hit TV starring Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh with Ramon Rodriguez as Bosley. The new voice of Charlie is rumored to be Robert Wagner since the original voice of the 70's TV series, John Forsythe, died a year ago this month. By the way, the 1977 Henry Mancini theme song only made it to #45 on the singles chart.

3. Charlie Dore is the female singer in question. She was born in London, England and she was also an actress and songwriter. Her debut album was released on Island Records, who thought she'd be Britain's answer to Emmylou Harris. As an actress, Charlie has appeared in number British television programs as well as films such as "The Ploughman's Lunch". From 1990 til'96, she had a comedy/improv group in London. With a partner, she's written the scores to several BBC television productions. In 2009, Charlie Dore released an album of American hillbilly music, western swing and popular standards from the 1930's called "The Hula Valley Songbook".

4. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are the hit making duo. Leiber & Stoller were born one month apart in 1933. The song we were looking for was the Coasters 1959 smash "Charlie Brown", "Fe Fe Fi Fi Fo Fo Fum, I smell smoke in the auditorium. Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown. He's a clown, that Charlie Brown. He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see. Why is everybody always pickin' on me?"

5. You really have to know your TV trivia from the 1960's to know that Uncle Charlie was a character on the TV series, "My Three Sons" starring Fred MacMurray. Uncle Charlie O'Casey was played by William Demarest from 1965 until '72. Demarest had replaced William Frawley, who'd played 'Bub' from 1960 until '65 when he retired due to poor health. Frawley, who died in 1966, had played Lucille Ball's apartment building neighbour Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy" from 1951 until that series ended in 1960. William Demarest, a former professional boxer, who played Uncle Charlie, began his career in vaudeville. He acted in 140 films and was nominated