THE DECEMBER OF MY YEARS

As we come into the final month in 2013, our quiz is about # 1 hits from Decembers of the past five decades – that is 1963, ’73, ’83, ’93 and ’03.  We’re mixing it up this time with the usual questions plus one or two that are multiple choice.  But hey, it’s always fun, so if you’re up for it – let’s go.      

    

QUESTIONS

1.  The Billboard Hot 100 chart for the entire month of December 1963 was dominated by one song.  The singers real name was Jeanine Deckers, but she used a different name for the record.  Although the song was sung in French, it still climbed to the top of the singles chart.  Her life story was made into a movie in 1966 starring Debbie Reynolds.  She never had another hit, but did appear on the Ed Sullivan TV program in ’63.  Can you name the song as well as the singer?         

      

2.  In December of 1973, this song stood at the top of the singles chart.  In the 1960’s, this singer charted two Top 30 hits, “Lonely Weekends” and “Mohair Sam”, but he only ever had one # 1 on the pop charts.  His nickname, in his later years, was ‘The Silver Fox’ due to the color of his hair.  He won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Country Vocal Performance, Male’ in 1974 and was honored posthumously with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998.  Who is this singer?  Is he a. Ray Stevens  b.  George Jones   c. Charlie Rich                           

                

3.  This former Beatle had the # 1 song for the final 3 weeks of 1983.  It was actually a duet with a former Motown star.  This duo had two hits on the chart in ’83.  The first, “The Girl Is Mine” came at the beginning of the year.  That one stalled at # 2. So, who were the two singers with the two hits in ’83?  Were they:  a. Paul McCartney and Smokey Robinson  b. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson  c. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder                      

                   

4.  This song was the # 1 hit for the last week of December 1993.  It remained at the top for the first 3 weeks of ’94 as well.  In the fall of ’93, her hit “Dreamlover” was the # 1 song for 8 weeks.  This singer was a former judge on “American Idol”, but in a recent interview, she said it was “…like going to work in Hell with Satan”, most likely referring to her feud with fellow judge Nicki Minaj.  What’s the name of her 1992 # 1?  Is it a. Hero  b. Without You  c. Fantasy            

    

5.  In December of 2003, this hit was # 1 from a hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia.  It hung around in the Top Ten for a total of 17 weeks.  This duo got together as high school students in 1992 and are one of the most successful duos of all time.  They won six Grammy Awards and have sold over 25 MILLION albums/CDs etc.  Two of their albums are in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’.  So they are certainly no outcasts (HINT ALERT!) What’s the name of the duo (I just gave you that in the Hint Alert) and Hey! while you’re at it, what’s the name of their 2003 # 1 hit single?

             

ANSWERS

1.  The song was “Dominique”.  Jeanine Deckers became a Belgian Dominican nun who took the name Sister Luc Gabrielle.  You know her better as The Singing Nun aka Soeur Sourire (“Sister Smile”).  After the success of “Dominique”, Deckers left the convent and tried to continue her singing career, but she never again achieved the success she had had as The Singing Nun.            

2.  c. Charlie Rich is the correct answer.  Rich’s only # 1 in 1973 was “The Most Beautiful Girl”, but that same year, he had a # 15 hit with “Behind Closed Doors”.  Rich was born in Colt, Arkansas and began his professional musical career while in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950’s.  In the late ‘50’s, Charlie was a session musician for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, playing with such artists as Johnny Cash and Bill Justus.  The Country Music Association named Charlie Rich ‘Entertainer of The year’ in 1974.  Rich passed away in July of 1995 at the age of 62.              

    

3.  In 1983, there were two hits in the Top Ten from b. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.  The first three weeks of ’83 saw “The Girl Is Mine” stuck in the # 2 spot behind first, Daryl Hall & John Oates “Maneater” for one week, then for the following two weeks, “Down Under” from Men At Work kept McCartney & Jackson from the top of the singles charts.  For the final three weeks of December in ’83, “Say, Say, Say” was the # 1 song in all the land.  “Say Say Say” kept its # 1 status for an additional two weeks in January of ’84.  Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder had their # 1 hit in 1982 with “Ebony and Ivory”.  As far as we know, McCartney never recorded anything with Smokey Robinson.                  

    

4.  From the very first # 1 that Mariah Carey had in 1990, “Vision of Love” until the end of 2001, Mariah racked up 15 # 1 hits.  1993’s “Hero” remained in the top spot for 4 weeks, so the correct answer is a.  “Without You” was a # 3 hit in ’94 and “Fantasy” made it to # 1, but in 1995.  Mariah resigned from “American Idol” after only one season, but her husband, Nick Cannon is the host for “America’s Got Talent”.       

5.  If you were paying attention to the Hint Alert! you’d know that the duo is OutKast.  Their 1993 # 1 song was “Hey Ya!”, which spent nine weeks at the top of Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  Besides their 6 Grammy statues, OutKast has also won 4 American Music Awards.     

1983’S NUMBER TWO QUICKIES

This is a music trivia column, and since 1983 is rapidly coming to an close, this time the questions are all about albums from ‘83 that were # 2 on the record chart.  They may also have been # 1 as well, so pay close attention to the question, which are self explanatory. Give it your best shot.          

QUESTIONS

1.  Throughout January, February and the first week of March 1983, this album was stuck in the # 2 slot on Billboards Top 100 album chart.  It never made it to # 1.  The album title was “Built For Speed”.  Who recorded this album?  Was it:  a. Pat Benatar  b. Stray Cats  c.  Journey

      

2.  In 1983, this album spent 21 weeks (although not consecutively) at # 1.  It also spent 17 weeks at # 2.  This album sold well over 50 million copies and in 1984, it won 8 Grammy Awards, including ‘Album of the Year’.  It was the sixth studio album by this legendary singer/songwriter/dancer.  The cost of production for the album was $750,000.00, but within a year, it became the best selling album of all time and still holds that distinction.  You don’t have to be “Off The Wall” (HINT ALERT) to know the title of this ‘thrilling’ album.  So what’s the name of it already?                    

              

3.  This album by The Police first hit the # 2 spot for the week of July 16^th, 1983.  The following week it was # 1 and remained in the top position for the next 6 weeks, then dropped to # 2 for one week, but the following week it rebounded to # 1 for the next 10 weeks.  What’s the name of this album?  Is it: a. Synchronicity  b. Ghost In The Machine  c. Zenyatta Mondatta                   

                   

4.  Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” kept this album from becoming # 1.  It was locked in the # 2 spot for 9 weeks.  The album title is “Frontiers”.  What’s the name of the group who recorded it?  Is it:  a. Air Supply  b. Toto  c. Journey      

    

5.  This Motown performer was in a hit making group before he went solo.  He wrote and sang lead on many of this groups hits such as “Three Times A Lady” and “Still”.  In 1983, his second solo album, “Can’t Slow Down” was # 2 for only one week in November before leaping to the top spot for the next three weeks.  Who is this Motown musical maven?    

             

ANSWERS

1.  The answer is b. Stray Cats.  “Built For Speed” was their most successful album. Another album released in ’83, “Rant ‘n Rave with the Stray Cats” climbed to # 14, but two later albums didn’t even make it into the Top 100 albums chart.  Stray Cat Brian Setzer released a couple of albums on his own in the 1980’s before forming The Brian Setzer Orchestra.  Their most successful album to date is 1998’s “The Dirty Boogie” which climbed to # 9 on the album chart.                          

2.  Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was in the Top Ten album chart every single week of 1983 (not always at # 1 though).  It was also the # 1 album for the first 15 weeks of 1984.  If you didn’t know it was MJ’s ground breaking album “Thriller”…shame on you.  You are hereby sentenced to go and get your copy of the album (a CD version or download will also do) and listen to it over and over again until you figure out why it’s the best selling album of all time…or until your ears start to bleed, in which case you should stop listening immediately and see your doctor.           

    

3.  a. Synchronicity is correct.  “Ghost In The Machine” was a # 2 album for The Police in 1982 and “Zenyatta Mondatta” climbed to # 5 in 1981.  “Synchroncity” was the # 1 album for 17 weeks (but not consecutively).  The Police won both the ‘Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal’ and ‘Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal” Grammy Awards in 1984 for the single “Every Breath You Take”, which came from the “Synchronicity” album.  Also at the ’84 Grammy Awards, Sting won ‘Song Of The Year’ for “Every Breath You Take”.                           

4.  c. Journey is the answer we were looking for.  Their album “Frontiers” first arrived in the # 2 spot for the week of March 12^th, 1983 and remained locked at # 2 until its final week of May 7^th.  The following week, it dropped to # 3, but remained on the Top Ten album chart until the second week of July.  Both Air Supply and Toto charted albums in the Top Ten in 1983.  Air Supply’s album was a “Greatest Hits” release.  Toto had “Toto IV”, which had been a major hit in ’82 but made a brief comeback to the Top Ten album chart in ’83.              

    

5.  Lionel Richie’s self-titled debut album in 1982 got to # 3 on Billboards’ album chart.  ‘83’s “Can’t Slow Down” became his first solo # 1 album.  Three years later, Lionel was back at the top of Billboards’ album chart with “Dancing On The Ceiling”.                                                 

THERE’S A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

OK, OK, I know it’s a little less than two months until Christmas and you’re probably already being driven mad by the displays in malls and department stores.  But our little quiz is not about Christmas.  Our clocks are already back to Standard Time, so naturally enough, this quiz is about time.  Songs about time to be more precise...and as usual, all the songs in question made the Top Ten on the Billboard singles chart.  I see by the old clock on the wall that it’s TIME to get started on the quiz.  Take your TIME with those questions that are a little tougher.  There’s no TIME limit.  Good luck.     

    

QUESTIONS

1.  He’s a singer whose # 1 hits include “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” and “When A Man Loves A Woman”.  This 1991 hit of his, with TIME in the title, made it to # 7.  He was equally as famous for his voluminous hair as he was for his singing.    Hopefully, it won’t take a BOLT (HINT ALERT) out of the blue for you to know who the singer is AND his TIME song.  Can you name him and the song in question?      

      

2.  This British group, who took their name from a Muddy Waters song, first hit the North American singles chart in 1964 with their cover version of Buddy Holly’s hit “Not fade Away”, which made it to # 48.  Their first Top Ten hit in 1964 was a song with TIME in the title that Irma Thomas had also recorded.  They continue to tour and recently celebrated their 50^th anniversary as a group.  What’s the name of this group and the name of their TIME song?                  

                

3.  She won a Tony Award earlier this year, but the Brooklyn/Queens, New York born singer/songwriter has been in the public eye since her debut album, “She’s So Unusual” first charted in 1983.  She’s had 14 songs make Billboards’ Hot 100 with two becoming # 1, and that includes her TIME song from 1984.  She’s also an actress and had a recurring role in the ‘90’s TV series “Mad About You”.  Her rather ‘unique’ voice and Brooklyn accent definitely makes her ‘stand out’ from the crowd.  Can you name this award winning singer/ songwriter/actress and her # 1 TIME song?                 

                   

4.  This singer died in a plane crash in 1973 at the height of his popularity.  That same year, two of his songs reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.  This “Bad Bad” singer (HINT ALERT), first charted in 1972 with a Top Ten hit, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”.  Other hits include “Operator”, “I Got A Name” and “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”.  His TIME song went to # 1 two months after his untimely death.  Who’s the singer and what’s the name of his TIME song?      

    

5.  1977’s “Year of The Cat” was this Scottish singer’s best known hit and his biggest chart success…that is until 1978 and his TIME song.  The opening lyrics are:  “It was late in December.  The sky turned to snow.  All ‘round, the day was going down slow.  Night like a river beginning to flow”.  Or you might remember this lyric line from the song:  “Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight.”  Can you name the song and the singer?         

              

ANSWERS

1.  Michael Bolton was the singer.  1991’s “Time, Love And Tenderness” was the song.  Michael’s real name is Michael Bolotin.  He changed it early in his career.  Michael first hit Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in 1983 with the song “Fools Game”, which only got as high as # 82.  His next charted hit, “That’s What Love Is All About” climbed to # 19 and his interpretation of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” took him to # 11.  Michael’s first # 1 was “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You”, which fought off all comers to remain # 1 for 3 consecutive weeks in late January/early February of 1990.                         

2.  That would be The Rolling Stones with “Time Is On My Side”, which climbed to # 6 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in 1964.  The following year (1965), the Stones, who took their name from a song by blues legend Muddy Waters, had another TIME song in the Top Ten with “The Last Time”.  The body of co-founding Stones member Brian Jones was found in his swimming pool in the summer of 1969.  Mick Taylor replaced Jones and was himself replaced a few years later by Ron Wood (formerly of The Faces), who’s been with The Stones ever since.  Bass player Bill Wyman retired from the group in 1991.  The rest of The Stones, just keep rollin’ on and on.           

    

3.  Tony Award winner Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper aka Cyndi Lauper, had her first # 1 hit in 1984 with “Time After Time”.  Her debut single, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” had just missed the top of the charts, but did get to # 2.  Cyndi hit # 1 again in ’86 with “True Colors”.  Cyndi’s also an actress and has appeared in TV series such as “Bones”. “That’s So Raven” and had a recurring role in the Paul Riser/Helen Hunt ‘90’s sitcom “Mad About You”.  Her Tony Award this year was for the Broadway musical, “Kinky Boots”.                  

4.  Jim Croce’s 1973 # 1, “Time In A Bottle” was the TIME song we were looking for.  Croce was born in Philadelphia, home of the Liberty Bell, on January 10, 1943 and died 30 years later on September 20, 1973.  His first # 1 was “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”, which hit the top of the singles chart for two weeks in July ’73, so Jim got to see that success while he was still alive.  “Time In A  Bottle” became # 1 the final week of December

73 and the first week in January of ’74.           

    

5.  Scottish born Al Stewart took his hit, “Time Passages” all the way to # 7 in 1978.  Stewart, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, is one of two Scottish singers with the last name of Stewart who’ve made the North American record charts.  Andy Stewart (also born in Glasgow) had hits in 1961 with “A Scottish Soldier” and “Donald, Where’s Your Troosers” (Andy does a respectable Elvis Presley impression on that one).  These two songs did much better in Canada than in the U.S. where they got to # 69 and # 77 respectively.