IT’S CANADA DAY UP CANADA WAY - 2014 EDITION

Astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Loonie, the Calgary Stampede, Canada Geese, the invention of Insulin, Marshall McLuhan, “Corner Gas”, William Shatner, Stanley Park, the AVRO Arrow, Donald Sutherland, Keifer Sutherland, Paul Anka, John Candy, SCTV, Alanis Morissette, Hockey Night In Canada, Celine Dion and Don Cherry.  They’re all Canadian.       

Happy Canada Day to Canucks everywhere...and on Canada Day, EVERYONE’s Canadian, Who’s up for a double double and a maple covered doughnut?  This year, July 1st falls on a Tuesday and our quiz is all about Canada.  Sorry Americans, Brits, Australians, Scots, Russians, Irish, Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Italians, Greeks, Japanese and penguins from Antartica – you’re all out of luck this week, unless you know your Canadian pop culture trivia. 

So let’s get started, eh? 

             

QUESTIONS

1.  What legendary Canadian country singer/songwriter sang about Canadian cities and provinces such as Tillsonburg, Sudbury and Prince Edward Island?  Was it:  a. Hank Snow  b. Wilf Carter  c.  Stompin’ Tom Connors?                       

      

2.  Regina may be the capital city of Saskatchewan, but it’s Saskatoon that’s the provinces largest city.  Joni Mitchell and The Northern Pikes (“She Ain’t Pretty”) both are from Saskatoon.  Which group had a Top Ten Canadian hit in 1972 with the song “Running Back To Saskatoon”?  Was it:  a. The Guess Who  b. Bachman Turner Overdrive  c. Chilliwack   

                

3.  Hollywood has long looked to Canada to provide the scenery (and production expertise) for some of its biggest hits.  The “Twilight” series, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart was filmed in beautiful British Columbia.  The Oscar winning film “Unforgiven”, direct by and starring Clint Eastwood was shot in and around Drumheller, Alberta’s Dinosaur Valley.  Which other Academy Award winning film was shot in Alberta?  Was it:  a. “Dances With Wolves”  b. Tombstone  c. Brokeback Mountain          

4.  Which recent U.S. television sitcom regularly poked fun at Canadian icons such as Mounties, Tim Horton’s, our hockey obsession and saying ‘eh’?  Was it:  eh. The Simpson’s  b. Castle  c. How I Met Your Mother 

    

5.  There have been a great many Canadians who’ve made it big in television in the past few decades.  Paul Shafer, David Letterman’s bandleader/sidekick is one.  Paul originally hails from Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Former Vancouver natives Michael J. Fox and Jason Priestly became stars of “Family Ties” and “Beverly Hills 90210” respectively in the 1980’s.  Another British Columbia native, Cobie Smulders co-starred in the recently ended series “How I Met Your Mother”.  Cobie also appeared in the 2014 movie, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.  But there is one Canadian who’s been on a continuous U.S. television program longer than any other host.  Can you guess his or her name?  Is it:  a. William Shatner  b. Alec Trebek  c. Marilyn Denis                                          

ANSWERS

1.  That would be c. Stompin’ Tom Connors.  Tom was a true blue, 100% dyed-in-the-wool, fiercely proud Canuck.  “Sudbury Saturday Night”, “The Hockey Song”, “Bud The Spud” are but three of Tom’s classic songs.  Tom was born in Saint John, New Brunswick and was later adopted by a family from Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.  His musical career took him to every corner of Canada, including Cornerbrook, Newfoundland (that’s a joke son.  Laugh, I say laugh when you get a chance).  Tom received many honours over the years, including the Order of Canada in 1997.  The legendary Canadian troubadour passed away on March 6, 2013.          

2.  a. The Guess Who is correct.  “Running Back To Saskatoon” was written by Burton Cummings and Kurt Winter and was recorded live in May of 1972.  Although it made the Top Ten in Canada, it languished at the bottom of Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, only climbing as high as # 96.  Pearl Jam covered the song during concerts in Saskatoon in 2005 and 2011.                   

    

3.  c. Brokeback Mountain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger is the correct answer.  Filmed in Calgary, Fort MacLeod and Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, this 2005 Ang Lee directed movie, won 3 Academy Awards, including “Original Score For A Motion Picture”, “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” and Ang Lee became the first Asian to win for “Best Director”.  1993’s “Tombstone”, starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, was filmed in Arizona and 1990’s “Dances With Wolves”, starring and directed by Kevin Costner, was shot in South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska.

                    

4.  While The Simpson’s has made many Canadian references throughout their decades on television as well as visited the Great White North a couple of times, and Castle stars Canadian born actors Nathan Fillion (Edmonton, Alberta) and Stana Katic (Hamilton, Ontario), it’s c. How I Met Your Mother that saluted Canada in an off handed humourous way.  On the now completed TV series, the character of Robin Sherbatsky, played by Cobie Smulders is from Canada (as is Cobie in real life).  Her character was once a teen idol called Robin Sparkles who sang in malls, a la Debbie Gibson.  Actor/writer/producer Allan Thicke made several cameo appearances on the show and Robin’s TV fiancé and eventual TV husband Neil Patrick Harris, even made a hilarious trek to Canada to track down an old boyfriend of Robin’s and spent a lot of time in various Tim Horton’s.                        

5.  Alec Trebek is the name we were looking for. This June 13th, Alec bested Bob Barker’s record and went into the Guinness Book of Records for “the most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter”.  Since 1984, Alec has hosted 6,829 episodes of “Jeopardy”.  Alec began his broadcasting career at the CBC as a newscaster and sportscaster.  CBC programs Alec hosted include “Music Hop” (1963-64) and “Reach For The Top” (1966-1973).  The Sudbury native’s done very well for himself, considering he has a degree in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa.  He’s won 5 Emmy Awards and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Alex was the second of three game show hosts to be honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2006 (the first was “Let’s Make A Deal” host Monty Hall and the third was Howie Mandel for “Deal Or No Deal”).

IT WAS THE THIRD OF JUNE – ANOTHER SLEEPY, DUSTY DELTA DAY

There must be something about the third of June, because not only does Bobby Gentry’s 1967 hit, “Ode To Billy Joe” begin that way, but Neil Diamond also uses that date in the lyrics to his song “Desiree” – “it was the third of June, on that summer’s day, when I became a man at the hands of a girl almost twice my age.”  

As you may have already surmised, this quiz is about hit songs with specific dates either in the title or in the lyrics.  As with pretty much all of our quizzes, these songs all made the Top Ten and several got to the coveted # 1 spot on the singles chart.  Here we go... 

             

QUESTIONS

1.  This legendary ‘60’s group was the subject of a successful Broadway play (that later had many touring companies throughout North America).  The movie, based on the play, opens Friday June 20^th and was directed by ‘Dirty Harry’ himself, Clint Eastwood.  It’s the story of a singing group formed in Newark, New Jersey who make it big with their unique sound.  They first charted in 1956 as The Four Lovers, but later took the name of a Jersey bowling alley.  In 1976, they shot straight to # 1 with their 5^th and final chart topper and that’s the ‘date’ song we’re looking for.  It’s a c-c-c-cold time of year, so can you name the song as well as the name of this group?                     

2.  They originally named themselves after their home town transit system, then shortened it to just the single name of the city.  Their 1972 ‘date’ song also has a day of the week mentioned in the title.  One of this group’s members accidently shot himself while playing a game of Russian Roulette.  They’re still together (minus a few original members) and continue to tour.  What’s the name of this group and the name of their weekend ‘date’ song?         

                

3.  The lyrics to this 1972 # 1 hit include the following, “It was the 3^rd of September, that day I’ll always remember.”  The Motown group that recorded it had had 3 previous        # 1’s, including “I Can’t Get Next To You” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me”.  This three time Grammy Award winning song was ranked # 168 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.  Who’s the group and what’s the name of the song?    

4.  This ‘date’ song starts out “Ah, Breaker 1-9, this here’s the rubber duck.  You gotta copy on me pig pen, c’mon.”  Not only was this a hit song, but Hollywood turned the premise of the song into a movie in 1978.  It became a pioneer in the CB (citizen’s band) craze of the 1970’s.  Can you name the song? 

    

5.  The Civil War was the subject of this hit, written by a member of a (mostly) Canadian band that had formerly worked with Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan.  Although this group recorded the song first, their version did not chart.  The hit version came from Joan Baez in 1971.  In fact, it was her biggest chart success, climbing all the way to # 3 (although she did change the lyrics slightly).  John Denver, The Allman Brothers Band, Charlie Daniels Band, The Black Crowes and Johnny Cash have all recorded versions of this tune.  The lyric is “In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive.  By May 10th, Richmond had fell.  It’s a time I remember oh so well.”  Do you know the name of this ‘date’ song?                                 

ANSWERS

1.  The Four Seasons took the song “December 1963 (Oh What A Night)” to # 1 in March of 1976.  The unique falsetto ‘sound’ of Frankie Valli plus the hit songwriting talents of producer Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio took The Four Seasons to the singles chart nearly 50 times.  As The Four Lovers, they made it to # 62 with “You’re The Apple of My Eye” in 1956.  As The Four Seasons, they charted 14 Top Ten hits, with 5 of those climbing to # 1.  The Four Seasons first # 1 was 1962’s “Sherry”, which was followed the same year by “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, then “Walk Like A Man” in ’63.  1964’s “Rag Doll” was their final # 1 until March of ‘76 when “December 1963 (Oh What A Night”) climbed to the top of the singles chart and hung on for 3 weeks.  By this time, producer Bob Crewe was gone, and there was a new members of the Four Seasons – only songwriter Bob Gaudio and his longtime business partner and lead singer Frankie Valli remained.       

2.  “Saturday In The Park” by Chicago is the answer.  This 1972 hit climbed to # 3 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in September 1972.  “Saturday in The Park” was written by Chicago’s Robert Lamm, after having experienced the sights and sounds of New York’s Central Park.  Lamm also sang lead.  “Chicago V”, the album that “Saturday In The Park” came from, went to # 1 from the week of August 19^th until the week of October 14^th, 1972, (9 consecutive weeks).             

    

3.  “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” from The Temptations was the # 1 song on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 chart for the week of December 2, 1972.  The Temptations first # 1 was 1965’s “My Girl”.  “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” was their last.  Originally, “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” had been recorded by The Undisputed Truth.  That version only made it as high as     # 63 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, but later that year, Motown producer and co-writer Norman Whitfield (Barrett Strong was the other writer), re-recorded it with The Temptations and the rest is history.  Initially, the song was 12 minutes long with a nearly four minute instrumental opening, but Whitfield and Motown cut it down to approximately 7 minutes for radio play.  The following year (1973), “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” won three Grammy Awards, including ‘Best R&B Song’ for composers Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.    

                    

4.  “It was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June” are the opening lyrics to C. W. McCall’s 1976 # 1 hit “Convoy”.   McCall’s real name is Bill Fries and he was an advertising Legendary blood-and-guts movie director Sam Peckinpah turned the songs’ premise into a rip roaring, (also called “Convoy”), starring Ali MacGraw, Kris Kristofferson and Ernest Borgnine.                  

5.  It’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” from The Band.  Written by The Bands’ guitar player Robbie Robertson about the end of the Civil War in the U.S. in 1865, it was recorded on their 1969 self-titled second album.  It also appeared as the ‘B’ side to The Bands’ “Up On Cripple Creek” 45rpm single.   Joan Baez decided to record the song, but wrote down the lyrics from The Band version instead of buying the sheet music.  In the process, she changed a few lines.  For example, instead of “By May 10^th, Richmond had fell”, Joan sang “I took the train to Richmond…”.  She changed the second line of the song from “Till Stoneman’s cavalry came…” to “Till so much cavalry came.”  In the last version, Joan sang, “The blood below my feet” instead of Robbie Robertson’s original line “The mud below my feet.”  In recent years, Joan has sung the original lyrics as written.  “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of ‘500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” as well as Time Magazine’s All Time 100 list.

GOODBYE, SO LONG, FAREWELL…

“Sunglasses At Night”, “Boy In The Box”, “Never Surrender”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – all successful hits for Montreal native Corey Hart.  Now, after his final performance at the Bell Centre in Montreal June 3^rd, he’s packing it in.  Forget freedom 55, Corey’s retiring at 52.  So that got me to wondering, how many other music stars have actually left the entertainment scene behind voluntarily?  And that’s the focus of our 5 questions this week.  Rock or pop stars who, for one reason or another, have gone away, dropped out, walked off into the sunset, vacated the premises, put the ‘Gone Fishing’ sign up on the door, fell off the face of the earth, closed up shop, hit the road….OK, I’ll stop now.  Have fun!           

QUESTIONS

1.  This performer ran away as opposed to retiring.  He left the popular British group that he had co-founded in 1968, not long before they became megastars.  His ‘dark side’ began to take over his life and he was even hospitalized for a time.  He created a few solo musical projects – the last one was released in 1970.  He remained a recluse until his death in 2006, although he did enjoy gardening.  His former band mates, on their 1975 album “Wish You Were Here”, wrote and recorded a tribute song called “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.  Who was this influential, experimental, psychedelic guitarist?                     

      

2.  This shoot-from-the-lip woman first became famous as lead singer for a super successful ‘60’s psychedelic San Francisco group (say that phrase three times fast).  In a 1998 VH1 interview, she said that “All rock and rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire.”  Her group went through several name changes over the years, but each time, they continued to have hits.  Their first Top Ten chart success happened in 1967, although they didn’t actually get to # 1 until the 1980’s.  She went on to have a modest solo career that included her 1981 album, “Welcome To The Wrecking Ball”.  Can you ‘grace’ us with her name?        

                

3.  The bass player for this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group basically ‘retired’ after the lead singer died in 1991.  He wrote several of the groups’ hits, including “You’re My Best Friend”, “I Want To Break Free” and “Another One Bites The Dust”.  He was the last member of this rock quartet to join after he auditioned for the other three at London’s Imperial College in 1971 and became part of rock royalty.  He’s not a man of the cloth, although his last name is the term for one.  Who is he?                                    

4.  His former band has continued on for several decades after this rock and roll bass player ‘retired’ in 1993.  He initially joined them in December of 1962.  He was the first member of this group to release a solo record (“Monkey Grip”) in May of 1974.  He’s the owner of ‘Sticky Fingers’ restaurant in London.  He still performs with his own group The Rhythm Kings and has upcoming gigs scheduled in England during June and July.  Why man, I’ll bet you already know his name…so what is it already?                 

    

5.  This Canadian songbird first hit Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in 1970.  She continued with hit after hit for several decades.  She was the first Canadian female solo singer to make it to            # 1 on the U.S. singles charts.  Her albums have sold more than 50 million copies and she’s won 4 Grammy Awards, 24 JUNOs and multiple other awards.  She’s been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (aka The JUNO Hall of Fame).  This singing superstar has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as one on Canada’s Walk of Fame and Canada Post issued a stamp with her picture on it in 2007.  She retired from performing in 2008 and was one of 8 Canadians chosen to carry the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Who is she?  Ann…your answer is?                              

ANSWERS

1.  Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett later life was quite complicated.  In Junior School in England, one of his teacher’s was Roger Waters’ mother.  Later in high school, he was in the same class with Roger.  He met David Gilmour in the art department of the Cambridge Technical College.  Pink Floyd evolved through various groups and names including The Abdabs, The Screaming Abdabs, and The Tea Set (never to be confused with the 1970 Dutch group The Tee Set whose only Top Ten hit was “Ma Belle Amie”).  At one gig, Barrett’s band was on the same bill as another band with the same name.  Syd instantly came up with The Pink Floyd Sound, which eventually became Pink Floyd.  The group had several minor British chart hits with Syd – “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play”.  After seriously experimenting with drugs (most notably LSD), Barrett left Pink Floyd (or they left him) in April 1968.  He recorded several solo albums, both in 1970 – “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett”, plus a single “Octopus”, before retreating to his painting and gardening.  Syd Barrett died on July 7, 2006.      

2.  Remember Grace Slick, the lead singer of Jefferson Airplane?  They first charted on Billboards’ Hot 100 in 1967 with two Top Ten songs, “Somebody To Love” (# 5) and “White Rabbit”(# 8).  In the early 1970’s, after a few personnel changes, they renamed  the group Jefferson Starship and had two more Top Ten single hits, “Miracles (# 3 in 1975) and “Count On Me” (# 8 in ’78).  After one more name change in the 1980’s to Starship, they finally hit # 1 with “We Built This City” in ’85.  That same year, “Sara” topped the singles chart.  1987’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was the final # 1 for Starship.  Grace Slick left the group in 1988 and continued a solo career that included the .       

    

3.  John Deacon has steadfastly refused to participate in any Queen reunion for the past 14 years.  While Queen’s former bass player did participate in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in 1992, a charity concert in ’93 and, in ’97, joined Queen guitar player Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (along with Elton John) for the Bejart ballet in Paris of “The Show Must Go On”, he did not attend Queen’s Rock and Roll induction ceremony in 2001, nor was he a part of the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour.  Deacon also didn’t participate in Queens’ performance during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics and he is not a part of the current Queen + Adam Lambert collaboration. 

I think we can safely say that, as of this moment in time, Roger Deacon is indeed ‘retired’ (although he remains a part of the Queen business empire).                   

                    

4.  Bill Wyman left The Rolling Stones officially in 1993, although he actually wrapped it up after The Stones Steel Wheels Tour in 1989-1990.  They seem to have done alright for themselves following his departure.  Wyman was born William George Perks on October 24^th, 1936 and took the last name Wyman from a pal with whom he’d served in the Royal Air Force from 1955 to ’57.  A few years after he left The Stones, Bill formed The Rhythm Kings and continues to perform with them.  Bill Wyman’s written several books on the history of The Rolling Stones, including 1997’s “Stone Alone – The Story of a Rock’n’Roll Band”, “Rolling With The Stones” (2002) and “Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music’s Heart & Soul” (2001)

5.  It’s Anne Murray of course.  Her final public concert was at Toronto’s Sony Centre on May 23, 2008.  After retiring from performing and recording, Anne wrote her autobiography “All of Me” in 2010.  Anne is a companion of the Order of Canada and was honoured with the Order of Nova Scotia in 2002.  Anne and Leonard Cohen received the Legacy Award from the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (even though Ann is not a songwriter).  Murray was cited for her support of Canada’s songwriters through her performances and recordings.  Anne Murray is an avid golfer and is a longtime supporter of environmental charities.