Rock Talk

It’s time for more rock’n’roll trivia gang. This week, we’re going back to the British Invasion, which was launched when The Beatles first came to North America to appear on CBS TV’s Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964. The floodgates then opened and dozens of British musical acts became international super stars. If you know rock’n’roll, then most of these should be fairly easy. As usual, there are 10 questions, so give yourself 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the questions. Have fun.

1. Which British performers, after The Beatles, were next to have a ‘world wide’ number one hit
on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart?

2. Horror film actors Boris Karloff, Bela Lagosi and Vincent Price would have been right at home
in this British band. There’s ‘no telling’ how big this group could have been had they not
broken up in 1967. What's the name of this group?

3. This legendary guitar player was nicknamed ‘Slowhand’ and played in several successful
British groups before striking out on his own. His only North American number one hit,
‘shot’ up the charts in 1974. Can you name him?

4. ‘Britain’s answer to Bob Dylan’ was actually a Scottish born folksinger who was anything but
‘mellow’. He first hit the Billboard singles chart in 1965 with a couple of folkie songs, but 1966
was by far his biggest year with both a number one and a number two to his credit. Can you
name this hit maker?

5. The Beatles were known for their ‘Liverpool Sound’ and the ‘Mersey Beat’. This group was
labeled by the media as the ‘Tottenham Sound’, named for the area in England that they were
from. There were ‘five’ guys in this band. Their leader (the group was named after him) was
a former movie stunt man. Can you name the group?

6. This band came from Newscastle, in the north of England. Their debut world wide hit was
recorded on the first take and went straight to number one. They were never a ‘burden’ on
their record company, as they racked up hit after hit. What’s the name of this band?

7. Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien charted 21 songs on Billboards Hot 100, and that
includes seven Top Twenty hits. Of course, those hits were under her stage name. Can you
name this British beauty?

8. This Scottish chart topper also has a name that would choke a horse. It’s Marie McDonald
McLaughlin Lawrie, but she later shortened it to just one word. Led Zeppelins’ Jimmy Page
played guitar (as a session musician) on several of her songs. She made her acting debut in a
1967 film and sang the title song, She later married one of The Bee Gees. Who is she?

9. This legendary club was located on Wardour Street in the heart of London. Just about every
major British group has played there (although The Beatles never did). Can you name this
famous club?

10. 1967 was this groups’ biggest chart year. They’d had several hits previously on the British
charts that had been written by a Jamaican songwriter. But in 67, they climbed into the Top
Ten chart twice. The group was named after the Swansea, Wales born guitar player. What’s
the name of this ‘group’?

ANSWERS

1. The Beatles hit number one on February 1st, 1964. The song that took them there, “I Want
To Hold Your Hand” stayed at number one for 7 weeks. The Beatles replaced themselves
at the top of the charts with “She Loves You” on March 21, 1964. Three weeks later, they
replaced themselves again with “Can’t Buy Me Love” which remained in the top spot for 5
more weeks. The next British group to top the charts was Peter & Gordon’s “A World
Without Love” on June 27. The duo (Peter Asher and Gordon Waller) had several
connections to The Beatles. “A World Without Love” had, in fact, been written by Paul
McCartney and John Lennon and at the time, Paul was dating Peter’s sister Jane Asher. It is
a small world after all.

2. Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Paul Atkinson , Chris White and Hugh Grundy were The
Zombies. Their first hit, “She’s Not There” made it to number two on December 12th, 1964.
The next year, “Tell Her No” climbed to number six. The group disbanded in 1967. Rod
Argent later formed the group Argent. Nearly two years after they broke up, The Zombies
were back in the Top Ten singles chart (at number three) with “Time Of The Season”, a song
recorded before the boys in the band went their separate ways.

3. Eric Clapton is the man we're looking for. He was in The Yardbirds, Blind Faith with Steve
Winwood and co-founded the group Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. His first
charted hit as a solo artist came in 1970 with “After Midnight”, a top 3 song. Eric's signature
song, “Layla” only made it to number 51 when it was first released in 1971. The following
year, it zoomed up to the number 10 spot. In 1992, Eric’s acoustic version of “Layla” again
climbed the charts all the way to number two. But Eric’s ONLY number one hit (at
least so far) was his version of the Bob Marley written song, “I Shot The Sheriff” in the
summer of ’74.

4. That would be Scottish born Donovan Leitch, who came into the world in Glasgow, Scotland
on May 10th, 1946. His first Billboard charted hits were “ Catch The Wind” (# 23),
“Colours” (# 61) and “Universal Soldier” (# 53). In 1966 he scored his only number one to
date with “Sunshine Superman”. A few months later, he followed with “Mellow Yellow”,
which went to number two. His other Top Ten hits include “Hurdy Gurdy Man” (#5) in 1968
and “Atlantis” (# 7). In 1968. His daughter, Ione Skye and son Donovan Leitch Jr. are both
actors. You may have seen Ione Skye in TV series such as the new “Twilight Zone” in 2002,
an episode of “Arrested Development” in 2005 and “The Dead Zone” in 2003. She was also
in the 1986 film, “The Rivers Edge” which starred Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover and Keanu
Reeves. In that movie, she’s credited as Ione Skye Leitch.

5. Dave Clark was the leader and drummer for The Dave Clark Five. A few weeks after The
Beatles performed on CBS TV’s Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, The Dave Clark Five
had a Top 10 hit (# 6 actually) with “Glad All Over”. In April, they struck gold again with
“Bits And Pieces”, a number four hit. Other chart successes include “Do You Love Me”,
“Can’t You See That She’s Mine”, “Because”, “Catch Us If You Can” and The Dave Clark
Five’s ONLY number one, “Over And Over”.

6. The Animals is the name of this band and their first hit, “The House Of The Rising
Sun” (recorded in one take) was number one for 3 weeks beginning on September 5th, 1964.
The Animals other hits include: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “We Gotta Get Out Of
This Place”, “It’s My Life” and “Don’t Bring Me Down”.

7. Mary took the name of Dusty Springfield and started having hits with a group called The
Springfields, which included her brother Tom. She had solo success with “I Only want To Be
With You”, “Wishin’ And Hopin’”, “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” and “Son Of A
Preacher Man”. Her last hit, “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” came in late 1987 with
Pet Shop Boys. Dusty died of cancer in 1999 at the age of 59. She was inducted into the Rock
And Roll Hall Of Fame that same year.

8. Mary McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie became Lulu and her biggest hit, “To Sir With Love” was
the title song from the movie starring Sydney Poitier. In 1969, she married Maurice
Gibb of The Bee Gees, but they were divorced in 1973. She’s since remarried a couple of
times and these days officially goes by the name Lulu Kennedy-Cairns. Lulu went on to a
successful TV career in England. Her autobiography, “I Don’t Want To Fight” was published
in 2002.

9. That would be the Marquee Club, which was originally on Oxford Street, but in 1964, moved
to its more famous location at 90 Wardour Street. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink
Floyd, The Who, Yes, Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, The Jimi Hendrix Experience are just
some of the legendary bands who've played there on a regular basis in the 1960’s. Later,
groups such as The Police, The Cure, Joy Division, Dire Straits, Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard
performed at The Marquee. The club was sold and moved several times. It no longer exists,
but remains a fond memory for all who either played there or went as music fans.


10. The Spencer Davis Group is the correct answer. Reggae musician Jackie Edwards had
written their first British hits, “Keep on Running” and “Somebody Help Me”, but it was lead
singer and organist Steve Winwood, who co-wrote both of their 1967 Top 10 hits, “Gimme
Some Lovin’” and “I’m A Man”, a song that charted in 1971 by the Chicago Transit
Authority, who then shortened their name to Chicago.