SUMMER

Just in case you hadn't noticed, summer is officially here (unless you live in Australia where it's now winter), so we thought this week we'd make our trivia quiz fit the season. As usual, there are 5 questions and each one is about a song with summer in the title. There's one question from the 1950's, '60's, '70's, '80's and '90's but they aren't in chronological order, so good luck.

QUESTIONS:

1. During the 1970's, there were a couple of 'summer' songs that made the singles chart, including "Summer Nights" from Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in 1978, "Summertime Blues" from The Who in 1970 and "Summer" by War in 1976, but the summer song we're looking for charted in 1972 from a duo that were former members of The Champs from 1958 until 1965. That's the group that had the 1958 hit "Tequila", although these two joined the band after the hit happened. One of them had a hit making brother who was also one half of a duo, if that helps at all. Think Summer and see if you can come up with the duo and the hit song that made it to # 6.

2. There'll be no tag days for this superstar. He easily made a successful transition from music to TV acting to movie star. He's originally from Philadelphia and, as part of a recording duo, had hits from 1986 until 1993 when he went solo, starred in a TV series based on his recording character, then hit the motherlode with film stardom. He's also scored three # 1 hits as a solo performer, two of which came from movies he starred in. In the summer of 1991, he and his musical partner had the biggest hit of their career with a 'summer' song. Can you name the this Ten hit as well as the name of the performer?

3. This singer/songwriter died at the age of 21, but not before he had 7 hits on the singles chart. His first hit, "Sittin' In The Balcony", came in 1957 and made it to # 18. His biggest though happened the following year (1958) when a song he wrote zoomed all the way up to # 8. Several other performers have recorded this hit, including Blue Cheer, The Who and country artist Alan Jackson. The question is - who's the artist and what was his 'summer' hit?

4. He was a founding member of a 'high flying' group that formerly backed up Linda Ronstadt on tour. Many, many hits from that group hit the charts, they were the darlings of both FM and AM radio. They famously broke up, saying they'd get back together "When Hell Freezes Over". Naturally, they did get back together and named their 1994 reunion album, "Hell Freezes Over". This performer also had a hugely successful solo career in the 1980's and '90's with 6 Top Ten hits (although he never made # 1, something his old band did 5 times in the 1970's. The song we're lookin for went Top 5 in 1985. So who's the performer and what was his 'summer' song? (HINT: If you think baseball, you'll be very close)

5. "Summertime", "A Summer Song", "Summer's Comin'" and "In The Summertime" are just four 'summer' songs from the 1960's. The song we're looking for though, came from a group that had 3 American members and 1 Canadian. This was their first and only # 1 hit. From 1965 until 1967, this group had 7 Top Ten hits. They supplied the musical for several '60's films, including Woody Allen's "Waht's Up Tiger Lily" and Francis Ford Coppolla's "You're A Big Boy Now". Can you name the group and their # 1 'summer' hit?


ANSWERS:


1. In 1972, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, better known as Seals & Crofts, had the # 6 song with "Summer Breeze". Jim Seals brother, Dan Seals was one half of England Dan & John Ford COley, who had such hits in the '70's as "I'd Really Love To See You Again" and "Nights Are Forever Without You".

2. Before he became an 'A' list movie star, Will Smith was known as The Fresh Prince. In 1991, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince took the song "Summertime" to # 4 on Billboards' Hot 100 singles chart. Two of the # 1 hits he had as a solo artist were "Men In Black" and "Wild Wild West", both films Will starred in.

3. In 1958, Eddie Cochrane recorded "Summertime Blues", which as the question states, has been covered by several other artists over the years. Cochrane died in a car crash during a British tour in 1960. While his recording career was short, his legacy lives on with songs he wrote, including "C'mon Everybody", being performed by the likes of The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The White Stripes and The Sex Pistols.

4. Don Henley, a founding member of The Eagles, took his solo song, "The Boys Of Summer" to # 5 on February 9, 1985.

5. The 1960's summer hit we were looking for was "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful, which was # 1 during the week of August 13, 1966 and remained # 1 for 3 weeks. It was replaced by Donovan's "Sunshine Superman". The Lovin' Spoonful were lead singer and songwriter John Sebastian, Canadian Zal Yanovsky on lead guitar, Steve Butler on bass and drummer Joe Butler. The group was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and not a second too soon as Zal Yanovsky died two years later.