SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Although there’s still plenty of ski days left at Blue Mountain, spring is definitely near.  Officially, spring arrives at 7:02 AM (EDT) on March 20^th.  To celebrate the (almost) end of winter’s blustery bravado, we’re asking questions about ALBUMS or SINGLES that were # 1 during the month of March.  Since it’s 2013, our questions will be from the years 1963, ’73, ‘83 or ‘93.  As usual, there’ll be a few hints just to give you a sporting chance, although I’m sure you won’t need those hints, will you?    

QUESTIONS:

1. Two albums dominated Billboards’ album chart for the month of March 1973.  The album that was # 1 for the first two weeks of March came from a British superstar who once sang that “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” and who had a bit of a temper himself, especially with nosy reporters.  To give you a bit of time context, other albums in the Top Ten this month included Carly Simon’s “No Secrets”, Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Night”, John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” and Stevie Wonder’s “No Secrets, which had been # 1 for 5 weeks in January and February of ’73.  The British superstar we’re looking for topped Billboards’ Hot 100 chart 10 times.  Can you guess the name of the # 1 album by this singer/songwriter/hitmaker?                   (HINT:  Think about the musical instrument that he plays.  It’s in the album title).                                                                                                                         

2.  While the soundtrack to Whitney Houston’s “The Bodyguard” was # 1 on Billboards’ album chart for the first ten weeks of 1993 (including the first week of March), this album by a legendary British guitar player took over # 1 for the weeks of March 13^th, 20^th, and 27^th.  One of the songs from this album almost cracked the Top Ten singles chart in 1992 with a ‘stripped down’ version of a Top Ten hit from 1972 by this same artist.  His British fans in the 1960’s used to call him ‘god’ for his prowess with the guitar.  His other nickname was ‘Slowhand’ (as a guitar player, he was anything but ‘slow’).  Can you name this artist and his album from 1993?               (HINT: He’s one of the ‘Cream’ of British guitar players and he’s not Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck). 

3.  In March of 1983, both the Album and Hot 100 Singles charts were taken over by one artist, the self proclaimed ‘King of Pop’.  The album was “Thriller” and one of the # 1 singles from the album stayed at # 1 for 7 consecutive weeks, including the entire month of March.  Two of the songs’ lyrics are: “She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one.  But the kid is not my son.”  Can you name this # 1 song? (NO HINT NEEDED AS THIS IS ALMOST TOO EASY).       

4.  In 1973, that album that replaced the answer to Question # 1 for the final three weeks in March wasn’t a soundtrack, but the title song was used in a major motion picture starring Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronnie Cox and Jon Voight about an ill fated trip down the Cahulawassee River.  Just for fun, I’ll give you the names of the two performers of that album.  They were Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell.  That ring any bells?  Can you name the title of their album? (HINT:  Think about Ronnie Cox’s duet with the local mountain boy in that movie).      

5.  These ‘Jersey Boys’ were already used to the # 1 spot on the singles chart by March of 1963.  They’d sat at the top TWICE the previous year.  Their first # 1 was “Sherry”, which topped the charts for 5 weeks from the week of September 15^th until October 13^th of 1962.  This group, led by a falsetto singer from Newark, New Jersey, zoomed back to # 1 in November and December ’62 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”.  Their next # 1 hit, “Walk Like A Man” stayed at the top of the singles chart for the first 3 weeks of March 1963.  You know the names of their songs.  What’s the name of the group? (HINT:  The first line of this question holds the answer). 

ANSWERS

1.  For the weeks of March 3 and March 10^th, 1973, Elton John stood at # 1 on Billboards’ Album Chart with “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player”.   Elton’s album had replaced “The World Is A Ghetto” by War.  By the end of ’73, in fact from the week of November 10^th until the week of December 29^th, Elton was back at # 1 with the album, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.

2.  Well, if he wasn’t Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck, then he could only be Eric Clapton.  Did you guess the name of the album?  It was “Unplugged” and it was from a performance recorded in January 1992 for the MTV series also called “Unplugged”.  The album itself was released in August of ’92 and finally went to # 1 in March the following year.  An acoustic version of “Layla”, a # 10 hit in 1972 for Derek And The Dominoes (which was Eric Clapton on guitar, keyboard player Bobby Whitlock, drummer Jim Gordon and Carl Radle on bass) was included in both the “Unplugged” TV show and the album.  “Tears In Heaven”, a song Eric wrote about the death of his son Conor, was also on “Unplugged” and had been featured in the 1992 motion picture, “Rush” starring Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh.  “Tears In Heaven” had peaked at # 2 on the singles chart in 1992 held back from # 1 for all four weeks it was # 2 by Vanessa Williams’ hit, “Save The Best For Last”.    

3.  “Billie Jean” was the # 1 hit single on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart from March 5^th until April 16th.  The following week, April 23^rd, it was succeeded at the top by Dexy’s Midnight Runners hit “Come On Eileen”, which was toppled after one week by MJ again with “Beat It”, which remained # 1 for 3 weeks.  Jackson’s “Thriller” album meantime was # 1 for 17 consecutive weeks from February 26^th until the week of June 18^th.  The soundtrack from “Flashdance” took over the # 1 album spot for 2 weeks (June 25^th and July 2^nd), then “Thriller” came roaring back to # 1 for an additional 2 weeks.  The Police album “Synchronicity” dominated the # 1 spot for the next 7 weeks, then “Thriller” returned for one final week at # 1.  In total, “Thriller” was the # 1 album for 20 weeks in 1983, almost half a year.  Epic Records released 7 singles from “Thriller” – “The Girl Is Mine” (a duet with Paul McCartney); “Billie Jean”, “Beat It”, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”; “Human Nature”; “P,Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” and “Thriller” – all 7 of them made the Top Ten on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart.  The album “Thriller” became, and remains, the best selling album of all time with around 60 million copies sold.           

4.  The album was “Dueling Banjos” by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell.  The title song from the album was used in the 1972 film “Deliverance”.  “Dueling Banjos” held the # 1 spot on Billboards’ Album Chart for the weeks of March 17^th, 24^th and 31^st.       

5.  This group started out calling themselves The Four Lovers.  They even had a chart hit, “You’re The Apple of My Eye” (# 62 in 1956) using that name.  In the early ‘60’s, they changed their name to The Four Seasons, named after a New Jersey bowling alley, and had hit after hit, including 5 # 1’s – “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like A Man”, “Rag Doll” in the 1960’s and “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” in 1976.  After Frankie Valli went solo, he racked up 2 more # 1’s – “My Eyes Adored You” (1975) and “Grease” (1978).