IT’S NOW OR NEVER...

This is it.  It’s the week hundreds of thousands of Elvis fans around the world wait for.  It’s the Collingwood Elvis Festival.  Dozens and dozens of Elvis Tribute Artists (ETA’s) will be hanging around to perform classic hits by The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll.  Who will win the singing competition this year?   C’mon out and see for yourself.  Follow the schedule for the Collingwood Elvis Festival by clicking here.   And be sure to take in the Elvis events (as well as the dee-licious food) at the Olde Town Terrace – 219 Hurontario Street, right in the heart of all things Elvis.  See what’s happening there at The Olde' Town Terrace.  

This week, our trivia quiz is about the single hits of Elvis.  According to Billboard Magazine (the ‘bible’ of the record industry), Elvis charted 153 singles from 1956 until 2002.  For comparison, The Beatles charted only 73 singles from 1964 to 1996.

  

All of these questions are multiple choice, so kick off your ‘blue suede shoes’ and ‘rock-a-hula, baby’. 

             

QUESTIONS:

1.  1956 saw Elvis hit # 1 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart 5 times.  “Heartbreak Hotel” was his first in ’56 – “Love Me Tender” was his last that year.  Which of the following 4 Elvis hits from 1956 DID NOT make # 1?  Was it: a. “Hound Dog”  b. “Blue Suede Shoes”  c. “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”     d. “Don’t Be Cruel”        His last came in 1974.  hH

2.  Elvis had great success recording songs that were originally Italian melodies.  Which of the following 3 Elvis hits was not originally adapted from Italian.  Was it: a. “It’s Now or Never”        b. “Surrender”  c. “Can’t Help Falling In Love”           

3.  Elvis recorded a bunch of songs with the word ‘Love’ or ‘Loving’ in the title.  In fact, 11 of them made the Top Twenty, with 3 going all the way to # 1.  Those 3 # 1 Elvis hits are: “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” (1956), “Love Me Tender” (1956) and “A Big Hunk O’Love” (1959).  Two of the following 3 Elvis ‘love’ songs went to # 2 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  Which One DID NOT make it to # 2?  Was it:  a. “Loving You”  b. “Love Me”  c. “Can’t Help Falling In Love”        

4.  There are several songs Elvis sang in his movies that went to # 1.  The title song to “Jailhouse Rock” in ‘57 was one – “Love Me Tender” in 1956 was another.  In fact, the film studio changed the title of the movie to “Love Me Tender” from its original title, “The Reno Brothers”.  So, according to Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart, which of the following 3 hits from Elvis movies DID NOT make # 1?  Was it:  a. “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” (1957)  b. “Return To Sender” (1962)  c. “Hard Headed Woman” (1958)  

5.  After Elvis’ tragic passing in August of 1977, which of the following 3 songs was his final Top Ten charted hit?  Was it: a. “My Way”  b. “Guitar Man”  c. “American The Beautiful”    

ANSWERS

1.  b. Blue Suede Shoes was the correct answer.  The Carl Perkins written hit only made it to      # 20 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in ‘56.  “Heartbreak Hotel” was # 1 for 8 weeks, “Love Me Tender” for 5 weeks, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” stayed at the top of the charts for only one week, but both “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” were chart toppers for 11 weeks each.       

2.  Both a. “It’s Now Or Never” and b. “Surrender” were originally Italian melodies adapted for English lyrics.  C. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” was adapted from the French melody for “Plasir d’Amour”.  Paul Anka also adapted a French melody, “Comme d’Habitude”, wrote English lyrics and turned it into “My Way”, a song that Elvis made his own in concert.  Frank Sinatra originally recorded “My Way” and in 1969, took it to # 27 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  Elvis’ version, released a few months after his death in ‘77 did even better than Frank’s version, climbing to     # 22.   

3.  It was a. “Loving You” that didn’t get to # 2.  That one made it to # 20 on its own, although it WAS the flip side of the 45rpm single of 1957’s “Jailhouse Rock”, which DID make it to # 1 for 7 weeks in 1957.  b. “Love Me” was # 2 for two weeks in early ’57 and c. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” hung in at # 2 for only one week in February of 1962.   

4.  According to Billboard Magazine, b. “Return To Sender” is the correct answer.  Elvis sang that song in the 1962 film, “Girls, Girls, Girls”.  The single was a huge hit and remained at # 2 for 5 weeks in November and December of ‘62.  a. “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” was from the 1957 Paramount Pictures film, “Loving You”.  The advertising slogan for the movie was “You’ll Love ‘Loving You’.”  The flip side of the “Teddy Bear” single was the title song, “Loving You”.  1958’s “King Creole” was the movie that Elvis sang c. “Hard Headed Woman”.   

5.  If you answered c. “American The Beautiful”, then you are correct.  That one was released a couple of months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  “American The Beautiful” climbed to # 6 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in the late fall of 2001.  “My Way” was released later in ’77, aftger Elvis passed and got to # 22 while the re-mix of “Guitar Man” (which, when it was originally released in 1968, went to # 43).  In ’81, when the re-mix was released, it beat its original success, climbing to # 28.