WHEN THERE’S A NEW POPE, EVERYONE’S ITALIAN

The world has a new Pope, a new spiritual leader for over 1.2 billion Catholics.  Pope Francis truly seems to be a man of the people.  Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the 266^th Pope, the first Jesuit Pope as well as being the first non European Pope since the 8^th century.  Even though he’s from Argentina, his heritage is Italian – his father and mother immigrated to Argentina from Italy – so we’ll celebrate the new Pope with questions about Italian singers and/or Italian songs.  Now, the singers all come from Italian heritage, but may be British, American or Canadian and the songs were definitely worldwide hits according to Billboard Magazine.  We could ask about Francis Albert Sinatra, Frankie Valli (The Four Seasons), Gwen Stefani, three world famous Italian-American singers or even Luciano Pavarotti...but we won’t.  Even if you’re not Italian, c’mon who doesn’t love Italian food? – pizza, ravioli, gnocchi, penne all’arrabbiata, lasagna, cannelloni, spaghetti, tortellini, it’s all so delish.  So, buon appetito (have a good meal) and buona fortuna (good luck).       

QUESTIONS:

1. To start off, this question may be far too easy.  This Ohio born Italian singer had a great career on the record charts even before he partnered up with a ‘wild and crazy’ kid from New Jersey.  Between 1949 and 1956, this duo made 14 movies, plus appeared together in 2 others and made a cameo appearance in the Hope & Crosby film “Road To Bali”.  Their split was definitely not friendly and they didn’t speak for many years.  The ‘wild and crazy’ comic went on to major fame and fortune writing, directing and starring in movies.  They absolutely adore him in France.  Our Italian-American singer charted 30 songs on Billboards’ Hot 100 and his successful TV variety series in the 1960’s brought him even more fame.  His first number one hit was in 1956.  His last, in 1964 happened during the height of Beatlemania and the British invasion in music.  His TV celebrity roasts in the 1970’s became ‘must-see’ TV.  Can you name our singer?  (HINT: Everybody loves him).   

                                                                                                                 

2.  This Italian-American singer/actress grew up in Detroit and after she becoming successful, famously dated Hollywood ‘bad boy’ Warren Beatty and married another movie ‘bad boy’, Sean Penn.  She’s had a dozen # 1 hits.  She’s also a fashion designer with her own line of clothing.  She got in a bit of trouble with the Catholic Church with a video for one of her songs.  She only uses her first name in show biz, but that name is world famous (or infamous).  So, I ask you – ‘who’s that girl’?      

3.  This Italian song was a hit for Umberto Tozzi in 1979.  Tozzi co-wrote the song with Giancarlo Bigazzi (I know that won’t help you much).  It was translated into English, sung by an American singer/actress and went to # 2 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in 1982.  The one word title is the same as a minor hit from 1965 for the Irish band Them, whose lead singer was Van Morrison.  This song was nominated for a Grammy Award, but didn’t win.  Do you know the name of this song?  You get an extra pat on the back if you know the name of the American female singer who had the hit with it.       

4.  She calls her fans ‘little monsters’ and they all adore her.  Stefani is a native New Yorker who’s been in the music business since 2005.  Her debut album, “The Fame” was released in 2008 to worldwide acclaim.  Her show biz ‘gimmick’, besides her talent as a super successful singer/songwriter, is for her outrageous outfits, she once even wore a ‘meat dress’.  She was obviously influenced by Elton John, Madonna and David Bowie.  Stefani has sold well over 20 million albums as won several armfuls of Grammy and MTV Awards.  TIME Magazine listed her as one of the most influential people in the world.  Under what name does Stefani perform?    

5.  This Italian-American singer was a favourite of Frank Sinatra’s.  He’s lived “The Good Life” (HINT # 1) and performed before Kings and Queens and regular folks like you and me as well.  This artist, who’s gone from ‘rags to riches” (HINT # 2) is also a gifted painter.  He’s still performing at the age of 86.  His “Duets” albums have sold millions of copies and although he’s a native New Yorker (born in Astoria, Queens), he does have a soft spot for San Francisco (HINT # 3).  Who is this incredible singer?          

ANSWERS

1.  It’s Dean Martin, but you knew that in the first sentence of the question, didn’t you?  The chart topping Mr. Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio in 1917.  Teaming up with zany comedian Jerry Lewis in the 1940’s, the duo made more than a dozen films together, their first being “My Friend Irma” in 1949 and their last was 1956’s “Hollywood Or Bust”.  Jerry Lewis went on to make such movies as “The Bellboy”, “The Nutty Professor” and “The King of Comedy”.  Dean Martin first # 1 was “Memories Are Made of This” in 1956.  In 1964, amongst all those ‘British Invasion’ hits from such groups as The Beatles, the Dave Clark Five and The Animals, Dean had his last # 1 with “Everybody Loves Somebody”.  Dean Martin passed away on Christmas Day 1995 at the age of 78.     

2.  That girl is Madonna Louis Ciccone who became world famous (or infamous if you prefer) using only her first name.  She was born in Bay City, Michigan in 1958 to an Italian-American dad and her mother, also named Madonna, who died when Madonna was only 5, was of French Canadian descent.  Despite her often anti-establishment attitude, Madonna was a straight ‘A’ student in school.  Madonna’s # 1 hits include “Like A Virgin”, “Crazy For You”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “Who’s That Girl”, “Like A Prayer”, “Vogue” and “Music”.  The video for 1989’s “Like A Prayer” brought Madonna the wrath of Catholic Church leaders with its images of burning crosses and statues crying blood among other things.  In fact, the Vatican condemned the video.  Madonna’s movies have included “Desperately Seeking Susan”, “Shanghai Surprise”, “Who’s That Girl”, “Dick Tracy” and “Evita”, In 2010, Madonna and her daughter Lourdes created the ‘Material Girl’ clothing line for teens released under the Macy’s label.  All the controversy surrounding her just makes her richer.  Celebritynetwork.com estimates her net worth at 650 Million $$.  That’ll buy a lot of material, girl.     

3.  Remember Laura Brannigan’s version of “Gloria”?  The song remained on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart for 36 weeks in 1982 and was in the Top Ten for 9 weeks.  The Italian version, sung by co-writer Umberto Tozzi, was a hit in Europe in 1979.  Singer Laura Branigan died on August 26, 2004 of a cerebral aneurysm at the age of 47.  Branigan received a Grammy nomination as ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’ for “Gloria”.             

4.  It’s Lady Gaga aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.  She started out in the music business in 2005 and formed the Stefani Germanotta Band with some friends from NYU.  They became a fixture around Manhattan’s lower east side.  When that band broke up, Stefani moved on to work with various other people until she was signed to SONY/ATV music publishing to write songs for Britney Spears, New Kids On The Block and Fergie.  Akon took a shine to her talents and by 2008, Lady Gaga had moved to LA to begin work on her debut album “The Fame”, which was released in August that year.  After a slow start, the album took off and the world went gaga for Lady Gaga.

5.  Anthony Dominick Benedetto, aka Tony Bennett, may never have hit # 1 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, but his songs are just as memorable as many that have – “I Left My Heart (In San Francisco)”, “I Wanna Be Around” and “The Good Life” were all Top Twenty songs in the early 1960’s.  Tony served as an infantryman during WWII and fought in France and Germany.  Tony Bennett still performs between 100 and 200 concerts a year.  He was honoured with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and in 2001, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2005, he was the recipient of a Kennedy Centre Honor.  His paintings, which Tony has been creating since he was a boy, sell for upwards of $100,000 apiece.    

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).   

DOUBLE DOLLARS / DOUBLE SIDED HITS

Most of you know about the weekly ‘”Double Dollars” promotion that mycollingwood.ca offers.  It’s a golden opportunity to have a great meal, or indulge in a spa day, or grab a bargain for half price – hence ‘Double Dollars’.  Your dollar goes twice as far, thanks to Julie and Dan at mycollingwood.ca, who work very hard to bring you the best deals in the area.  The ‘double’ concept got me to thinking about all those ‘double-sided’ hits from that by-gone era of the 45 single.  Yes, I know vinyl singles are still around, but not to the same degree as the ‘50’s, 60’s, and even ‘70’s.  Not by a long shot.  The single was THE thing to buy when you liked a song.  For this week’s quiz, we’ll stick to those magical three decades where the single was king.  It was a great feat for an artist or group to have a ‘double-sided hit’, although it happened more often than you’d think.  Artists who’ve had ‘double-sided’ hits include The 4 Seasons, Connie Francis, Paul Anka, The Coasters, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and Stevie Wonder.  So, use both sides of your brain for this one.  There’ll be a few clues and hints along the way of course, so double down....’cuz here we go.  

QUESTIONS:

1. In late 1957, the ‘King of rock ‘n’ roll’ had a double-sided hit.  The ‘B’ side was a soulful ballad called ‘Treat Me Nice’, which made it to # 18 on the singles chart.  It came from one of Elvis Presley’s early movies.  The character Elvis played, Vince Everett, was a man serving a one year prison sentence for manslaughter.  He’s mentored in prison by a fellow inmate and when released, becomes a star, albeit a conceited star.  But like all of EP’s movies, it all works out in the end.  The ‘A’ side of this million selling single is the title of the movie.  So, what is the name of this # 1 ‘double-sided’ smash hit?  (HINT:  The warden threw a party in this county jail).  

                                                                                                                        

2.  Creedance Clearwater Revival had quite a few ‘double-sided’ hits during their career, including “Bad Moon Rising” / “Lodi”, “Down On The Corner” / “Fortunate Son” and “Up Around The Bend” / “Run Through The Jungle”.  The ‘double-sided’ songs we’re looking for were from 1970.  Both sides of this single made it to # 2.  The ‘B’ side was “Who’ll Stop The Rain”.  The ‘A’ side basically relates the story of what life is like on the road for a musician.  What’s the name of this Creedance hit?  (HINT: One of the words in the title is also a term used in basketball.  Doing this is a violation of the rules).               

3.  The Guess Who first hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965 with “Shakin’ All Over”.  It made it to # 22.  Their next hit, “These Eyes”, went to # 6 in 1969, and their hit after that, that same year, was their first ‘double-sided’ single.  “Laughing” went to # 10 and “Undun” made it to # 22 (co-incidentally, the same as “Shakin’ All Over”).  The Guess Who’s BIGGEST ‘double-sided’ single happened in 1970.  Both sides of this 45 became # 1.  “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” was the ‘B’ side. The ‘A’ side of that single began as an improvisation at a curling rink gig in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario.  It stayed at the top of the singles chart for three weeks.  In 1999, Lenny Kravitz recorded a new version for the movie “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”.  Can you guess this Guess Who # 1 hit?  

4.  Without question, The Beatles were the kings of ‘double-sided’ hits.  Think about it: “I Want To Hold Your Hand” / “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Please Please Me” / “From Me To You”, “I Feel Fine” / “She’s A Woman”, “We Can Work It Out” / “Daytripper” are just three examples and there are plenty more.  The ‘double-sided’ hit we’re looking for is from 1967.  Both of these songs were recorded for, and were originally going to be included on The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album.  However, Capitol Records wanted a new Beatles single, so these two songs were put together on one 45rpm record.  The ‘B’ side, “Penny Lane”, was written by Paul McCartney and includes his memories of people and places in his hometown of Liverpool.  The ‘A’ side was written by John Lennon and the title comes from a specific place in Liverpool.  Can you name this ‘A’ side of this ‘double-sided’ hit? (HINT:  “Nothing is real”). 

5.  Since 1962 when they first hit the charts with “Surfin’”, The Beach Boys had hits in every year during the rest of the ‘60’s...and many of those were ‘double-sided’ hits.  The first one was “Surfin’ Safari” in 1962.  The ‘B’ side of that single was “409”, a minor hit (# 76).  The ‘boys from the beach’ did it again the next year with the ‘double-sided’ single, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Shut Down”.  In the summer of ’63, another ‘double-sided’ Beach Boys hit made the charts.  The ‘B’ side was Little Deuce Coupe”, which went to # 15.  The ‘A’ side of that 45 single went to # 7 and had, in its title, the summer water sport The Beach Boys liked to sing about early in their career.  What is the name of this ‘A’ side?  (HINT:  It was a ballad). 

ANSWERS

1.  The ‘A’ side of that ‘double-sided’ Elvis Presley hit was “Jailhouse Rock”, the title song from the 1957 movie.  Both ‘Treat Me Nice” and “Jailhouse Rock” were written for the movie by the song writing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote “Hound Dog” (although not specifically for Elvis) as well as “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care”, “Love Me”, “Don’t”, “Loving You” and “King Creole” among others that Elvis recorded.  Leiber and Stoller were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.  The duo also wrote most of the hits for The Coasters (“Charlie Brown”, “Yakety Yak” etc.)    HH                           

2.  Did you guess “Travelin’ Band”?  If you did, you guessed right.  Both “Travelin’ Band” and the ‘B’ side of that 45 single, “Who’ll Stop The Rain” were on 1970’s “Cosmo’s Factory” album.  “Travelin’ Band” has been covered by Elton John as well as Jerry Lee Lewis (who sang it with Creedance Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty) on his 2006 album, “Last Man Standing”.  Incidentally, traveling in a basketball game occurs when a player holding the ball moves a foot or both feet in any direction and takes three or more steps without dribbling the ball.   

3.  The ‘A’ side was “American Woman”.  It was the only # 1 hit The Guess Who ever had (on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart at least).  Lenny Kravitz 1999 version peaked at # 49 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart.   

4.  “Strawberry Fields Forever” was the intended ‘A’ side of that ‘double-sided’ hit, however “Penny Lane” went to # 1, whereas “Strawberry Fields Forever” peaked at # 8.  Both “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” were included on The Beatles 1967 North American LP, “Magical Mystery Tour”.  In Britain, only an EP (extended play) was released containing 6 songs.  Those were, “Magical Mystery Tour”, “The Fool On The Hill”, “Flying” (an instrumental), “Blue Jay Way”, “Your Mother Should Know” and “I Am The Walrus”.  Capitol Records U.S. added the additional 5 songs.  The album has now been standardized around the world to include all 11 songs.       

 
5.  The ‘A’ side of that Beach Boys ‘double-sided’ single was “Surfer Girl”.  Brian Wilson, who wrote it and most of the other Beach Boys hits, sang lead.