Monday, April 20, 2015

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD TURN ROUND!



It’s THAT time again.  Tax time.  In the U.S. taxes were due April 15th.  In Canada, it’s April 30th.  So, to ease the pain of filling out those forms and giving so much of your hard earned money back to the government, here’s a quiz about ‘money’ songs.  ALL of the songs in question have the word ‘money’ in the title and believe me, there’s no shortage of ‘money’ songs.  For example: Pink Floyd’s “Money” from their 1973 album, “Dark Side of The Moon”.  Then there’s tTHA.  he song “Money (That’s What I Want)”.  Did you know that charted four times by four separate performers?  That doesn’t include The Beatles version from their first album, which was never released as a single.  Barrett Strong, who co-wrote “Money (That’s What I Want)”, initially took it to # 20 on the singles chart in 1960.  Four years later, The Kingsmen (“Louie Louie”) climbed even further up the charts to # 16 with their version.  Then, Motown saxophone star Jr. Walker (“Shotgun”) brought it back on the charts in 1966, where it reached # 52.  Finally in 1980, The Flying Lizards (who could ever forget them), had a # 50 hit with that same song. 
In 1997, the late Notorious B.I.G. had a # 1 hit with “Mo Money Mo Problems” feat. Puff Daddy & Mase.  You see, there are lots of songs with ‘money’ in the title to choose from.  So, if you’ve figured out the plot by now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of ‘money’.
   
QUESTIONS

1.  In April 1976, this tartan clad group that had girls all over the world screaming and sighing and buying their records, ’rolled’ their ‘money’ song to # 9 on the singles chart for one week.  A few months earlier, they’d climbed to # 1 with their debut hit, ”Saturday Night”.  What’s the name of the group and their ‘money’ song?     
     
2.  This singer had a great many hits during her career, including “MacArthur Park”, “Hot Stuff”, “Bad Girls” and “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)”, a duet with Barbra Streisand.  All of those songs were # 1 hits.  This performer’s ‘money’ song almost made it to the top, but was stalled at # 3.  Can you name the singer and while you’re in the mood, name her ‘money’ song as well?                  

3.  This ‘money’ song is used by Donald Trumps’ hit TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice”.  The group is from Canton, Ohio and only one # 1 hit, 1973’s “Love Train”, although some of their other famous hits include “Back Stabbers” in 1972, 1976’s “I Love Music (Part 1)” and “Use Ta Be My Girl” in ‘78.  Who is the group and what was their ‘money’ song? 

4.  Sting is featured on this 1985 # 1 hit single, but it wasn’t by The Police.  The album this song was on also climbed to # 1 in the summer of ‘85 for 9 consecutive weeks and sold 30+ million copies.  This multiple Grammy award winning group from Great Britain formed in 1977 and during their career has sold over 120 million albums.  Their first charted hit, 1979’s “Sultans of Swing” climbed to # 4 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart, but it would be 6 years before this song became their first # 1 hit.  Can you name the group as well as their # 1 ‘money’ hit?                

5.  “The Joker”, “Rock’n’Me” and “Abracadabra” are this groups’ only # 1 hits, although they had a whole lot more that didn’t make it to the top of the singles chart.  Their ‘money’ song did climb to # 11 in 1976.  Who is the group and what’s the name of their ‘money’ hit?    

ANSWERS

1.  It was the week of April 3rd, 1976 when Scottish group, the Bay City Rollers hit # 9 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart with “Money Honey”.  It only remained in the Top Ten for two weeks, but survived on the chart for 15 weeks.  In Australia and England it reached # 3.  In Canada, where ‘Rollermania’ became rampant, “Money Honey” climbed to # 1 on RPM’s national chart.  It was a completely different song from Elvis Presley’s 1956 song “Money Honey”, that was included on his self titled debut album.  The Bay City Rollers song was written by Rollers guitarist Eric Faulkner and multi instrumentalist Stuart John Wood.        
 
2.  Donna Summer had 4 # 1 hits during her career, but her 1983 ‘money’ song, “She Works Hard For The Money” only made it to # 3, although it reached # 1 for three weeks on the national R&B chart.  It was written by Summer and her then record producer Michael Omartian.

3.  “For The Love Of Money” performed by The O’Jays is the opening theme for Donald’s Trumps’ annual TV series “Celebrity Apprentice”.  Prior to being used for that series, it was a Top Ten hit for two weeks in June of 1974.  The song was written by Philadelphia International Records honchos Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, along with Anthony Jackson (who plays bass on the song).  The single version was edited from the original 7:14 to run 3:42.  In 1975, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for ’Best R&B Vocal Performance – Duo, Group or Chorus’ but lost to “Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus.     

4.  It was the week of September 21st , 1985 when Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” hit # 1 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  It remained on top for 3 weeks and was replaced by “Oh Sheila” from Ready For The World.  The album “Money For Nothing” was on, “Brothers In Arms”, reached the # 1 spot on Billboard Magazine’s album chart during the week of August 31st, ’85 and remained on top for 9 consecutive weeks.  Sting’s cameo in “Money For Nothing” is the beginning section, “I Want My MTV”, and not surprisingly, was the first video played on MTV Europe.  In 1986, “Money For Nothing” won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal’.
         
5.  The Steve Miller Band took their 1976 hit, “Take The Money And Run” to # 11 on the singles chart.  This was the groups’ 5th charted single and came two years after their first            # 1, “The Joker” in ‘74.  “Rock’n’Me” was the group’s next single and their second # 1 hit, also in ‘76.  Their third (and final # 1) was in 1982 with “Abracadabra”.      

No comments:

Post a Comment