Well, we're almost at the end of 2011. A new year will soon be upon us. I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday to all those readers who doesn't celebrate Christmas.
This week I thought we'd ask about some of the classic Christmas/Holiday songs of the past 50 years or so and since most of these songs still get played on the radio during this time of year, they're fairly easy questions.
Hopefully everyone's in a holiday mood, so let's have a holly, jolly fun time.
QUESTIONS
1. Elvis Presley took this 'Blue' song to # 1 for two weeks on the Christmas singles chart in 1964. It comes back every year and is one of the top songs of the season. Can you name thhis holiday tune?
2. They're starring in a movie right now, but back in December of 1958, this group of 'furry little animals' had the # 1 song on the singles chart. Who are they and what was their # 1 Christmas hit?
3. Brenda Mae Tarpley was 16 when her 'dynamite' Christmas song hit # 14 on the Pop singles chart and we've been 'rockin' to that holiday hit every year since. Can you guess the song as well as the name Brenda Mae changed to? (HINT: She also scored a dozen Top ten hits throughout her career which began in the 1950's. In 1960, she hit # 1 twice.)
4. In 1984, a group of rock and pop stars from England and Ireland got together in a London studio and recorded a charity Christmas single that raised millions for African famine relief. What was the name of the song and the group of stars who recorded it?
5. He's a huge movie star these days, although his most recent film was severly panned by many critics. Several of his movies have grossed over one hundred million dollars each. Before moving to Hollywood, he was a TV cast member on one of NBC TV's longest running series, which is where he performed his only holiday hit, which reached the Top 10 in 1995. WHo is this performer and what was his holiday hit?
ANSWERS
1. 'The King' of rock'n'roll saw his recording of "Blue Christmas" hit the top of the Christmas singles chart in December of 1964.
2. The Chipmunks were the creation of Ross Bagdasarian, who used the stage name David Seville. Simon, Alvin and Theodore were named after executives at Liberty Records in Hollywood, where Ross aka David recorded. The chipmunk 'sound'was created by recording the background musicians at normal speed, then playing the tape at a slower speed while David / Ross recorded his 'chipmunk' vocals at normal speed. The tape was then brought back to regular speed and while the music sounded normal, the voices were sped up, thus 'chipmunky' and The Chipmunk Song" was born. There latest movie, "Chipwrecked" is in theatres now.
3. The song was "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" as sung by Brenda Lee, the former Brenda Mae Tarpley. Brenda was born on December 11, 1944 in Lithonia, Georgia. She signed with Decca Records in 1956 and first hit the charts the following year when she was only 13 years old. Her nickname back then was 'Little Miss Dynamite'. In 1960, her two # 1 hits were: "I'm Sorry" and "I Want To Be Wanted". In 1964, Brenda took another holiday song, "Jingle Bell Rock" to # 8 on the Christmas singles chart.
4. All those stars, which included Paul mcCartney, Phil Collins, Sting, Bono and George Michael, going under the name Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" at the Sarm West Studios in the Notting Hill district of London in November of 1984. "Do They Know It's Christmas" had been written by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox and when it was released, sold a million copies in its first week. The single raised millions for African famine relief efforts.
5. That would be Adam Sandler, who was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 1990 to 1995, which was where he performed "The Chanukah Song". Some of Adam's hit movies include "Happy Gilmour", "The Wedding Singer", "Mr. Deeds", "50 First Dates" and "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". His current film, "Jack and Jill" is not getting good reviews from film critics.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Rolling Stone Rock Trivia
Rolling Stone Magazine has been around since 1967. It's still an important magazine for breaking political stories and for its profiles of, and interviews with, rock musicians. The magazine has gone through several changes over the decades, but continues to be very successful. Many now world famous individuals started with Rolling Stone, including photographer Annie Leibowitz; Writer Hunter S. Thompson was a major political writer for Rolling Stone (Johnny Depp's latest movie "The Rum Diary" was an adaptation of a novel written by the late gonzo journalist). Cameron Crowe, wrote and directed "Almost Famous" about his time as a Rolling Stone jornalist. Crowe also directed the films "Jerry Maguire", "Elizabethtown", "Vanilla Sky" and 2011's "We Bought A Zoo" starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. Joe Eszterhas was a longtime featured writer for Rolling Stone. His movie writing credits include "Flashdance", "Basic Instinct", "Nowhere To Run', "Showgirls" and his latest, "Lust", due to be released in 2012. Recently, the company published a book of trivia titled "Rolling Stone Rock Trivia". It's 120 pages with hundreds of questions spanning six decades of rock history. It's available at your favourite book or magazine store right now. This time out, I thought we'd quiz you with questions about Rolling Stone Magazine itself. They're all fairly easy, so give them a whirl.
QUESTIONS:
1. Which member of The Beatles was the first to have his picture featured on Rolling Stone Issue # 1?
2. Rolling Stone Magazine recently published a list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. Who made # 1 on the list? (HINT: and not by the skin of his teeth either).
3. Who was the co-founder of Rolling Stone Magazine? He's still listed today as editor and publisher.
4. In What city did Rolling Stone originate? (HINT: It was the home to Flower Power and the hippie movement).
5. It was considered an important milestone in your career to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. One band, who at that point had NOT made the cover, recorded a hit song about it that debuted on the charts in late 1972. Can you name the song and the group?
ANSWERS:
1. Rolling Stone used a film still of John Lennon in his uniform as "Sergeant Gripweed" from Richard Lester's 1966 movie, How I Won The War" on the cover of Issue # 1 dated November 9, 1967. One of the most iconic Rolling Stone covers features a naked John Lennon wrapped around his wife Yoko Ono, who was clothed, for the issue dated January 22, 1981, a month and several weeks after Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City.
2. The # 1 Guitarist, according to the guitarists Rolling Stone Magazine polled, was Jimi Hendrix, who occasionally would play his guitar with his teeth. The rest of the Top Ten included Eric Clapton (#2), Jimmy Page (#3), Keith Richards (#4), Jeff Beck (#5), B.B. King (#6), Chuck Berry (#7), Eddie Van Halen (#8), Duane Allman (#9) and Pete Townshend (#10).
3. A young Jann Wenner (pronounced 'yawn') borrowed several thousand dollars from his family and founded Straight Arrow Publishers Inc with Rolling Stone Magazine as its first (and for many years, it's Only) publication. Jazz and pop music critic and writer Ralph J. Gleason was the co-founder. Gleason died in 1975. The company is now called Wenner Media Inc. and along with Rolling Stone Magazine, publishes US Weekly and Men's Journal magazines.
4. These days, Rolling Stone Magazine's headquarters are in New York City, but back in 1967, Jann Wenner and company launched the magazine from San Francisco. They moved to New York in 1977. Jann Wenner had been born in New York in January of 1946, but his family moved to San Francisco while Jann was still an infant.
5. Who could forget the lyrics to that 1973 Dr. Hook hit "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", a song written by humourist Shel Silverstein, a longtime contributor to Playboy Magazine. The song made it as far as # 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Dr. Hook, although in caricature form, did make the cover of Rolling Stone on March 29, 1973. The cover copy read "What's-Their-Names Make The Cover".
QUESTIONS:
1. Which member of The Beatles was the first to have his picture featured on Rolling Stone Issue # 1?
2. Rolling Stone Magazine recently published a list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. Who made # 1 on the list? (HINT: and not by the skin of his teeth either).
3. Who was the co-founder of Rolling Stone Magazine? He's still listed today as editor and publisher.
4. In What city did Rolling Stone originate? (HINT: It was the home to Flower Power and the hippie movement).
5. It was considered an important milestone in your career to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. One band, who at that point had NOT made the cover, recorded a hit song about it that debuted on the charts in late 1972. Can you name the song and the group?
ANSWERS:
1. Rolling Stone used a film still of John Lennon in his uniform as "Sergeant Gripweed" from Richard Lester's 1966 movie, How I Won The War" on the cover of Issue # 1 dated November 9, 1967. One of the most iconic Rolling Stone covers features a naked John Lennon wrapped around his wife Yoko Ono, who was clothed, for the issue dated January 22, 1981, a month and several weeks after Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City.
2. The # 1 Guitarist, according to the guitarists Rolling Stone Magazine polled, was Jimi Hendrix, who occasionally would play his guitar with his teeth. The rest of the Top Ten included Eric Clapton (#2), Jimmy Page (#3), Keith Richards (#4), Jeff Beck (#5), B.B. King (#6), Chuck Berry (#7), Eddie Van Halen (#8), Duane Allman (#9) and Pete Townshend (#10).
3. A young Jann Wenner (pronounced 'yawn') borrowed several thousand dollars from his family and founded Straight Arrow Publishers Inc with Rolling Stone Magazine as its first (and for many years, it's Only) publication. Jazz and pop music critic and writer Ralph J. Gleason was the co-founder. Gleason died in 1975. The company is now called Wenner Media Inc. and along with Rolling Stone Magazine, publishes US Weekly and Men's Journal magazines.
4. These days, Rolling Stone Magazine's headquarters are in New York City, but back in 1967, Jann Wenner and company launched the magazine from San Francisco. They moved to New York in 1977. Jann Wenner had been born in New York in January of 1946, but his family moved to San Francisco while Jann was still an infant.
5. Who could forget the lyrics to that 1973 Dr. Hook hit "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", a song written by humourist Shel Silverstein, a longtime contributor to Playboy Magazine. The song made it as far as # 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Dr. Hook, although in caricature form, did make the cover of Rolling Stone on March 29, 1973. The cover copy read "What's-Their-Names Make The Cover".
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