CLOSE YOUR EYES AND I’LL QUIZ YOU!

Well, the Grammy Awards are over and done for another year.  The Academy Awards aren’t until March 2nd and the Roll and Roll Hall of Fame 2014 induction ceremony follows that in April.  But there’s still plenty to celebrate right now.    

Sunday February 9th of this year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan TV show.  73 million viewers were glued to their black and white TV screens watching John, Paul, George and Ringo do their thing.  At this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony, The Beatles were honoured with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.  Paul McCartney and RIngo Starr did re-unite and play together on Grammy night, but I doubt 73 million people were watching.

So let’s “Get Back”, grab your “Ticket To Ride” and celebrate The Beatles worldwide phenomenon with 5, count ‘em 5, easy questions about the gear days of the Fab Four. 

                     

QUESTIONS

1.  At the 1964 Grammy Awards held in April 1965, the title song from The Beatles first movie lost the Grammy Award for ‘Rock and Roll Recording” to Petula Clark’s “Downtown”.  Say WHAT?  The same Beatles hit lost the Grammy for ‘Song of the Year’ to “Hello Dolly”, recorded by Louis Armstrong and written by Broadway composer Jerry Herman.  What’s the name of this so called ‘losing’ Beatles # 1 hit? (HINT ALERT:  You shouldn’t have to be ‘working like a dog’ to come up with the correct answer)                           

      

2.  This documentary shows The Beatles at work in the recording studio and ends with an impromptu concert on the roof of the Apple offices on Savile Row in downtown London, England.  It has yet to come out on DVD, even though the release has been promised for many years.  The title song to this documentary lost ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Best Contemporary Song’ and ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy Awards to Simon & Garfunkels’ “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, written by Paul Simon.   What’s the name of the Beatles documentary, the subsequent album and the # 1 hit single? (HINT ALERT: It’s the same title).          

                

3.  All four of The Beatles have been married twice, but only one of the Fab Four has walked down the aisle and said “Love Me Do” three times.  Which Beatle is it?                 a. Ringo Starr  b. George Harrison  c. Paul McCartney  d. John Lennon          

                 

4.  Several other performers have played with The Beatles over the years.  Jimmy Nicol filled in on drums for part of The Beatles 1964 Australian tour while Ringo had an emergency tonsillectomy back in England.  Eric Clapton played lead guitar on George Harrisons’ song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” from ‘The White Album’.  Keyboard legend Billy Preston played on several songs on “Abbey Road” as well as songs from the “Let it Be” sessions.  In fact, a 1969 # 1 hit was credited on the 45rpm single to ‘The Beatles with Billy Preston’.  It was the first time another performer got label credit on a Beatles 45.  The flip side of this 45rpm record was “Don’t Let Me Down”, which climbed as high as # 35 on its own.  Can you ‘Get’ (HINT ALERT) the name of the hit ‘A’ side of this Beatles single?    

    

5.  This Beatles album, released in 1967, won 4 Grammies the following year.  The awards were for: ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts’, ‘Best Engineered Recording (Non Classical)’ and ‘Best Contemporary Album’.  The Beatles may be celebrating 50 years in 2014, but back then…”It was 20 years ago today…”  What’s the name of this classic Beatles album?    

             

ANSWERS

1.  Believe it or not, it was “A Hard Day’s Night”, which was # 1 for two weeks in the summer of 1964.  The Beatles weren’t completely shut out of the ‘64 Grammies.  They did win for “Best New Artist” beating out Petula Clark this time.  Plus, “A Hard Day’s Night” took home the Grammy Award for ‘Best Performance By A Vocal Group”.  In an interesting twist, the Grammy for ‘Best Engineered Recording, Special Or Novel Effects” went to Dave Hassinger (who also engineered some of The Rolling Stones hits) for the album, “The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles’ Hits”.  ALLLLVIN!                  

2.  “Let It Be’ is the name of the song, the album and the documentary.  “Let it Be” DID win a Grammy for ‘Best Original Score Written For a Motion Picture’.  It also won an Academy Award (aka an Oscar) for ‘Best Music (Original Song Score)’.  After all of the recording was originally completed, none of the Beatles, nor long time producer George Martin wanted to bother putting an album together from the vast amount of recorded material, so John Lennon gave the raw tapes of what became known as “Let it Be” to legendary producer Phil Spector (now serving a sentence of 19 years to life for the murder of Lana Clarkson), who added female choirs, strings and all kinds of other things, bugging Paul McCartney so much that in 2003, Paul had the entire album remixed and re-released as “Let It Be – Naked”, stripping out all of the ‘Spector touches’ from the original 1970 album.                                      

    

3.  That would be c. Paul McCartney, who was married to first wife Linda (Eastman) McCartney from March 1969 until her death in 1998.  In June 2002, Paul married Heather Mills.  They split four years later.  Paul married third wife Nancy Shevell in October 2011.  Ringo Starr married fellow Liverpudlian Maureen Starkey (nee Cox) in 1965.  That marriage lasted until ‘75.  In 1980, Ringo met his second (and current) wife, actress Barbara Bach on the set of their movie “Caveman”.  They were married on April 27, 1981.  Ringo was also the first Beatle to become a grandfather when his son Zak’s wife gave birth to a daughter in 1985.  George Harrison married first wife, Patti Boyd in January of 1966.  Boyd had been a successful model and had a small part in the film “A Hard Day’s Night”.  Harrison and Boyd divorced in 1977 and the following year, George married Olivia Arias.  That marriage continued for 23 years until George’s death in November 2001.  John Lennon married first wife Cynthia Powell in August of 1962.  They had met in 1957 as students at the Liverpool College of Art.  The Lennons’ were officially divorced in November 1968.  Yoko Ono came into John’s life in 1966 at one of her London art gallery exhibits.  John and Yoko married in Gibraltar in 1969 and celebrated their honeymoon promoting peace at the Amsterdam Hilton, then spent another week at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.  The Lennon anthem, “Give Peace A Chance” was recorded in Montreal on June 1, 1969.  The Beatles 1969 Top Ten hit, “The Ballad of John And Yoko” describes the couples’ marriage and subsequent ‘Bed-Ins for Peace’ in song.  Even though that song is credited to The Beatles on the record label, only two of them, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, played and sang on it.        

    

4.  The 45 single that was credited to ‘The Beatles with Billy Preston’ was “Get Back” with ‘Don’t Let Me Down” on the flip side.  The Beatles had first met Billy In Hamburg, German in 1962 when Billy was playing keyboards with legendary rocker Little Richard, one of the Fab Four’s musical heroes.  In 1969, Billy was signed to Apple Records and released several solo albums and one hit single, “Outa-Space”, which went to # 2 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in 1972.  Billy performed at George Harrisons’ 1971 “Concert for Bangladesh”at Madison Square Garden.  His most successful hits came during the years he was signed to A&M Records.  In the 1970’s Billy had two # 1 hits for A&M, “Will It Go Round In Circles’ (1973) and ‘Nothing From Nothing’ (1974).  Billy also co-wrote Joe Cocker’s 1975 Top Five hit “You Are So Beautiful”.  Billy Preston passed away on June 6, 2006 in Scottsdale, Arizona.                             

5.  “It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play…”  Yes, that four time Grammy winning album was “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.  It was The Beatles 8th studio album and has sold over 32 million copies since its release in June of 1967.  The initial “Sgt. Pepper” recording sessions for the new album yielded three songs, “When I’m 64”, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane”.  EMI/Capitol Records and manager Brian Epstein were pressuring The Beatles and record producer George Martin for a new single, so “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” became that single and were therefore not included on “Sgt. Pepper”.  In 2005, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Sgt. Pepper” at # 1 on their ‘500 Greatest Albums Of All Time’ list.  The cover was art directed by Robert Frasier (a London art dealer and close friend to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones).  It was conceived by artist Peter Blake and his wife/artistic partner Jann Haworth.  The actual cover photograph was taken by Michael Cooper.  The less said about the 1978 ill conceived “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” movie…the better.            

AND THE GRAMMY AWARD FOR ’RECORD OF THE YEAR’ GOES TO...

The Grammy Awards are this Sunday, so this weeks’ quiz revolves around Grammy winners for one of the major awards – ‘Record of the Year’. 

The Grammy Awards were first awarded in 1958.  That years’ ‘Record of the Year’ winner was “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” aka “Volare”.  “Volare” also won the Grammy for ‘Song of The Year’.  That years’ ‘Album of the Year’ was Henry Mancini’s “The Music From Peter Gunn”.    

In 1973, the Grammy for ‘Record of the Year’ went to Roberta Flask’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song”.  That also won ‘Song of the Year’ honours.  1983’s ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy was awarded to Michael Jackson and producer Quincy Jones for “Beat It”. 

Anybody remember what song won for ‘Record of the Year’ last year?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.  I couldn’t recall either.  It was “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye feat. Kimbra.  You remember it now, right?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Remember that the Grammy Awards honour songs, albums, artists, producers, engineers etc. for their work from the previous year.  Since we’re in 2014, our questions will be about Grammy Awards winners for 1964, ‘74, ‘84, ‘94 and 2004.  Pretty simple huh?  Let’s get started...may I have the envelope please.   

            

QUESTIONS

1.  In 1984, this ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy winner also won ‘Song of the Year’ and the singer won for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’.  She had formerly worked with her-then husband, but left both the marriage and the act to take a solo shot.  She was extremely successful and everyone who saw her perform says she was ‘Simply The Best’ (HINT ALERT).  Who is she?                     

      

2.  This unlikely duo took home Grammy Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’ in 1964.  One was a legendary American jazz saxophone player who helped introduce the South American bossa nova sound to North American audiences.  The other was a sultry voiced singer from northeastern Brazil.  Their 1963 album, which used both of their last names, also won a Grammy that year.  The opening lyrivcs to the song are:  “Tall and tan and young and lovely…”  What’s the name of the song?  Can you also name the duo who recorded it?          

                

3.  Academy award winning actress Gwnyeth Paltrow was justifiably proud of her husband at the 46th annual Grammy Awards in 2004 when his band took home the statue for ‘Record of the Year’.  This group has sold more than 60 million records and won numerous awards, including 8 Brit Awards, 5 MTV Video Music Awards and 7 Grammy Awards (from 25 nominations).  They first hit Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in 2001 with the song “Yellow”.  Can you name the group?  Can you also name their Grammy ‘Record of the Year’ award winning song from 2004?           

                 

4.  This singer first made Billboards’ Top Ten with the songs “Let Me Be There” and “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, but this 1974 Grammy Award winner was her first # 1.  It wouldn’t be her last though – she had 4 more chart toppers – 1975’s “Have You Never Been Mellow”, 1978’s “You’re The One That I Want”  (a duet with John Travolta), 1980’s “Magic” and 1981’s “Physical”.  ‘Honestly’ (HINT ALERT), can you name this singers’ ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy winning song from ’74?  While we’re at it, what’s her name?    

    

5.  Country legend Dolly Parton originally wrote this song and had a hit with it on the country charts, but it was another female singer who made it a # 1 smash on the pop charts.  The Grammies honoured it with the ‘Record of the Year’ award as well as ‘Album of the Year’.  This singer already had nine # 1 hits since her first one in 1985.  This song was her 10th chart topper.  She later married another famous singer and in February of 2012, passed away the very night a pre Grammy party was being held by her mentor and longtime record company executive Clive Davis.  What’s the name of this superstar singer and her incredibly successful # 1 hit?   

             

ANSWERS

1.  Tina Turner was a huge winner in 1984.  After leaving the allegedly abusive Ike and the Ike and Tina Turner Review for a solo career, Tina soared.  Her 1971 hit “Proud Mary” (written by Creedance Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty) had taken Tina close to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart (it reached # 4), but it was her 5th solo album, the 1984 album “Private Dancer” that finally got her to the top.  The former Anna Mae Bullock scored three Top Ten hits from “Private Dancer”.  “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (# 1), “Better Be Good To Me” (# 5) and “Private Dancer” (# 7).  As the performer, Tina shared the ‘Song of the Year’ Grammy with writers Terry Britten and Graham Lyle.  Terry Britten had produced the song.  That year, Tina also took home the Grammy statue for ‘Best Rock Performance, Female’ for “Better be Good To Me”.               

2.  At the Grammy Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, New York, Nashville and Chicago on April 13, 1965, Stan Getz and Astrid Gilberto won ‘Record of the Year’ honours for their collaboration on “The Girl From Ipanema”.  The duo also took home the Grammy statue for ‘Album of the Year’ for “Getz/Gilberto”.  Stan Getz won another Grammy that year for ‘Best Instrumental Jazz Performance By A Small Group Or Soloist With A Small Group’ for the ‘”Getz/Gilberto” album.  That album’s engineer (and later multi Grammy Award winning producer) Phil Ramone grabbed the Grammy honours for ‘Best Engineered Recording’.  In 2008, Astrid Gilberto received the Latin Recording Academy’s ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Grammy Award.  Stan Getz passed away in June of 1991.                                      

    

3.  “Clocks” from Chris Martin and the boys of Coldplay won the ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy in 2004, even though it only got as high as # 29 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in 2003.  It wasn’t until 2008 and their hit “Viva La Vida” that Coldplay finally hit the # 1 spot on the singles chart.  “Viva La Vida” won the 2009 Grammy Award for ‘Song of the Year’.  It lost the ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy to Robert Plant and Allison Kraus and their song “Please Read The Letter”.                                              

    

4.  Olivia Newton-John took home two Grammy statues on March 1, 1975 for her ’74 song “I Honestly Love You”.  Livvy won ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female” and  shared the ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy with her producer, John Farrar.  “I Honestly Love You” beat out Elton John’s “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, Jon Mitchell’s “Help Me” and Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight At The Oasis” to win ‘Record of the Year’.                             

5.  It was the 36th annual Grammy Awards for 1993 (held on March 1, 1994) and Whitney Houston owned it.  Her version of the Dolly Parton written song, “I Will Always Love You” was honoured with the ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy.  Whitney herself won for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’ and the movie soundtrack that the song came from, “The Bodyguard”, won for ‘Album of the Year’.  David Foster won the Grammy as ‘Producer of the Year’ for his work on ‘I Will Always Love You’ (which was   # 1 for 14 weeks) as well as “The Bodyguard” soundtrack.        

A HORSE IS A HORSE, OF COURSE OF COURSE...

Anyone over a certain age, or anyone who watches a lot of old TV show re-runs knows those words are the opening lyrics to the 1961 to 1966 hit TV show “Mr. Ed”.  For those not in the know, the program, was about a talking horse and his owner, Wilber Post, played by Canadian actor Alan Young (Mr. Ed was voiced by western movie star Allan ‘Rocky’ Lane).  That theme song was one of thirteen that Fox News recently voted as unforgettable.  What was # 1 on that list?  The theme from “All In The Family” (“Boy the way Glenn Miller played.  Songs that made the hit parade.  Guys like us, we had it made.  Those were the days.”)  But there were (and are) plenty more TV theme songs that get permanently stuck in our heads. 

Even though there were no words to them, the themes from “The Twilight Zone” and “Seinfeld” will forever be classics.  The same with the whistling theme from the “Andy Griffith Show” (that one also made Fox’s list at # 2) and who could even forget Vic Mizzy’s theme to “The Addams Family” with those fingersnaps. 

              

QUESTIONS

1.  The original opening lyrics to this TV theme was:  “Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.  Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a help.  Wouldn’t you like to get away?”  The theme was later edited to start where those lines leave off.  What’s the name of this famous TV program set in a Boston bar?                 

      

2.  A flying hero in a red suit (definitely NOT Superman) was the premise of this 1981-83 hit TV series.  The theme song became a Top 5 hit.  The opening lyrics are:  “Look at what’s happened to me.  I can’t believe it myself.  Suddenly I’m up on top of the world.  It should’ve been somebody else.”  Can you name this theme?  It’s definitely one of the (HINT ALERT) ‘Greatest’.

                

3.  The opening lyrics for this TV theme song are:  “Baby, if you’ve ever wondered.  Wondered, whatever became of me…”  What’s the name of the TV show that theme came from?  HINT ALERT:  Think Dr. Johnny Fever, Les Nessman and flying turkeys.   

                  

4.  Anyone who’s ever watched television should know this theme:  “Now sit right back and you’ll hear a tale.  A tale of a fateful trip.  That started from this tropic port.  Aboard this tiny ship.”  C’mon, if you’ve ever watched television, you know this theme song.  What’s the name of the TV series it’s from?   

    

5.  This hit TV series that aired from was about the adventures of Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe Rachael and Ross.  The opening lyrics to the famous theme song are:  So no one told you life was gonna be this way.  Your jobs a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s D.O.A.  It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear.  When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month or even your year, but…”.  This theme made the Top Twenty on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 chart in 1995.  What’s the name of the TV show and the name of the theme song?  Plus, for absolutely no extra points whatsoever, what group recorded the hit?

             

ANSWERS

1.  It’s the theme song from “Cheers”.  The more familiar lyrics are: “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.  And they’re always glad you came.  You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same.  You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”  That theme made # 10 on the Fox News list of “13 TV Theme Songs You Can’t Get Out of Your Head”.  The TV show was based on a real Boston bar named The Bull and Finch, located on Beacon Hill (exterior shots for “Cheers” were shot there) and for the final episode, Jay Leno (a Boston boy) broadcast the “Tonight Show” live from that bar along with “Cheers” cast members, some of whom were slightly inebriated.  “Cheers” aired from 1982 to 1993, and will continue in syndication forever.  

2.  Joey Scarbury took the “Theme From Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not)” to # 2 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in 1981.  The most familiar section of the song is:  “Believe it or not, I’m walking on air.  I never thought I could feel so free.  Flying away on a wing and a prayer.  Who could it be?  Believe it or not, it’s just me.”  On an episode of “Seinfeld”, Jason Alexander’s character, George Constanza, recorded his own version for his home answering machine.  Here’s what George sang on his outgoing message:  “Believe it or not, George isn’t at home.  Please leave a message at the beep.  I must be out or I’d pick up the phone.  Where could I be?  Believe it or not, I’m not home.”                                

    

3.   “WKRP In Cincinnati” was the name of the TV series as well as the name of the theme song.  It was written and sung by Steve Carlisle, who took a full length version of that theme to # 65 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart in 1981.  The series ran from 1978 until 1982.  Producers tried to catch ‘lightning in a bottle’ a second time with “The New WKRP In Cincinnati”, starring only a few of the former series cast members (General Manager Arthur ‘Big Guy’ Carlson, salesman Herb Tarlek and newsman Les Nessman).  That series began its TV run in 1991 and ended in 1993, so it only lasted two seasons before being cancelled.                                          

    

4.  It was supposed to be a three hour tour, but instead it lasted three TV seasons (1964-1967).  Yep, it’s the “Gilligan’s Island” theme.  Every week, the theme gave the viewer the entire plot of the series.  Even though it seems like the show has never been off television (and that may well be true), they only filmed 99 episodes.  These days, you need at least 100 episodes to survive in syndication.  “Gilligan’s Island” made # 8 on Fox News list of unforgettable TV themes.  During the show’s first season, the theme only mentions “Gilligan, The Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife.  The movie star…and the rest.  Here on Gilligan’s Isle”.  For the final two seasons, “The Professor and Mary Ann” replaced “and the rest”.                          

5.  OK, let’s give the answers in the order the questions were asked.  The TV series was “Friends”.  The theme song was titled “I’ll Be There For You (Theme From “Friends”)”.  The Rembrandts sang the TV theme and the full length hit song, which climbed to # 17.

“Friends” is another show that has done well in syndication.  Local TV stations (or networks) buy the rights to air these shows and usually air them daily.  The original “Friends” series aired from 1994 until 2004 and made all six cast members multi-millionaires.