I WANT TO SING YOU A LOVE SONG

Well, here it is Valentine’s Day, and for the first and possibly only time, we’re going to have a quiz for today ONLY.  Tomorrow, there’ll be a brand new quiz for you to ponder. But for today, all you need is love.  

Here’s the dillio.  All five questions are about # 1 songs with ‘love’ in the title from the 1970’s – that’s when there were more # 1 love songs on the chart than any other decade, although the 1990’s had a heckuva lot of # 1 love songs as well.       

      

So, have a LOVEly time with this quiz and really put your HEART into it.    

QUESTIONS

1.  The Supremes had several # 1 hits with the word ‘love’ in the title.  Their first, in 1964 was “Where Did Our Love Go”.  They followed that up with ”Baby Love” later that same year.  Then in ’65 came “Stop! In The Name of Love”.  In ’66, they topped the singles chart again with “You Can’t Hurry Love”.  “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” was # 1 in ’67.  The groups’ final # 1 ‘love’ song came in 1968 with “Stoned Love”.  Lead singer Diana Ross had her own share of solo ‘love’ songs after she left the group, including her duet with Lionel Richie in 1981, “Endless Love”, but we’re talking about the ‘70’s here, so what was the name of Diana Ross’ only # 1 ‘love’ hit from the 1970’s?  Was it a. Why Do Fools Fall in Love  b. Getting’ Ready For Love  c.  Love Hangover          d.  One Love In My Lifetime                            

      

2.  Think scary amusement park ride for your clue to this question.  In early 1976, the Ohio Players took their ‘love song’ to # 1 for one week.  After this hit, they never again had a # 1 hit.  No clues!  No hints!  Do you know the name of this song?               

                

3.  He was the youngest brother in this famous singing family.  By the time he had his first # 1 hit in 1977, his three older brothers had already had three # 1’s as well as over a dozen Top 40 hits.  Even though many people think they’re Australian, all four of these brothers were born in Manchester, England.  This youngest brother saw his first three chart hits go to # 1 and all of those were either written or co-written by one or all of his older brothers.  For several years, he regularly made the supermarket tabloids for his drug use and for dating actress Victoria Principal, who at the time was co-starring in the hit TV series “Dallas” as Pamela Ewing.  What’s the name of this ‘70’s singer and what was his 1978 ‘love’ song?            

                 

4.  This group was Motown Records first million selling performers.  They first charted in 1959, but that song, “Bad Girl” (actually released on the Chess label, barely made the Hot 100.  Their next release “Shop Around” on Motown’s Tamla label, zoomed up to      # 2 in 1961.  Throughout their career, The Miracles charted 46 songs with two of those making it to # 1.  What’s the name of this group and their 1976 # 1 ‘love’ hit?         

    

5.  The year was 1975 and legendary ‘60’s singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka was back on the record charts.  His 1960’s hits for RCA Victor Records included “Calendar Girl”, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and 1962’s # 1 smash, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”.  By 1975, he’d signed with Elton John’s Rocket records label and came back stronger than ever with two    # 1 hits that year – “Laughter In The Rain” for one week in February followed by “Bad Blood” (featuring Elton John) for three weeks in October of ‘75.  In between his own # 1’s, a husband and wife duo had recorded their own version of a ‘love’ song Neil had written and recorded on his comeback album in ’74, “Sedaka Is Back” and that one ALSO went to # 1 for four weeks in June and July of ‘75.  There was lots of love for Neil that summer.  Can you name the married duo as well as their # 1 ‘love’ song.  C’mon now, keep it together (HINT ALERT).              

             

ANSWERS

1.  Diana Ross had four # 1 hits during the 1970’s, but her only # 1 ‘love’ song was c. “Love Hangover” which hung on to the # 1 spot for two weeks in the summer of 1976.  Her other three #1’s from that decade were:  “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1970), “Touch Me In The Morning” (1973) and “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” (1976).                             

2.  “Love Rollercoaster” was that Ohio Players # 1 hit in 1976.  Their only other # 1 was 1975’s “Fire”.  When this funky R&B based band first came together in Dayton, Ohio in 1959, they called themselves The Ohio Untouchables.  They first recorded as a backing band for the vocal group The Falcons, (featuring Wilson Pickett).  The Ohio Untouchables disbanded in 1963, but several of the original members re-formed as The Ohio Players and signed to Westbound Records in Detroit in 1971.  Over 20 people can claim membership in this ‘players’ club.  The Ohio Players album covers were famous for their ‘risque’ (for the times anyway) photos of naked (or provocatively dressed) women.                                                         

    

3.  In 1978, Andrew Roy Gibb, aka Andy Gibb topped the singles chart with “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water”, a song he co-wrote with older brother Barry.  Andy first arrived on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977 with the # 1 hit “I Just Want To Be Your Everything”.  “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” was his next # 1 the following year and his third and final    # 1 was 1978’s “Shadow Dancing”, which remained in the top spot for 7 weeks.  From 1981 to ’82, he hosted the TV series “Sold Gold”.  In 1981, his duet with then girlfriend Victoria Principal of the Everly Brothers song, “All I Have To Do Is Dream”, made it to # 51 on Billboards’ Hot 100.  Andy Gibb died on March 10, 1988 at the tender age of 30.                

    

4.  “I’m just a love machine, and I won’t work for nobody but you”.  That was The Miracles # 1 hit for the week of March 6, 1976 and happened several years after co-founding member Smokey Robinson had left the group.  “Love Machine” was written by The Miracles new lead singer, Billy Griffin and Pete Moore.  The groups’ only other  # 1 was in 1970 with “Tears Of A Clown”.   Back then, they were known as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.  They reverted to simply The Miracles in 1973.  “Love Machine” was the best selling single The Miracles ever had, with over 4.5 million copies sold.  It was also The Miracles final charted hit record.       

5.  Neil Sedaka wrote “Love Will Keep Us Together” and recorded it on his 1974 album, “Sedaka’s Back”.  A husband and wife duo known as The Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille) recorded their own version of the song the following year that went straight to the top of Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for 4 weeks.  The Captain & Tennille paid tribute to songwriter Sedaka by singing “Sedaka is back” near the end of their version of “Love Will Keep Us Together”.  The duo also recorded a Spanish language version of that song, “Por Amor Viviremos” (in fact, they re-recorded their entire debut album in Spanish) and that version climbed to # 49 on the Hot 100.  “Love Will Keep Us Together” was The Captain & Tennille’s first # 1.  Their only other chart topper was 1980’s “Do That To Me One More Time”.  It was recently announced that Daryl Dragon aka The Captain had developed Parkinson’s disease and that he and Toni Tennille would be divorcing.  They’d been married for 39 years.