THEY SAID WHAT?

Rock and roll has been around since the 1950’s and eventually achieved legitimacy to the point that The Beatles success inspired an entire generation of kids to pick up a guitar, but that never stopped critics from trying to tear it down...or for that matter, for rock stars to become too full of themselves.  Our quiz this time is to see if you can tell who made a specific statement about music, or life, or rock and roll. 

Well ‘it’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go cat go...”

QUESTIONS

1.  Who said this:  “Rock and roll is sung, and written for the most part, by cretinous goons, and by means of its almost imbecilic reiterations and sly, lewd – in plain fact, dirty – lyrics, it manages to be the martial music of every sideburned delinquent”?

Was it a. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen  b. Richard Nixon  c. Frank Sinatra     

2.  What early Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee made the following statement: “I never considered myself part of rock’n’roll.  I didn’t believe that I was among the forerunners of the music and I’ve never given myself a lick of credit for either inventing it or having anything to do with its birth.”? Was it:  Chuck Berry  b. Ray Charles  c. Bill Haley        

3.  Which musical superstar who first hit the charts in the 1970’s as the lead singer of a British group, before successfully going solo a few years later said this: “When you’re as rich as I am, you don’t have to be political.”?  Was it: a. Sting (The Police)  b. Freddie Mercury (Queen) c. Rod Stewart (The Faces)   

4.  The following statement was made by a member of one of the most successful musical groups in history: “People have come to us and said, ‘Do you realize how much power you have now?  You could change the world with some of the things you say’.  And I say to them, ‘Leave me alone’.  Power is fleeting.  So is ego.  Politicians have no idea how to save the world, so why should pop stars?”  Is it: a. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones  b. Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees  c. Glenn Frey of The Eagles    

5.  Which Canadian born singer/songwriter made this statement: “If some people had their way, they’d just want me to weep and suffer for them for the rest of my life, because people live vicariously through their artists.”  Is it:  a. Sarah Mclachlan               b.  Diana Krall  c. Joni Mitchell      

ANSWERS

1.  That would be c. Frank Sinatra who, on July 2^nd, 1966, knocked The Beatles “Paperback Writer” from the # 1 spot on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart with his song “Strangers In The Night”.  Frank’s # 1 ride only lasted one week as The Beatles got their revenge and returned to the top of the singles charts the following week (July 9^th).  In April of 1967, Frank and daughter Nancy’s duet “Something Stupid” replaced The Turtles “Happy Together” at # 1.  That song hung onto the top spot for 4 consecutive weeks and was finally knocked off the week of May 13, 1967 by The Supremes “The Happening”.  So, start spreading the news, that was Frank’s last # 1.

 

2.  If you picked b. Ray Charles, you would be correct.  Throughout his career, Ray sang everything, rock’n’roll, blues, R&B and country.  He charted 77 songs on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart and just as many of their R&B chart.  Ray had three # 1 hits, “Georgia On My Mind” in 1960, ‘61’s “Hit The Road Jack” and 1962’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You”.  Ray Charles was one of the first inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its inaugural year, 1986.  In April of 1979, Ray’s version of “Georgia On My Mind” was proclaimed the official state song by the Georgia legislature.  Ray Charles passed away on June 10, 2004 at the age of 73.     

3.  a. Sting said it.  Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, was the lead singer of The Police, with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.  The Police first hit the North American singles chart in 1979 with “Roxanne”.  Their only # 1 was 1983’s “Every Breath You Take”.  Stings’ first solo hit came in 1985 with “If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free” which climbed to # 3.  Stings’ only solo # 1 was “All For Love” (from the motion picture “The Three Musketeers”) in 1994, which was a collaboration with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams.    

         

4.  The correct answer is b. Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.  The brothers Gibb have sold more than 200 million albums during their career and had three straight # 1 albums in a row starting with the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever” in 1978, which was the # 1 album for 24 weeks.  That was followed by “Spirits Having Flown” in ’79, then in 1980 with “Bee Gees Greatest”.  They also charted nine # 1 hit singles, starting with “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” in 1971 and ending with “Love You Inside And Out” in ’79.  The Bee Gees entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.  Barry Gibb is the last remaining Gibb brother.  Andy died in March 1988 (he was only 30), Maurice died in January 2003 at the age of 53 and Robin passed away at age 62 in May 2012.            

5.  It was c. Joni Mitchell who made that statement.  Mitchell was born in Alberta and raised in Saskatchewan.  She was writing poetry in school and started out as a folk singer, playing clubs in Western Canada and then Toronto before moving to Los Angeles where she was signed by Reprise Records (the same label as Neil Young, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin).  At Reprise, Joni recorded such influential albums as “Clouds”, “Ladies of the Canyon” and “Blue”.  “Joni later moved over to Asylum Records where her success grew with albums such as “Court And Spark”, “Miles of Aisles” and “The Hissing of Summer Lawns”.  Joni was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1981 and although she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, she did not attend the ceremony.  Joni received a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the Grammy Awards in 2002 for being “one of the most important female recording artists of the rock era.”