d) Love Me Tender
e) Return to Sender
Points: 2
3. The day in February 1959 when Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash was dubbed “The Day the _____ _____” by Don McLean in his eight-and-a-half minute 1971 hit “American Pie.” (The radio single was cut in half.)
Points: 1
4. Name the movie from which the following quote comes and the character who said it.
After a high-energy performance of “Johnny B. Goode” at a mid-1950s high school dance:
“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”
Movie: ______________________________________________________
Character: ___________________________________________________
Points: 1 for each correct answer
5. The capital of the Caribbean island of Jamaica was the inspiration for which successful pop/folk trio, who hit it big with their versions of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Tom Dooley”?
Points: 2
6. Johnny Cash’s song “Five Feet High and Rising” refers to what memory from his childhood?
a) working in the family cotton fields
b) the Arkansas floods
c) the lifelong dreams Johnny had of witnessing his older brother Jack (killed in a horrific mill accident) ascend to heaven
d) neighborhood bonfires
e) growing up with the Christian faith
Points: 2
7. At a mid-50s performance at the Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem, the sensationalist performer of “I Put A Spell on You” fame was supposed to spring out of a coffin but got locked inside. Who was he?
Points: 3
8. True or false?
Elvis had a fraternal twin brother who died before birth.
Points: 2
9. The inspiration for the name of the 1980s New Wave group The Pretenders came from the song “The Great Pretender” by which soulful R&B group that hit it big in the 1950s?
a) The Four Aces
b) The Playmates
c) The Chantels
d) The Platters
e) The Teen Queens
Points: 2
10. Country cross-over star Patsy Cline wasn’t crazy about this song when it was presented to her, but her 1957 version soared up the pop charts, keeping people up late into the night to listen.
a) “Walkin’ After Midnight”
b) “In the Midnight Hour”
c) “Round Midnight”
d) “Lady Midnight”
e) “Midnight Confession”
Points: 2
1950s score ___/20
(41 questions)
Charles Dickens’ best of times and worst of times described late eighteenth-century Paris and London, but it could easily apply to the 1960s, a decade which promised so much (literally, the moon) but exacted an enormous toll at the same time as it delivered on those promises. The American President, John F. Kennedy, was shot in Dallas before he finished his first term. There was a giant leap for mankind, but the hope that springs eternal was dampened by the threat of a silent spring. Still, Martin Luther King had a dream and millions believed in it.
There were battle calls and sit-ins, marches, and rallying protest songs. There were mini skirts and screaming fans for the lads from Liverpool who started out wanting to hold your hand and ended up in times of trouble. Some teenagers kept right on twisting again like they had the summer before, asking Buttercup to build them up, others were lighting someone’s fire, telling people to get off of their cloud, or hoping the world would give peace a chance.
By the end of the decade, the war in the Pacific had expanded, The Beatles had broken up, Dylan had gone electric, then country, and JFK, MLK, and RFK were all long gone. Two years later, Hendrix, Janis, and Morrison would be as well. Maybe you really needed more than love. Once the purple haze had cleared, those who’d been so eager to leave their comfortable homes and gather ’round some great unknown and powerful force, were probably more than willing to admit that the waters around them had grown.
1. It’s a restaurant on East 52nd street in Manhattan, a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, and a group from the 1960s who scored big with hits like “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Stay.” What is it?
a) The Four Seasons
b) The Ace of Cups
c) Cupid’s Inspiration
d) The Balloon Farm
e) Bull & the Matadors
Points: 1
2. What does “TCB” stand for in Aretha Franklin’s 1967 hit “Respect” (written and originally sung by Otis Redding)?
Points: 2
3. Diana Ross has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One is for her solo work and the other is for her participation in which Motown act that began as a sister group to The Primes?
a) The Temptations
b) The Marvelettes