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Quiz #5

Quiz #5
Answers, Results & Commentary

Since no one discovered the theme, there were lots of similar point totals. Congratulations to Kathy Kyrcia and Gabriella Ziegler for perfect scores of 500 points each, and to Wendy Feikert who trailed only 3 points behind with 497.

The most common error was giving Don Henley and Glenn Frey's band an extra "The" - they're simply "Eagles", as in their debut album, 1972's "Eagles", and the 1980 "Eagles Live". Please remember to give the ampersand-toting bands their ampersands, rather than the "and". It's "The Mamas & The Papas", and "Simon & Garfunkel", while other bands use the "Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes" or "Bill Haley And His Comets" designation.


Here are the correct titles and artists with year of release and highest charting position on the Billboard Hot 100:

01. Def Leppard - Animal (1987) <19>
02. Eagles - New Kid In town (1976) <1>
03. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man (1971) <48> (rereleased (1972) <51>)
04. English Congregation, The - Softly Whispering I Love You (1972) <29>
05. Estefan, Gloria - Reach (1996) <42>
06. Etheridge, Melissa - Nowhere To Go (1996) <40>
07. Everly Brothers, The - Problems (1958) <2>
08. Harrison, George - My Sweet Lord (1970) <1>
09. Head, Murray - One Night In Bangkok (1985) <3>
10. Holly, Buddy - Rave On (1958) <37>
11. Kool & The Gang - Hollywood Swinging (1974) <6>
12. Lobo - Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend (1972) <8>
13. Mamas & The Papas, The - I Saw Her Again (1966) <5>
14. Marmalade, The - Reflections Of My Life (1970) <10>
15. Nelson, Willie - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain (1975) <21>
16. O'Kaysions, The - Girl Watcher (1968) <5>
17. Orbison, Roy - Blue Angel (1960) <9>
18. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - If You Leave (1986) <4>
19. Orlons, The - Don't Hang Up (1962) <4>
20. Raitt, Bonnie - Not The Only One (1992) <34>
21. Roth, David Lee - Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody (1985) <12>
22. Simon & Garfunkel - Old Friends (1968) <-->
23. Temptations, The - Cloud Nine (1968) <6>
24. Three Dog Night - One (1969) <5>
25. Turner, Ike & Tina - Proud Mary (1971) <4>

THEME:

H1. Vogues, The - Turn Around, Look At Me (1968) <7>
H2. Who, The - Won't Get Fooled Again (1971) <15>

The theme proved much more difficult than I had expected, even with the two hints. The useful information in the hints were contained in the title of the first, "Turn Around Look At Me", and the lyrics of the second, "The parting on the left is now the parting on the right". If you had "turned the list around" and "looked at me" (the performers), or exchanged the "parting on the left" (the artists) for the "parting on the right" (the song titles) and followed the usual alphabetical rule (alphabetizing the songs, rather than the artists), you would have discovered the phrase "Dont Look More Heres The Theme" in the first letters of the artists' names.

TRIVIA:

"Softly Whispering I Love You" was a minor one-hit wonder record for the group "English Congregation" in 1972. If you'd like to hear it, go here - though I found it pretty painful. Paul Young recorded a much better version.

"Softly Whispering I Love You" was also recorded by Mike Curb Congregation, an American group. Mike Curb was Jerry Brown's lieutenant governor in California from 1979 - 1982.

Curb is an interesting character in music history. He was president of MGM Records from 1969-1973, and purged 18 acts from the label's roster in November of 1970, announcing that these artists "exploit and promote hard drugs through music". Noted drug-crazed performers who were included in the purge included Connie Francis and The Cowsills.

Mike Curb now makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, where the local Belmont University offers the The Mike Curb School of Music Business, featuring studies in industry-related marketing, management, product development, and recording technology.

Most of you know the story behind the plagiarism suit that resulted from George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". Harrison wrote the song in late 1969 and Apple Records released it in the United States in November of 1970, seven months after Paul McCartney had announced the dissolution of the Beatles. Billboard's December 26th Hot 100 listed "My Sweet Lord" as the number one song in the US, and it held at the top for four weeks, the first solo chart-topper by a former Beatle. (Paul was next, with Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey almost a year later.)

"He's So Fine" was written by young songwriter Ronnie Mack, and recorded by four friends from a New York City high school. The four named themselves "The Chiffons", and "He's So Fine", their debut, was #1 for most of the month of April in 1963. By the way, that's "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"'s Tokens playing the instruments on "He's So Fine".

Mack died of Hodgkin's Disease soon after "He's So Fine" was released, and by 1971, rights for the song were owned by a publishing company named Bright Tunes Music Corp. On February 10th of that year, Bright Tunes filed suit against George Harrison, his American and English publishing companies, Apple Records and BMI, alleging that "My Sweet Lord" plagiarized the tune from "He's So Fine".

After 5 years of litigation, US District Court Judge Richard Owen ruled that Harrison had "inadvertently" and unconsciously plagiarized "He's So Fine", and ordered Harrison to pay damages of $587,000.

Here's some bizarre trivia about the case:

When the lawsuit began in 1971, Harrison was advised by Allen Klein, the former Beatles' manager, who was now Harrison's business guru. Originally, Klein negotiated with Bright Songs, offering $148,000 on behalf of Harrison, before the case went to trial. Later, unbeknownst to Harrison, Klein entered into secret negotiations with Bright Songs in an attempt to purchase the entire company. Why? Because by becoming the owner of Bright Songs' catalog, Klein would be in a position to sue George Harrison himself.

By the end of the trial, Bright Songs' rights had been sold to ABKCO (Allen B. Klein Co), but the judge ruled that Klein had violated his fiduciary duty to former-employer Harrison by providing Bright with privileged financial information about the song, and refused to allow Klein to profit from the $587,000 judgment. The judge did rule that Klein could sell the song rights back to Harrison for what Klein had paid to acquire the company.

Though he didn't claim otherwise, George was undoubtedly familiar with "He's So Fine". The Beatles' first-ever American concert was played at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 1964. Guess who else performed on that bill, singing their #1 hit from the year before? That's right, The Chiffons.

Listed below are the points for each player: