*** music trivia ***

[Roy Tucker]

79. This 1978 hit song originated as a joke by Phil Everly after he had watched an old 1935 horror flick. Everly suggested the singer/songwriter adapt the movie title into a song and dance craze. The song was crafted in , literally, 15 minutes. None of the song's co-writers, including the singer, himself, took the song seriously. The spontaneous composition, which the singer referred to as "a dumb song for smart people," was chosen to be the first single off his third album release, much to the surprise of the singer, who was perplexed at his record label's logic for releasing "that piece of s##t."

Well, "that piece of s##t" became his signature song, an overnight sensation that peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jackson Browne actually performed the song live at some gigs over two years before its release in '78. Fleetwood Mac's John McVie and Mick Fleetwood played played bass and drums on the record . The song helped propel the album to #8 on the Billboard album chart, making it the singer's best-selling and most commercially successful album.

So, yeah, without Phil Everly, you would have never heard this song. Ah-hoo!!!


Can you name the song and singer?

I know this one too. Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon.

He was my hero at that time. Got my hair cut like him and had glasses like him and drank too much like and everything. Turned my Marantz amp and JBL speakers waaay up on this song.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

I know this one too. Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon.

He was my hero at that time. Got my hair cut like him and had glasses like him and drank too much like and everything. Turned my Marantz amp and JBL speakers waaay up on this song.

I was introduced to Zevon's music in college by a friend who loved him. He let me borrow his Excitable Boy album and I never returned it. Wore that sucker out! What a fantastic album! To show you how good I think that album is, "Werewolves" is not even in my top five favorite songs on the album.


Tenderness on the Block, Lawyers Guns & Money, Accidently Like a Martyr, Excitable Boy, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner..... My God, what a record!


Oh, and I forgot "Johnny Strikes Up the Band," another good one.

[dfs]

80. According to this song's author, who wrote the song in his early 20's : "My eye trouble was the initial inspiration for the song's lyrics. But as I wrote them, the eye issue became a metaphor for lost innocence and for having seen too much."

The hit song is a melancholic folk-rock song about emotional exhaustion. The lyrics serve as a metaphor for losing innocence and becoming jaded after witnessing too much of the world's pain(my God, I feel that more than ever).

The song was co-produced with Glenn Frey, and featured David Crosby and Graham Nash on backing vocals. The upbeat tempo was designed to contrast with the dark, reflective lyrics. The singer/songwriter's record label originally was hesitant about the song, finding it too depressing. The record-buying public didn't agree. It reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.

Can you name the song and writer?

Jackson Browne's "Dr. My Eyes"

No idea on 77. Spill!

[Ky Fried Redleg]

77. What song(non-instrumental) is widely considered to have the fewest unique words(only six) in the lyrics of any song to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It hit #1 just 38 days after the Reds defeated the Red Sox in the World Series.

Can you name the song and the group who recorded it?

[redsfan9988]

Not trivia but here’s one of my favorites. It’s a prog rock band ostensibly tying to play popular music - but writing an anti-imperialist ballad with a 5 minute symphonic intro.

Me and like 12 people love this song - and I think that’s kind of the point.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

Not trivia but here’s one of my favorites. It’s a prog rock band ostensibly tying to play popular music - but writing an anti-imperialist ballad with a 5 minute symphonic intro.

Me and like 12 people love this song - and I think that’s kind of the point.

I saw KANSAS perform it live in my hometown. I like progressive rock and I like KANSAS. Put on some Dark Side of the Moon(PF) and some Leftoverture(KANSAS) and I'm set for the night!!!

[Ky Fried Redleg]

81. This song came about as a result of a $500 bet between the songwriter and his drug dealer. The singer/songwriter was at the Maui home of his low level drug dealer who was getting ready to drive him to the airport. They had to leave for the airport in just a matter of minutes so that the singer could get back to LA and then head out on tour. The driver/dealer bet the singer that he couldn't write a song in the few minutes before he had to go.

The singer won the bet. The song was written in about 20 minutes and became one of just two top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits for the singer/songwriter's group. This song entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #86 in the spring of '77 ; thirteen weeks later it would peak at #7 {for 2 weeks} and it stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. It became the group's highest charting single. The songwriter said several years ago that he still has that $500 he won for writing this song.

I wonder if the drug dealer received a writing credit for essentially providing the song's title?


Can you name the song that was inspired by a $500 bet nearly 50 years ago between the song's writer and his weed dealer ?

[RichRed]

Total wild-a$$ guess here: Hold the Line by Toto?

[Ky Fried Redleg]

Total wild-a$$ guess here: Hold the Line by Toto?

Good guess, but no. "I love "Hold the Line", btw. Toto had some fine musicians.

Hint: The drug dealer said something to the effect of , "I bet you can't write a song before you go."

[pedro]

"Just a song before I go" by Graham Nash

[Ky Fried Redleg]

81. This song came about as a result of a $500 bet between the songwriter and his drug dealer. The singer/songwriter was at the Maui home of his low level drug dealer who was getting ready to drive him to the airport. They had to leave for the airport in just a matter of minutes so that the singer could get back to LA and then head out on tour. The driver/dealer bet the singer that he couldn't write a song in the few minutes before he had to go.

The singer won the bet. The song was written in about 20 minutes and became one of just two top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits for the singer/songwriter's group. This song entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #86 in the spring of '77 ; thirteen weeks later it would peak at #7 {for 2 weeks} and it stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. It became the group's highest charting single. The songwriter said several years ago that he still has that $500 he won for writing this song.

I wonder if the drug dealer received a writing credit for essentially providing the song's title?


Can you name the song that was inspired by a $500 bet nearly 50 years ago between the song's writer and his weed dealer ?

[Ky Fried Redleg]

82. The writers of this song first offered the song to Aretha Franklin , but Aretha originally turned it down, fearing that it would be disrespectful to her father, who was a famous Baptist minister. Aretha later recorded the song for an album, as did her older sister, Erma. But it was another soulful singer who made the song famous. She took it to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1969. It was her last top 10 hit until 1987 , when she collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys to have a #2 single.

More about the '69 hit. Rolling Stone ranked it the 77th best song of the last 25 years in 1987. The song was featured in a scene in the movie, Pulp Fiction. Tarantino said he likely wouldn't have shot the scene if he hadn't been able to use the song. Can you name it, along with the singer who made it a Top 10 hit?

[Roy Tucker]

82. The writers of this song first offered the song to Aretha Franklin , but Aretha originally turned it down, fearing that it would be disrespectful to her father, who was a famous Baptist minister. Aretha later recorded the song for an album, as did her older sister, Erma. But it was another soulful singer who made the song famous. She took it to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1969. It was her last top 10 hit until 1987 , when she collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys to have a #2 single.

More about the '69 hit. Rolling Stone ranked it the 77th best song of the last 25 years in 1987. The song was featured in a scene in the movie, Pulp Fiction. Tarantino said he likely wouldn't have shot the scene if he hadn't been able to use the song. Can you name it, along with the singer who made it a Top 10 hit?

From my era(s). Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield. She was a total babe.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

From my era(s). Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield. She was a total babe.

I'm a huge Dusty fan.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

83. This song is often considered a "one hit wonder" for the singer who recorded the song for his 1975 album. However, he wasn't even the singer on the song. You see, he had written the song a few years earlier but had never recorded it. When his 1975 album needed one more track he thought this song might fit the bill. Problem was, his gravelly voice, which worked well with bluesy rockers, just didn't work with this melodic, pop record. About his vocals on the song, he said, "that's not buttering my biscuit." So, what did he do? He turned to his backup singer, a relative unknown, who had gotten his start after moving from Georgia to California and singing with gospel artist and mentor, Gideon Daniels.

The backup singer delivered a performance for the ages that sent the single to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976 and skyrocketed his career to stardom. Three years later he joined another band that had reformed and became a hugely successful group in the 1980's. The song, which was certified gold in '76, remains a staple of 70's radio and a recognized classic rock ballad. The song is considered an "immortal, undeniable groove" of the era, and has been featured in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Boogie Nights. Still, to this day, many people think the other guy is actually singing the song.

Can you name this classic and the backup singer who sang lead on it and went on to stardom ?