1:17 p.m. - October 13, 2005
Child Of The 70's Quiz
Are you a child of the 70�s? By that, did you spend a significant part of your childhood between 1970 and 1979?
Are you a wanna-be child of the 70�s? By that, do you have a pseudo-nostalgic yearning for the culture of the 1970�s, for some strange ungodly reason? Have you listened to enough oldies radio and shows on VH-1 to actually be 35 to 40ish on the inside?
Are you someone who spent a good part of your teenage or adult life in the 70�s? That is, do you somehow recall all of the stuff that happened during that time, even though it�s just a blurry haze? (Well, except for Happy Days and the Mary Tyler Moore Show. But don�t ask me about Chico and the Man, or Get Christy Love, or Harry O, because I don�t recall much about them � well, except for the late Teresa Graves, yowza!)
Then, this quiz is for you.
I chose 20 (count �em) songs and threw some lines out for you. No, they are not obscure. All were big hits and well known back in those days. So, let�s see how much you forgot to remember to forget about that time, shall we?
Though I�m not offering prizes, doodads, tschotkes, knick-knacks, paddy-wacks, nor am I giving the dog a bone (not even ala AC/DC) � in the spirit of the quiz, please, no googling. If you google, I shall have the Lord Underworld of the Internet come and smite your hard drive.
Let�s begin. The answers are below.
1. Sha-la-la-la-la-la my lady
In the sun with your hair undone
Can you hear me now calling your name
From across the bay
2. There�s something about her hand holding mine
It�s a feeling that�s fine
And I�ve got say � hey!
3. So take a good look around
See what they�ve done
What they�ve done�they�ve done�they�ve done�
4. You � you talk about just every band
But the names you drop are second hand
I�ve heard it all before
5. If you ever get annoyed
Look at me, I�m self employed
I love to work at nothing all day.
6. Crystal ball on the table
Showing the future � the past
Same cat with them evil eyes
And I knew it was the spell she cast
7. Action � I got so much to give
I want to give it. I want to get some too.
8. There�s a ringing in your brain
Because you could have sworn
You thought you heard her say�
9. When the sun shines on the mountains
And the night is on the run
It�s a new day � it�s a new way
And I fly up to the sun
10. We get it on most every night
When that moon is big and bright
It�s supernatural delight
11. Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
12. Then there was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall
13. The soldier blues were trapped on a hillside
The battle raging all around
The sergeant cried we�ve got to hang on boys
We�ve got to hold this piece of ground
14. Now this drifter�s world goes round and round
And I doubt that it�s ever gonna stop
15. So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky
16. Said my get up and go must have got up and went
17. If never I met you
I�d never have seen you cry
If not for our first hello
We�d never have to say goodbye
18. Hey you with the pretty face
Welcome to the human race
19. About 45 miles southeast of Thibodeaux, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Well they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
20. But don�t hesitate
Because your love won�t wait
Bonus Question: Name the members of the Osmonds that recorded one of the hits listed above.
Answers:
1. �Thunder Island� � by Jay Ferguson. This hit #9 in the charts in 1978, and you�ll be singing the chorus in the shower for days.
2. �Love Grows� � by Edison Lighthouse. A purely studio band that had this one hit, a #5 smash in 1970. Trivia: the lead singer also sang lead on �My Baby Loves Love� by White Plains, another sugary pop song guaranteed to give you tooth decay, stat. And my sources also say he was a singer in The Brotherhood Of Man, which did �United We Stand�, �Beach Baby� by First Class and the Pipkins�s for �Gimme Dat Ding�, for which he should be drawn and quartered.
3. �Crazy Horses� � by The Osmonds. The notable thing about this is the insanely goofy synthesizer part that opens the song. This was #14 in 1972.
4. �Fox on the Run� � by Sweet. Oh, you couldn�t go anywhere in 1976 without this blasting on the radio, as this hit #5 on the charts and #1 in your hearts.
5. �Takin� Care of Business� � by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The favorite band for all you lovers of corpulent Canadians, BTO rode this single to #12 in 1974.
6. �Devil Woman� � by Cliff Richard. To Brits, he was their Elvis, but we here in the States yawned frequently at his work. We didn�t pay attention until this period sounding pop song hit #6 in 1976.
7. �I Love the Nightlife� � by Alicia Bridges. A disco queen, for sure. This was it for her, a #5 smash from 1978.
8. �Good Girls Don�t� � by the Knack. Could they be any more randy? None, none more randy? This follow up to the song EVERYONE knows hit #11.
9. �Una Paloma Blanca� � by the George Baker Selection. You know this song, which went to #26 in 1975, because it was playing in your dentist office all the time. (Also, because Slim Whitman covered it in one of his albums that were sold on TV commercials.)
10. �Dancing in the Moonlight� � by King Harvest. A true pop gem, this song hit #13 in 1973. I saw a photo of this band, they kind of looked like bikers, which was weird, but hey, it was the 70�s man. Far out.
11. �Smoke on the Water� � by Deep Purple. Everyone knows this riff. Everyone can play this riff. This went all the way to #4 in 1973.
12. �The Night Chicago Died� � by Paper Lace. A #1 smash in 1974, they never did anything of consequence again, not that this song is consequential by any means.
13. �Billy, Don�t Be a Hero� � by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. Another #1 smash in 1974, they also faded pretty quickly. Trivia: this song was a smash hit in the U.K. by �Paper Lace! Weird, eh?
14. �Please Come to Boston� � by Dave Loggins. Gack! This #5 hit from 1974 started, and ended his career. Thank goodness. He is the second cousin of Kenny Loggins, so dreck does run in the family. (Did I say that out loud??? Heeee! Just takin� you right into the danger zone�)
15. �More Than a Feeling� � Boston. I think everyone in the planet between the ages of 35 and 55 know the first Boston record by heart. The riff of this 1976 #5 smash just stays in your head forever.
16. �Sweet Emotion� � Aerosmith. I think you all needed just that one line to get it, right? This hit just #36 in 1975, but FM radio played this thing to death.
17. �Hard Luck Woman� � Kiss. Ah, the dulcet tones of Peter Criss on vocals. Didn�t this sound just like a Rod Stewart song, really? This �ballad� (well, I guess it really is a ballad) hit #15 in 1977, ensuring that teenage girls would still call Dr. Love on occasion.
18. �Mr. Blue Sky� � Electric Light Orchestra. What a wonderful single. There are about a jillion things happening in this tune, which only hit #35 in 1978, but everyone knows it, I�m sure.
19. �Amos Moses� � Jerry Reed. Back in the 70�s, almost any kind of genre could be a top 40 hit. Even this cornpone campy country crud, which went to #8 in 1971 and allowed Mr. Reed to get his own TV show. I do not kid about these things.
20. �Baby, I Love Your Way� � Peter Frampton. Talk about right place, right time. Somehow, someway, his live record became a huge smash, and hardly anyone had really heard of him before. This hit #12 in 1976, while the original was on a 1974 record that edged onto the top 40 of the album chart.
Bonus: The Osmonds were: Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Donnie (of course). Jimmy and Marie don�t count � they weren�t part of �the group�.
Give yourself one point for each answer, and one point for each of the bonus you got right.
0-5 � You just wanted to humor me, and you didn�t really try. Either that or you were so fried in the 70�s all of your brain cells evaporated.
6-10 � You somehow survived that decade without remembering a lot of this stuff. Bully for you!
11-15 � You know more about the 70�s than you want to let on. It�s OK, go home and find your Pet Rock and bring it into the office tomorrow.
16-20 � You, like me, were roller skating every weekend and listening to WLS at the pool in the summer. (WLS � huge rock radio station in Chicago. 89 on your AM dial. Boogie Check every night with John �Records� Landecker. Boogie Check � Boogie Check � Ooooh! Aaaah! I�ll stop now�)
21-25 � You, like me, are in need of some serious mental treatment, either that or a big ol� memory purge from your brain!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the quiz! What you need to do now is to sit back, grab some music from the 90�s or the 00�s and purge these songs out of your brain. Otherwise, you�ll be singing �Hard Luck Woman� all night and your (choose one or more: significant other / friends / enemies / kids / cats / orangutans) will look at you like you is a crazy person. (Well, more so than they normally do.)
PS � I really, really wanted to put �Eres Tu� by Mocedades on here, but any snippet of those lyrics would have given it away. Now, I�m just going to leave you and that song will be stuck in your head! �Como una promesa, eres tu. Eres tu��
