224 Fun Facts About 60s Music

On 9 February 1964 the Beatles made their first live US television appearance on which program?

The Ed Sullivan Show drew a record 73 million viewers that night; Sullivan had grown keen to book the group after seeing fans mob London's airport for their return from Sweden.

During the Beatles' 1964 US television debut, which member's caption read 'Sorry girls, he's married'?

John Lennon had married Cynthia Powell in 1962, and manager Brian Epstein had asked the couple to keep it secret so that the group's female fans would not feel shut out.

Which song became the Beatles' first US number one, in February 1964?

'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was planned for a mid-January 1964 release, but radio play forced Capitol to rush it out on 26 December 1963; it topped the Hot 100 on 1 February 1964.

What was the Beatles' first hit single, released in late 1962 after they signed with EMI?

Love Me Do: producer George Martin brought in session drummer Andy White for a remake and handed newcomer Ringo Starr a tambourine, yet the first pressing used Ringo's take.

The Beatles played their last ticketed concert in August 1966 at which San Francisco venue?

Candlestick Park: knowing it would be the last, Paul McCartney asked press officer Tony Barrow to tape the show, and the cassette ran out during the final song.

Which pop artist designed the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album cover with Jann Haworth?

Peter Blake staged it as the crowd at a park concert and asked each Beatle whom to invite; one member's most provocative requests were left off.

Which Beatles ballad had the working title 'Scrambled Eggs' until Paul McCartney wrote its lyrics?

Yesterday arrived, McCartney said, in a dream, and he played it to friends for weeks in case he had copied someone else's tune; the egg lyric was only a placeholder.

Which Beatles single did Paul McCartney begin writing to comfort a bandmate's son during his parents' split?

Hey Jude started as 'Hey Jules', sung in the car as McCartney drove out to visit five-year-old Julian and his mother; he later swapped in the name Jude.

The Beatles gave their last public performance in 1969 from which building's roof?

The unannounced lunchtime set on the roof of Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row was cut short by police after complaints about the noise.

Which album was the last the Beatles recorded, even though Let It Be came out later?

Abbey Road was nearly called Everest, after engineer Geoff Emerick's cigarettes, until the four balked at a Himalayan photo shoot and settled for the street outside the studio.

Brian Jones named his new band after 'Rollin' Stone', a track on an LP by which bluesman?

Muddy Waters's LP was lying on the floor when Jazz News asked Brian Jones on the phone for his band's name before its first gig in 1962; he read 'Rollin' Stone' off the track list.

Which 1965 single gave the Rolling Stones their first US number one?

'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in July 1965; Keith Richards said the fuzz-tone riff came to him in his sleep and he found it on his cassette recorder in the morning.

Which 1964 single was the Kinks' breakthrough, topping the UK chart?

'You Really Got Me' got its distorted growl when the group's 17-year-old guitarist slashed the speaker cone of his amplifier with a razor blade.

Roger Daltrey's vocal on the Who's 'My Generation' (1965) is famous for what distinctive delivery?

An angry stutter: one story has the group's manager telling Daltrey to sound like a mod on pills, and the BBC at first refused to play the record for fear of offending people who stutter.

Which guitarist joined Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce in the 1966 supergroup Cream?

Eric Clapton's trio was named for its members' 'cream of the crop' reputations, but internal friction broke it up in 1968 after little more than two years.

Led Zeppelin grew out of which band, whose 1968 split left Jimmy Page its name and tour dates?

The Yardbirds played their last gig in July 1968 with Scandinavian dates still booked, so Page built a new group to honour them and toured as the New Yardbirds before renaming it.

Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 in which US city?

Detroit: Gordy had quit a Lincoln-Mercury assembly line there to write songs, and he launched the label with an $800 loan from his family.

Motown's founder launched his record company in January 1959 under which label name?

Tamla was a second choice: Gordy wanted to call the label Tammy, after Debbie Reynolds's hit, but the name was already taken, so he altered it.

Who wrote the Supremes' first ten US chart-toppers?

Holland–Dozier–Holland then left Motown in a dispute over royalties; 'Love Child' in 1968 was the group's first chart-topper without them.

Which live single made Little Stevie Wonder a chart-topper at 13?

Fingertips caught the musicians out: Wonder ran back for an unplanned encore as the next act's players were taking over, and a bassist can be heard shouting 'What key?'

Which act released the first version of 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine', in 1967?

Gladys Knight & the Pips cut it as a gospel-style rocker and reached number two; the Miracles had recorded the song first, but Motown left their version in the vault.

The 1968 chart-topper 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' opens which 1983 film with a Motown-heavy soundtrack?

The Big Chill plays it as old friends learn of a death; Motown's boss had thought the recording no hit and sat on it for over a year, until radio DJs began airing the album track.

The Temptations' October 1968 hit 'Cloud Nine', produced by Norman Whitfield, pioneered which style?

Psychedelic soul reached Motown after the Temptations' Otis Williams urged Whitfield to try the Sly and the Family Stone sound; he called it a passing fancy, then delivered 'Cloud Nine' weeks later.

Aretha Franklin's 1967 'Respect' was a rearranged cover of a 1965 song by whom?

Otis Redding wrote and recorded 'Respect' in 1965; Franklin's version flipped its plea into a demand and added the 'sock it to me' lines she worked up with her sister.

The first posthumous US number one, '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay', famously fades out with what?

Whistling takes the record out over the waves and gulls that guitarist Steve Cropper dubbed in when he finished the mix, after the singer's plane went down in December 1967.

Aretha Franklin's run of late-1960s soul hits began after she signed with which record label?

Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler took her straight to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to cut 'I Never Loved a Man', her first big hit after six frustrating years at Columbia.

James Brown's televised Boston concert in April 1968 was staged to keep the peace after which event?

Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination the day before had set off riots in other cities; officials wanted the show called off, but it was broadcast live instead and Boston stayed largely quiet as people watched at home.

Which soul singer, shot dead in a Los Angeles motel in 1964, wrote 'A Change Is Gonna Come'?

Sam Cooke wrote it after hearing Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' and after he and his party were refused rooms at a whites-only motel in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1963, then arrested for disturbing the peace.

The Jackson 5 formed in the mid-1960s in which Indiana city?

Gary was a steel town where father Joe Jackson worked as a crane operator; he drilled his sons for hours after school until the group won a Motown contract.

At Newport in 1965, some folk fans booed Bob Dylan for doing what?

Playing an electric set with a backing band lasted only three songs and about a quarter of an hour; Dylan then came back alone with an acoustic guitar for two more.

Al Kooper bluffed his way onto the organ for which Bob Dylan single?

Like a Rolling Stone was a session Kooper was only invited to watch; he talked his way onto the Hammond, an instrument he barely knew, and Dylan had his part turned up in the mix.

Bob Dylan was born in 1941 under which name?

Robert Allen Zimmerman performed for a time as Elston Gunn before settling on Dylan, the surname he made legal in August 1962.

Bob Dylan quit touring for almost eight years after crashing his what in 1966?

Motorcycle: the spill near his Woodstock home took him out of public view, and he toured again only in 1974, backed by the Band, the group from his last tour in 1966.

The Byrds' April 1965 debut single, released just after Dylan's own version, was which song?

'Mr. Tambourine Man' went to number one, though Roger McGuinn was the only Byrd trusted to play on it; session musicians handled every other instrument.

Fragments of the song 'Mrs. Robinson' first appeared in which 1967 film?

The Graduate's director Mike Nichols wanted a new song, and its writer had only a sketch about a 'Mrs. Roosevelt'; he swapped in the name of the film's character and finished it later.

Which duo first charted in 1957 as teenagers billed as Tom & Jerry?

Simon & Garfunkel were still at high school in Queens when 'Hey, Schoolgirl' won them a spot on American Bandstand, going on right after Jerry Lee Lewis.

Which couple wrote 'California Dreamin'' during a cold New York winter?

John and Michelle Phillips first sang it as backing singers on a recording by their friend Barry McGuire, who had helped their group win its record deal.

Pet Sounds, the 1966 album that helped inspire the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, was recorded by which band?

The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson had quit touring to concentrate on writing and producing, and a stand-in took his place on stage while he built the album.

The eerie sliding tone on 'Good Vibrations' (1966) came from which instrument?

The Electro-Theremin was devised by trombonist Paul Tanner to mimic the theremin, an instrument played without touching it and very hard to control; his version had no antennas.

'Surfin' U.S.A.' (1963) reused the melody of which Chuck Berry song?

'Sweet Little Sixteen' was Berry's 1958 hit; Brian Wilson set surf-spot lyrics to its tune without asking, and after Berry's side objected he was given the royalties and the writing credit.

The 1969 Woodstock festival was held on whose dairy farm in Bethel, New York?

Max Yasgur leased the organisers a field after the town of Wallkill shut the festival out weeks before it was due to open; it ran from 15 to 18 August 1969.

Jimi Hendrix's set that closed Woodstock featured a howling solo guitar version of which song?

The Star-Spangled Banner came after rain had pushed his festival-closing set to Monday morning, when most of the crowd had gone; he bent the tune into the sound of rockets and bombs.

Janis Joplin rose to fame at Monterey in 1967 as lead singer of which San Francisco band?

Big Brother and the Holding Company won a Columbia contract on the strength of that weekend, when Joplin's 'Ball and Chain' brought the crowd to its feet.

Which Bay Area band played bars in 1965 as the Warlocks before picking a new name from a dictionary?

The Grateful Dead needed a new name after learning that another band called the Warlocks had already put out a record; Jerry Garcia found the phrase in a dictionary.

'Somebody to Love' and 'White Rabbit' come from which 1967 Jefferson Airplane album?

Surrealistic Pillow was the group's first album with Grace Slick, who brought both songs with her from her previous group; they became its only top-ten singles.

The Doors took their name from The Doors of Perception, a book by which English writer?

Aldous Huxley's 1954 book describes his experience of the drug mescaline and borrows its title from a line by the poet William Blake.

Although credited to the whole band, 'Light My Fire' was written mainly by which member of the Doors?

Robby Krieger, told by Morrison to write something universal, chose fire from the four elements; Morrison then added the second verse and Manzarek the organ introduction.

Which pop artist managed the Velvet Underground and put a banana on their debut album cover?

Andy Warhol's banana was a sticker on early copies, printed with an invitation to peel slowly and see the fruit beneath; he also pressed the German singer Nico on the group.

The Rolling Stones' 1969 Altamont concert is remembered for using which group as security?

Hells Angels were stationed around the stage as security at the Altamont Speedway show in December 1969, and one of them stabbed concertgoer Meredith Hunter to death as the Stones played.

Which dance record topped the Hot 100 in 1960 and in 1962, after adults took up the craze?

The Twist began as a Hank Ballard B-side; Chubby Checker's cover returned to number one in January 1962 after celebrities were seen doing the dance in New York nightclubs.

Chubby Checker's stage name plays on which star's?

Fats Domino was one of the stars the teenage Ernest Evans loved to impersonate; he did the impression at a recording for Dick Clark, whose wife matched his nickname Chubby with Checker.

Which falsetto singer fronted the Four Seasons on 'Sherry' and 'Big Girls Don't Cry'?

Frankie Valli's group took its name from the Four Seasons, a New Jersey bowling alley whose lounge had just turned the singers down at an audition.

Who recorded 'Oh, Pretty Woman', a US and UK number one in the autumn of 1964?

Roy Orbison found the title when his wife Claudette said she was off to the shops and he asked if she had enough money; co-writer Bill Dees quipped that a pretty woman never needs any.

Which producer made the Ronettes' 1963 hit 'Be My Baby' at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood?

Phil Spector built his 'Wall of Sound' there with the session players later called the Wrecking Crew; Ronnie Spector is the only Ronette actually singing on the record.

Which duo spent three weeks at number one in August 1965 with 'I Got You Babe'?

Sonny & Cher's hit was written by Sonny late one night at home; he woke Cher to sing it, and she did not like it at first.

The Monkees' first single, released in August 1966 weeks before their TV show debuted, was which song?

'Last Train to Clarksville' hides a Vietnam song inside a pop hit: its writers had a drafted soldier asking his girl for one last visit, unsure if he is ever coming home.

The Kingsmen's 1963 recording of 'Louie Louie' triggered a lengthy FBI investigation into what?

Allegedly obscene lyrics were never found: after more than two years the Bureau concluded it could not make out any of the words on the record.

'Sugar, Sugar', Billboard's top single of 1969, was credited to which fictional cartoon band?

The Archies were Don Kirshner's answer to the Monkees, who had rebelled against him: cartoon characters, he reasoned, would be far easier to control than people.

Which one-hit-wonder duo spent six weeks at number one in 1969 with 'In the Year 2525'?

Zager and Evans sat on it for years: Evans wrote it in 1964, the duo first put it out on a small label, and regional radio play made it a hit before RCA picked it up.

The 5th Dimension's 1969 number one 'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In' came from which musical?

Hair reached the group by accident: singer Billy Davis Jr. left his wallet in a New York cab, and the man who returned it, who worked on the show, invited them to see it.

Which Contours hit of 1962 charted again in 1988 after featuring in Dirty Dancing?

Do You Love Me was written for the Temptations, but Berry Gordy could not find them on the day and gave it to the Contours; the film reissue took it back to number 11.

Which English band topped the UK and US charts in 1964 with 'The House of the Rising Sun'?

The Animals nailed it in a single take; at four and a half minutes it was thought far too long for a single, but producer Mickie Most insisted on releasing it uncut.

Which group's 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' was the first song by a girl group to top the Hot 100?

The Shirelles' lead singer first dismissed it as too country; added strings won her over, and co-writer Carole King played the kettledrums on the session herself.

The Shangri-Las' 1964 number one 'Leader of the Pack' is a classic example of what genre?

A teenage tragedy song so big that a parody, 'Leader of the Laundromat', reached the US top twenty weeks later; British broadcasters refused to play the original.

Which Motown star co-wrote 'Dancing in the Street' for Martha and the Vandellas?

Marvin Gaye wrote it with Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter as a dance record, but its roll-call of American cities came to be heard as an anthem of the civil-rights era.

What was the first Motown song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Please Mr. Postman' began as a blues by a friend of Marvelette Georgia Dobbins; she rewrote all but the title for the group, then left before it was recorded.

Which 1960 Miracles hit was Motown's first million-selling record?

'Shop Around' was already on sale when Berry Gordy phoned the Miracles in the small hours to cut a faster version; the pianist never showed, so Gordy played the part himself.

Who wrote 'My Girl', the Temptations' first US number one?

Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of the Miracles wrote it to showcase David Ruffin, who had never sung lead on a Temptations single until Robinson heard his solo spot in their stage show.

Which Four Tops single topped both the US and UK charts in October 1966?

'Reach Out I'll Be There' was built to make Levi Stubbs strain: its writers set it at the very top of his range and had him half-shout the lines in the manner of Bob Dylan.

Which Motown singer topped the Hot 100 in 1964 with 'My Guy', then quit the label within a year?

Mary Wells was Motown's first female star and the first to walk away: with 'My Guy' her biggest hit, she left for a large advance from 20th Century Fox.

What was the first Supremes single to reach number one on the Hot 100?

'Where Did Our Love Go' ended a string of flops that had earned the group the office nickname the 'no-hit Supremes'; four more number ones followed in a row.

Which duo first made 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' a hit in 1967?

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell took it to number 19, yet they never sang it together: Terrell recorded her part alone and Gaye's voice was added to the tape later.

Which Wilson Pickett hit did he write with Steve Cropper at Memphis's Lorraine Motel?

In the Midnight Hour stalled in the studio until producer Jerry Wexler got up and danced the jerk, the teenage craze of the day, to show the players the delayed backbeat he wanted.

Who first recorded 'When a Man Loves a Woman' in 1966, taking it to number one?

Percy Sledge, a hospital orderly who sang at night, said he let two bandmates take the writing credit for giving him the chance to sing his heart out, a gift worth a fortune in royalties.

Which instrumental did 17-year-old Booker T. Jones's band jam while waiting for a singer?

Green Onions was a time-filler when a singer failed to turn up for a Stax session; it went out as a B-side until the single was re-pressed with the sides flipped.

Ben E. King co-wrote 'Stand by Me' with which famous songwriting duo?

Leiber and Stoller polished a song King had first offered to the Drifters, his old group, which turned it down; Stoller supplied the bass line that opens the record.

Which track from Ray Charles's 1960 album of songs about American places topped the Hot 100?

Georgia on My Mind was a 1930 Hoagy Carmichael tune; in 1979 the state made Charles's version its official song, and he sang it for the legislators at the ceremony.

Which 1961 Ray Charles number one did Percy Mayfield write?

Hit the Road Jack came from a writer whose own stage career faded after a crash left his face scarred; Raelette Margie Hendrix sings the woman showing Charles the door.

Which 1965 James Brown single is considered seminal in the emergence of funk?

'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag' was taped as a slower, far longer jam; Brown chopped off most of the intro and sped the tape up, raising its pitch, to get it onto pop radio.

On which 1963 album was 'Blowin' in the Wind' first released?

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan opens with it; Dylan said he took the melody from 'No More Auction Block', a spiritual sung by former slaves.

Which folk trio formed in New York City in 1961 and helped popularize early Bob Dylan songs?

Peter, Paul and Mary were put together by manager Albert Grossman, who also managed Dylan; their cover of 'Blowin' in the Wind' reached number two in 1963.

Johnny Cash revived his career in 1968 with a live album recorded inside which California prison?

Folsom had fascinated Cash since he saw a film about the prison while serving in the Air Force and wrote 'Folsom Prison Blues'; he taped two shows for the inmates in one day.

Which country singer died in a March 1963 plane crash alongside Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins?

Patsy Cline was flying home from a benefit concert in Kansas City for the family of a disc jockey killed in a car crash when the small plane came down near Camden, Tennessee.

Which Tammy Wynette hit did she write with producer Billy Sherrill?

Stand by Your Man was back in the news in 1992, when Hillary Clinton said she was not 'some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette'; Wynette spent decades defending the song.

Who wrote 'Wichita Lineman' for Glen Campbell in 1968?

Jimmy Webb got the idea driving through the Oklahoma panhandle, where he passed a lineman perched on a telephone pole, talking into a handset; the single reached number three on the Hot 100.

The Tornados' 1962 US number one 'Telstar' was named after what?

A communications satellite launched in July 1962 gave the tune its name; Joe Meek recorded it in a flat above a London leather shop, and it became the first US number one by a British group.

Which instrumental band had a 1960 hit with 'Walk, Don't Run', a tune by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith?

The Ventures took it to number two in 1960, then remade it in a surf style as 'Walk, Don't Run '64' and put the same tune back in the top ten.

Which surf guitarist's 1962 version of 'Misirlou', later the opening blast of Pulp Fiction, popularized the Eastern Mediterranean folk tune?

Dick Dale, whose father was Lebanese, remembered his uncle playing the tune on the oud; he sped it up into a surf instrumental, and Pulp Fiction later brought him new fame.

Which garage band topped the Hot 100 in October 1966 with '96 Tears'?

? and the Mysterians first issued it on the tiny Pa-Go-Go label; it became the most requested record on Flint radio, and Cameo picked it up for national release.

Which band's 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' ran for 17 minutes and filled a whole album side in 1968?

Iron Butterfly's title is said to be a slurred 'In the Garden of Eden', written down the way singer Doug Ingle mumbled it.

Pink Floyd's 1967 debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is the band's only album made under whose leadership?

Syd Barrett wrote most of the debut, but he grew erratic amid heavy LSD use; the band brought in David Gilmour and parted with Barrett in 1968.

'Sunshine of Your Love' appears on which 1967 Cream album?

Disraeli Gears got its name when a roadie, chatting about racing bikes, said 'Disraeli gears' instead of 'derailleur gears'; the band thought the slip too good to waste.

Which Jimi Hendrix song has a line famously misheard as 'kiss this guy'?

'Purple Haze' really says 'kiss the sky'; Hendrix knew about the mishearing and sometimes sang it the wrong way on stage, pointing at a bandmate.

Which bassist from Eric Burdon's band brought Jimi Hendrix to London as his manager?

Chas Chandler saw Hendrix at New York's Cafe Wha? and knew he had found the man to record 'Hey Joe', which became the Experience's first single.

'All Along the Watchtower', later made famous by Hendrix, comes from which 1967 Bob Dylan album?

John Wesley Harding carried Dylan's sparse original; he liked Hendrix's cover so much that he began performing the song that way himself, as a kind of tribute.

Ringo Starr joined the Beatles in August 1962, replacing which drummer?

Pete Best was fired by manager Brian Epstein at the other three's request; his fans turned on the band, chanting 'Pete forever, Ringo never!'

Who directed the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night?

Richard Lester suggested the title, by John Lennon's account, after an offhand Ringo Starr remark about a long day's work; Lennon then wrote the title song to match.

'Eleanor Rigby' was issued as a double A-side single with which song?

'Yellow Submarine' shared the single in August 1966. No Beatle plays an instrument on 'Eleanor Rigby': George Martin scored it for eight string players.

John Lennon set off US record burnings in 1966 by saying the Beatles were more popular than whom?

Jesus: the remark passed without fuss when London's Evening Standard printed it in March 1966, but uproar followed that July when US teen magazine Datebook reprinted it.

Which Lennon song was recorded in a Montreal hotel bed?

'Give Peace a Chance' was taped at John and Yoko's 'bed-in' for peace, with a roomful of visitors singing along; months later nearly half a million marchers sang it in Washington.

Where did Brian Epstein first see the Beatles play in 1961?

Epstein, who ran the NEMS record shop nearby, first saw them at a Cavern Club lunchtime session on 9 November 1961; he put them in suits and won them a Parlophone deal.

Which Beatles television film first aired on Boxing Day 1967?

Magical Mystery Tour had no real script: Paul McCartney sketched the plan as a circle on a sheet of paper, and the band filled it in as their coach trip went along.

In which Indian town did the Beatles study Transcendental Meditation in February 1968?

Rishikesh was home to the Maharishi's ashram; the Beatles wrote much of the White Album during their stay there.

Which actress was among the celebrity meditators with the Beatles at the Maharishi's ashram?

Mia Farrow came with her sister Prudence, who shut herself away meditating for days on end; John Lennon wrote 'Dear Prudence' to coax her back outside.

How did Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones die in July 1969?

Brian Jones drowned in his swimming pool on 3 July 1969, aged 27, less than a month after the band had fired him.

The Stones' free Hyde Park concert on 5 July 1969 was planned to introduce which new guitarist?

Mick Taylor, hired from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, made his debut; Brian Jones had died two days earlier, so Jagger opened by reading Shelley and releasing white butterflies.

Which instrument, played by Brian Jones, gives 'Paint It Black' its distinctive sound?

Sitar: Brian Jones's droning riff, with Bill Wyman pumping organ pedals underneath, transformed what began as a slower, conventional song into a galloping number one.

Which psychedelic Rolling Stones album of December 1967 came just before the single 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'?

Their Satanic Majesties Request was the Stones' psychedelic detour; the single that followed was named after Keith Richards's gardener, Jack Dyer, whose heavy boots woke Jagger one morning.

Which 1969 Rolling Stones hit was written on a Brazilian ranch?

'Honky Tonk Women' began as a country song, a version that survives as 'Country Honk' on Let It Bleed; for the single, producer Jimmy Miller set the tempo on a cowbell.

Which rock opera did the Who release in 1969, shaped by their guitarist's devotion to Indian mystic Meher Baba?

Tommy was nearly finished when critic Nik Cohn heard it and shrugged; knowing Cohn loved pinball, the band added 'Pinball Wizard' to win him over.

Which guitarist began smashing guitars after breaking one on a low ceiling?

Pete Townshend cracked his guitar on a low ceiling by accident, lost his temper and smashed it to pieces; the destruction became a fixture of the Who's shows.

Which 1967 Kinks single has lovers Terry and Julie meeting every Friday night?

'Waterloo Sunset' began life as 'Liverpool Sunset'; Ray Davies dropped the Liverpool theme after the Beatles released 'Penny Lane'.

Which Zombies keyboardist, who later led a band bearing his surname, wrote 'She's Not There'?

Rod Argent built the lyric from the title of a John Lee Hooker song, 'No One Told Me'; the single reached number two in the US in December 1964.

Which Zombies song from Odessey and Oracle became a surprise US hit in 1969 after the band had split?

'Time of the Season' peaked at number three in March 1969, long after the Zombies split; with no real band to tour, promoters sent out fake line-ups, one including two future members of ZZ Top.

Which 1967 hit had a 'making love' line cut for radio?

'Brown Eyed Girl' was Van Morrison's hit; he first called the song 'Brown Skinned Girl' and changed the title before its release.

Which Belfast band, fronted by a young Van Morrison, first released the garage-rock standard 'Gloria' in 1964?

Them first issued 'Gloria' as a B-side; it found its following among American garage bands, and the Shadows of Knight's 1966 cover reached the US top ten.

Which band's 1967 debut single was 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'?

Procol Harum's organist Matthew Fisher went to court nearly 40 years later and won a co-writing credit for his Bach-like organ line; Keith Reid wrote the words.

'Nights in White Satin' first appeared as the segment 'The Night' on which Moody Blues album?

Days of Future Passed carried it; the single first stalled at number 103 in the US, but reissued in 1972 the same recording climbed to number two.

Which 1967 single was the Bee Gees' first UK number one?

'Massachusetts', sung by Robin Gibb, was written on a visit to New York; the brothers had never been to the state and simply liked the sound of the word.

'Sunshine Superman' was the only single by which Scottish singer to top the Hot 100?

Donovan's 'Sunshine Superman' topped the Hot 100 in September 1966 with session man Jimmy Page on guitar, but a contract dispute held up its British release for months.

Which singer's 1967 hit 'San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)' was written to promote the Monterey Pop Festival?

Scott McKenzie sang it for an old bandmate from the Journeymen who wrote the song and was organising the festival; it reached number four in the US and number one in Britain.

'Summer in the City' was the only number one for which folk-rock band?

The Lovin' Spoonful built it on an idea by John Sebastian's teenage brother Mark, then dubbed in real car horns to bring the city street into the studio.

Which band scored its only US chart-topper with 'Happy Together' in 1967?

The Turtles took a song that writers Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon had seen rejected by many artists first.

'Crimson and Clover' was a 1969 number one for which group?

Tommy James and the Shondells topped the Hot 100 with it in February 1969; the rough mix was rushed out after a radio station taped and played James's preview, and Joan Jett later covered it.

Which Creedence Clearwater Revival single was the first of five to stall at US number two?

'Proud Mary' came together just after John Fogerty's military discharge came through; four more Creedence singles would also peak at number two on the Hot 100, a chart the band never topped.

Which Sly and the Family Stone song was the band's first Hot 100 number one, in early 1969?

'Everyday People' spent four weeks at number one from February 1969; Sly Stone wrote its plea for tolerance for a band that mixed black and white, male and female players.

Which two singles came from Crosby, Stills & Nash's 1969 debut album?

'Marrakesh Express' and 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' both made the US top 30; Graham Nash had first offered the former to the Hollies, who rejected it as not commercial enough.

Whose version of Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides, Now' reached the US singles chart first, in 1968?

Judy Collins's version reached number eight in late 1968 and won a Grammy; Mitchell's own followed on her 1969 album Clouds, and a Saul Bellow novel, Henderson the Rain King, inspired the song.

Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention debuted in 1966 with which album, often cited as an early concept album?

Freak Out!, released in June 1966, was one of rock's first double albums; producer Tom Wilson reportedly signed the band believing they were a white blues act.

Which 1960 Elvis Presley number one took its melody from the Italian standard 'O Sole Mio'?

'It's Now or Never' borrows the tune of 'O Sole Mio'; Presley wanted his own version after hearing Tony Martin's 1949 English adaptation, 'There's No Tomorrow'.

What was Elvis Presley's final Hot 100 number one, in 1969?

'Suspicious Minds' had flopped for its writer, Mark James, a year earlier; Presley cut it in Memphis with producer Chips Moman and took it to number one.

Which singer topped the Hot 100 in 1961 with 'Runaway'?

Del Shannon, born Charles Westover, wrote it with keyboardist Max Crook, whose eerie solo on an electric keyboard called the Musitron became the record's hook.

Which 1961 number one by the Tokens grew out of the Zulu song 'Mbube'?

'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' became a worldwide hit, yet Solomon Linda had sold his rights for ten shillings and died poor in 1962; his daughters later won a settlement.

Dion's 1961 number one 'Runaround Sue' was recorded after he split from which group?

Dion split from the Belmonts in 1960; 'Runaround Sue' grew out of a party singalong with friends, and a new vocal group, the Del-Satins, backed him on the record.

Which 1960 number one was the Everly Brothers' first single for Warner Bros.?

'Cathy's Clown' had to deliver: Warner Bros. had signed the brothers for a reported million dollars, and their first single for the label duly topped the US and UK charts.

Which singer had a 1960 number one with 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool'?

Connie Francis's label meant it as a B-side, but US radio preferred it to 'Jealous of You' and made it her first number one; she then cut a hit German-language version.

Which sideman in the Dave Brubeck Quartet wrote the group's 1961 hit 'Take Five'?

Paul Desmond, the quartet's alto saxophonist, wrote it after drummer Joe Morello, who loved soloing in 5/4 time, kept asking for a tune in that metre.

Whose vocal debut features on Stan Getz's hit recording of 'The Girl from Ipanema'?

Astrud Gilberto, João's wife, had never sung professionally when she added the English verse; the single went on to win the Grammy for Record of the Year.

Which Louis Armstrong single ended the Beatles' 14-week run at number one in 1964?

'Hello, Dolly!' made the 62-year-old Armstrong the oldest artist yet to top the US chart; its composer later paid a settlement over the tune's likeness to a 1948 song he said he had never heard.

Which father-and-daughter duet topped both the Hot 100 and the UK chart in 1967?

'Somethin' Stupid' was written as a lovers' duet and first recorded by Carson Parks with Gaile Foote; Frank and Nancy Sinatra made it the first father-daughter duet to top the Hot 100.

Who wrote Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin''?

Lee Hazlewood wrote it for himself as a jokey party song; Nancy Sinatra talked him out of recording it, arguing that the lyric sounded harsh coming from a man.

Bobbie Gentry's 1967 chart-topper 'Ode to Billie Joe' concerns a suicide off a bridge in which state?

Mississippi: the song never reveals what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and Gentry said its real subject was the family's casual indifference to the suicide.

Jeannie C. Riley's 'Harper Valley PTA' (1968) was written by which country songwriter?

Tom T. Hall said its tale of a mother facing down small-town hypocrites was based on a true story; the song went on to inspire a 1978 film and a TV series, both starring Barbara Eden.

Which patriotic song by Barry Sadler spent five weeks at number one in 1966?

'The Ballad of the Green Berets' came from a real Green Beret medic: Sadler recorded it months after a punji-stick wound in Vietnam put him in hospital.

Which singer's 'To Sir with Love' was Billboard's number one US single of 1967?

Lulu's American chart-topper was never an A-side at home: in Britain it was tucked away on the B-side of 'Let's Pretend'.

Which 1965 Tom Jones hit was first offered to Sandie Shaw?

'It's Not Unusual' was written for Sandie Shaw; Jones, then unknown, sang the demo, and when she heard it she said the singer should release it himself.

The Singing Nun's 1963 US number one honours which saint?

Saint Dominic founded the Dominican order, to which the Belgian Singing Nun belonged; her song about him, sung in French, topped the Hot 100 in December 1963.

Which Japanese singer topped the Hot 100 in 1963 with 'Sukiyaki'?

Kyu Sakamoto's song is really called 'Ue o Muite Arukō' ('I Look Up as I Walk'); a British record boss renamed it after a Japanese beef dish that the lyrics never mention.

Which British band took 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' to number one in the US and UK in 1964?

Manfred Mann turned a near miss into a transatlantic number one: the Exciters had recorded the song first, as 'Do-Wah-Diddy', in 1963 without much success.

Which short-lived 1969 supergroup teamed Steve Winwood with Ginger Baker and Ric Grech for a single album?

Blind Faith debuted before some 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park and topped the UK and US charts with its only album, yet split after a single summer tour.

Which 1969 film cemented Steppenwolf's 'Born to Be Wild' as a biker anthem?

Easy Rider's makers dropped the song in as a placeholder, since Peter Fonda wanted Crosby, Stills & Nash to write the score; it suited the opening ride too well to remove.

Which 1968 debut album is named after a house near Woodstock?

Music from Big Pink is named after the pink-sided house in West Saugerties that members of the Band rented; they wrote songs there and used it as a makeshift studio.

Which 1969 Bob Dylan album unveiled a smooth croon he put down to quitting smoking?

Nashville Skyline's hit 'Lay Lady Lay' is usually said to have been written for the film Midnight Cowboy and finished too late, though Dylan once said he wrote it for Barbra Streisand.

Who wrote the Monkees' 1966 hit 'I'm a Believer'?

Neil Diamond wrote it; the Monkees held number one with it for seven weeks, and Smash Mouth's cover for Shrek made it a hit again in 2001.

Which 1969 hit became the Boston Red Sox's eighth-inning singalong?

'Sweet Caroline' borrowed its name from Caroline Kennedy, but its writer later said the song was really about his wife Marcia, whose two-syllable name did not fit the tune.

Which Stax songwriting team wrote Sam & Dave's 'Soul Man'?

Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Stax's house writers, wrote it; Hayes took the idea from TV coverage of the 1967 riots, where 'soul' was painted on Black-owned businesses to spare them.

For which singer did Burt Bacharach and Hal David write 'Walk On By' in 1963?

Dionne Warwick took it to number six in 1964; five years later a soul singer stretched the three-minute single into a 12-minute epic on the album Hot Buttered Soul.

'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head' was written for which 1969 film?

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid plays it over Paul Newman's bicycle stunts; B. J. Thomas sang the film take while getting over laryngitis, which gave it a husky edge.

Which teenage singer's gruff vocal fronted the Box Tops' 1967 number one 'The Letter'?

Alex Chilton was 16 when he growled the vocal; producer Dan Penn then dubbed the sound of a jet taking off onto the fade, a touch the song's own writer disliked.

Which psychedelic band hit number one in November 1967 with 'Incense and Peppermints'?

Strawberry Alarm Clock, from Los Angeles, topped the Hot 100 for a week in November 1967 with a lead vocal by Greg Munford, a friend who was not a band member; the song later turned up in Austin Powers.

Before Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick performed with which San Francisco band?

Slick fronted the Great Society, formed in 1965 with her husband Jerry and brother-in-law Darby Slick; she brought 'White Rabbit' and 'Somebody to Love' with her to the Airplane.

Which 1968 Janis Joplin hit was first recorded by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma?

'Piece of My Heart' was an R&B hit for Erma Franklin first; she said that when Joplin's raw rock version came on the radio, she barely recognised the song.

Which underground cartoonist drew the comic-strip cover of Cheap Thrills, the 1968 album fronted by Janis Joplin?

Robert Crumb drew the panels for the back of the sleeve; Joplin, a fan of his comics, insisted the label move them to the front.

Which folk singer opened the Woodstock festival in August 1969?

Richie Havens went on first because other acts were stuck in traffic; kept on stage until he ran out of songs, he improvised 'Freedom' on the spot.

Which 1970 documentary captured Meredith Hunter's fatal stabbing at Altamont?

Gimme Shelter's cameras caught the stabbing itself; the 18-year-old Hunter had drawn a revolver, and the man charged with his murder was acquitted on grounds of self-defence.

Who taught George Harrison and went on to play both the Monterey Pop and Woodstock festivals?

Ravi Shankar disliked Woodstock, said it hurt him to see his music linked with drugs, and soon distanced himself from the hippie movement.

Which band's 1969 debut album features 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'?

The Stooges made their debut with producer John Cale, who also hammers out the single piano note that repeats all through 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'.

Which 1969 single was rush-released five days before Apollo 11 lifted off?

'Space Oddity' was David Bowie's response to Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey; the BBC played it over its Moon landing coverage, though the song leaves its astronaut stranded in space.

Which children's author and cartoonist wrote Johnny Cash's 1969 hit 'A Boy Named Sue'?

Shel Silverstein wrote it; Cash had barely learned the song when he tried it at San Quentin prison, reading the words off a lyric sheet, and that live take became the hit.

Which Dusty Springfield album holds 'Son of a Preacher Man'?

Dusty in Memphis holds a song written with Aretha Franklin in mind, who passed on it; Springfield, anxious about singing where soul greats had recorded, finished her vocals in New York.

In which English city were Herman's Hermits, fronted by Peter Noone, formed in 1963?

Manchester's Herman's Hermits were bigger in America than at home: neither of their 1965 US number ones, including 'I'm Henry VIII, I Am', came out as a single in Britain.

Which 1964 Righteous Brothers hit was BMI's most-played song on US radio and TV of the 20th century?

'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' ran close to four minutes, long for 1964 radio, so its producer had a false time of 3:05 printed on the label to stop DJs rejecting it.

Which Dave Clark Five single knocked the Beatles off the top of the UK chart in January 1964?

Glad All Over, driven by a stomping beat, ended the Beatles' run at the top; Crystal Palace football fans later adopted it as their club anthem.

Which Liverpool group's 'How Do You Do It?' was first recorded and rejected by the Beatles?

George Martin had the Beatles record Mitch Murray's 'How Do You Do It?' in September 1962, but they pushed for their own song instead; Gerry and the Pacemakers took it to UK number one in April 1963.

Which Beatles song did John Lennon say was inspired by a nursery-school drawing by his son Julian?

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds later named a famous fossil: the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton found in 1974 was called Lucy because the song kept playing in the diggers' camp.

In the Who's 1969 rock opera Tommy, the title character, unable to see, hear or speak, becomes a champion at what?

Pinball got into Tommy to please a critic: Pete Townshend knew reviewer Nik Cohn loved the game, and Cohn, lukewarm on the rough album, then called it a masterpiece.

Which 1963 folk hit follows a boy named Jackie Paper and his immortal playmate in the land of Honalee?

Puff, the Magic Dragon began as a poem by Leonard Lipton, a 19-year-old Cornell student. The songwriter who set it to music later tracked Lipton down to share the credit.

In Johnny Cash's 1969 hit 'A Boy Named Sue', why does the father say he chose the name?

To make him tough, says the absent father once the two have drawn guns, and they make peace. Cash sang it from a lyric sheet at its first performance while his band improvised.

The Byrds' 1965 chart-topper 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' takes nearly all its lyrics from which biblical book?

Ecclesiastes gave Pete Seeger every word but the title refrain and the final two lines, so the Byrds' single is the US number one with the oldest lyrics.

Which Beatles song sketches the Liverpool district of a barber shop, a fireman and a busy bus roundabout?

Penny Lane was where John Lennon and Paul McCartney changed buses as schoolboys, and the barber was real: Bioletti's, the shop where both got their childhood haircuts.

In the Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil', the narrator claims a hand in killing which ruling dynasty?

The Romanovs, shot in 1918, share the song with the Crucifixion and the Second World War. Mick Jagger changed another line to cover both Kennedy assassinations after Robert F. Kennedy was shot in 1968.

Which Beatles song, banned by the BBC in 1967, built verses on newspaper articles John Lennon had read?

A Day in the Life stayed off BBC radio until 1972 because one line was heard as promoting drugs. Lennon drew on a report of the death of Guinness heir Tara Browne.

Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Fortunate Son' was written with which former president's grandson in mind?

Dwight D. Eisenhower's grandson David was also Richard Nixon's son-in-law, and to John Fogerty he stood for the privileged young men the Vietnam draft never seemed to touch.

Often taken for an anti-war anthem, Buffalo Springfield's 'For What It's Worth' was written about which event?

Sunset Strip curfew riots broke out in Hollywood in November 1966 after a 10 p.m. curfew was enforced on young clubgoers, and Stephen Stills wrote the song in response.

Which Lesley Gore number one of 1963 is sung by a girl whose boyfriend Johnny slips off with Judy?

It's My Party was rushed out by producer Quincy Jones after he learned a rival version had been cut with the Crystals, and it reached number one within four weeks.

Which Halloween novelty number one is narrated by a mad scientist whose creation rises from a slab to dance?

Monster Mash was banned by the BBC on release as too morbid. Its singer narrated it in an impression of horror star Boris Karloff that had gone down well in his band's stage act.

John Lennon took the title creature of the Beatles' 'I Am the Walrus' from a poem by which author?

Lewis Carroll paired the walrus with a carpenter in Through the Looking-Glass. Lennon later realised the walrus was the villain of the poem and joked that he had picked the wrong one.

Which Roger Miller hit of 1965 is sung by a penniless but carefree hobo who revels in his freedom?

King of the Road won Roger Miller five Grammy Awards in 1966. He said the idea came from a sign he passed on the side of a barn while driving.

The Rolling Stones' 1966 single 'Mother's Little Helper' is about worn-out housewives relying on what?

Tranquilizer pills such as Valium were popular among housewives of the day, and the song's last verse warns the mother that one dose too many could be fatal.

In Tom Jones's 1966 hit 'Green, Green Grass of Home', the happy homecoming proves to be the dream of whom?

A condemned prisoner wakes to grey walls on the morning of his execution. Tom Jones learned the country song from an album he was handed in a New York record shop.

Which Barry McGuire protest single reached number one in 1965 despite bans by some American radio stations?

Eve of Destruction was written by P. F. Sloan, who also played guitar and harmonica on the record, and it drew some 25 answer records, including the Top 40 hit 'The Dawn of Correction'.

Which 1969 Merle Haggard hit voices small-town pride in shunning marijuana, sandals and draft-card burning?

Okie from Muskogee grew out of Haggard and his drummer trading one-liners about small-town life. The Grateful Dead, the very sort of band it teases, later covered it.

In Mark Dinning's 1960 number one 'Teen Angel', the girl runs back to a car stalled on train tracks to fetch what?

His class ring is found in her hand when her body is recovered. The song was co-written by the singer's sister, Jean Dinning, and some American stations refused to play it as too sad.

Johnny Cash proposed mid-concert in London, Ontario, in 1968 to which singing partner, marrying her that March?

June Carter accepted, and the two married on March 1 in Franklin, Kentucky. They stayed together until she died in 2003, four months before he did.

'MacArthur Park', a 1968 hit for the actor Richard Harris, famously mourns which food ruined by a downpour?

A cake in the rain was a real sight, the song's writer said, like the old men playing checkers he also put in. The Association had rejected the song before Harris took it to number two.

Tiny Tim, falsetto singer of the 1968 hit 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips', walked onto Laugh-In carrying which instrument?

Ukulele in a shopping bag was his entrance on Laugh-In, though a session player strummed on the hit record itself. In 1969 he married Miss Vicki on The Tonight Show.

The Beatles' raucous 1968 song 'Helter Skelter' is named after what, in British English?

A fairground slide that spirals round a tower gave the song its name. Paul McCartney wrote it after reading Pete Townshend describe a Who single as the loudest, rawest thing the band had recorded.

Which Louis Armstrong ballad topped the British chart in 1968 yet barely sold in America at first?

What a Wonderful World sold fewer than 1,000 American copies at first: the label president, locked out of the session after trying to stop it, refused to promote the record.

Whose soulful 1968 remake of the Beatles' 'With a Little Help from My Friends' topped the UK chart?

Joe Cocker reached number one in Britain with it in November 1968, then performed it at Woodstock the next summer in a set preserved in the festival film.

Paul McCartney sang the Beatles' 1968 single 'Lady Madonna' as an impression of which rock and roll pianist?

Fats Domino returned the compliment within months, covering the song himself on his 1968 album Fats Is Back.

Which actor co-wrote and co-produced Head, the satirical 1968 feature film starring the Monkees?

Jack Nicholson built the screenplay from tapes of a brainstorming weekend with the band. The film flopped, alienating teenage fans while the counterculture crowd stayed away.

Which blind Puerto Rican guitarist angered some fans with an unconventional national anthem at the 1968 World Series?

José Feliciano said he wanted people to pay attention to the anthem. His acoustic version came out as a single and was the first anthem recording to reach the American pop charts.

Which Beatle released the first solo album by a band member, the 1968 film soundtrack Wonderwall Music?

George Harrison recorded part of it in Bombay with Indian classical musicians, and in 1995 the album's title gave Oasis the name of a hit song.

Which Welsh singer, recommended to Paul McCartney by the model Twiggy, sang the 1968 hit 'Those Were the Days'?

Mary Hopkin had just won the television talent show Opportunity Knocks when Twiggy spotted her, and McCartney produced the debut single himself.

At which London venue did the supergroup Cream play its filmed farewell concerts in November 1968?

Royal Albert Hall hosted both final shows, on 25 and 26 November 1968, which the BBC filmed for a documentary. The band reunited on the same stage in 2005.

Which trumpeter and Tijuana Brass leader sang his way to a 1968 number one with 'This Guy's in Love with You'?

Herb Alpert picked the ballad to sing to his wife on a CBS television special. It became the first American number one for his A&M label and for writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Merle Haggard's 1968 country chart-topper 'Mama Tried' draws on his own time inside which prison?

San Quentin held Haggard in the late 1950s, though unlike the song's narrator he was never sentenced to life without parole. The single spent four weeks on top of the country chart.

Which Diana Ross & the Supremes single finally knocked the Beatles' 'Hey Jude' off number one in late 1968?

Love Child has Diana Ross play a woman, herself raised fatherless and in rags, who asks her boyfriend not to rush her for fear of bringing up a baby the same way.

Which 1968 Rolling Stones album was delayed for months over a rejected cover photo of a graffitied bathroom wall?

Beggars Banquet was the last Stones album released in Brian Jones's lifetime. The rejected photographs, by Barry Feinstein, were used on most later reissues.

In the Band's 1968 song 'The Weight', the weary traveller arrives in which town in the opening line?

Nazareth came to Robbie Robertson from the stamp inside his Martin guitar, which was built in the Pennsylvania town of that name.

Which underground cartoonist drew the cover of Cheap Thrills, the 1968 album fronted by Janis Joplin?

Robert Crumb meant the drawing for the back cover, but Joplin, a fan of his comics, insisted it go on the front after the label vetoed a photo of the band in bed.

Which exiled South African trumpeter topped the Hot 100 in 1968 with the instrumental 'Grazing in the Grass'?

Hugh Masekela added the tune only because his album was running three minutes short. He had left his homeland after the Sharpeville massacre of 1960.

Which French orchestra leader spent five weeks at number one in America in 1968 with the instrumental 'Love Is Blue'?

Paul Mauriat was not even fond of the tune, a Eurovision entry for Luxembourg that had finished fourth, yet his version became the first Hot 100 number one by a French lead artist.

Which band's 'Rock Around the Clock' became rock and roll's first pop chart-topper in 1955?

Bill Haley & His Comets saw the record take off only after it played over the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle; it then spent two months at number one.

Which band backed Buddy Holly on 'That'll Be the Day', a number one hit in September 1957?

The Crickets nearly called themselves the Beetles, and years later the Beatles chose their own name partly in homage to them.

John Lennon was playing a 1957 church fete with which skiffle group on the day he met Paul McCartney?

The Quarrymen took their name from a line in the song of Quarry Bank High School, which Lennon and his bandmates attended. He found the line laughable.

Which 1950s vocal group followed 'Only You' with their first national number one, 'The Great Pretender'?

The Platters got the lyrics from their manager Buck Ram, who wrote them in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

Buffalo Springfield, the 1960s band of Stephen Stills and Neil Young, took its name from the maker's plate on what?

A steamroller parked outside the band's house bore the name of its maker, the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company.

Which band's 1958 chart-topping instrumental 'Tequila' has one word of lyrics, the title, spoken three times?

The Champs released it as a B-side, with its writer Danny Flores speaking the title, and it won a Grammy at the very first awards ceremony.

Which late-1960s British blues band, fronted by a flute player, is named after an 18th-century agriculturist?

Jethro Tull was one of several aliases the band used to win repeat bookings, supplied by a history enthusiast at their agency. It stuck when a London club gave them a residency under it.

Which vocal group topped the American chart in 1960 with 'Save the Last Dance for Me', sung by Ben E. King?

The Drifters sang words Doc Pomus wrote from life: on crutches after polio, he had watched his bride dance with their wedding guests.

Graham Nash quit which British band behind 'Bus Stop' in 1968 to join David Crosby and Stephen Stills?

The Hollies had rejected one of his songs and planned an album made up entirely of covers, which he openly disdained. His last show with them was at the London Palladium that December.

Decca famously turned down the Beatles and instead signed which band that auditioned the same day?

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes were local to London, so Decca reckoned they would cost less in travel expenses than a band from Liverpool.

Which Jimmy Dean chart-topper of 1961 tells of a towering miner who is lost saving twenty trapped workmates?

Big Bad John was begun on a flight to the studio, when Jimmy Dean realised he was one song short for his recording session. It won him a Grammy.