60 Fun Facts About 50s, 60s and 70s Music

'Rock Around the Clock' took off in 1955 after it played over the opening credits of which film?

Bill Haley & His Comets had recorded it in 1954; on July 9, 1955 it became the first rock and roll record to top Billboard's pop chart.

Who founded Sun Records in Memphis in 1952?

His one-room studio at 706 Union Avenue recorded Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, who jammed together there as the 'Million Dollar Quartet' in December 1956.

Elvis Presley's first RCA Victor single, released in January 1956, was which song?

It took twelve weeks to reach number one, his first pop chart-topper.

Chuck Berry's first hit, 'Maybellene' (1955), was his adaptation of which country song?

It sold over a million copies and topped the R&B chart; 'Johnny B. Goode' later became the only rock and roll song on the Voyager Golden Record.

Which 'safer' white singer's cover of Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti' charted higher than the original?

Richard walked away from rock in 1957, mid-tour in Australia, to enter the ministry.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a February 1959 plane crash near which Iowa town?

Holly chartered the plane to escape the freezing tour bus; the Surf Ballroom, where they played their last show, still holds an annual memorial concert.

Which future country star gave up his seat on Buddy Holly's fatal flight to the flu-stricken Big Bopper?

Guitarist Tommy Allsup lost his seat to Ritchie Valens on a coin toss.

Ritchie Valens's biggest hit, 'La Bamba', was adapted from what?

It became a pop hit sung entirely in Spanish; Valens, born Richard Valenzuela in Pacoima, was 17 when he died.

Jerry Lee Lewis's career collapsed in 1958 when a British reporter discovered he had married whom?

The story broke at Heathrow at the start of a UK tour, and radio stations that had already boycotted 'Great Balls of Fire' piled on.

Fats Domino's 1956 hit 'Blueberry Hill' was a revival of a song from which year?

Glenn Miller, Gene Autry and Louis Armstrong had all recorded it before Domino's rolling New Orleans piano made it his.

What was the first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 when the chart launched in August 1958?

Nelson was the teen idol from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, so the sitcom effectively launched the Hot 100.

Sam Cooke's 1957 chart-topper 'You Send Me' had which George Gershwin standard as its B-side?

Cooke had come from gospel as lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, and the pop crossover made him a star.

In 1955 Johnny Cash became the first artist on which label to release a long-playing album?

His first Sun recordings that year were 'Hey, Porter' and 'Cry! Cry! Cry!'; his all-black stage wardrobe earned him the 'Man in Black' nickname.

Elvis was drafted into the US Army in March 1958 and reported to which base?

He had bought Graceland a year earlier, and donated his Army pay to charity while serving.

Don Everly of the Everly Brothers was born in Brownie, a coal town in which state?

His rhythm-guitar intro to 'Wake Up Little Susie' earned him the Musicians Hall of Fame's first Iconic Riff Award in 2019.

Elvis's first Sun single paired 'That's All Right' with which bluegrass tune on the B-side?

Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips played 'That's All Right' on air three days after it was cut, and the phones lit up.

About how many Americans watched the Beatles' first live US TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964?

That was roughly 34 percent of the US population; the group played a second Sullivan show from Florida a week later.

Berry Gordy borrowed how much from a family savings fund to start what became Motown?

The label began as Tamla Records in January 1959 and its Detroit studio, Hitsville U.S.A., ran 22 hours a day.

How many US number one singles did the Supremes score, a record for an American vocal group?

Most were written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland, starting with 'Where Did Our Love Go' in 1964.

Where did Bob Dylan play his first concert with electric instruments in July 1965, outraging the purists?

He was backed by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; the 'Judas!' heckle came later, on the 1966 UK tour in Manchester.

Woodstock in August 1969 was held on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in which New York town?

The site is 60 miles from Woodstock itself; Yasgur refused to host a 1970 sequel, saying he was going back to running a dairy farm.

Who closed Woodstock, taking the stage at 8:30 on Monday morning after rain delays?

His feedback-drenched 'Star-Spangled Banner' was later named the greatest performance of all time by Guitar World's editors.

Brian Wilson made Pet Sounds (1966) as a direct response to which Beatles album?

He told his wife he would make 'the greatest rock album ever made'; the Beatles in turn answered with Sgt. Pepper.

Brian Jones named the Rolling Stones on the spot after spotting an LP by which bluesman?

One of the tracks on the record lying on the floor was 'Rollin' Stone'.

Aretha Franklin's 1967 signature hit 'Respect' was originally written and recorded by whom?

Franklin recorded her version on Valentine's Day 1967; her sister Carolyn is credited with the idea of spelling the title out.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first rock LP to win which Grammy?

It won four Grammys in 1968 in all, including one for Peter Blake and Jann Haworth's celebrity-collage cover.

The Byrds' first hit, 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (1965), was a cover of a then-unreleased song by whom?

Their manager got hold of an acetate in 1964, and the jangling Rickenbacker 12-string treatment invented folk rock.

Under what name did teenagers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel first record in the late 1950s?

A decade later their songs carried Mike Nichols's The Graduate and 'Mrs. Robinson' went to number one.

The Doors took their name from a book by which writer?

The Doors of Perception itself borrowed a line from William Blake; the band's 'Light My Fire' was Elektra's first Hot 100 number one.

Ed Sullivan cancelled six further Doors bookings after Jim Morrison did what on air in 1967?

The band had agreed to change the 'Light My Fire' lyric for broadcast, then didn't.

Which 1967 California festival gave the Who and Ravi Shankar their first major US appearances and launched Janis Joplin?

Ravi Shankar was paid $3,000 for an afternoon-long sitar set, and Otis Redding was introduced to the rock audience there.

The Beatles' final live performance, on 30 January 1969, took place where?

The 3 Savile Row rooftop set was released as its own album, Get Back (Rooftop Performance), in 2022.

'Good Vibrations' (1966) was the Beach Boys' first number one in which country?

It was their third US chart-topper, and Brian Wilson spent most of the summer of 1966 assembling it from separately recorded sections.

The Bee Gees only got involved with Saturday Night Fever at what stage?

They rewrote a song called 'Saturday Night' as 'Stayin' Alive' because too many songs already had that title, including one by the Bay City Rollers.

ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with which song?

They sang it in English rather than Swedish, and in 2005 it was voted the best song in the contest's history.

Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' spent how many weeks at number one in the UK on its original 1975 release?

It returned to the top for another five weeks after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, and Wayne's World sent it to number two in the US in 1992.

Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon stayed on the Billboard 200 for how many weeks in its initial run?

Its 1973 sessions at EMI Studios were engineered by Alan Parsons, who recruited Clare Torry for 'The Great Gig in the Sky'.

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977) won which Grammy at the 1978 ceremony?

It was made while the McVies were divorcing and Buckingham and Nicks were splitting; 'Dreams' became the band's only US number one single.

The Sex Pistols became national villains in December 1976 after swearing on whose live TV show?

Their 1977 single 'God Save the Queen' was timed for the Silver Jubilee and stalled at number two behind Rod Stewart.

The Ramones all took the surname Ramone in tribute to a stage name once used by which musician?

McCartney had called himself Paul Ramon in the Silver Beetles days; the four Ramones, formed in Forest Hills in 1974, were not related.

At which London venue did David Bowie retire Ziggy Stardust in July 1973 with 'the last show that we'll ever do'?

The Ziggy album had come out just over a year earlier, in June 1972, and a Top of the Pops 'Starman' performance had made him a star.

Which real LA landmark did Don Henley call the Eagles' focal point when he wrote 'Hotel California'?

A photo of the hotel became the album cover, and the song won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1978.

Disco Demolition Night in July 1979 forced which baseball team to forfeit a game?

Shock jock Steve Dahl blew up a crate of disco records between games of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park and the crowd tore up the field.

Village People were assembled by Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, producers from which country?

The group was originally aimed at disco's large gay audience before 'Y.M.C.A.' and 'In the Navy' took it mainstream.

In October 1975, Bruce Springsteen appeared simultaneously on the covers of which two magazines?

Born to Run had just come out; its title track alone took six months to record.

Don McLean says he learned of Buddy Holly's death while doing what, as 'American Pie' recalls?

The song ran over eight and a half minutes and was the longest number one until Taylor Swift's ten-minute 'All Too Well' in 2021.

Carole King's Tapestry (1971) still holds what US chart record?

It spent 15 straight weeks on top and won four Grammys, making King the first woman to win Song of the Year.

Sony's first Walkman, the TPS-L2, went on sale in Japan in July of which year?

It was adapted from the 'Pressman' recorder used by journalists and reached the US in June 1980 at around $150.

In which city did Donna Summer meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte as a backing singer?

Their 1977 record 'I Feel Love' has been called the start of electronic dance music.

Stevie Wonder is the only artist to win the Grammys' top album prize with how many consecutive releases?

Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life did it between 1974 and 1977.

What did Led Zeppelin officially call their fourth album, released in November 1971?

Stung by reviews of Led Zeppelin III, the band put four symbols on the sleeve, one per member, and no name.

Elton John met lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967 after both answered an advert placed by which record label?

A&R man Ray Williams handed John an unopened envelope of Taupin's lyrics at their first meeting.

Where were the three Gibb brothers of the Bee Gees born?

The family moved to Manchester and then emigrated to Queensland in 1958, so the group is usually described as Australian-British.

Elvis Presley died in August 1977 at his Graceland estate at what age?

The Memphis medical examiner initially announced cardiac arrest and insisted drugs played no role, a finding later disputed.

Who wrote and first recorded "The Twist" in 1958, before Chubby Checker's cover made it a craze?

His label buried it as a B-side to the ballad "Teardrops on Your Letter", and it peaked at only number 28.

Which 1968 single became the first posthumous number one in US chart history?

Its singer had recorded it just three days before dying in a plane crash on 10 December 1967; the whistling was left in.

Which country singer, an early crossover star, was killed in the March 1963 Camden plane crash?

Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in the same crash; Cline was just 30.

Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" grew from a police-brutality incident witnessed by a member of which group?

Obie Benson offered the song to his own group first, but the other Four Tops turned it down as a protest song.

How many consecutive weeks did "Bridge over Troubled Water" spend at number one on the Hot 100 in 1970?

Columbia released the full five-minute version to radio, and it went on to win five Grammys including Record and Song of the Year.

Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" in 1968 to comfort which child?

Originally "Hey Jules", it became the Beatles' first release on their own Apple label and, at over seven minutes, the longest UK number one to that point.