60 Fun Facts About Oldies Music

Which decades does the term 'oldies' most specifically cover in radio programming?

Since 2000 many stations have crept into the 1970s, and 'classic hits' has taken over the 1980s end.

Which Phoenix station is credited as one of the first to adopt an oldies format in the early 1970s?

The timing was no accident: nostalgia for the 1950s was booming in the early 70s.

Which 1973 film is often credited with kick-starting the 1950s nostalgia boom that fueled oldies radio?

George Lucas's soundtrack of 41 oldies became a bestselling double album, and Happy Days followed on TV a year later.

When did 'Rock Around the Clock' become the first rock and roll record to top the pop chart?

It stayed there for eight weeks, a year after flopping as the B-side of 'Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)'.

Which 1955 film's opening credits turned 'Rock Around the Clock' into a hit a year after its release?

The Bill Haley & His Comets recording is often cited as the biggest-selling vinyl rock single ever, at 25 million or more.

'Rock Around the Clock' opened which 1970s sitcom during its first two seasons?

The show later switched to its own 'Happy Days' theme, which became a hit in its own right in 1976.

In which Mississippi town was Elvis Presley born in 1935?

His twin brother Jesse Garon was stillborn 35 minutes before him.

How many Grammy Awards did Elvis Presley win in his lifetime?

All three were for gospel recordings, not for any of his rock and roll hits.

How many rooms does Graceland, the mansion Elvis bought in March 1957, have?

He was 22 and paid about $100,000; he died there in August 1977 at 42.

What does Wikipedia say actually happened when Elvis was supposedly filmed waist-up on Ed Sullivan?

The waist-up framing came only on his third Sullivan appearance in January 1957, after the first two had shown everything.

On what date did the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crash?

They had just played the Surf Ballroom on the Winter Dance Party tour; the ballroom still holds a memorial concert every year.

Which future country star gave up his seat on that plane to the Big Bopper, who was ill?

Jennings was Holly's bass player on the tour and was haunted by a joking exchange the two had about the flight.

Ritchie Valens got his seat on the plane by winning what?

Valens was afraid of flying and was 17 years old; Allsup later opened a club called the Heads Up Saloon.

Which 1971 song coined the phrase 'The Day the Music Died' for the crash?

McLean was a 13-year-old paperboy when he read the news, and the song's eight and a half minutes turn the crash into a myth.

'La Bamba', Ritchie Valens' 1958 hit, is a folk song from which Mexican state?

It is a son jarocho tune, and Valens' version is the only non-English song on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs list.

Valens' 'La Bamba' was originally released as the B-side of which single?

'Donna' was the ballad written for his girlfriend; the flip side became the more famous song.

Which cover of 'La Bamba' reached number one on the Hot 100 in 1987?

It was only the fourth entirely non-English song to top the Hot 100.

'Johnny B. Goode' is one of 27 pieces of music carried on what, launched in 1977?

It sits alongside Bach and Beethoven as humanity's greeting to whoever finds the probe.

'Great Balls of Fire' was recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis on October 8, 1957 where?

It topped the country chart and the UK singles chart, though it stalled at number two on the US pop chart.

How many copies did 'Great Balls of Fire' sell in its first ten days of US release?

Otis Blackwell, who wrote it with Jack Hammer, also wrote 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'All Shook Up' for Elvis.

Who wrote 'The Twist' after watching teenagers in Tampa do the dance?

Ballard and the Midnighters buried it as a B-side in 1958; a young Philadelphia singer's copy became the phenomenon.

Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' was the first record ever to do what?

It topped the Hot 100 in September 1960 and again in January 1962, once adults had caught on to the dance.

'Louie Louie' was written, composed and first recorded by which musician in 1956?

The Kingsmen's famous 1963 recording came from a one-hour session that cost somewhere between $36 and $50.

How long did the FBI investigate the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie' for supposedly obscene lyrics?

The Bureau's conclusion was that it could not make out a single word; Indiana's governor had already asked for a ban.

Who wrote and originally recorded 'Respect' in 1965, two years before Aretha Franklin's version?

Franklin's rearrangement, with her sisters on backing vocals, spent two weeks at number one and won her two Grammys in 1968.

'(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' was the first record to achieve what on the US chart?

Redding recorded it three days before dying in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, and never heard the finished mix.

Who co-wrote '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' with its singer?

Nobody is sure who performed the whistling at the end; Cropper has said Redding was improvising a verse he never finished.

'Be My Baby' was the 1963 debut single of which group on Philles Records?

Ronnie Spector is the only Ronette actually on the record; the rest of the wall was session singers and the Wrecking Crew.

Which Beach Boy has called 'Be My Baby' the greatest pop record ever made?

Hal Blaine's opening drum figure, suggested by arranger Jack Nitzsche, has been copied on hundreds of records since.

'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' descends from 'Mbube', a 1939 song written by which South African musician?

Linda died poor in 1962; his family finally won a royalty settlement in the 2000s after the song's use in The Lion King.

Which folk group released 'Wimoweh', the 1951 step between 'Mbube' and 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'?

Pete Seeger misheard the Zulu chorus 'uyimbube' as 'wimoweh'; the Tokens' 1961 rewrite took it to number one.

'Mack the Knife' comes from which 1928 stage work?

It introduces Macheath, a knife-wielding London criminal; Bobby Darin's swinging 1959 version won Record of the Year.

Bobby Darin's 'Mack the Knife' won him Record of the Year and which other first-ever Grammy in 1959?

Ella Fitzgerald famously forgot the words to it in Berlin in 1960 and improvised new ones name-checking Darin and Louis Armstrong.

Ben E. King wrote 'Stand by Me' for which group, who passed on it?

He had just left the group; he recorded it himself in 1961 with Leiber and Stoller, and it charted again in 1986 thanks to the film.

In 1999, BMI ranked 'Stand by Me' where among the most-performed songs of the 20th century?

About seven million plays; the Library of Congress added King's original to the National Recording Registry in 2015.

'Good Vibrations' was recorded over roughly how many sessions?

Cost estimates run from $10,000 to $50,000, making it the most expensive single recorded to that point; it hit number one on December 10, 1966.

Which unusual instrument gives 'Good Vibrations' its wobbling high-pitched hook?

Its creator called the record a 'pocket symphony'; it landed on Smiley Smile after the Smile album collapsed.

How did Tom Wilson turn Simon & Garfunkel's flop 'The Sound of Silence' into a number one?

The duo had already split; the remix hit number one for the week ending January 1, 1966 and brought them back together.

How old was Paul Simon when he wrote 'The Sound of Silence', reportedly in a dark bathroom?

The song later bookended The Graduate in 1967 and became the quintessential folk-rock record.

Per BMI, which 1964 Righteous Brothers single was the 20th century's most-played song on American radio and TV?

More than eight million broadcasts; Bill Medley's slow, deep opening is called one of the most famous in pop history.

Phil Spector printed a false 3:05 running time on the 'Lovin' Feelin'' label. What was the real length?

Radio programmers of 1964 balked at anything much over three minutes, so Spector simply lied.

'Sugar, Sugar', the biggest hit of 1969, was credited to which fictional band?

Ron Dante sang lead; it spent four weeks at number one in the US and eight in the UK.

Who co-wrote 'Sugar, Sugar' with Andy Kim, plus 'Be My Baby' and 'Leader of the Pack'?

Wilson Pickett's soul cover reached number four on the R&B chart the next year.

In which year did Ray Charles's 'Georgia on My Mind' become Georgia's official state song?

Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote it in 1930; Charles's version topped the Hot 100 and is in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Max Crook played the eerie solo on Del Shannon's 'Runaway' on what instrument he invented?

The record topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1961; Shannon re-cut it in 1986 as the theme for the TV series Crime Story.

American Bandstand went national on ABC on August 5 of which year?

It had begun as a local Philadelphia show called Bandstand in 1952 and moved to Los Angeles in 1964.

What was the name of the American Bandstand segment in which teenagers scored new records?

'It's got a good beat and you can dance to it' became the cliché verdict; the show's last episode aired October 7, 1989.

Which disc jockey popularized the phrase 'rock and roll' on mainstream radio in the early 1950s?

He staged what is considered the first major rock concert in March 1952; payola charges ended his career and he died at 43.

The Moondog Coronation Ball, the first major rock and roll concert, was held in which city?

It was shut down almost immediately by overcrowding; the city later landed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame partly on that history.

'Sherry', the Four Seasons' first number one, was originally titled what?

Bob Gaudio wrote it in about 15 minutes; it spent five weeks at number one from September 1962.

Whose voice delivers the manic laugh and title at the start of the Surfaris' 'Wipe Out'?

The tune was written on the spot in late 1962 as a B-side for 'Surfer Joe' and reached number two behind Stevie Wonder's 'Fingertips'.

How many number-one Hot 100 singles did the Supremes score, the most of any American vocal group?

The first was 'Where Did Our Love Go' in August 1964; the group had started out in Detroit as the Primettes.

How many acts reportedly rejected 'Bye Bye Love' before the Everly Brothers recorded it in 1957?

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's song went to number two pop and number one country; Simon & Garfunkel cut a live version in 1970.

Roy Orbison's 'Oh, Pretty Woman' was inspired by his wife Claudette doing what?

It spent three weeks at number one from September 1964 and won Orbison a posthumous Grammy in 1991.

How many Motown songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 top ten between 1960 and 1969?

Berry Gordy founded the label as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959 with an $800 family loan.

What was the street address of Hitsville U.S.A., Motown's Detroit headquarters?

The house served as headquarters until 1968; the company moved everything to Los Angeles in 1972 and the building is now a museum.

On April 4, 1964, the Beatles achieved what Hot 100 feat no act had ever managed?

Two months earlier, an estimated 45 percent of American TV viewers had watched them on The Ed Sullivan Show.

After the Beatles, which British Invasion band topped the Hot 100 the most times, with eight number ones?

Their first US number one was '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' in 1965.

Buddy Holly's 'Peggy Sue' was originally titled after his niece. What was that first title?

It was renamed for Peggy Sue Gerron, girlfriend of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison, who plays the song's famous paradiddles.

Which New Orleans songwriter was brought in to clean up the lyrics of Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti'?

Producer Blackwell felt the original verses' 'minstrel modes and sexual humor' needed revising; the Library of Congress added the record to its registry in 2009.