Q 01/05

Which Prince single, recorded with no bass line, did Billboard rank as the number one song of 1984?

A) Let's Go Crazy

B) Little Red Corvette

C) When Doves Cry

D) I Would Die 4 U

Answer · why

C) When Doves Cry

When Doves Cry spent five weeks at number one that summer, and Prince said he stripped out the bass because the track sounded too conventional with it...

Q 02/05

Michael Jackson's hair caught fire in January 1984 while he filmed a commercial for which soft drink brand?

A) Pepsi

B) Coca-Cola

C) Sprite

D) Dr Pepper

Answer · why

A) Pepsi

Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson gave the $1.5 million to a California hospital that named its burn centre after him.

Q 03/05

Who became, at 44, the oldest solo woman yet to top the Hot 100 with What's Love Got to Do with It?

A) Diana Ross

B) Tina Turner

C) Donna Summer

D) Aretha Franklin

Answer · why

B) Tina Turner

Tina Turner got the song only after Cliff Richard turned it down, and it won her the Grammy for Record of the Year.

Q 04/05

Which 1984 comedy's theme song gave Ray Parker Jr. three weeks at number one and a plagiarism lawsuit?

A) Gremlins

B) Sixteen Candles

C) Police Academy

D) Ghostbusters

Answer · why

D) Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters brought a claim from Huey Lewis, who said its melody copied his hit I Want a New Drug, and he received a settlement.

Q 05/05

The 1984 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas raised money for famine relief in which African country?

A) Ethiopia

B) Mozambique

C) Somalia

D) Sudan

Answer · why

A) Ethiopia

Ethiopia received £8 million from the record within a year, after it sold a million copies in its first week in the UK.