Rockin' around our Christmas tree...
FOR a quick bit of fun over Christmas, test your knowledge of festive (and some not so festive) sounds. Answers posted separately below.
1. Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody is one of the biggest selling Christmas hits of all time, but the glam rock giants had many top ten hits, making them one of the most successful bands of the 70s. Which was their first number one hit?
a) Coz I Hate You
b) Coz I Luv You
c) Coz I Can
2. The Beatles were number 1 at Christmastime for many years in the 1960s, but none of the records were Christmas themed. In 1965 they topped the festive chart with a double sided smash hit. We Can Work It Out was on one side, but which track was the other?
a) Paperback Writer
b) I Feel Fine
c) Day Tripper
3. In the days when the biggest Christmas hits sold a million, Boney M had a monster hit with Mary's Boy Child in 1978? But who sang the version which topped the charts at Christmas, 1957?
a) Johnny Mathis
b) Harry Belafonte
c) Bill Cosby
4. Punk rock has provided a number of Chistmas ditties, including a Ramones Christmas 1987 single which featured the magical couplet "Where is Riudolph? Where is Bitzen, baby?" What was it called?
a) Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
b) Merry Christmas Baby
c) Santa Is A Punk Rocker
5. A male artist had Christmas themed top ten hits in 1975 and 1976 with Renta Santa and Bionic Santa, blending his own vocals with other hit records. Who was he?
a) Dave Hill
b) Benny Hill
c) Chris Hill
6. Perhaps the best album of Christmas songs is still Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift To You, from which Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) has been used again in an advertising campaign this Christmas. But who sang it?
a) The Ronettes
b) Darlene Love
c) The Crystals
7. Retro-rockers Mud turned in a memorable performance on Top Of The Pops at Christmas 1974 when the band steadily had large amounts of fake snow dumped on their head as they performed their number 1 Lonely This Christmas. But who did singer Les Grey serenade in that performance?
a) The band's lead guitarist
b) A ventriloquist's dummy
c) A Sindy Doll
8. Which animated TV character, voiced by Neil Morrissey, pipped Westlife to the Christmas number one spot in 2000?
a) Bob The Builder
b) Postman Pat
c) Mr Benn
9. In 2001 Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman were topping the Christmas charts with their version of Something Stupid. But which related and well-known duo had the original hit?
a) Johnn Lennon and Yoko Ono
b) Sonny and Cher
c) Frank and Nancy Sinatra
10. Cliff Richard and Christmas go together like mince pies and brandy butter. He has had several seasonal chart toppers, but perhaps his best known was the earliest of the run in 1988. What was it?
a) Saviour's Day
b) 21st Century Christmas
c) Mistletoe and Wine
11. In 1986 the Housemartins had the Christmas number one with Caravan of Love was a festive period number 1. It was originally performed by one of the classic soul groups. Was it:
a) The Four Tops
b) The Isley Brothers
c) The Temptations
12. A bit of down to earth magic marked the Kinks' 1977 Christmas disc, Father Christmas. In it lead Kink Ray Davies described getting a job as Santa at his local department store. But what happened to him?
a) He was taken by the reindeer to Lapland
b) He was mugged by some of the children
c) He was fired
13. One of the most downbeat Christmas number ones came in 2003 when Michael Andrews and Gay Jules teamed up for a mesmerising version of Tears For Fears' Mad World. It was from the soundtrack of a hit film. What was the film?
a) Donnie Darko
b) Batman Returns
c) Apocalypse Now
14. Last year two versions of the same song - Leonard Cohen's classic Hallelujah - competed for the number one spot. X Factor winner Alexandra Burke won out, but it's arguable the rival version is the definitive one, bettering even Cohen's original. Who was it by?
a) Tim Buckley
b) Jeff Buckley
c) Bill Buckley
15. Band Aid's fundraising Do They Know It's Christmas? has been a chart topper on three occasions. The 1989 remake was credited to Band Aid II - how were they titled on the third chart topper in 2004?
a) Band Aid III
b) Band Aid 20
c) Band Aid Again
16. After the Beatles, three of the band members all released seasonal songs in the 1970s, but which one of them recorded the New Year anthem Ding Dong, Ding Dong?
a) John Lennon
b) Paul McCartney
c) George Harrison
17. Girl group the Spice Girls equalled the Beatles' record of three successive Christmas number 1s in 1998. Which track was their first Christmas number one, in 1996?
a) Too Much
b) Goodbye
c) 2 Become 1
18. Although it wasnn't actually a hit for her - it was a B-side - Kylie Minogue's sinuous performance of Santa Baby has become a staple of the BBC's Top Of The Pops 2 festive round-ups. It was a massive hit for the original artist back in 1953. Who was she?
a) Etta James
b) Eartha Kitt
c) Marilyn Monroe
19. He was the King of Rock and Roll but he only had one number one at Christmastime. Elvis Presley occupied top spot in 1962 with:
a) Jailhouse Rock
b) Return To Sender
c) Blue Christmas
20. One Christmas song which continues to stand the test of time is the Pogues' magnificent Fairytale Of New York. As Shane McGowan sings the opening line, he's in the "drunk tank" on..?
a) Christmas Eve
b) Christmas Day
c) Boxing Day
21. Wham had one of the biggest selling Christmas discs ever, reaching high in the charts with it two years' running without topping the chart. What's the song called?
a) Together At Christmas
b) A Winter's Tale
c) Last Christmas
22. What did Elton John want to do in 1973?
a) Leap Into The New Year
b) Step Into Christmas
c) Step Inside Love
23. Pink Floyd had a wonderful but definitely unseasonal Christmas number 1 in 1979 with Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2. Which of Floyd's big selling albums was it taken from?
a) The Wall
b) The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
c) Dark Side Of The Moon
24. Mistress of the power ballad Whitney Houston spent ten weeks at the top of the charts in 1992, including Christmas, with which song:
a) I Will Always Love You
b) Saving All My Love For You
c) I Wanna Dance With Somebody
25. Scaffold raised a toast at Christmas 1968 - but to who were they going to “drink the drink the drink..?”
a) Lady Marmalade
b) Lily of Laguna
c) Lily The Pink
26. Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr were two of the three members of the famous Rat Pack who had seasonal material collected on the wonderful Christmas With The Rat Pack CD in 2002. Who was the third singer?
a) Peter Lawford
b) Joey Bishop
c) Dean Martin
27. A very anti-materialist message themed I Believe In Father Christmas, a 1970s hit for which member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer?
a) Keith Emerson
b) Greg Lake
c) Carl Palmer
28. What were the Goons singing, somewhat unseasonally, in June 1956?
a) Walking Forwards To The New Year
b) Walking Backwards To Christmas
c) The Ying Tong Song
29. The Beatles were everywhere at Christmas, 1967. They had Hello Goodbye positioned firmly at the top of the singles charts and they also debuted their home-produced film on the BBC on Boxing Day.
A double EP of songs from the film also nestled high in the top ten. Film and EP shared same title - what was it?
a) Magical Mystery Tour
b) Tragical History Tour
c) Magical Listening Hour
30. Bing Crosby's White Christmas might just be the best known Christmas song of all time. But from which film was it originally from?
a) White Christmas
b) Holiday Inn
c) The Road To Morrocco
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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