The fifties was when rock and roll music began – but the sixties was when the industry really started, a period when people realised that music was something that could be exploited for corporate benefit and sullied by bloated contracts and rampant egos. It was the beginning of rock music as we know it, but also the death of its innocence. Here are 30 questions on this most storied of decades.
Answers: here
1 Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding were the rhythm section of which sixties trio? Chas Chandler, the band’s manager, had formerly been the bass player in which blues-rock band fronted by Eric Burdon?
2 Who had a British number one with ‘Keep on Running’ in 1965? Along with the man who gave the group its name, which two brothers featured in the band?
3 Who reached the UK Top 10 with ‘Friday on My Mind’ in 1966? Which country were the band from?
4 In 1962, Phil Spector and his production team had their first American number one single with ‘He’s a Rebel’. To which girl group was the single attributed? But who actually sang the lead vocal?
5 At which famous Liverpool club did the Beatles play many of their early gigs? Which Dutch prog rock band were the last act to play at the venue before it closed in 1973?
6 There was no one called Dave Clark in the Dave Clark Five – true or false? Boasting a rousing, football-chant chorus, what was their first British number one in 1964?
7 Whose version of ‘House of the Rising Sun’ reached number one in the UK and became the band’s signature song? Which American group took a harder-edged version of the song into the British and American Top 10 in 1970?
8 Who was the lead singer with Jefferson Airplane? And which band did she form after the group broke up?
9 Which future BBC radio DJ did Mike d’Abo replace when he became the singer with Manfred Mann in 1966? Jack Bruce briefly played bass for Manfred Mann around the same time, before leaving to form which band?
10 The Beach Boys had only two British number one singles. What were they?
11 My People Were ______ and Had _____ in Their Hair . . . But Now They’re Content to Wear ______ On Their _______. Fill in the missing words from the rather long-winded title of Tyrannosaurus Rex’s first album.
12 ‘It’s Not Unusual’ shot which hip-swinging sex bomb to the top of the UK charts in 1965? Which ballad provided him with his only other British number one the following year?
13 Formed by Dick Taylor and Phil May in the early sixties, which band earned a reputation for their wild behaviour – which included one incident that saw them set fire to a bag of crayfish on a flight in New Zealand? With which band had Taylor previously played bass before leaving to study at art college?
14 ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ was the first hit single for which Northern Irish R&B band in 1964? Their singer later launched a successful solo career – what’s his name?
15 The Tremeloes first hit number one with a cover of ‘Do You Love Me’, originally recorded by the Contours. What was their only other chart-topper, released in 1967? And who was the band’s singer?
16 Which founder member of Pink Floyd left the band in 1968 with acute mental health problems? Who took over vocal duties, having joined as a second guitarist in December the previous year?
17 Who had a UK number one with ‘Yeh Yeh’ in 1964? What was the name of his backing band?
18 Which folk quartet had a hit with the title track from the soundtrack of the 1966 film Georgy Girl? Who was the band’s wholesome lead singer?
19 Who was the founder, singer and main songwriter in the sixties guitar band Love, seen by some critics as archetypal of the sound of the Summer of Love? Speaking of the Summer of Love, which year was it?
20 Which 1964 single took the Kinks to the top of the UK charts for the first time? Who was the band’s singer and primary songwriter?
21 How many studio albums did the Kinks release in their 30-year career? (Two points if you’re spot on, one point if you’re within three of the correct answer.)
22 Which sixties heartthrob got Mary Whitehouse in a lather when he split his trousers on stage at the ABC in Croydon? What was his first British hit, reaching number three in 1964 after he appeared on a TV special with the Beatles?
23 What could the Move hear near the top of the charts in 1967? And what were they sitting watching later that year?
24 During the sixties, ‘I’m Alive’ was the only British number one for which successful UK band? Which song of theirs hit the top of the chart 23 years later on the back of its use in a lager commercial, setting a record for the biggest gap between number-one hits?
25 For which band was it ‘All or Nothing’ at the top of the charts in 1966? According to another hit from 1968, what was their favourite day of the week?
26 Michael Nesmith and Davy Jones, both born on 29 December, were also both members of which pop group? Which film director, whose movies include Five Easy Pieces and the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, co-created the group for an American TV series?
27 Which Merseybeat band was formed by John McNally and Mike Pender? Which Jackie DeShannon song sewed up the British number-one slot for them in 1964?
28 Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac from blues band Chicken Shack while she was still using which name from before her marriage? What was the title of the UK Top 20 hit she scored with Chicken Shack, adding her trademark smoky vocals to a cover of a soul classic?
29 Whose 1967 debut album included the psychedelic classic ‘Light My Fire’, their first successful single in the UK? What’s the title of the follow-up album, which ends with the haunting ‘When the Music’s Over’?
30 Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page all played guitar in which early sixties R&B group? They never played together, as Clapton left before the others arrived – which band did he join?