If you’re a lover of music, you probably tune into the Grammy Awards show every year. And if you’re not a music lover, you probably still tune in just to see the spectacle of the event. It's like the Oscar-telecast syndrome. Even if you haven’t seen any of the movies, you tune in just to see what will happen. To a lesser degree, it’s the same with Grammy night.
Anyway, since it’s Grammy time again (56th annual), I thought I would test your trivia knowledge to see if your razor-sharp musical memory is still intact.
If I make an error on any of the vintage answers, you’ll know that my memory has faded!
So wallow in musical nostalgia, get ready for the broadcast on Sunday, January 26, and try these Grammy questions, which will take us far back in musical history (answers follow):
1. When did the Grammy Music Awards start?
2. Can you conjure up the names of the Grammy winners from a distant 47 years ago? That would be 1967 and the categories are Record of the Year and Album of the Year.
3. And now, from 37 years ago in 1977, who were the winners in the same two categories?
4. And if all those lost-in-time memories escaped you, try remembering the winners from 27 years ago in 1987.
Answers
1. The Grammies were first awarded in 1958.
Remember that bygone era of the Hula Hoop, the paisley fashion-look, the first transistor radios, The Untouchables on TV and Mad magazine? Back in those tranquil days of 1958, the Grammy for Record of the Year went to Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu) by Domenico Modugno, and the Album of the Year was Henry Mancini’s Music from Peter Gunn.
And what were the other big songs in ’58? Well, do you remember?
• It’s All In The Game (Tommy Edwards).
• At The Hop (Danny and the Juniors).
• Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley).
• Tom Dooley (The Kingston Trio).
• Great Balls Of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis).
• Peggy Sue (Buddy Holly).
• Get A Job (The Silhouettes).
• Twilight Time (The Platters).
• All I have To Do Is Dream (The Everly Brothers).
And here's a bonus question. What were the first names of the Everly Brothers? “Oh, that’s easy. They were, uhh ... I can see them. I remember now — Don and Phil.”
2. Forty-seven years ago in 1967, the Record of the Year Grammy was won by Up, Up and Away (The Fifth Dimension), and the Beatles won Album of the Year with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Other notable songs from ’67 included:
• Ode To Billie Joe (Bobbie Gentry).
• Penny Lane (The Beatles).
• To Sir With Love (Lulu).
• Groovin’ (The Young Rascals).
• Happy Together (The Turtles).
3. The Grammy winners in 1977 were The Eagles for Hotel California (Record of the Year), and Fleetwood Mac took the Album of the Year award for Rumours.
And what other songs should we remember from ’77?
• How Deep is Your Love (The Bee Gees).
• Rich Girl (Hall and Oates).
• You Light Up My Life (Debby Boone).
• Dancing Queen (Abba).
• Dreams (Fleetwood Mac).
4. In 1987, 27 years ago, the Grammy for Record of the Year was won by Graceland (Paul Simon), and Album of the Year went to U2 for The Joshua Tree.
Also big inb ’87 were:.
• I Wanna dance With Somebody (Whitney Houston).
• With or Without You (U2).
• Bad (Michael Jackson)
• The Time of My Life (Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes).
• Faith (George Michael).