Rock and Roll Trivia

[winston]

One more.

Who were the first white rock and roll performers to play at Harlem's Apollo Theater? Name the year if you can.

[admin]

Tom and Jerry became Simon and Garfunkel.

[winston]

Tom and Jerry became Simon and Garfunkel.

That's correct Peter. Their first appearance on American Bandstand was as "Tom and Jerry" They sang 'Hey School Girl'. You were oh so close on the answer you gave on the Motown question. You were mere centimeters away from the correct answer in fact.

[admin]

Buddy Holly was the first white artist to play the Apollo on August 16, 1957.

[admin]

What was the Beatle's first studio recording, that is not a demo but a recording for release?

[winston]

Buddy Holly was the first white artist to play the Apollo on August 16, 1957.

Correct again. Buddy Holly and The Crickets played there on August 16th 1957. It was one of the greatest honors to be the very first "white act" to play in this very important venue previously reserved exclusively for the promotion of the very best "black" entertainers.

[winston]

They key to the question is "signed" by Motown. There were in fact two releases before this act released their own album.

The first release by a white act on a Motown subsidiary lable was RS-505.....Love Sculpture - Blues Helping.....in 1969 and the second release was RS-506.....Pretty Things - SF Sorrow.....also in 1969.

The act I am looking for was the first to sign but did not release an album until after the two mentioned, albeit also in the same year.

I have edited this because I thought Peter's Beatle post was an answer. It is actually another question. Thanks Peter.

[admin]

Perhaps you are looking for the Messengers.

[winston]

One more clue. The band first signed by Motown did not want to go on any of the existing labels for fear they would be overlooked, so the band got to pick the labels new name.

[shamustwin]

Rare Earth?

[winston]

Rare Earth?

Thanks Jerry. You have answered the question correctly.

Here are the next four releases on the label by the same name:

RS-507.....Rare Earth - Get Ready.....1969
RS-508.....Rustix - Bedlam.....1969
RS-509.....Messengers - Messengers.....1969
RS-510.....Rare Earth - Generation.....1969

Peter also answered the question correctly by PM. This proved to be a tough one.


OK so there is one active question and it was posed by Peter. Let's see if we can't nail that one down too.

[antipodean]

What was the Beatle's first studio recording, that is not a demo but a recording for release?

Does the session as Tony Sheridan's backing band in June 61 count? "My Bonnie" was released in '61. A version of "Ain't She Sweet" featuring just the Beatles from these sessions was released after their career had started to roll.

[admin]

Evan: You are getting warm.

[winston]

OK here's another one for those who stay up late, those on the West coast and of course our friends down under and those in the UK who rise early.

Peter Lewis,Jerry Miller,Bob Mosley,'Skip' Spence & Don Stevenson formed this band in the sixties. Who are they? They never had a hit record btw.

[winston]

The last one from me tonight............maybe

Little Richard once told John Kay of the group Steppenwolf that 'Springsteen ain't got nothin' on you!'...True or False