Top 40 Trivia Vol
1-2
 
Sample page below from Top 40 Trivia Vol
2.
ROCK AND ROLL (I Gave You
The Best Years Of My Life) (Kevin Johnson) (1973)
Johnson wrote the song on a trip from Sydney to
his home where he had lived on the northern beaches. He says the
first third of the song was totally true but the rest is changed to
suit the occasions in the song. (At that stage he hadn’t even left
Australia). Mac Davis was his first choice to record the song but he
wasn’t that impressed by the Nashville-produced version. In Mac’s
version he changed the words to include his wife - who apparently
left him a week after
he recorded it. Johnson’s version only made No 73 in
America. It fared better in the UK where it made No
23.
ROCK AND ROLL GIRLS
(John Fogerty)
(1985)
The song was inspired by his daughter Laurie
who at the time was 14 years
of age. This hit was featured on his solo album
Centerfield which also contained the hit single Old Man Down The
Road.
ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
(Bill Haley & The Comets)
(1955)
It’s original working title was Dance Around
The Clock. Originally recorded by Sonny Dae in 1954, it wasn’t a
major hit for Haley and the Comets until their version was included
in the soundtrack to the film The Blackboard Jungle. (Just
three weeks after recording this song in 1954, Comets’ guitarist
Danny Cedrone died of a heart attack after falling down some
steps.)
ROCKET MAN
(Elton John)
(1972)
Bernie Taupin says the song’s beginning came
when he thought of the words: - "She packed my bags last night,
pre-flight. Zero hour is 9am." He recalls jumping out of his car and
running into his parent’s house shouting: "Please
don’t anyone talk to me until I’ve written this down."
He admits to stealing the song title from US singer Tom
Rapp.
ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD
(Status Quo)
(1976)
This was a cover version of the song written
and previously recorded by John Fogerty, ex-Creedence Clearwater
Revival. Fogerty had issued his original recording as a single in
September 1975. It never charted in Australia and was a minor hit in
the US. When Quo member Rick Parfitt first heard Fogerty’s version
on his car radio he suggested to the rest of the band that they
should record a
‘Quo’ version. Although the other band members were initially reluctant,
the song was eventually recorded and has subsequently become a Quo
anthem.
RUBY BABY
(Dion)
(1963)
Songwriters Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber
originally penned the song for The Drifters in 1955.
Dion had the biggest hit version in 1963 and describes
the recording as "probably the happiest couple of minutes I’ve ever
done.
RUNNING SCARED
(Roy Orbison)
(1961)
The song title came from a news headline that
Orbison read in a newspaper during a plane trip. It was his first No
1 hit in the
US. The flipside was Love Hurts - which became a
hit for Jim Capaldi as well as the band Nazareth in
1976.
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