Flashback: Stray Cats

By Mick Harper

Pop, Rock, and Soul Trivia.

1. What is "Big Yellow Taxi" about?

2. Name the group that released "Gimme Three Steps."

3. Who released "Secret Lovers"?

4. Where and when did the Stray Cats get their first and only No. 1 song?

5. Name the song that contains these lyrics: "You want to trust her, Then somebody hangs up when you answer the phone."

Answers

1. The song, written and released by Joni Mitchell in 1970, addresses environmental problems. It was written while on a Hawaiian vacation when she looked out the room window and expected to see tropical sights, and instead she saw a paved parking lot.

2. Lynyrd Skynyrd, in 1973. The song is about a guy asking for a head start in escaping out of a bar after he's caught dancing with another man's girlfriend.

3. Atlantic Starr, in 1985. The Barbara Weathers and David Lewis duet topped the Billboard chart in 1986. A cover version was done in 2008 by Alexander O'Neal and Mica Paris.

4. In Finland in 1980 with "Runaway Boys."

5. "When You're in Love With a Beautiful Woman," by Dr. Hook, in 1979. The group was called Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show until 1975. Their first hit was "Sylvia's Mother" in 1972.

(c) 2023 King Features Syndicate