Name That Tune: 50 Oldies Song Questions and Answers (50s, 60s & 70s)

The TriviaTalent Team · 8 min read

The song comes on and your hand finds the radio dial before your mind catches up. Three notes in, you already know it — the title, the year, maybe where you were standing the first time you heard it. That is the strange gift of the old songs. They file themselves away somewhere deeper than a phone number ever goes.

Here are 50 songs from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, each described by its singer, its year, and a telltale clue — no lyrics needed. Read the clue, name the tune in your head, then check the answer underneath. Play it alone, or read it aloud and let the room shout out the titles.

Rock ’n’ Roll Takes Over (The 1950s)

1. This 1955 Bill Haley & His Comets record opened the film Blackboard Jungle and is often called the first rock ’n’ roll song to top the U.S. pop chart. Name it.

“Rock Around the Clock.”

2. Chuck Berry’s 1958 tune about a backwoods boy bound for stardom was later placed aboard the Voyager Golden Record and launched into space. What is it?

“Johnny B. Goode.”

3. Elvis Presley’s 1956 chart-topper shares its name with a breed of dog. Name the song.

“Hound Dog.”

4. Carl Perkins wrote and recorded this 1956 Sun Records hit about a prized piece of footwear; Elvis soon cut his own version. What is it?

“Blue Suede Shoes.”

5. Little Richard’s explosive 1955 breakthrough opens with a burst of joyful nonsense syllables. Name it.

“Tutti Frutti.”

6. The Everly Brothers topped the chart in 1958 with this close-harmony ballad about escaping into a daydream. What is it?

“All I Have to Do Is Dream.”

7. Buddy Holly and the Crickets scored their first number one in 1957 with a title borrowed from a John Wayne line in the film The Searchers. Name the song.

“That’ll Be the Day.”

8. Jerry Lee Lewis pounded the piano on this 1957 hit whose title describes a blazing fireball. What is it?

“Great Balls of Fire.”

9. Fats Domino’s 1956 signature song finds a thrill on a particular hill. Name it.

“Blueberry Hill.”

10. Ritchie Valens turned a traditional Mexican folk song into a rock ’n’ roll hit in 1958. What is it called?

“La Bamba.”

The Early ’60s

11. Chubby Checker set off a national dance craze with this 1960 number one. Name the song.

“The Twist.”

12. Ben E. King’s 1961 classic, co-written with Leiber and Stoller, later gave its name to a 1986 Rob Reiner film. What is it?

“Stand by Me.”

13. Roy Orbison’s 1964 hit, inspired by his wife Claudette, became a movie title starring Julia Roberts decades later. Name it.

“Oh, Pretty Woman.”

14. The Shirelles made history in 1960 with the first Billboard Hot 100 number one by a Black girl group, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. What is it?

“Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”

15. Ray Charles recorded this 1960 standard that later became the official state song of Georgia. Name it.

“Georgia on My Mind.”

16. The Beach Boys called this 1966 number one a “pocket symphony,” and it featured an eerie, theremin-like electronic sound. What is it?

“Good Vibrations.”

17. Patsy Cline turned a young Willie Nelson’s song into a 1961 country-pop standard. Name it.

“Crazy.”

18. The Tokens topped the chart in 1961 with a doo-wop number adapted from a South African song about a sleeping lion. What is it?

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

19. Sam Cooke sang about the hard labor of a prison work crew on this 1960 hit. Name it.

“Chain Gang.”

20. The Drifters reached number one in 1960 with a Ben E. King–led ballad asking a partner to hold one dance in reserve. What is it?

“Save the Last Dance for Me.”

Motown and Soul

21. The Supremes earned their first number one in 1964 with this Holland–Dozier–Holland song. Name it.

“Where Did Our Love Go.”

22. Marvin Gaye took this song to number one in 1968; Gladys Knight & the Pips had recorded their own hit version a year earlier. What is it?

“I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”

23. Aretha Franklin’s 1967 signature hit, a reworking of an Otis Redding song, famously spells out a single word. Name it.

“Respect.”

24. The Temptations scored their first number one in 1965 with a song co-written by Smokey Robinson. What is it?

“My Girl.”

25. Otis Redding recorded this gentle number just days before his death; it reached number one in 1968. Name it.

“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

26. Stevie Wonder, then billed as “Little Stevie,” topped the chart in 1963 with a live recording made when he was just 13. What is it?

“Fingertips, Pt. 2.”

27. The Four Tops reached number one in 1966 with this urgent, pleading Holland–Dozier–Holland anthem. Name it.

“Reach Out I’ll Be There.”

28. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles went to number one in 1970 with a song about hiding sadness behind a smile. What is it?

“The Tears of a Clown.”

29. Percy Sledge delivered this aching soul ballad, a number one in 1966. Name it.

“When a Man Loves a Woman.”

30. James Brown’s 1965 record is often cited as a crucial step toward the birth of funk. What is it?

“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”

The British Invasion

31. The Beatles scored their first American number one in January 1964 with this single. Name it.

“I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

32. The Rolling Stones broke through in 1965 with a song about frustration, built on one of rock’s most famous fuzz-guitar riffs. What is it?

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

33. The Animals topped the chart in 1964 with a brooding adaptation of a folk song set in a New Orleans house. Name it.

“The House of the Rising Sun.”

34. The Kinks helped invent the hard-rock riff in 1964 with this raw, distorted hit. What is it?

“You Really Got Me.”

35. The Beatles’ biggest-selling single, released in 1968, was written by Paul McCartney to comfort John Lennon’s young son Julian. Name it.

“Hey Jude.”

36. The Who captured youthful defiance in this 1965 anthem. What is it?

“My Generation.”

37. Petula Clark had a transatlantic number one in 1964 inviting the listener to the bright, busy heart of the city. Name it.

“Downtown.”

38. The Rolling Stones returned to form in 1968 with this driving single, a comeback after a psychedelic detour. What is it?

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

The Late ’60s

39. The Righteous Brothers recorded this towering 1964 ballad, a showcase for Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.” Name it.

“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

40. Procol Harum’s 1967 hit floated on a solemn, Bach-inspired organ line. What is it?

“A Whiter Shade of Pale.”

41. The Monkees reached number one in 1966 with this Neil Diamond–penned song. Name it.

“I’m a Believer.”

42. Simon & Garfunkel had a 1968 number one tied to the film The Graduate, addressed to a certain older woman. What is it?

“Mrs. Robinson.”

43. Louis Armstrong recorded this tender 1967 ballad, a gentle look at the world’s small wonders, that became a bigger hit in Britain at the time. Name it.

“What a Wonderful World.”

44. The 5th Dimension topped the 1969 chart with a medley drawn from the rock musical Hair. What is it called?

“Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.”

Into the 1970s

45. Simon & Garfunkel closed the 1960s and opened the ’70s with this gospel-tinged 1970 number one. Name it.

“Bridge over Troubled Water.”

46. Don McLean’s 1971 eight-and-a-half-minute epic is widely read as an elegy for Buddy Holly. What is it?

“American Pie.”

47. Roberta Flack had a number one in 1972 with a quiet ballad featured in Clint Eastwood’s film Play Misty for Me. Name it.

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

48. Carole King wrote this song for her 1971 album Tapestry; James Taylor’s version became a number one the same year. What is it?

“You’ve Got a Friend.”

49. Queen stunned listeners in 1975 with a nearly six-minute track that shifts from ballad to mock-opera to hard rock. Name it.

“Bohemian Rhapsody.”

50. Gloria Gaynor turned heartbreak into a defiant 1978 disco anthem of survival. What is it?

“I Will Survive.”

Frequently asked questions

How do I play “Name That Tune” with a group?

Read the clue aloud and give everyone a moment to call out a guess before you reveal the answer. Keep score if you like, or just let the titles jog memories — half the fun is the story someone tells about where they were when a song first played.

Are these the actual lyrics?

No. Each clue describes the song — its singer, its year, a fact about how it was made — rather than quoting the words, so you’re naming the tune from memory, not reading it off the page.

Which decade had the most number-one hits here?

The 1960s do a lot of the heavy lifting, between Motown, the British Invasion and the soul explosion. If you want to lean further back, try our doo-wop trivia questions and answers, or test your ear on the stars who vanished after one big hit in our ’60s one-hit wonders trivia.

Where can I check these facts?

Every artist, title and year above is drawn from the reputable sources listed just below.

Sources

Still humming? Play our trivia quizzes and see how many you can name before the chorus comes around.