Quiz Day!

See how much you remember (or know about) the wild and wacky 1970s, plus period music from John Lennon, Blondie, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen.

More than 25 years ago, with my former Zygote (1970) and Crawdaddy (1971-1979) colleague Peter Knobler, I assembled an anthology of some of the best of the Craw, which was published to good notices as Very Seventies. It included vintage contributions by, among others, Richard Price, John Lennon, Joseph Heller, William Burroughs, Susan Braudy, Tim O’Brien, and Abbie Hoffman, along with our annotations. Just this week I came across a promo item that I prepared for the publicist, a quiz based on many of the pieces in the book. Here are a few of the questions, with the answers (and a few videos) at the bottom. Let us know you did in the Comments. First our usual cartoons. Don’t forget to share or subscribe, it’s still free.

A “Very Seventies” Quiz

1. Where and when did John Lennon perform his last full concert?

2. What classic comedy was originally titled Black Bart?

3. Name the high-profile movie star who was once called “the most misunderstood woman in America.”

4. In 1972, Micheal Jackson told us he really wanted to record with: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Jethro Tull, or Pia Zadora.

5. Who shot Spider Sabich?

6. This former Mansonite tried to shoot President Ford: Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, Tex Watson, or Squaeky Fromme.

7. Which sudden female TV celebrity said she had trouble getting dates as a teen and “always hated Saturday nights”?

8. Spiro Agnew and which famous sports star both retired in October 1973?

9. Gram Parsons died in which town—and who later kidnapped and then burned his remains?

10. In 1973, a record store in Washington D.C. offered two free albums to anyone indicted for what crime?

11. When Marilyn Chambers became a notorious porn star it caused embarrassment for the makers of this popular household product (her picture had appeared earlier on its packaging)?

12. Name Patty Hearst’s boyfriend on the day she was kidnapped.

13. What did Leonard Cohen and Sid Vicious have in common?

14. What did Gloria Steinem and Debbie Harry have in common?

15. This young actor got his big break playing Tricycle Man in Nashville (he also appeared very briefly in a Woody Allen flick). Who was he?

16. Bruce Springsteen played his first major political benefit in 1979—for what cause?

17. Who sang what some consider the breakthrough single for reggae in USA, “I Can See Clearly Now”?

18. How many died during the “Rumble in the Jungle”?

19. The two stars of TV’s “Fernwood Tonight” were?

20. Is Elvis really dead?

Answers:

1. Madison Square Garden, 1972 (two years later he performed three songs at the same joint with Elton John) 2. Blazing Saddles. 3. Jane Fonda 4. Tull 5. Claudine Longet 6. Fromme. 7. Gilda Radner 8. Willie Mays 9. Joshua Tree/Phil Kaufman 10. Watergate scandal 11. Ivory Snow 12. Steven Weed 13. Chelsea Hotel 14. Former Playboy bunnies 15. Jeff Goldblum. 16. Anti-nuclear. 17. Johnny Nash 18. None, though Ali destroyed Foreman. 19. Martin Mull and Fred Willard. 20. Hoax. Rigged. Fake news.

And now: Lennon, Blondie, Leonard, Bruce.

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“Greg is a master curator, and he goes for the soul every time.” —David Beard, National Geographic

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s wild atomic bomb movie), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. His new film, Atomic Cover-up, just had its world premiere and is drawing extraordinary acclaim. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.