NOW
NEXT
LATER
NOW
NEXT
LATER
NOW
NEXT
LATER

Yesterday Once More

23 Sep 2015

Answer Songs

Music

Hi Listeners

This week we are going to present answer or answer back songs. These are songs that were designed to respond to a current hit single. Prevalent in rock, pop, country and R and B the answer back song often used the same melody as the original in order to make fun of it or changed the lyrics to provide humour. Initially, I thought it was just a fad of the fifties and sixties, but answer back songs have continued right into the 2000’s. Occasionally, answer songs would be sung by the same artist such as Lesley Gore’s ‘Judy’s Turn To Cry’ which was a follow up to ‘It’s My Party’ and was equally successful. Of course many answer songs were inferior to the original and didn’t do well at all.

Some of the worst examples of answer songs featured this week are Dodie Steven’s ‘Yes I’m lonesome Tonight’ in answer to Elvis’s ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ and the Bobbettes straight pinch ‘ I Don’t Like It Like That’ responding to DC5’s ‘I Like It Like That’ and Aussie Dorothy Baker’s ‘I’m The Girl From Wolverton Mountain’ answering Kevin Shegog’s ‘Wolverton Mountain’. But, some answer songs managed to distinguish themselves and became popular in their own right such as Damita Jo’s “I’ll Save The Last Dance For You’ following the Drifter’s smash hit ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’ and Jody Miller’s satirical, clever Song ‘Queen Of The House’ (which won her a Grammy in 1966) responding to Roger Miller’s ‘King Of The Road’.

Playlist

  • King Of The Road – Roger Miller
  • Queen of The House – Jody Miller
  • Are You Lonesome Tonight? – Elvis Presley
  • Yes, I’m Lonesome Tonight – Dodie Stevens
  • Save The Last Dance For Me – Drifters
  • I’ll Save The Last Dance For You – Damita Jo
  • It’s My Party – Lesley Gore
  • Judy’s Turn to Cry – Lesley Gore
  • Wolverton Mountain – Kevin Shegog
  • I’m The Girl from Wolverton Mountain – Dorothy Baker
  • I Like It Like That – DC5
  • I Don’t Like It Like That – Bobbettes

RECENT PODCAST

Our Albums

8 Dec 2024

Our Albums

50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, Music, Nostalgia, Songs

As this is the last episode of Yesterday Once More for 2024, we would like to thank you our listeners ...

Sand

1 Dec 2024

Sand

50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, Music, Nostalgia, Songs

We’ve had some unusual themes in our program but ‘Sand’ must be one of the more unusual. Surprisingly, there are ...

Food and Drink

24 Nov 2024

Food and Drink

50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, Music, Nostalgia, Songs

In this episode, we take a look at songs that refer to food and drink. The playlist features a variety ...