One of the regular Twin-Pick music trivia contestants, Barbara Duncan, had a good suggestion. She said I should come up with a Twin-Pick on Sonny and Cher.

Wow, that is an act that goes back. They had their first hit before I was paying any attention to pop music. And, while Sonny was elected to congress but is now gone, the result of a skiing accident in 1998, Cher survived the hippy days and she is still a top draw.

Most people, who heard them, know that Sonny really could not sing. But, he could write songs. Heck, he wrote Needles and Pins -- a rock music classic. Sonny was working as a producer for Phil Spector when he met Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre at a coffee shop.

They worked together, Sonny was a great promoter, and they were signed to Atco and, by the mid-1960's, they were putting out the hits. Yes friends, it is time for Twin-Pick. You know how it works. The quiz self-scores. You know on the spot whether you got it right or wrong. Just click on your guess. Get it right and you will be taken back in the time machine to see the original artist perform the original hit. Get it wrong and my rude cyber assistants will humiliate you, and then do it again if they get the chance. This time there are two questions so buck-up and let's go.

1. While they had some top 10 hits, according to Billboard magazine and the UK charts, which of the following songs was the first, and the only, #1 hit recording by Sonny and Cher as a duo?

The Beat Goes On

I Got You Babe

What Now My Love

A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done

All I Ever Need Is You

2. Cher has had more than one #1 song with Sonny, and as a solo singer. Which of the following songs was the first #1 single by Cher, less Sonny singing along?

Dark Lady

Just Like Jesse James

Half-Breed

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections