Answer Records / Sequels

The notion of an answer song is simple; one artist poses a question ('the call') or raises an issue - and (usually) another vocalist answers it in song. The pursuit provided a means of freshening up the later stages of the pure rock 'n' roll era, entering the pop charts in 1959. By 1961 it had reached epidemic proportions. After 'ticking over' steadily for a couple of decades there was another outbreak - this time as dance music had become somewhat staid - in 1986. Most answer songs are neither accomplished nor very entertaining after the first listen. They are frequently based around the same melody as 'the call' and are released soon after its decline when, paradoxically, the record buying public is growing weary of the tune. For these reasons the vast majority of answer songs fail to make an impact on the chart. There are, however, some notable exceptions. Frankee's "F.U.R.B." (2004) was the first answer song to make the top spot. Here is the everyhit.com listing of answer records. We have included songs only if they were Top 40 hits (either the 'call', the 'answer' - or both). We have not included entries where the 'answer' song is a simple parody of the initial release (for example, we do not consider the Wurzel's "I've Got A Brand New Combine Harvester" to be a legitimate answer to Melanie's "Brand New Key"!) Year Original High posn Answer song Year High posn 1959 Neil Sedaka - "Oh Carol" 3 Carole King - "Oh Neil" 1959 - 1960 Jim Reeves - "He'll Have To Go" 36 Jeanne Black - "He'll Have To Stay" 1960 - 1960 Brian Hyland - "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" 8 Jerri Lynn Fraser - "Poor Begonia" 1966 - 1960 The Drifters - "Save The Last Dance For Me" 2 Damita Jo - "I'll Save The Last Dance For You" 1960 - Billy Fury - "You're Having The Last Dance With Me" 1961 -  1961 Elvis Presley with The Jordanaire - "Are You Lonesome Tonight" 1 Geraldine 'Dodie' Stevens - "Yes I'm Lonesome Tonight" 1961 -  1961 The Shirelles - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" 4 Bertelle Danere - "Not Just Tomorrow But Always" 1961 - Satintones - "Tomorrow And Always" 1961 - 1961 Ernie K-Doe - "Mother-In-Law" 29 Blossoms - "Son-in-Law" 1961 - 1961 Bobby Vee - "Take Good Care Of My Baby" 3 Sammi Lynn - "You Should Know I'm Still Your Baby" 1961 -  1961 The Tokens - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)" 11 The Romeos - "The Tiger's Wide Awake" 1961 -  1962 The Four Seasons - "Sherry" 8 Tracey Dey - "Jerry I'm Your Sherry" 1962 -  1963 The Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand" 1 Bootles - "I'll Let You Hold My Hand" 1964 -  Beatlettes - "Yes You Can Hold My Hand" 1964 - 1964 Lorne Greene - "Ringo" 14 Robin Garrett - "Ringo's Revenge" 1964 - 1965 Roger Miller - "King Of The Road" 1 Jody Miller - "Queen Of The House" 1965 -  1965 Barry McGuire - "Eve Of Destruction"  3 Spokesmen - "Dawn Of Correction" 1965 - 1965 James Brown & The Famous Flames - "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" 25 Anna King - "Mama's Got A Bag Of Her Own" 1965 -  1966 Percy Sledge - " When A Man Loves A Woman" 4 Esther Phillips - "When A Woman Loves A Man" 1966 - 1966 James Brown & The Famous Flames - "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" 13 Chubby Martin - "It's Not A Man's World" 1966 -  Irma Thomas - "It's A Man's Woman's World" 1966 - 1966 Napoleon XIV - "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haa" 4 Teddy & Darrel - "They Took You Away, I'm Glad, I'm Glad" 1966 - Josephine XV - "I'm Happy They Took You Away Ha-Haaaa" 1966 - 1967 Royal Guardsmen - "Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" 8 Delicatessen - "Red Baron's Revenge" 1967 -  1968 The Beatles - "Revolution" (B-side of "Hey Jude") 1 The Rolling Stones - "Street Fighting Man" 1971 -  1969 Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" 2 Geraldine 'Dodie' Stevens - "Billy I've Got To Go To Town" 1969 - 1971 The Piglets - "Johnny Reggae" 3 Johnny Reggae - "Keep Your Knickers On" 1971 -  1971 Isaac Hayes - "Shaft" 4 R. B. Freeman - "I'm Shaft (You Ain't Shaft)" 1975 -  1972 Chuck Berry - "My Ding-A-Ling" 1 Miss Chuckleberry - "My Pussycat" 1972 - 1972 Neil Young - "Southern Man" - Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama" (EP track) (partial answer-back) 1976 31  1974 Paul Anka - "You're Having My Baby" 6 Sunday Sharpe - "I'm Having Your Baby" 1975 - 1978 Jilted John - "Jilted John" 4 Julie & Gordon - "Gordon's Not A Moron" 1978 - Julie & Gordon - "J-J-Julie (Yippie Yula)" 1978 - 1983 Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean" 1 Lydia Murdoch - "Superstar" 1983 14 1984 Jocelyn Brown - "Somebody Else's Guy" 13 Frederic MC Count Linton- "I'm Somebody Else's Guy" 1984 -  1985 Feargal Sharkey - "A Good Heart" ** 1 Feargal Sharkey - "You Little Thief" ** 1986 5  1986 Janet Jackson - "What Have You Done For Me Lately" 3 King MC - "What Have I Done For You Lately?" 1986 -  1986 Madonna - "Papa Don't Preach" 1 Daniel Aiello - "Papa Only Wants The Best" 1986 - 1986 Gwen Guthrie - "Ain't Nothing Goin' On But The Rent" 5 Wally Jump Jr. - "Ain't Gonna Pay You One Red Cent" 1984 -  1986 Oran 'Juice' Jones - "The Rain" 4 Miss Thang - "Thunder And Lightning" 1986 -  1991 Color Me Badd - "I Wanna Sex You Up" 1 TCF Crew - "If You Want To Sex Me Up" 1991 -  1999 TLC - "No Scrubs" 3 Sporty Thievz - "No Pigeons" 1999 21 2000 Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady" 1 Emily Ellis - "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Shut Up (My Reply)" (performed from the perspective of Christina Aguilera) 2000 - 2000 Eminem - "Stan" 1 Airheadz - "Stanley (Here I Am)" 2001 36 2001 Shaggy featuring Rikrok - "It Wasn't Me" 1 Lady Saw featuring Marsha "Son Of A Bitch" 2001 - 2003 50 Cent - "21 Questions"  6 Lil' Mo featuring Free - "21 Answers" 2003 - 2004 Eamon - "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" 1 Frankee - "F.U.R.B." 2004 1 2004 Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy - "I Don't Wanna Know"  1 The Pirates featuring Enya, Shola Ama, Naila Boss & Ishani - "You Should Really Know" 2004 - Rufus Thomas' "Bear Cat" (1953) is not included in the above table although it was the answer to Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" (1952). Neither of these made the UK Top 40. Of course, "Hound Dog" was later a hit for Elvis Presley (1956). Although Elvis' version did make the Top 40 we have not included this as it would give the impression of an answer song being released prior to 'the call'! We'll add other examples of the phenomenon to this page in the near future. ** Feargal Sharkey is the only artist to have recorded an answer record in response to a call song of his own! Here's why: Feargal was friends with songwriters Maria McKee and her boyfriend Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers). Maria and Benmont's relationship ended and she wrote "A Good Heart" about the split. Feargal had a hit with it. Benmont's response to this was to write the song "You Little Thief" (about Maria) which Feargal, not wishing to show favouritism, recorded! Sequels Some songs pick up on a theme begun in another composition but can't be regarded as answer songs. These tend to be recorded by the same artist as the original, though there are exceptions. Below is a list of such sequels. Again, they have been included only if one of the pairing made the Top 40. Year Original High posn Sequel Year High posn 1957 Fats Domino - "Ain't That A Shame"  23 Fats Domino - "Walking To New Orleans" 1960 19 1957 Buddy Holly - "Peggy Sue"  6 Buddy Holly- "Peggy Sue Got Married"  1959 13 1960 Brenda Lee - "I'm Sorry" 12 Ben Vaughn - "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)" 1960 - 1961 Ernie K-Doe - "Mother-In-Law" 29 Ernie K-Doe - "My Mother In Law (Is In My Hair Again)" 1964 - 1963 Lesley Gore - "It's My Party" 9 Lesley Gore - "Judy's Turn To Cry" 1963 - 1966 Mamas & Paps - "California Dreamin" 23 Mamas & Papas - "Creeque Alley" 1967 9 1967 Kinks - "Waterloo Sunset"  2 Bob Geldof - "Love Like A Rocket" 1987 - 1968 The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever" 2 The Beatles - "Glass Onion" 1967 - The Beatles - "I Am The Walrus" - 1968 The Beatles - "Fool On The Hill" - 1968 1969 David Bowie - "Space Oddity" 5 David Bowie - "Ashes To Ashes" 1980 1 Peter Shilling - "Major Tom (Coming Home)" 1984 - The only song to have both an answer-back and a sequel is, therefore, Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-In-Law"!