recordar or acordarse, unos pocos

there is this sentence = the deceased were only remembered on November 1st.

the answer is = solo se recordaba a los difuntos el primero de noviembre.

But is using acordarse acceptable as well? 

= solo se acuerdaba ?

second question is that, for a few years = unos pocos años or pocos años.

can we use unos cuentos años or un par de años?

i do not understand why one is preferred over the other.

by the way, the audio seems to have some problems as i cant play it.

thanks