It's About Time... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cyndi Lauper

'Time After Time' was written by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman of The Hooters, who, incidentally, also sang backup on the track. Cyndi got the inspiration for the title from a magazine TV Guide which featured the 1979 science fiction movie 'Time After Time', starring Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells.

The song, which was written while both writers were experiencing personal relationship challenges, was released in 1984 and became Cyndi Lauper's first number one single in the US. It also hit the top ten in 12 other countries including Canada, Australia, the UK, Austria, NZ and Zimbabwe.

In ensuing years, the song has featured regularly on the best love songs of all time lists. It also came in at number 66 on Rolling Stone & MTV's '100 Greatest Pop Songs' list compiled in 2000. And finally, it just scraped in (at number 494) on the Rolling Stones list of '500 Greatest Songs of All Time', published in 2021. (When you think about it, this is no mean feat considering how many songs have been written over the years which is an estimated 80 million!)

Here are some lyrics:
'If you're lost you can look and you will find me/
Time after time/
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting/
Time after time/
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me/
Time after time/
If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting/
Time after time.'

Answer: Coldplay

'Clocks' was jointly written by the members of Coldplay and was released in 2002. According to singer Chris Martin, the pulsing riff in 'Clocks' was inspired by the English rock band Muse, who have sold in excess of 30 million albums worldwide (and, as an aside, were responsible for one of my favourite songs, 'Uprising').

'Clocks' was written very quickly since the band wanted to include it on their album 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' which had already had delays in production. Interestingly (since the song is called 'Clocks,') in 1916 Chris Martin's great-great-grandfather successfully campaigned for the establishment of daylight-saving/British Summer Time.

Though 'Clocks' enjoyed some chart success, it didn't exactly go gangbusters.
However, it did win the Grammy in 2004 for Record of the Year. It also ranked on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the '500 Greatest Songs of All Time' at number 490, and went Platinum in the UK and Italy and Gold in the U.S.

Let's have a look at some lyrics:
'Confusion that never stops/
The closing walls and the ticking clocks/
And gonna come back and take you home/
I could not stop, that you now know/
So I come out upon my seas/
Cursed missed opportunities/
Am I a part of the cure/
Or am I part of the disease.'

Answer: Bob Dylan

'The Times They are a Changin' was written by Bob Dylan when he was just 22 years old. It was recorded in October 1963 and first performed by Bob Dylan later that month in Carnegie Hall. Already written by Dylan as an attempt to create an 'anthem of change', when JFK was killed just a month later, the song was seen as especially poignant.

The track was released as a single in the UK in 1965, where it reached number nine on the charts. It was never released as a single in the U.S.

Since then, the song - which seems will always be relevant - has been covered by at least 50 artists including Billy Joel (who sang it in Russia in 1987) Phil Collins, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, Cher, Carly Simon and Bryan Ferry. Not surprisingly, the song was ranked at number 59 on the 2004 list of the Rolling Stone's 'The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'.

Here are some lyrics:
'Come mothers and fathers/
Throughout the land/
And don't criticize/
What you can't understand/
Your sons and your daughters/
Are beyond your command/
Your old road is rapidly agin'/
Please get out of the new one/
If you can't lend your hand/
For the times they are a-changin''.

Answer: Captain & Tenille

The song 'Do That to me One More Time' was written by the American duo, Captain & Tenille. Not only were the pair a singing duo, they were also husband and wife until 2014. 'Captain' Daryl Dragon (b. 1942 - d. 2019) and Toni Tennille (b. 1940) had five albums in total. 'Do That to me One More Time' and one of their other songs, 'Love Will Keep Us Together,' were their only number one hits.

'Do That to me One More Time' was written by Toni Tenille and released in 1979.
According to 'Billboard' the song was about sex and specifically, male virility. As well as being their second hit, this was the last time Captain and Tenille would ever be in the top 40 in the U.S.

The song reached number one in the U.S., Belgium, South Africa and the Netherlands, number seven in the UK and number three in Australia.

Here are some lyrics:
'Do that to me one more time/
Once is never enough with a man like you/
Do that to me one more time/
I can never get enough of a man like you/
Whoa-oh-oh, kiss me like you just did/
Oh, baby, do that to me once again.'

Answer: Dolly Parton

'9 to 5' as many people will probably know, was the soundtrack to the 1980 comedy movie '9 to 5' which starred Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman. (He is the boss - a 'sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot' according to the women in the movie!)

Written and performed by Dolly, the song '9 to 5' was written specifically for the movie, and owes its title to an actual organisation of the same name which was set up in 1973 in the U.S. The organisation, which still exists, focuses on bringing about equal treatment and fair pay for women in the workplace.

If you remember, Sheena Easton, a Scottish singer, also had a hit called '9 to 5' which came out just three months after Dolly's song. To avoid mass confusion Sheena's version was renamed 'Morning Train'.

Dolly's version of the song '9 to 5' reached number one on the U.S Billboard Country chart, the Billboard Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary charts in 1981. In 1982 it also won the Grammy for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Let's have a look at some lyrics:
'Workin' 9 to 5/
What a way to make a livin'/
Barely gettin' by/
It's all takin' and no givin'/
They just use your mind/
And they never give you credit/
It's enough to drive you/
Crazy if you let it.'

Answer: Moody Blues

'Nights in White Satin' was written by Justin Haywood of the English band, Moody Blues, when he was just 19. The idea for the song apparently came to him while on tour and as he was putting satin sheets on his bed. These were a gift from a previous girlfriend which he happened to have in his suitcase.

The song was released in 1967, three years after the band formed. The lyrics allude to unrequited love, or loving someone from afar, and never being able to let them know. Parts of the rousing orchestral (the introduction and final rendition of the chorus) were performed by the London Festival Orchestra. Meanwhile, the flute solo was performed by Raymond Thomas, a founding member and composer in the Moody Blues. His flute solo is regarded as one of progressive rock's 'most defining moments'.

'Nights in White Satin' made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number one in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands and number 19 in the UK. It has been covered by more than 60 artists.

Here are a few of the lyrics:
'Nights in white satin/
Never reaching the end/
Letters I've written/
Never meaning to send/
Beauty I'd always missed/
With these eyes before/
Just what the truth is/
I can't say anymore/
'Cause I love you/
Yes I love you/
Oh, how I love you.'

Answer: The Mamas and the Papas

'Monday, Monday' is a song written in 1966 by John Phillips of the The Mamas and the Papas. (Most people will probably remember this folk/rock group for their version of 'California Dreamin'' which was also written by John Phillips.)

The group consisted of John Phillips, Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty (whose first name is spelt incorrectly on their albums for some unknown reason).

I have included this song because I had always believed Cass Elliot died at the age of 32 by choking on a ham sandwich. In fact, the singer died of heart failure due to obesity, though she had lost 100 pounds as part of a volatile crash diet she had embarked on in the months leading up to her death in London.

'Monday Monday' was written in a mere 20 minutes. It was The Mamas and the Papas' only number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one in Canada and South Africa, number three in the UK and number four in Australia and Ireland. In March 1967, the song won a Grammy Award in the category 'Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal'. Incidentally, though 'California Dreamin'' did not reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (it was number four) it did make the top single on the 'Billboard end-of-the-year survey' for 1966.

Let's have a look at some lyrics of 'Monday Monday':
'Monday, Monday (bah-da bah-da-da-da)/
So good to me (bah-da bah-da-da-da)/
Monday mornin', it was all I hoped it would be/
Oh Monday mornin', Monday mornin'/ couldn't guarantee (bah-da bah-da-da-da)/
That Monday evenin' you would still be/ here with me'.

Answer: David Bowie

You might be surprised to learn that 'Golden Years' was reportedly written by David Bowie in 1975 for Elvis Presley who was one of Bowie's all time heroes. Though Bowie's office and Presley's office contacted each other in regard to the song, nothing came of it. Elvis did send a note to Bowie though which said 'All the best and have a great tour.' Bowie kept this note for the rest of his life while Elvis, sadly, died just two years later in 1977.

Bowie ended up singing the song and it turned out to be one of his biggest hits in the U.S. It stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks and peaked at Number 10. In the UK it reached number eight and stayed in the charts for ten weeks.

Let's have a look at some lyrics:
'Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere/
Angel/
Come get up, my baby/
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows/
Run for the shadows in these golden years/
I'll stick with you, baby, for a thousand years/
Nothing's gonna touch you in these golden years/
Gold/
Golden years, gold whop whop whop/
Golden years, gold whop whop whop.'

Answer: Cher

'If I Could Turn Back Time' was recorded by American singer Cher in 1989, and was written specifically for her by Diane Warren. (Amongst others, Warren was also responsible for 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith, and 'Rhythm of the Night' by DeBarge.)

Cher absolutely detested 'If I Could Turn Back Time' when she first heard it, and Diane Warren reported that she had to physically hold Cher down by the leg until Cher agreed to do it (but only after some words this author can't really repeat that were yelled by Cher, followed by 'You're hurting my leg!') Later, when the recording session was finished, Cher apparently gave Warren a look which said 'Okay, you were right'.

The video caused a lot of controversy because of the way Cher was dressed - or more to the point - the way she wasn't. In fact, MTV outright banned the video, before later relenting and playing it after 9pm.

The song ended up going double Platinum in Australia, Platinum in the UK and Gold in the U.S.

Let's have a look at some lyrics:
'If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that have hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give 'em all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do
(If I could turn back time)'

Answer: U2

This song was written by Bono of U2 in 1983. It is, in essence, a non-partisan condemnation of the bloodshed in Ireland that has taken place over the years. There were actually two Bloody Sundays in Ireland - one in 1920 when the British fired into a crowd at a football match in retaliation for the killing of undercover British agents, and one in 1972 when the British killed 13 Irish citizens at a civil rights protest. The song is primarily about this later event.

Bono introduces the song at concerts as 'This is not a rebel song'. He also waves a white flag during the song as a call for continued peace in Northern Ireland.

While the song didn't do a great deal on the charts, it is a staple at U2 concerts and, in 2004, the song was ranked at number 268 on the Rolling Stone's list of 'The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.'

Let's have a look at some of the lyrics:
'I can't believe the news today/
Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away/
How long, how long must we sing this song?/
How long? How long?/
'Cause tonight/
We can be as one/
Tonight.'