My Favorite Songs of the 1940s - Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Bewildered

Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart wrote "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" for the 1940 Broadway musical "Pal Joey." Vivienne Segal was the first person to sing the song on the stage.

In 1949, Doris Day had a number nine hit with her recording. Many others have recorded this song including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Celine Dion; Rod Stewart and Cher did it as a duet.

Answer: Blueberry Hill

Vincent Rose, Larry Stock, and Al Lewis wrote "Blueberry Hill" in 1940. Sammy Kaye was the first to record the song that year, but others did as well, with Glenn Miller's being the biggest hit. However, the really biggest hit came more than fifteen years later when Fats Domino recorded the song. His version reached number two on the charts.

On the TV series "Happy Days" (1974-1984) Ritchie Cunningham (Ron Howard) would sing the song whenever he felt lucky and in love.

Answer: Dickie Jones

Leigh Harline and Ned Washington wrote "I've Got No Strings" for the Disney movie "Pinocchio."

Dickie (also known as Dick) Jones was known for doing B-movie Westerns, and for being the voice of Pinocchio. He was the last surviving cast member of the Disney movie, but he also passed away in 2014.

Seth Adkins sang the song in the TV movie "Geppetto," (2000). In 2022 a live-action version of "Pinocchio" was made with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth singing the song.

Answer: birth

Al Jacobs and Don Raye wrote "This Is My Country." In 1942, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians were the first to record this patriotic song.

The first chorus says "This is my country land of my birth." The second chorus says, "This is my country land of my choice."

Others who have sung the song include Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Pat Boone, and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Answer: Jiminy Cricket

Leigh Harline and Ned Washington wrote "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the 1940 Disney movie "Pinocchio." The song was first recorded by Cliff Edwards who voiced Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy Cricket was a cricket who became Pinocchio's conscience when Pinocchio was brought to life by the Blue Fairy before he became a real boy.

The song won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 1940 Academy Awards. It was the first Disney song to win this honor. The song is also considered the signature song of The Walt Disney Company. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked the song number seven in the "100 Greatest Songs in Films History."

Answer: Andrews Sisters

Don Raye and Hughie Prince wrote "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." The Andrews Sisters first sang the song in the 1941 Abbott and Costello movie "Buck Privates." It was nominated for an Oscar but lost to "The Last Time I Saw Paris."

The song became associated with World War II. The song tells the story of a trumpeter from Chicago, Illinois who was drafted into the US Army, but only allowed to play "Reveille" on his trumpet.

In 1972, Bette Midler had a top ten hit with the song when she covered it.

Answer: The Little Drummer Boy

Katherine Kennicott Davis wrote "The Little Drummer Boy" in 1941 under the title "Carol of the Drum." It was first recorded by the Von Trapp Family (yes, the ones "The Sound of Music" is about). The song was inspired by the French carol "Patapan."

In 1958, Harry Simeone recorded the song under the title "The Little Drummer Boy." This version became a top 40 hit.

The song has been recorded by many artists since then including Ray Conniff, Frank Sinatra, Joan Jett, and Justin Bieber.

In 1977, Bing Crosby and David Bowie recorded "Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy" with Crosby starting with "The Little Drummer Boy" and Bowie joining in with the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth."

Answer: Danny Kaye

Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin wrote "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)." Danny Kaye first performed it on Broadway in the musical "Lady in the Dark." Gershwin chose to use the Germanic spelling "Tschaikowsky" instead of the more common "Tchaikovsky."

This song is Kaye rattling off the names of over 50 Russian composers rapidly. Each time he performed it, he tried to beat his record for how fast he did it. At one point he did it in 38 seconds.

Answer: spurs

Joseph J. Lilley and Frank Loesser wrote "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" (also known as "I've Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle") in 1942. It was first sung by Dick Thomas, in the 1942 movie, "The Forest Rangers."

Kay Kyser had the most success with his version that year which reached number one on the Billboard charts.

It has been recorded by other singers including Tex Ritter, Gene Autry, and Glenn Miller. The song was voted by the Western Writers of America as one of the top 100 Western songs of all time.

Answer: False

Irving Berlin wrote the song "White Christmas" for the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn." It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year. Bing Crosby was the first to sing the song and had the biggest hit ever with it.

In 1954, the song was used again in the movie of the same name. The movie was the highest-grossing film of that year. For over fifty years, the Bing Crosby version of the song held the world record for "best-selling single" having sold over 50 million copies.

According to Bing Crosby's nephew, Bing said the hardest thing he ever did in his career was perform "White Christmas" in 1944 for the military in a USO show, and "see 100,000 G.I.s in tears and not break down crying himself. "

Others who have recorded this song include Michael Buble, Gwen Stefani, Meghan Trainor, and The Drifters (their version is used in the 1990 movie, "Home Alone").