They're Playing Our Song: Carole Bayer Sager Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Carole Bayer Sager was one of the finest lyricists of her generation and wrote or co-wrote hits for a large number of artistes. In which of these cities was she born?

Answer: New York

Carole Bayer was born on March 8 1947. She married Andrew Sager in 1970, but they divorced eight years later. She majored in English at New York University.

2. While at high school, Carole Bayer Sager co-wrote what was to be her first hit. "A Groovy Kind Of Love" has been recorded by many artists, but which British band took it to Number 2 in the Billboard charts in 1966?

Answer: The Mindbenders

Bayer Sager wrote the song with Toni Wine at the New York City High School of Music and Art. The Mindbenders put it on a UK album in 1965 and it reached number two therein that year. The following year, it reached number two in the Billboard Hot 100.
Phil Collins had UK and US Number 1 hits with a slower version of the song in 1988. Neil Diamond also covered the song, as did Sonny and Cher and Petula Clarke.

3. Although mostly noted for her songwriting, Carole Bayer Sager was also a performer and had a top 10 UK and Australian hit in 1977. Which of these songs was it?

Answer: You're Moving Out Today

"I stayed out late one night and you moved in
I didn't mind 'cause of the state you were in
May I remind you that it's been a year since then

Today the landlady, she said to me (what did she say?)
You're looney friend just made a pass at me (slap him in the face)
Perhaps you might enjoy a cottage by the sea.

So pack your toys away
Your pretty boys away
Your 45s away
Your alibis away
Your Spanish flies away
Your one-more-tries away
Your old tie-dyes away
You're moving out today."

The song was co-written by Bayer Sager, Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts.
The wrong answers were also written by native New Yorkers: "You Own The Only Light" - Harry Chapin; "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" - Neil Diamond; and "If I'd Loved You Then" - Jerry Jeff Walker.

4. To which of these noted Grammy and Oscar-winning composers was the lyricist Carole Bayer Sager married for nine years in the 1980s?

Answer: Burt Bacharach

Bacharach and Bayer Sager were married from 1982 to 1991. Their collaborations included "That's What Friends Are For", recorded by Rod Stewart and Dionne Warwick, among others; "On My Own", Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald; and "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do", Christopher Cross.
Bayer Sager later collaborated with Albert Hammond on a number of songs.

5. "When I Need You" was a huge UK and US chart hit in 1977. It was co-written by Carole Bayer Sager. Who recorded that hit?

Answer: Leo Sayer

It was co-written with Albert Hammond, who also recorded it on an album of his own in 1976. It 'borrowed' part of its melody from a Leonard Cohen song "Famous Blue Raincoat."
Others to cover the song included C�line Dion, Luther Vandross, Perry Como, Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Brotherhood of Man, Julio Iglesias, Cliff Richard, Clay Aiken and Gene Pitney.

6. One important entry in any songwriter's C.V. is the distinction of being asked to write a theme song for a James Bond movie. For which 007 outing did Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch combine to write "Nobody Does It Better"?

Answer: The Spy Who Loved Me

Carly Simon sang "Nobody Does It Better". The song was a Top 10 hit and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. It was the first official Bond movie not to have a theme song with the same name as the movie.
"The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) was the tenth official Bond movie and was Roger Moore's third outing as 007. It featured the seizing of nuclear submarines by the arch-baddie Karl Stromberg, played by Curd J�rgens.

7. "Under Your Spell" was a song co-written by Carole Bayer Sager and a writer/performer whose career began in the folk music revival before he famously 'went electric' and crossed over to become a rock legend. Who was he?

Answer: Bob Dylan

Bayer Sager later recalled: "...I mean it's hard to call it a collaboration because we were never exactly doing anything together at the same time. And at the end of the day he really didn't use a whole lot of my lyric, maybe a third, but he gave me a credit. I thought, 'Why is he giving me a credit?' He basically lost most of my words, but he said he wouldn't have written it without me in the room.

He was a very generous, brilliant guy, as you all know, and I got to write 'Under Your Spell' with Bob Dylan on the 'Knocked Out Loaded' record." [Noted on her official website.]

8. "When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door)" was a track from an album by a made-for-television 'boy band' and was written by Carole Bayer Sager and Neil Sedaka. Who were they?

Answer: The Monkees

The song appeared on "More of the Monkees", their second album. "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was another CBS/Neil Sedaka collaboration for The Monkees.
Bayer Sager later recalled: "...I loved writing with Neil Sedaka. He was the first major songwriter that I ever got to write with. He was a star when I was at Screen Gems and I asked him would he write with me sometime and he said 'Oh yes, I'd love to.' He was just so filled with life and fun and music - so filled with music."
Bayer Sager and Sedaka also wrote "Lucky Me" and "Like A Clinging Vine" together.

9. In 1978 "Don't Cry Out Loud" by Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen was a Number 10 US hit for a singer who was said to have initially not liked the song. Who was she?

Answer: Melissa Manchester

Three years earlier, Manchester had co-written her Number 6 US hit "Midnight Blue" with Bayer Sager.
Meanwhile, Elkie Brooks had a UK Number 12 hit with "Don't Cry Out Loud", also in 1978.
It was also recorded by Shirley Bassey, Peter Allen, Rita Coolidge, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cab Calloway, Grace Kennedy, and Liza Minnelli.

10. Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch co-wrote "Break It To Me Gently", a Hot Soul charts Number 1 hit in June 1977 for 'the Queen of Soul'. Who was this diva?

Answer: Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, 'the Queen of soul' was one of the top-selling female singers of all time. She had numerous R&B Number One hits, including "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (1967), "Respect" (1967),"Baby I Love You" (1967), "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1971), and "Spanish Harlem" (1971). From 1968, she won eight successive Grammy Awards - and more followed in later year.

11. "Too Close To Paradise" was the theme song of the 1978 movie "Paradise Alley". Carole Bayer Sager, Bill Conti and Bruce Roberts provided the words and music, but, unlikely as it may seem, which Hollywood tough guy sang the song?

Answer: Sylvester Stallone

Stallone also directed the movie, which told the tale of two New York siblings in their bid to make it big in the wrestling world in 1940s New York City.

12. In 1979, a Broadway musical based on the personal relationship between Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch attracted critical acclaim. What was it called?

Answer: They're Playing Our Song

Neil Simon wrote the book and the show was nominated for a slew of awards, winning Lucie Arnaz a Theater World Award. In 1980, Gemma Craven won a Lawrence Olivier Award for best actress in a musical in the original London run.
The show has also been performed in Los Angeles, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Manila and Budapest.
Carole Bayer Sager later said: "...if it was up to Neil Simon, I guess Marvin and I would still be together. But it wasn't quite like that. We wrote some great songs together, we never married as some people think we did but we did not. We lived together for about a year, we dated for about two. Marvin is still a great friend of mine, and one of the most brilliant musical minds that I've ever encountered." [Bayer Sager's website.]

13. For which romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan did Carole Bayer Sager and Carol King collaborate to write "Anyone At All"?

Answer: You've Got Mail

Ryan and Hanks starred in the 1998 movie about a relationship that developed through email.
Bayer Sager recalled: "Two women that I've written with in the last couple of years were my idols years before that. And, you know, the funny thing is that when you have someone you have that much respect for, no matter what time you get with them, even if they've had their greatest creative spurt 20 years ago like Carol King or Carly Simon, the idea of sitting in a room with them and writing with them and hearing their voices and writing songs with them is spectacular." [Bayer Sager's website.]

14. Which song that was to go on to raise $3m for AIDS research earned Carole Bayer Sager and a writing partner a Grammy award in 1982 when it appeared on a movie soundtrack?

Answer: That's What Friends Are For

Bayer Sager wrote it with her then husband Burt Bacharach.
Rod Stewart sang the song on the soundtrack of "Night Shift". It was also adopted by Dionne Warwick. In 1985, Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder joined to sing it as a charity single to benefit AIDS research.

15. Carole Bayer Sager had many songwriting collaborators. One of them was a New York born writer who became one of the most successful performers ever. Of which partner forever in blue jeans did she have the feeling: "We grew up on that voice and now I'm writing with him"?

Answer: Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn in 1941. In his early years he was a jobbing songwriter. "I'm A Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" were just two of the songs he wrote for The Monkees. "Forever In Blue Jeans" "America" "I Am, I Said" and "Cracklin' Rosie" were among the many he sang himself on his way to notching up more than 10 Number One singles.
"I'll See You On The Radio", "Sleep With Me Tonight", "Turnaround", "Lost Among the Stars" and "In Ensenada" were just some of the songs they Diamond and Bayer Sager wrote together.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

From the mid-1960s on, Carole Bayer Sager helped write songs that many people grew up with. She worked with some of the best in the business, producing catchy, successful and award-winning numbers.

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