Literature in Songs Trivia

1. "Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book? It took me years to write, will you take a look?" What does the singer want to be?

From Quiz If You Could Read my Mind, Love

Answer: A paperback writer

"Paperback Writer" was a non-album single from The Beatles from 1966. Written mostly by Paul McCartney, it was a response to a challenge from his Auntie Lil to write something besides love songs - "a horse or the summit conference or something interesting". It was around this time that The Beatles really did start to write about other subjects - "Revolver" came out later that year, with non-love songs such as "Taxman", "Doctor Robert" and "Eleanor Rigby".

From Quiz The House That Jack Built

Answer: The Queen of Soul

The late, great Aretha Franklin was crowned 'Queen of Soul' by DJ Pervis Spann onstage in 1968. Her nickname provided the name for a box set released in 1992, and re-released in 2014, entitled 'Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings'. Franklin died of cancer on 13th August 2018, aged 76. ('Lady Day' was Billie Holiday's nickname, while 'the First Lady of Song' was Ella Fitzgerald's.)

From Quiz Rockin' Fairy Tales

Answer: Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

This 1966 song was released on the MGM label and it went to number two in both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The band's biggest hit was "Wooly Bully". The song is based on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".

From Quiz Little Miss Muffet's Songs from the Tuffet

Answer: Li'l Red Riding Hood

"Li'l Red Riding Hood" reached number two on the "Billboard Hot 100" in 1966. It was the band's second top ten hit and was used as a killer's "calling card" in the movie "Striking Distance" starring Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker in 1993.

From Quiz Once Upon a Song

Answer: Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs reached Number two on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Li'l Red Riding Hood" in August, 1966. "Wooly Bully" was also one of their hits. Lead singer Domingo "Sam" Samudio was born in Dallas, Texas.

From Quiz Books in Songs

Answer: Keep the Customer Satisfied

Written by Paul Simon, "Keep the Customer Satisfied" was originally released on the "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album in 1970, and also featured on the "Tales From New York: The Best of Simon and Garfunkel" double CD released in 2000.

From Quiz Literary Allusions in Rock

Answer: Led Zeppelin

"Ramble On" from the 1969 "Zeppelin II" album contains the lines "Mine's a tale that can't be told / My freedom I hold dear / How years ago in days of old / When magic filled the air / T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor / I met a girl so fair / But Gollum, and the evil one crept up / And slipped away with her." Other Zeppelin songs that may have been inspired by Tolkien's trilogy include "The Battle of Evermore" and "Misty Mountain Hop" from the 1971 "Zeppelin IV" album.

From Quiz Famous Writers in Popular Music

Answer: Balzac

Balzac was a 19th century French novelist and playwright. He generally wrote farcial comedies about French society.

From Quiz Literature in Lyrics

Answer: The Police

"Don't Stand So Close To Me" from the album "Zenyatta Mondatta." The lyric refers to the 1955 novel "Lolita" from Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, the controversial story of an older man's persuit of a young girl. It led some to speculate on Sting's career as a school teacher before joining The Police. He has denied any personal experience from his teaching days.

From Quiz Music about Literature

Answer: Anthem

Rand, the founder of the Objectivist movement, began her look at the individual with the release of "Anthem" in 1937. The book focuses on the Ego as the driving force in all human life. It's a brilliant little read--highly recommended. Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist of RUSH, has been heavily influenced by Rand's work. This is especially noticeable in the song "Free Will" from the "Permanent Waves" album. However, "2112" is probably the band's most profound album and is based on that individualistic novel.

From Quiz The Catcher In The Rye In Song

Answer: Green Day

"Kerplunk" was released in 1992. Green Day hit the big time with the 1994 release of "Dookie" which featured FM favorties "Longview" and "When I Come Around."

From Quiz Rockin' Romeo, Jivin' Juliet

Answer: Blue Oyster Cult

From 1975's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," BOC's first hit. The Goo Goo Dolls later covered the song.

From Quiz If You Could Read my Mind, Love

Answer: Dancing in the Dark

This is the first single from 1984's "Born in the USA" though it was to be followed by six other Top Ten singles in the US. While the first song released from the album, it was the last to be written. Apparently it just took Springsteen one night to put together, so while he might have trouble tryin' to write a book, he seems to be able to write a song OK!

From Quiz The House That Jack Built

Answer: The Stranglers

'Rattus norvegicus' is the scientific name for the common or brown rat, and it was what gave the Stranglers the name for their 1977 debut. Two singles were released from the album, 'Peaches' - which was banned by the BBC for its explicit lyrics - and '(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)'. (I mentioned the Damned as a wrong answer, incidentally, as they had a drummer called Rat Scabies.)

From Quiz Rockin' Fairy Tales

Answer: 100 Proof (Aged in Soul)

This hit appeared on the Hot Wax Records label. "Somebody's Been Sleeping in My Bed" also appeared on the album of the same name. The song was the band's biggest hit, going to number eight on the Billboard US Pop Singles chart and number six on the US R&B chart in 1970. It was the band's biggest hit. The song is based on the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

From Quiz Little Miss Muffet's Songs from the Tuffet

Answer: Ramble On

Led Zeppelin released "Ramble On" on their 1969 album "Led Zeppelin II". The song was never released as a single, but the album was well received worldwide with number one spots in Australia, Canada, Spain, the UK, West Germany and the US. The lyrics are references to "The Lord of the Rings" authored by JRR Tolkien.

From Quiz Rock and Write

Answer: H.P. Lovecraft

Published in 1919, "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is one of the many short stories written by American cult author H.P. Lovecraft, one of the most influential writers of horror and science fiction of the past century. Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album, released in 1970, is widely considered the first heavy metal album. Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce and Stephen King are all American writers well known for their work in the field of weird fiction. Poe and Bierce lived in the 19th century, while King is still living.

From Quiz Once Upon a Song

Answer: Genesis

Peter Gabriel was still lead vocal and front man at the time that their third solo album, "Nursery Cryme," came out in 1971. The song was over ten minutes long. There's a really great Canadian cover band called The Musical Box if you want to get a taste of what Genesis was like back in the day. They even have some of their old equipment!

From Quiz Literary Allusions in Rock

Answer: Kate Bush

Released in 1978 when Kate Bush was only 19, "Wuthering Heights" was the first song written by its female singer to hit Number One on the UK charts; it stayed there for four weeks. Bush said in interviews that she wasn't a huge Bronte fan but that she was fascinated by the idea that "people should want something so much that even when they die they won't let go."

From Quiz Famous Writers in Popular Music

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway killed himself by a shotgun blast to the face at age 61.

From Quiz Literature in Lyrics

Answer: Led Zeppelin

"Ramble On" from "Led Zeppelin II" gives obvious reference to "Gollem" and "Mordor" from J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, "The Lord Of The Rings." More Tolkien references can be heard in "The Battle Of Evermore" and "Misty Mountain Hop."

From Quiz The Catcher In The Rye In Song

Answer: We Didn't Start The Fire

"We Didn't Start The Fire" can be found on Joel's 1989 release of "Storm Front."

From Quiz Rockin' Romeo, Jivin' Juliet

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Written by Springsteen, "Fire" was a big hit for the Pointer Sisters in the late 1970s, and a fixture in his own live shows. Perhaps the funniest version of this song has Robin Williams imitating Elmer Fudd singing it: "I'm dwiving in my caw..."

From Quiz If You Could Read my Mind, Love

Answer: Hamburger stand

"Well she got her daddy's car And she cruised through the hamburger stand now Seems she forgot all about the library Like she told her old man now And with the radio blasting Goes cruising just as fast as she can now And she'll have fun fun fun 'Til her daddy takes the T-bird away" This 1964 single from the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, is probably my favourite Beach Boys tune - it's just so silly and fun. It's apparently based on a true story; they heard about it when the girl in question was complaining about losing the keys to the T-bird. Caleigh Peters does a cover for the soundtrack of the 2005 "Herbie: Fully Loaded" movie.

From Quiz The House That Jack Built

Answer: Cat Power

Like PJ Harvey, Cat Power was originally the name of Chan Marshall's band, before Marshall adopted it as her stage name. She got the idea after seeing a man wearing a hat with 'Cat Diesel Power' on it. 'Jukebox' included covers of songs by Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. (Cat Stevens is a singer-songwriter who changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Kitty, not to be confused with metal band Kittie, is a rapper, and Cat the Dog are an English indie band.)

From Quiz Rockin' Fairy Tales

Answer: Kate Bush

"The Red Shoes" was a single by Kate Bush released on April 4, 1994. It was the third single released from the album 'The Red Shoes'. It charted at number 21 in the UK singles chart. The song itself is inspired by a character in Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger's film 'The Red Shoes' and is about a girl who slips on a pair of enchanted basllet slippers and cannot stop dancing until she breaks the spell.

From Quiz Little Miss Muffet's Songs from the Tuffet

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

"Romeo and Juliet" was released on the album "Making Movies" in 1980. The song peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart, while the album has been ranked at number 52 on Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums of the Eighties".

From Quiz Rock and Write

Answer: Mastodon

Hailing from Atlanta (Georgia), Mastodon have won critical acclaim for the originality of their sound. Their second album, "Leviathan" (2004), is loosely based on Melville's novel, with songs such as "Iron Tusk", "Seabeast" and "I Am Ahab", and stunning cover artwork depicting the mythical white whale. "Moby-Dick", published in 1851, is considered one of the masterpieces of American literature. The remaining three choices are also US-based metal bands.

From Quiz Once Upon a Song

Answer: America

America had a few hits in the 70s and early 80s, including "A Horse with No Name," "Sister Golden Hair" and "Ventura Highway." "Tin Man" was from their "Holiday" album, released in 1974 and produced by George Martin, who famously worked with the Beatles.

From Quiz Books in Songs

Answer: Deacon Blue

"Real Gone Kid" was one of five singles to be released in the UK from Deacon Blue's 1989 album "When the World Knows Your Name". The album reached number one in the UK Album Chart, and "Real Gone Kid" was the highest placed single and also the band's first Top Ten hit, when it peaked at number eight in the UK Singles Chart in 1988.

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