All I Ask Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pete Seeger

"Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago..."

Pete Seeger wrote the song based on a passage in the Russian novel "And Quiet Flows The Don" by Mikhail Sholokhov. Joe Hickerson added a verse.
With its repeated line of "When will they ever learn?", it laments that young girls pick flowers; become wives; their husbands go to war; the soldiers die and are buried; the graveyards are covered by flowers.
The song has been covered by many artists, including Peter, Paul, and Mary and The Kingston Trio. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Answer: Stevie Wonder

"Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful..."

This was Stevie Wonder's song for his newborn daughter, Aisha.
It became a staple song for Wonder, although it was never released by him as a single - it was too long and he refused to cut it for radio airplay.
David Parton had a number four hit with the song in the UK in 1977.
The cast of the show "Glee" took it to number 65 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011.

Amazing information (I found it so, anyway): by the end of 2015, after six years, the "Glee" cast had charted 207 times on the Billboard Hot 100. That is more than Elvis Presley and the Beatles put together. [Source: official Billboard website.]

Answer: Joe Jackson

"Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street
From my window I'm staring while my coffee grows cold
Look over there! (Where?)
There's a lady that I used to know
She's married now, or engaged, or something, so I am told
Is she really going out with him?
Is she really gonna take him home tonight?
Is she really going out with him?
Cause if my eyes don't deceive me,
There's something going wrong around here."

Jackson later said: "That is just one of those songs that started with the title. I heard that phrase somewhere and I thought that could be a kind of funny song about gorgeous girls going out with monsters. It just started from there. It was just a funny song, or supposed to be funny. It was a great surprise to me when some people interpreted it as being angry."

In 1979, the song reached number 13 in the UK singles charts and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached number eight in Ireland and number nine in Canada.

Answer: Linda Ronstadt

"I've been cheated
Been mistreated
When will I be loved..."

The Everly Brothers took the song into the Billboard top ten in 1960 - it was written by Phil Everly.

Linda Ronstadt took it to number two in 1975 after rearranging the verse order.

Answer: Dionne Warwick

"Do you know the way to San Jose?
I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way..."

With lyrics by Hal David and music by Burt Bacharach, the song is sometimes listed without a question mark in the title.

Warwick said of it: "I thought it was a really silly song. Obviously Hal David had a great affinity for San Jose as I believe he was stationed there during his time in the Navy and he loved the place and he wrote a song about it. I just giggled all the way to the bank, what can I tell you?"

This was Warwick's biggest selling single internationally. It reached the top ten in the USA, UK, Ireland, and Canada. It won a Grammy in 1968.

Answer: Tom Paxton

This was an early 1960s song from Tom Paxton that was picked up by Pete Seeger.
Paxton's question "What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?" was answered by the child repeating many of the optimistic lessons he had learnt, including:

"I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes" and the very prescient:

"I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great ones we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance..."

Answer: Beach Boys

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong?"

The song is taken from the point of view of two young people yearning to be old enough to get married.
It was written by Brian Wilson, vocalist Mike Love and lyricist Tony Asher.

The song reached number eight in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and was also a hit in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Answer: The Shirelles

"Tonight you're mine, completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
But will still you love me tomorrow?"

This was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King.
It was always intended for the Shirelles, but Tony Orlando also wanted to sing it and had to be put off by the studio, Aldon Music.

Shirelles lead singer Shirley Alston was initially not convinced this would be a successful follow up to their hit "Tonight's The Night", dismissing it as "too Country and Western".

In 1961, it topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: The Who

"Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

Pete Townsend has only vague memories of writing the song - he was drunk at the time. He has also said the reference to a cop knowing his name and telling him to walk away actually happened.

Roger Daltrey told 'Uncut' magazine: "We were getting incredible accolades from some of the new Punk bands. They were saying how much they loved The Who, that we were the only band they'd leave alive after they'd taken out the rest of the establishment! But I felt very threatened by the Punk thing at first. To me it was like, 'Well, they think they're [Expletive] tough, but we're [Expletive] tougher.' It unsettled me in my vocals. When I listen back to 'Who Are You?' I can hear that it made me incredibly aggressive."

The single reached number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the Official UK Singles Charts in 1978.

It was used as the theme song for the television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" - although the shout of "yeah" that you hear was spliced in from another Who song.

Answer: George Harrison

"What I feel, I can't say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything
succeed.

Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side."

Harrison wrote this as a sort of gospel song for oft-times Beatles collaborator Billy Preston. It ended up as a fast rocker, and he decided it wouldn't be right for Preston.

In the UK, the song was released on the B-side of "My Sweet Lord." In the USA, it was released as a single, with "Apple Scruffs" on the B-side and reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.