E's Gone Missing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ernie

Benny Hill wrote parts of this song in 1955 with the intention of including it in a short film that he'd planned to make about his days as a milkman but it was shelved. He then heard "The Ballad of Irving", which was a hit in the US for Frank Gallop in 1966. It was the style and the structure of the song that attracted Hill's attention and he then used it for a re-written "Ernie". "Ernie" tells the tale of a milkman who has his heart set on a lady known as Sue. But he has a rival for Sue's affections, a baker by the name of Ted. The two have a duel outside Sue's house using the wares they peddle as weapons. Ernie is killed by rock cake that hits him beneath the heart and a stale pork pie that hits him in the eye.

The song was a surprise hit in 1971, topping the charts in the UK for four weeks during the Christmas period.

Answer: Ed

"Mr Ed" is a talking horse and the title character of a television sitcom that aired on CBS between 1961 and 1966. The theme song, which played as an instrumental for the first seven episodes, was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The lyrics, reluctantly sung by Livingston, would appear from episode eight on. Controversy would arise from the lyrics almost twenty years later;
"A horse is a horse, of course, of course
and no one can talk to a horse of course", which Ohio preacher, Jim Brown, claimed in 1986 delivered the following satanic messages when played in reverse;
"Someone sung this song for Satan" and "The source is Satan".

Answer: Eugene

This is a 1968 track by Pink Floyd that first appeared as a B-side to the single "Point Me At the Sky". It went on to become a popular feature of their live shows. So much so that a live version appears on both the 1969 album "Ummagumma" and the 1972 concert documentary "Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii". Predominantly an instrumental the only lyrics that appear on it are those in the title. These are whispered in a menacing manner and closed off with a loud scream by Roger Waters.

The song was later re-recorded and used as part of the soundtrack to Michelangelo Anton's 1970 counter-culture film "Zabriskie Point". The title of the track was changed to "Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up" for the film.

Answer: Earl

Something out of nothing! That is probably the best way to describe this song. Eugene Dixon, who would later change his name to Gene Chandler, and Earl Edwards were members of a group called The Dukays who were enjoying some minor success on the charts with their song "The Girl is a Devil" in 1961.

As part of their warm up routine they would gather in a circle and sing "do, do, do, do" in various keys. One day Dixon improvised with "du, du, du" and then introduced his partner Edwards as "duke of earl". Overheard by their mentor, Bernice Williams, it was suggested that they refine it and record it.

The three of them worked on some lyrics and soon made a recording with The Dukays. The record label, however, did not wish to release it under the band's name because their recent single "Night Owl" was struggling to break into the charts.

There was a fear that an association with the band could harm its sales potential. Dixon was offered the opportunity to change his name and use the song to launch a solo career. Released at the end of 1961 it rose to number one on Billboard's Hot 100 in February the following year and it would remain there for three weeks.

Answer: Eddie

"She's Just a Girl, Eddie" is a track that appears on "Hot Cakes" (2012), the third studio album by British band The Darkness. The band's drummer, Ed Graham, was pretty much shattered when he'd broken up with his then girlfriend. The band's lead singer, Justin Hawkins, commented "I'd never seen him like that".

The song was written as a means of cheering him up and delivering the message "you're a drummer in a rock band, there's thousands of girls out there".

Answer: Eric

This track appears on the Monty Python album "Monty Python's Previous Record" which was recorded by the British comedy troupe in 1972. The preceding sketch on this album is called "Fish Licence" in which John Cleese, as Eric Praline, is seeking a licence for his pet fish, a halibut named Eric.

In the course of the exchange with the licencing clerk we discover that Praline has quite a menagerie of pets, all of whom are named Eric. This skit segues into the song that is "Eric the Half-a-Bee" who was accidentally bisected by his owner on a summer afternoon. Eric Idle composed the melody and John Cleese penned the lyrics. Cleese is especially fond of this piece as he considers himself "most unmusical".

Then, in typical Cleese fashion, he opens the song with a philosophical questioning of what exactly denotes a half-a-bee; "Half a bee, philosophically, must ipso facto half not be.

But half the bee has got to be, vis-à-vis its entity - d'you see? But can a bee be said to be or not to be an entire bee when half the bee is not a bee, due to some ancient injury?"

Answer: E

This track appears on The Eels' third studio album "Daisies of the Galaxy" which was released in 2000. The album received mixed reviews, ranging from being too insular to avoiding trendiness to being the work of genius. Certainly this album sees the Eels move toward brighter topics and a lighter sound than what was evident on their previous recording "Electro Shock Blues" (1998), which delved deeply into the loss of writer E's father and his inability to reconcile with his sister's suicide. "Mr E's Beautiful Blues", however, received glowing praise from the majority of quarters.

Despite this it is a hidden track on the album. E insisted that he didn't want the song on the record, the label said they wouldn't release the album without it. This was E's way of compromising.

It's ironic then that the song became the first single taken from it. The song does burst through your senses like like the bright poppy number it is. Even its chorus line, "God___n right, it's a beautiful day", echoes cheeriness and warms the soul. That is until you start to look closely at the lyrics and note the references to smog clotted skies and suicidal girls that it dawns on you that E is delivering his own brand of sarcasm to you.

Answer: Earl

"Goodbye Earl" tells the tale of a woman caught up in a relationship where she is the victim of domestic violence. She files for a divorce but, as the song says, "Earl just walked right through that restraining order and put her in intensive care". She eventually gets rid of Earl by poisoning his black-eyed peas.

This was the third single to come from the Dixie Chicks' fifth studio album "Fly" (2000) and though it was not as prolific a seller as some of their previous releases it still managed to get to number thirteen on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

The song was written by Dennis Linde who had previously had success with the song "Burning Love" which was a hit for Elvis Presley.

Answer: Elvis

"Elvis Ain't Dead" is the third single to be lifted from the self titled debut album by Scouting For Girls. Released at the end of 2007 the single rose to number eight on the UK Charts and helped to push the band's album to the top of the listings. Lead singer Roy Stride wrote the song about a man pining for his lost love and fervently believing she will return to him.

It was inspired by an article he'd read about a fellow who was totally convinced that Elvis Presley was still alive.

Answer: Edmund

Gordon Lightfoot considers "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", a factual re-telling of the sinking of the ship on Lake Superior in 1975, to be his finest work. In an interview in 2015 Gordon stated that he'd read a small article in Newsweek on the event. Not only did he consider the piece to be a "short shrift" for a story of this magnitude he also became incensed by the constant misspelling of the ship's name as "Edmond" instead of "Edmund". This gave him the impetus to dig deeper and, ultimately, write the song. This confusion of the name was later to be parodied in the television sit-com "Seinfeld". In the episode "Andrea Doria" (Episode 10, season 8) Elaine mistakenly believes that Gordon Lightfoot was the name of the ship and that Edmund Fitzgerald wrote the song. Jerry sarcastically interjects with "Yeah, and it was rammed by the Cat Stevens".

Lightfoot's single, which appears on his 1976 album "Summertime Dream", would reach number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and would be held out of the top spot by Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night". It would also be nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year but would miss out to Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs".