From a Ragdoll to a Barbie Girl Quiz

Answer: The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons song "Rag Doll" was written by band member Bob Gaudio and producer Bob Crewe. In 1964 it topped the Billboard Hot 100, charts and was also a number one hit in Canada.

The story goes that some members of the band were approached at a stop light by a young, grubby girl who wanted to clean their windscreen for their spare change (she was so small she could only clean the side mirrors). They gave her the smallest money they had - the story differs here about where it was $5 or $20, but the song was the result, a few weeks later.

Answer: Marina & the Diamonds

"Valley of the Dolls" was released by Marina and the Diamonds in 2012, on the album "Electra Heart", and it takes its name from the Jacqueline Susann book of the same name.
In this case, "dolls" is a slang term for downers, and mood-altering drugs. "Electra Heart" is a fictional character created by Marina, who is eventually killed by an overdose of sleeping pills.

Answer: Cliff Richard & The Shadows

Written by Lionel Bart, the song was a serious hit in the UK for Cliff Richard and the Shadows, who, at the time, were known as the Drifters. Having topped the charts for them in 1959 it did so again in 1986 when the alternative comedy group, "The Young Ones" approached Richard to re-do the song as part of an effort to raise funds for the charity Comic Relief.

Answer: Duke Ellington

"Satin Doll" has become a jazz standard. The music was composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics provided by Johnny Mercer, after the track had become a hit as an instrumental. "Satin Doll", which has been covered numerous times, was released by Ellington in 1953 and it became his "go-to" closing number for most of his concerts thereafter.

Answer: Cold Chisel

Australian band Cold Chisel released "Painted Doll" as the B-side of their "Saturday Night" single in 1984. Like the A-side, it was written by Donald Walker and it depicts the seedier side of Sydney life, a recurring theme in Cold Chisel's music. The song speaks of a love triangle, in which the woman the singer is in love with is also in the power of someone else, and the desperation the singer feels at the situation.

Answer: Nancy Sinatra

This rag-time style love song was written in 1911 by Seymour Brown and composer Nat D. Ayer and used in a 1949 film bearing the same name. Whilst it has been covered numerous times, some of the more notable renditions cited have been those of Bill Murray and the American Quartet, who recorded it in 1911, John Serry Sr's version from 1954 and Nancy Sinatra's from 1967. Sinatra recorded her version for her album "Sugar".

Answer: Elvis Costello

Written by the evergreen Elvis Costello in 2008, "My All-Time Doll" appeared on his "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" album. While the album didn't achieve great heights in his native UK it went to number thirteen on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Costello advised that the song speaks of coming home to an empty house and that "Jeff Taylor's accordion... assumed a starring role on "My All-Time Doll", a song of lonely nights and desire."

Answer: Hole

This was the sixth single released from Hole's pivotal album "Live Through This" (1994) and was released immediately after the passing of the band's bass player Kristen Pfaff. In an interview with Uncut magazine in 2010, Courtney Love advised that she wrote the song not long after she'd met Kurt Cobain and that the number detailed her insecurities with relationships, particularly her love interests.

Answer: Buddy Knox

Knox was only fifteen years old when he wrote the original verses to this hit, whilst lazing behind a haystack on the family's farm. Backed by his band the Rhythm Orchids, he recorded the song in 1956 and it proved to be a big hit for him the following year. So big that it made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Aqua

"Barbie Girl" was a massive world wide hit for Danish pop group Aqua, after it was released as the third single from the band's "Aquarium" album in 1997. Inspired by a kitsch culture exhibition that had been conducted in Denmark, the song, not only garnered fame and fortune for the band, it also engulfed them within a lawsuit with toymaker Mattel and gave them the honour of being part of the interval entertainment at the 2001 Eurovision song contest.