Hello Children, Everywhere! #1 Quiz

Answer: Tubby the Tuba

Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger wrote the story in the early 40s but it wasn't released until after World War ll when it became an instant hit. It was ideal material for the brilliant Danny Kaye whose version has become the most famous. Since then the story has been played by many orchestras, narrated by stars and translated into other languages.

It has been used as a clue in the New York Times crossword, made into films and the ultimate accolade in 2006 was to be included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry as one of the landmarks in American Audio History. Tubby must be "so happy".

Answer: Hans Christian Andersen

Story songs like "Inchworm", "The King's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling" were always firm favourites on children's radio of the 50s and 60s as well as the exuberant "Wonderful, Wonderful, Copenhagen". Danny always appealed to children with his many voices, facial contortions and his physical humour in films and on stage.

He was ambassador for the children's charity UNICEF and raised funds through concerts for impoverished children worldwide.

Answer: 2000 pounds or more

Frank Crumit began his career in vaudeville around 1913 and soon graduated to Broadway. He became a popular singer and songwriter during a period when recording techniques were improving rapidly. He became known for humorous songs like "Abdul Abulbul Amir", "The Prune Song" and "Granny's Old Armchair" and hosted a long-running radio quiz show with his wife,Julia, called "Battle of the Sexes".

After being riduculed by his brothers and sisters, who inherited small sums of money, the singer of "Granny's Old Armchair" uses the chair for years before he has the last laugh when the seat falls out to reveal the treasure trove.

Answer: It struck 24

The song was written by Henry Clay Work who also wrote "Marching Through Georgia". It has been recorded by many artists in countries worldwide. It is said to have been reponsible for "longcase clocks" becoming better known as "Grandfather clocks". The clock was purchased on the day "Grandfather" was born and marked notable occasions throughout his life, until "it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died" - a total of "90 years without slumbering".

Answer: Chicago

Written in the 1920s by Robert E Massey the song was always in demand in children's programmes on British radio in the 50s and 60s. The version by country artist Vernon Dalhart, complete with harmonica and jaws harp accompaniment, was the preferred one, although other artists had recorded it. Dalhart was a big seller of recordings in the 1920s and 30s and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 1981.

Despite all its problems "No 9" is still "rolling down the hill" somewhere, apparently, according to the song.

Answer: Alma Cogan

Apparently the train line was useful for getting rid of bill collectors and unwelcome relatives - although Alma seems to have fallen foul of an express when the song comes to a sudden finish at the sound of a train whistling through. Alma Cogan was a massive recording star in the 1950s in Britain and recorded this song in 1956 at the height of her fame before rock n' roll and the groups detracted from her success in the 60s.

She was a good singer with a sparkling personality, who dressed flamboyantly and was much in demand for television.

The sound of the "laugh" in her voice was infectious and it was a sad loss when she died in her early 30s in 1966.

Answer: Three

This story is taken from a Norwegian fairy tale and has been much adapted for stage, TV, musicals and cartoons. Increasingly larger goats try to cross the Troll's bridge to fresh pasture and avoid being devoured by promising the next one across will be an even bigger meal for him. Finally great big Billy Goat Gruff charges and butts him into oblivion. Frank Luther had a career as a dance band singer and then a hillbilly country artist before becoming Decca's performer of children's songs and stories in the 1940s. Decca claimed that in 1946 85% of all English language children's records were sold by Luther.

He recorded the story in 1947 and his Troll had "Three heads and three hats" as well as "Six eyes and six ears" and when he cried he cried six tears.

Answer: Jiminy Cricket

Not only children love this song it was also awarded an Oscar for the Best Original Song of its year. Furthermore it was voted the seventh best film song ever by The American Film Institute, the ships of The Disney Cruise Line use the first seven notes of the melody as their horn signals and Disney theme parks still use it for parades. Cliff Edwards superb and emotional singing of the song was the highlight of his career although he was well-known through the 20s and 30s - sometimes as Ukelele Ike - as a singer and voice artist and carried on working until 1970.

He was careless with money and went bankrupt four times despite an impressive canon of work across the entertainment industry.

Answer: Jim Crow

The cartoon of Dumbo, the flying elephant, was made to recoup the losses made by "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" in 1940. It was comparatively short at 64 minutes and made for $813,000 - a third of the cost of "Pinocchio". It grossed $1.6 million and, along with "Snow White", was the only pre-1943 Disney feature to turn an initial profit despite being released only two months before America entered WWll.

Its soundtrack won the Oscar for 1941 and the songs remained great favourites for children of the 50s and 60s.

In 1981 it was the first of Disney's animated features to be released on home video.

Answer: The Road to Mandalay

"Nellie the Elephant" was released in 1956 and sung by an English child actress called Mandy Miller. It was produced by George Martin who produced much of The Beatles output. Although never a chart hit it was played to destruction on the children's request shows and has graduated to a medical use too.

The rhythm and length of the chorus to the song is ideal for using as a guide and tempo for CPR, so it may have also saved some lives! Not many children's songs can claim that.

Answer: 6 o'clock

The melody from this song was composed in 1907 but it wasn't until 1932 that lyrics were written by Jimmy Kennedy. There have been lots of versions of it over the years but the Henry Hall rendition was the first to include the lyrics and was also the one most popular with children in Britain in the 50s and 60s.

The song has also been used numerous times in TV, film and radio but the most unusual use was by BBC engineers, over a period of thirty years, to test and calibrate audio equipment due to its wide tonal range and recording quality.

Henry Hall was a well-known bandleader from the 20s through to the 50s but this is probably his best known recording, which has sold over a million copies.

Answer: Roy Rogers

This charming song tells the story of a much-loved teddybear and its owner and constant companion depite poor Teddy having only one eye and no hair. Rosemary Clooney was a singer and actress who had a number of hits in the 40s and 50s and appeared in the classic film "White Christmas".

She was still performing as recently as 2001. George Clooney is her nephew. Roy Rogers was a cowboy legend who made over 100 films between the 30s and 50s as well as having his own TV show with his wife, Dale Evans, his horse, Trigger, and his dog, Bullet.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998 for his extensive catalogue of recordings.

Answer: Donner and Blitzen

The song was based on an earlier story of the reindeer who went from being the butt of the other reindeer's jokes to become the hero of Christmas as his nose guided Santa through the fog. Gene Autry is the only person to have five stars on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for each category.

He was once involved with rodeo, he owned a baseball team for over thirty years and was known for his films, TV, radio and music. Even his horse, Champion, had its own TV series. The song was number one at Christmas 1949 but dropped off the charts the following week although it had sold 2.5 million copies that year.

It went on to sell more than 25 million and was the second biggest selling record of all time until the 80s. It has been covered by others numerous times.

Answer: an old silk hat

The story of the snowman who came to life is a wonderful fantasy for children (note the enduring popularity of Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman"). It is a song that has been recorded by too many artists to name but notably Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis and by the Ronettes for "Phil Spector's Christmas album".

It has been turned into a book and in 1969 an animated version was produced with Jimmy Durante as the narrator. In addition two animated sequels have subsequently been produced. Like Rudolph it appears Frosty will go on forever!

Answer: Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn became a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire in 1975 for her services during WWll, her charity work and her music. In 2009 she became the oldest living performer to top the British album charts at 92 years of age with a compilation of her work.

This song was issued at a time at the start of WWll when children were being evacuated away from cities to safer, rural areas. Often they could be hundreds of miles from home, where Mum was, and Dad was probably conscripted into the Forces.

Hearing the song on the radio at least gave the idea that they weren't forgotten.