Sing As You Go Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buddy Can You Spare A Dime

Popularised by Bing Crosby "Buddy Can You Spare A Dime" tells the story of a man who was once a powerful businessman and is now standing in a bread line. It summed up the Depression in 1930s America in a way that no other song quite managed. Written in 1931 by "Yip" Harburg and Jay Gorney it was released just before Franklin D Roosevelt was elected president.

Although recorded by both Rudy Valee and Al Jolson, it was Bing Crosby's recording on Brunswick that was the best selling record of the era.

Answer: Thanks For The Memory

Sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross "Thanks For The Memory" was first heard in the 1938 film "The Big Broadcast of 1938". Dorothy Lamour, who also appeared in the film, recorded it, but it was with Bob Hope that the song became linked. It became his theme song and he usually ended his act by singing it, with lyrics often up-dated to reflect current affairs of the time.

Answer: I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket

Written by Irving Berlin "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" featured in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film, "Follow The Fleet". "Let's Face The Music and Dance" was another popular song from the same film.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were one of the most popular couples of the 1930s. Their films were guaranteed box office hits. As well as "Follow the Fleet" 1936 also saw them star in "Swing Time". Fred Astaire was lauded as one of the great dancers of the time, but, as Ginger Rogers once famously said, she did everything he did "but backwards and in high heels".

Answer: The Merry Old Land of Oz

"The Merry Old Land of Oz" is sung by the folk of Emerald City and described their daily life. The song is interrupted by the arrival of The Wicked Witch of The West, who flies in on her broom and sky writes a demand that Dorothy be surrendered.

"The Wizard of Oz" was nominated for several Oscars. It lost Best Picture to "Gone With The Wind" but did get the award for Best Song for "Over The Rainbow". Judy Garland also received a special award for Best Performance by a Juvenile. Sadly the Oscar for make-up did not exist in 1939 so the wonderful work done on the various characters went unrecognized.

Answer: Night and Day

Originally heard in the 1932 stage show "The Gay Divorce", this song has been recorded by, amongst others, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and has become part of the Great American Songbook. This show was Fred Astaire's last Broadway stage show. His appearances after that were all on film.

Cole Porter was one of the major 1930s composers of Broadway shows, and, unlike some others, he wrote both music and lyrics. "Anything Goes" starring Ethel Merman was one of his most popular shows, along with "Red Hot and Blue", again starring Ethel Merman and a young Bob Hope.

Answer: Get Happy

"Get Happy" was the first song that Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler wrote together, and Ruth Etting sang it in "The Nine-Fifteen Revue" in 1930. Judy Garland sang it in the 1950 film "Summer Stock" and from then on it became associated with her. She used it in her live shows and her television show, once singing a duet of it with Barbara Streisand.

Answer: The Folks Who Live On The Hill

This Oscar Hammerstein/Jerome Kern song was written for the 1937 film "High, Wide and Handsome", where it was sung by Irene Dunne. Bing Crosby also recorded it, but it is with Peggy Lee that the song is always associated. She recorded it for her 1957 album, "The Man I Love", and her beautiful, cool, sophisticated delivery instantly made it her song.

Answer: Mad About The Boy

Written for the 1932 revue "Words and Music" where it was sung by Joyce Barbour, the song is about a girl who has fallen in love with a film star. It has to be sung by a female. Noel Coward did however write another version that was about unrequited homosexual love, which was illegal at the time.

It was rumoured that he was referring to his (unreturned) love for Douglas Fairbanks. This alternative version was banned by the censors. The song was made popular by Dinah Washington in 1952, and had a resurgence in 1992 when it was used as the music for a Levi Jeans commercial.

Answer: Stars Fell On Alabama

The title refers to a particularly spectacular display of the Leonid meteor shower in November 1833. It was referred to as "the night the stars fell". Although this is an annual occurrence, in this particular year it seems that the night was especially clear and still and the shooting stars exceptionally frequent and bright.

The song was written by Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parish.

Answer: Love For Sale

"Love For Sale" was considered at best in bad taste, and at worst scandalous. In "The New Yorkers" it was sung by Elizabeth Welch as a very cynical prostitute plying her trade outside The Cotton Club in Harlem. It was banned from being played on the radio, but despite that, or perhaps because of that, it became very popular.

It has since become part of the Great American Songbook, and has been recorded by Billie Hollliday, Eartha Kitt and Ella Fitzgerald.