Sing an Instrumental Song Trivia Quiz

Answer: T. Rex

The song was actually called 'Get it On' when it was released in the UK. In the USA, the title was adapted to 'Bang a Gong (Get it On)' as there was another song with the original title out at the same time. Either way, the band invited you to 'bang a gong'.

The song was written by Marc Bolan, the lead singer of the band and one of the early 'glam rock' stars. He was destined to die young, in a car crash, in 1977.

Answer: Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson was a well regarded session musician, whose career began in the 1950s. He played on several hits, including 'To Know Him is to Love Him' recorded by The Teddy Bears in 1958. Nelson had solo hits with 'Teen Beat' in 1959 with 'Let There Be Drums' following two years later.

Answer: The Who

The song was written by band member Pete Townshend and appeared on The Who's album 'The Who By Numbers'.

Released as a single in 1975, 'Squeeze Box' reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart and number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, it did even better, reaching the top spot on the Canadian Singles Chart.

Answer: Kate Bush

The song describes the singer's feelings as she is listening to a saxophone player in a bar in Berlin. It appeared on Kate's first album, 'The Kick Inside', which gave us the classic 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Man With the Child in His Eyes', both of which made the UK Singles Chart Top Ten.

Answer: Dire Straits

These are lyrics from the band's first big hit, 'Sultans of Swing'. The song was taken from their first album, named 'Dire Straits', and told the story of a band playing jazz in a poorly attended venue. As well as the guitar, singer Mark Knopfler also mentions horns and honky tonk piano, played by 'Harry', who 'doesn't mind' if the band makes it or not, in the lyrics.

The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. Other hits for the band include 'Romeo and Juliet' in 1981 and 'Money for Nothing' from 1985.

Answer: Flanders and Swann

Flanders and Swann were well known for their comic songs, which include 'The Gasman Cometh', 'The Hippopotamus' (with its chorus of 'mud, mud, glorious mud') and 'Have Some Madeira, M'Dear'. The tune for 'Ill Wind' is taken from Mozart's 'Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major' and the song describes how the singer found his 'horn, gorn'. If you've never listened to Flanders and Swann, try and seek them out - their songs are very clever and funny.

Answer: Bread

Not to be confused with the song by Elvis, which was 'Guitar Man', Bread took 'The Guitar Man' into the charts in both the USA and UK in 1972. The band's biggest hit was in 1970 when 'Make It With You' reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. As with most of Bread's hits, both these songs were written by the band's lead singer, David Gates.

Answer: Ken Dodd

Although primarily known as a comedian, Ken Dodd had quite a lot of success with his music as well in the UK, being described as being as popular as his fellow Liverpudlians, The Beatles, in the early 1960s. I suspect they appealed to different audiences, though. 'Love is Like a Violin' was the first of his recordings to reach the charts, managing number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

His biggest hit followed in 1965, when 'Tears' reached the top spot.

Answer: Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart wrote the song himself, and it was one of the tracks on his album 'Every Picture Tells a Story', the third one he released. Probably the best known track is 'Maggie May', which reached the top of both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100. 'Maggie May' was originally the 'B' side, with 'Reason to Believe' the intended 'A' side. 'Mandolin Wind' was released as a single, as the 'B' side to '(I Know) I'm Losing You', but made only minor impact on the charts.

Answer: McBusted

By far the most recent band in this selection, McBusted were formed by an amalgamation of two 'boy bands', McFly and Busted, both of which had been very successful in the early part of the 2000s. The merged band formed in 2013, and released their first (and by the end of 2015, only) album with the imaginative title of 'McBusted' in December 2014. 'Air Guitar' was the first of two singles released from the album, and was the more successful of the two, although it reached only number twelve on the UK Singles Chart.