Singing the Truth Trivia Quiz

Answer: Billy Joel

Billy began learning to play the piano at the age of four, and went on to help his single mother by playing in bars, which impacted on his education. His early ventures into recording, with a group and solo, were unsuccessful and his career was also hampered by an onerous contract. Joel decided to leave his native New York for Los Angeles, where he adopted the name of Bill Martin and resumed playing in bars. He wrote the song 'Piano Man' about the regulars where he worked, with the lyrics telling of their failed dreams.

Billy Joel was signed by Columbia Records in 1973 and released an album, also called 'Piano Man', which featured the title song. It became his first hit on the US Billboard charts, reaching number four on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart and number twenty-five on the Hot 100. It failed to make any impact on the UK Singles chart, although the song is well known on this side of the Atlantic.

The photo shows the keyboard of a Boston piano, made by Steinway and Sons.

Answer: Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell did not appear either due to transport problems or because she had to appear on a television show, depending on different websites. At the time, she was in a relationship with Graham Nash, who did perform at Woodstock as a member of the group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, with Graham having told her details of the event.

As well as being sung by Joni herself, on her 1970 album 'Ladies of the Canyon', the song was released as a single by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, reaching number eleven on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK the version by Matthews Southern Comfort reached number one on the Singles chart in 1970, giving the band their only singles success.

The photo of a 'Big Yellow Taxi' may have helped, as this was a self-penned hit record in 1970 for Joni herself.

Answer: Superior

The freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank on 10 November 1975 with all twenty-nine crewmen dying. The ship was carrying a load of iron ore to Detroit when a storm blew up, although the exact cause of the disaster is unclear.

Lightfoot wrote the song, employing some poetic licence, after reading a report of the sinking and it was released as a single in 1976. It reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, although it managed only a lowly number forty on the UK Singles chart.

The photo shows all five Great Lakes from space. For those as geographically challenged as I am, Superior is on the left with Michigan and Huron next, looking from left to right. Ontario is top right with Erie bottom right.

Answer: R.E.M.

The song referenced several people, including English scientists Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton, as well as the band Mott the Hoople. Its main focus was Andy Kaufman, with mentions of his wrestling, his Elvis impressions and his role in the film 'My Breakfast with Blassie' (1983). The single reached number thirty on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number eighteen on the UK Singles chart. The title of 'Man on the Moon' was used for the 1999 film about Kaufman's life, which starred Jim Carrey. Kaufman himself died from cancer at the young age of thirty-five.

The Police sang 'Walking on the Moon' in 1979 and 'Bad Moon Rising' came from Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969. Pink Floyd's 'moon' offering was their 1973 album 'The Dark Side of the Moon'.

The photo shows a lunar eclipse.

Answer: Ohio

The event was the shooting at Kent State University, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students. There had been several days of protest, beginning on 1 May, following an escalation of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. Damage had been caused in the city centre and the situation was tense. A further protest was held at the university on 4 May, and the Ohio National Guard opened fire, killing four students (not all of whom had been involved in the protest) and injuring others.

Young's lyrics mention Richard Nixon by name, as he was president of the USA at the time. The song was released as a single, and reached number fourteen on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The photo shows the state flag of Ohio.

Answer: She's Leaving Home

The song came about when Paul saw an article about a teenage runaway, named Melanie Coe. His lyrics told how the girl felt stifled and needed to get away from her overbearing parents. John Lennon added a counterpoint of her parents failing to understand why she had gone, saying 'we gave her everything money could buy'. The song details, though, were fictitious, as Melanie left home during the day, while her parents were at work, not early in the morning. She did later comment that the song captured her feelings, especially about 'living alone' within the family.

Oddly, Paul had actually presented Melanie with a prize in 1963 when she appeared on the television show 'Ready Steady Go!', although he did not know this at the time he wrote the song.

Information for this question has been taken from the book 'A Hard Day's Write' by Steve Turner.

The photo clue is of a suitcase to hint at 'leaving'.

Answer: Palais

The song is written from the point of view of a younger brother, who recalls how his sister would go out to the local palais with her boyfriends. The song is set in the era of the 'big bands', not discos, and goes on to explain that the palais has long since been demolished. It has been replaced variously by a supermarket, bowling alley and car park. It became a hit in both the USA and UK.

Rene Davies had given her younger brother his first guitar, but died from a heart problem when he was aged only thirteen. The lyrics include the lines 'The day they knocked down the palais; my sister stood and cried; the day they knocked down the palais; part of my childhood died.'

The photo is of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, which is quite some distance from Ray Davies's London home.

Answer: Amsterdam

The song was written by John, and documented the problems he and Yoko had in getting married. Initially turned away from Southampton (because they had no passports, but not mentioned in the song), and unable to get married in Paris, the couple ended up tying the knot in Gibraltar. The lyrics state that they 'drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton; talking in our beds for a week'. The world's media visited them in their suite to hear their message about peace.

Only John and Paul appear on the recording, as both George and Ringo were unavailable. The song reached number one on the UK Singles chart, their last to hit the top spot as The Beatles, and also managed number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The photo is of a bedroom at the Amsterdam Hilton, although John and Yoko actually stayed in the Presidential Suite.

Answer: Enola Gay

The song 'Enola Gay' was written by Andy McClusky, one of the two main members of OMD - the other being Paul Humphreys. 'Enola Gay' was taken from their 1980 album 'Organisation', and became a number eight hit on the UK Singles chart. It managed to get to number thirty-four on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.

The song is about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and begins with the line 'Enola Gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday'. It also mentions 8.15, the time at which the bomb was dropped, and references 'little boy', the name given to the bomb. The jaunty tune is rather at odds with the serious subject matter.

The photo is of the actual aircraft, named 'Enola Gay' by its pilot, Paul Tibbets, after his mother.

Answer: U2

The lyrics of the song were inspired by two different Bloody Sundays, one in 1920 and one in 1972, and express despair at the consequences of war -'Mothers, children, brothers, sisters; Torn apart'. The 1920 Bloody Sunday took place on 21 November in Dublin when Ireland was still being ruled by Britain. Bloody Sunday 1972 saw the deaths of several civilians in Derry, in Northern Ireland, who were shot by British soldiers. The song was seen as political in nature, and the band was unsure of its reception. It appeared on their 1983 album 'War'.

The photo is of the memorial to the victims of the 1972 event in Derry.