Sleeping To The Beat Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Beatles

"When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (Float up stream)

Please, don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping."

Recorded with some imaginative guitar parts by George Harrison, the song was first released in June 1966 on the US album "Yesterday And Today" and in August 1966 on the UK "Revolver" album. (If you have a US "Revolver" album don't bother looking; it's not there.) The lyrics were by John Lennon.

Answer: Tight Fit

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight..."

OK, let's stop those lyrics right there: they are wrong, wrong, wrong: Lions do not live in the jungle.
Furthermore, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is based on the song "Wimoweh" by the South African Solomon Linda - and there are no jungles anywhere near where he lived.
"Wimoweh" was a well-covered song, although Linda, who recorded the original version in 1939, got little from royalties, at least until Pete Seeger gave him the proper credit when The Weavers covered the song in the 1950s.
The Tokens had a US Number One with the song in 1961; Robert John took it to Number Three on the Billboard charts in 1972; and Tight Fit took it to Number One in the UK in 1982.

Answer: Elvis Perkins

"While you were sleeping
Your babies grew
The stars shined and the shadows moved
Time flew, the phone rang
There was a silence when the kitchen sang
Its songs competed like kids for space
We stared for hours in our maker's face
They gave us picks
Said go mine the sun
And go gold and come back when you're done."

This was a 2007 single from the California-born son of actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson. His first album, "Ash Wednesday", was released in 2007 and contained songs about his mother, who was aboard one of the planes that was crashed into the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

Answer: REM

"This here is the place where I will be staying
There isn't a number, you can call the pay phone
Let it ring a long, long, long, long time
If I don't pick up, hang up, call back, let it ring some more, oh
If I don't pick up, pick up
The sidewinder sleeps, sleeps, sleeps in a coil."

REM also used the opening refrain from the previously well known song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and included that song on the 'B' side of the single. (REM paid for the rights to use the original lyrics.) In 1993, REM took their song to Number 17 in the UK and Number 24 on the Billboard Alternate Songs charts. ("The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" is the title of the song, but the words do not appear in that order in the lyrics.)

Answer: Supertramp

"Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!"

This was a hit for Supertramp in the UK - reaching Number 13 - when taken from their 1974 album "Crime Of The Century".
Five years later, it appeared on the live album "Paris" and was released as a single in the USA, reaching Number 15 on the Billboard chart. It topped the charts in Canada.

Answer: Suzanne Vega

"Oh Mom, the dreams are not so bad
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping."

The song was on the 1990 album "Days of Open Hand", but failed to chart as a single anywhere. For a busy singer who was appreciated by many followers, Vega had a disappointing commercial career. Her only hit was "Luka", a US Number Three in 1987 and Canadian Number Five that year.

Answer: Mamas and Papas

"All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray.
I've been for a walk on a winter's day.
I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A.;
California dreamin' on such a winter's day."

The Mamas & the Papas used their range of harmonies to full effect to make this song a hit. It was written in 1963 by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips before the Mamas and Papas were even created. It was originally released as a single by Barry Maguire. On release by the Mama and Papas in 1965, it reached Number Four on the Billboard charts; the first of seven top ten hits before their break-up in 1972.

Answer: Billy Joel

"I've been watching you waltz all night Diane
Nobody's found a way behind your defenses
They never notice the zap gun in your hand
Until you're pointing it and stunning their senses

All night long, all night long
You'll shoot 'em down because you're waiting for somebody good to come on
All night long, all night long
But you'll be sleeping with the television on."

The song was on Joel's 1980 album "Glass House", which produced his first Number One single, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." The album was a chart topper.

Answer: Everly Brothers

"Dream, dream, dream, dream
Dream, dream, dream, dream

When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you
All I have to do is dream."

Phil and Don took the song to Number One in the USA in 1958 and it was also a chart-topper in the UK.
It was written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, who also provided the Everlys with "Bye, Bye Love," and "Wake Up Little Susie."
Phil Everly later said: "I remember hearing 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' on an acetate with Boudleaux's version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux's out and it would have been a hit. It's just a great, great song. It's beautiful. Boudleaux was the main man who wrote all the great songs for us, and we love him." [Source: Official Everly Brothers website.]

Answer: Cher

This was a Number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988.
Billboard lists a staggering number of Hot 100 hits. Cher made the charts at some time in each of the four decades up to the end of the 20th Century. In that time she achieved nine Number Ones and 29 Top 20 entries as a solo artist and with her then husband Sonny Bono as a duet.