Songs With "Boy" in the Title Trivia Quiz

Answer: The AdLibs

The Ad-Libs had a one-hit wonder with "The Boy from New York City" but were not able to repeat that recording success. The song was written by George Davis and
John T. Taylor. It had some interesting lyrics for its day; for example, the singer says she likes "his dueling scar" as well as "his brand new car".

"The Boy from New York City" went to Number Eight on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1965, and a later version recorded by the group Manhattan Transfer hit Number Seven on the same chart in 1981.

Answer: Oh Boy!

Buddy Holly originally recorded "Oh Boy!" with a backup group called the Picks, but in 1957 it appeared on the album "Buddy Holly and the Chirping Crickets".
The Crickets sang it with Holly on the "Ed Sullivan Show", but Sullivan was not pleased with the song choice, as he found it too "raunchy". Sure sounds innocent enough from the vantage point of 2016!

Answer: The Shirelles

The song "Soldier Boy" shot the Shirelles, four young singing sensations from Passaic, NJ, to the top of Billboard's Hot 100. It wasn't the only time they were there, as they had multiple hits such as "Dedicated to the One I Love" and the iconic "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

The Shirelles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Answer: Paul Simon

Even for Paul Simon's usual standard, this is a complicated and sophisticated song. It seems to refer to an act of terrorism: "the bomb in the baby carriage was wired to the radio..."

It also treats the phenomenon of ultra-mass communication, seeming to prefigure the time of Facebook. Here is another lyric: "Staccato signals of constant information, a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires..." and the chorus: " These are the days of miracles and wonders, this is the long distance call, The way the camera follows us in slo-mo, the way we look to us all..."

Answer: Ireland and Australia

The Australian version names Jack Doolan as the title character, while the Irish one has it that Jack Duggan is the boy. But actually, the narrative that is told through the song's lyrics is much the same in both versions, though some verses may be different.

They both agree on the story of the legendary "boy, both mythic features such as robbing the rich to help the poor, and also quasi-historical matters: his emigration from Ireland, the other characters in the adventure. At the end, "The Wild Colonial Boy" is killed by the authorities in Australia.

Answer: Simon and Garfunkel

By 1970, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were going their separate ways. Paul Simon wrote the song for his partner Art Garfunkel, who was off to Mexico to act in a movie, while Simon stayed in New York alone. The duo had started off their public career under the name Tom and Jerry, hence the lyric: "Tom, get your plane right on time..."

"The Only Living Boy in New York was the B-side of the hit single "Cecilia".
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" was the last Simon and Garfunkel album.

Answer: Muddy Waters

In 1955, Muddy Waters released the first studio version of "Mannish Boy". He would record it later, both live and for several studio albums. The lyrics are explicit, especially compared to those of someone like Pat Boone, whose covers of some black artists' songs seem unduly prim, from the perspective of 2016. "Mannish Boy" boasts of the singer's opinion of himself, as a full-grown twenty-one- year-old who now is ready to take on all the women who care to get involved with him. In fact, he can be ready in "five minutes time"!

Rolling Stone magazine's "Top 500 Songs of All Time" rated "Mannish Boy" at Number 229.

Answer: Paul Anka

Paul Anka hails from Ottawa, which is the capital of Canada. One of his biggest hits in the fifties was a song called "Lonely Boy".

From the beginnings of his career, Paul Anka became known as a songwriter, as well as a singer. He wrote songs for everyone from Buddy Holly ("It Doesn't Matter Any More") to Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley (both are identified with Anka's "My Way").

Answer: Darlene Love

Darlene Love is a singer whose career began when she was a child. She was "discovered" singing in her church choir, in San Antonio, Texas. "Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" was the only release that featured her name. She was usually credited by Spector and other record producers as a backup singer, and she did sing with many groups, notably the Crystals.

She subsequently raised a family and has enjoyed a long career in singing, and in acting in TV and in movies. Darlene Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, by her friend Bette Midler.

Answer: Ringo Starr

"Boys" is a catchy little song, as is most of the material on the "Twist and Shout" album (1964). "Boys" was written by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell, a professional songwriting team. The Shirelles first recorded the song, as the B-side of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" in 1960.

The Beatles took it from their "Please Please Me" album which had been released in the UK on the Parlephone label, but even earlier, "Boys" was incorporated into their show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. According to Paul McCartney, it was a show piece for their drummer, and the first song on which Ringo Starr took the vocals.