Sparrows and Swans and Other Birds Quiz

Answer: Condor

Paul Simon heard an instrumental version of this song by the band Los Incas who'd supported both he and Art Garfunkel on a gig in Paris. Thinking that it was a traditional Peruvian number he took it back to the States with him and added his own lyrics to it.

The end result, which appears on the duo's 1970 album "Bridge Over Troubled Water", was released as a single in the same year and became a world-wide smash hit. It peaked at number one in various countries and reached number eighteen on Billboard's Hot 100. What Simon didn't know was that Peruvian songwriter Daniel Robles had written the song in 1913 and had it copyrighted in the United States in 1933. Robles, along with Los Incas leader Jorge Milchberg, were then added as co-writers to Simon's version.

Answer: Nightingale

This was written in 1939 by Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin, before the outbreak of World War II. Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo provided two of the earliest recordings of the number that would chart in the United States and the song has since gone on to become a standard.

It has seen memorable versions of itself recorded by the likes of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra. Possibly the most famous version of it was recorded by the Manhattan Transfer in 1981, whose arranger, Gene Puerling, won a Grammy for his work on it. For the record, Berkeley (pronounced Bar-klee) is situated in Mayfair in London, England.

Answer: Pigeons

Appearing on Tom Lehrer's 1959 album "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer", this song is a parody of all that is joyful about spring. Lehrer's lyrics clearly spell out that, for most people, it is "the loveliest time of the year" but for him it provides the opportunity to feed strychnine laced pellets of corn to our cooing friends. Lehrer was fortunate to have released the song in the period that he had as I am certain that censors of some thirty years later would have taken a much keener interest in it.

Answer: Sparrow

On their 2009 venture, the album "Embryonic", the Flaming Lips appear to have unhitched the straps that seemed to have contained them musically on their previous two albums. Here they open the disc with a swirl of noise and a krautrock groove on "Convinced of the Hex".

It is a wall of distortion that sonically attacks your senses and leaves you screaming for respite. Fortunately, it is followed by "The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine" and your ears let out an audible sigh of relief. Here, Wayne Coyne seems to be singing from some far-away place while he provides us with musings of the awe and wonder in which we hold our modern machines.

Answer: Magpie

This is a two-act opera that was composed by Gioachino Rossini that tells the tale of a maid that has been sentenced to hang for the theft of some silver. At the last moment it is discovered that the real thief is a magpie who been stealing a range of items for some time and storing them in the church bell tower. Stanley Kubrick cleverly uses this piece of music to signify ultra-violence in his 1971 film "A Clockwork Orange".

Answer: Bluebird

The song was composed in 1934 by Sandor Harmati with Edward Heyman providing the lyrics. This was given by Harmati to his close friend and opera singer Jan Peerce, for whom the track would become his signature song. Peerce recorded three versions of "Bluebird of Happiness".

The first in 1936 under the name of Paul Robinson and, then again, in 1945 and 1958.It is the 1945 version that would become an international best seller.

Answer: Duckling

This is a Frank Loesser composition that was put together for the 1952 film "Hans Christian Andersen". Dany Kaye, who portrays Andersen in the film, sings the track, which remains faithful to the original storyline while delivering its moral message of beauty being only skin deep.

The song has been covered a number of times though the best-known version is probably a 1959 recording by Gracie Fields.

Answer: Penguin

"Penguin in Bondage" is a Frank Zappa song that first appeared on his live album "Roxy and Everywhere", which he'd recorded in 1974 with his band Mothers of Invention. It would become a concert favourite and featured regularly in their tours from 1973 to 1975.

It would resurface again during tours between 1985 and 1988. In a similar vein to his song "Trouble Every Day", Zappa pares this track back to a slow rock song in which he compares a girl to the titular penguin. If there are sexual allusions within the lyrics proper, then they are not clear. What isn't obscure though is the spoken introduction to the song where Zappa discusses "what you're gonna do when you take your clothes off."

Answer: Swan

In 1970, after three unsuccessful albums, the band Tyrannosaurus Rex changed their name to T. Rex. At the same time, they shifted their musical style from a psychedelic folk hybrid to become part of the emerging glam-rock scene. Written by the band's founder, Marc Bolan, "Ride a White Swan" would be the band's first single under their new name and it would also be their first success on the charts.

Their previous releases had all dwelled at the base of the UK Top Forty and for a while this track seemed to be headed in the same direction.

It was a slow burner and, just before Christmas of 1970, it climbed into the Top Ten. From here it fell six places before, remarkably, climbing again to peak at number two. The song had a significant impact on the band's image and reputation, so much so, that their follow-up single, "Hot Love", bolted to number one and stayed there for six weeks

Answer: Doves

"When Doves Cry" is one of those rare songs that has a bird in its title that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Rick Dees' "Disco Duck" (1976) is another. "Rockin' Robin" stalled at number two for both Bobby Day (1958) and Michael Jackson (1972) as did "Fly Like an Eagle" for the Steve Miller Band in 1976.
By reaching number one, "When Doves Cry", prevented Bruce Springsteen from securing his first number as a singer. He achieved that spot previously as a songwriter with "Blinded by the Light" when it was covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1976.