From Russia With Love Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr walked out during the recording of "Back in the U.S.S.R." due to Paul McCartney criticising his drumming. As a result, different takes were recorded with the remaining three members playing each other's instruments as well as McCartney and George Harrison taking over the drumming. John Lennon contributed to the drumming by playing a snare drum.

The song did fairly well on the charts, reaching position nineteen on the UK Singles and Swedish charts. It caused much controversy too though. Anti-communist groups saw this as evidence of being Soviet sympathisers and it was labelled as a "tactless jest" by music critic Ian MacDonald.
McCartney said in an interview in "Playboy" magazine:

"I just liked the idea of Georgia girls and talking about places like the Ukraine as if they were California, you know? It was also hands across the water, which I'm still conscious of. 'Cause they like us out there [in Soviet Russia], even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not"

There have been a number of cover versions recorded by artists as varied as Elton John, Chubby Checker, Dead Kennedys and Lemmy, vocalist for the band Motörhead.

Answer: Love Missile F1-11

The name Sigue Sigue Sputnik roughly translates to 'burn burn satellite'. 'Sigue' meaning 'burn' in Russian and Sputnik referring to the first man made satellite launched into space by the Soviets in 1957.

"Love Missile F1-11" did fairly well on the international charts. It reached third position on the UK Singles, German and Irish charts, second position on the South African chart, but took the top spot on the Spanish chart. It was most noted for being used on the soundtrack to the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The album itself was a top ten album on the UK Album charts. Sigue Sigue Sputnik recorded six albums between 1986 and 2003 and released a mammoth nineteen singles between 1986 and 2011.

Answer: Circus clown

"Leningrad" is based on Viktor Razinov's life story, although Joel took some artistic license. For instance, he explains in his "Nuremberg Series: An Evening of Questions and Answers" that he had made Viktor older than he was in order for him to have been born in the aftermath of the Siege of Leningrad in 1944. They met during Joel's tour of the Soviet Union and Viktor attended each of his six concerts culminating in him meeting Joel's daughter after the final concert in Leningrad. Viktor travelled to the U.S. in 2015 to attend Joel's concert and he played Leningrad in tribute to his friend.

The last verse to the song:

"And so my child and I came to this place
To meet him eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad "

"Leningrad" was not a great hit on the charts, only reaching position fifty-three on the UK Singles chart, although it did fairly well on the German, Dutch and Belgian charts reaching position fourteen, fifteen and seventeen respectively. The album itself well, reaching top position on the US Billboard Hot 200 chart. It also featured the number one hit "We Didn't Start the Fire".

Answer: River

"Wind of Change" was an incredibly successful song for the band. It went to first place on nine separate international charts and managed a second place chart position on both the UK Singles and US Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. Ironically its worst chowing was on the US Billboard Contemporary chart, where it only managed a forty-third position. It was certified gold in the U.S. and France and platinum in Australia, Austria and Germany.

Scorpions formed in Germany in 1965 and celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2015. They released eighteen studio albums between 1972 and 2015 and have received numerous awards including multiple World Music Awards, Rock Legend Award and a star on the Hollywood Rock Walk. The Brazilian postal service even created a special postage stamp in 2010 to commemorate their Brazilian tour.

Answer: New York Choral Society

"Dominion/Mother Russia" was the second song that Sisters of Mercy used the New York Choral Society, "This Corrosion" released on the same album features them too. The two parts of this song were influenced by different elements. "Dominion" was influenced by the poem "Ozymandias" authored by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1818. "Mother Russia" however, was influenced by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Lead vocalist Andrew Eldritch stated in a 1987 interview, "I made the mistake of getting caught in central Europe when Chernobyl started sprinkling it's residue over the land. It's sort of a carry on (and 'Carry On') from 'Black Planet' - part of my hate/hate relationship with America. I just had this idea of all them huddled in their mobile homes while Mother Russia rained down on them. They deserve it. I suppose the song is really about the prostitution of Europe by the Americans." The song managed a respectable thirteenth position on the UK Singles chart, seventh place on the Irish chart and thirtieth position on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

The New York Choral Society was founded in 1959 and have through the years performed with Pete Seeger and Andrea Bocelli. They have performed at the Grammy Awards with Aretha Franklin and at the Olympic Cultural Festival prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Answer: Boney M.

Boney M. is a disco band formed in West Germany in 1974, although all four of the original members were all Caribbean born. The name was taken from an Australian television series called "Boney" by band creator Frank Farian. They recorded seven studio albums between 1976 and 1985 four of which took top position on a number of international charts including the UK Album charts. They did not manage to crack the US album charts during this time though. They managed a string of number one hit singles too, including classics like "Daddy Cool", "Sunny", "Ma Baker", "Belfast", "Rivers of Babylon/ Brown Girl in the Ring" and "Mary's Boy Child/ Oh My Lord". "Rasputin" was recorded for the 1978 album "Nightflight to Venus". It took top position on five different international charts and managed a second position on the UK Singles chart.

Much has been written about Grigori Rasputin. He was a self proclaimed holy man and mystic and claimed to have had a profound religious experience after a pilgrimage in 1897. Subsequently he developed a following and due to his great charisma came to the attention of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife the Tsarina Alexandra. He made such an impact on them, that Alexandra believed that he could heal her son of his haemophilia. His influence over the royal family grew and a number of nobles thought him a threat and a plot to assassinate him was quickly devised. He was poisoned with cyanide, but showed no effects of the poison. He was then shot and the co-conspirators believed him to be dead. When they returned to the site of the crime to dispose of his body, Rasputin attacked them. He was then shot a further two times and his body dumped into the Malaya Nevka River.

Answer: Prokofiev

"We Didn't Start the Fire" was recorded by Billy Joel in 1989 for his album "Storm Front". Nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year, it managed to reach top position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Of the four options, Sergei Prokofiev was the composer. He was best known for his orchestral work "Peter and the Wolf". Georgy Malenkov and Nikita Khrushchev were both politicians who lead the Soviet Union and Boris Pasternak authored the great novel "Doctor Zhivago".

Answer: Bon Jovi

Gorky Park was formed in Russia in 1987 and took their name from the famed central park in Moscow which was named after the Russian novelist and five time Noble Prize in Literature nominee Maxim Gorky. Soon after leaving Russia for the U.S., the band were noticed by Jon Bon Jovi and he and Richie Sambora were instrumental in procuring a recording contract for the band. Bon Jovi continued to have close ties with the band, including touring together in the early 1990s.

Despite Bon Jovi's influence and collaboration on the song "Peace in Our Time" which was written by Bon Jovi and featured Jon Bon Jovi on vocals, Richie Sambora on guitar and Tico Torres on drums, their eponymous début album barely managed to crack the top 100 on the US Billboard Hot 200 Album chart.

They recorded four albums between 1989 and 1998, but were best known for their single "Bang" which charted at position forty-one on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the video of which received extensive play on MTV.

Answer: Anastasia

"Sympathy for the Devil" is from The Rolling Stones album "Beggars Banquet"(1968). The song reached thirty-second position on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and is notable for having songstress Marianne Faithful on backing vocals. Guns 'N Roses covered the song in 1994 for the soundtrack to the film "Interview With The Vampire". It managed to reach fifty-fifth position on the US charts.

The event referred to in the verse from the song, is the execution of the Romanov family. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and five children were massacred. They were shot, bayoneted and clubbed to death and their bodies placed in two unmarked graves. There has been much speculation through the years whether Anastasia Romanov, the second youngest child, had survived as her remains were not found with the rest of her family. Numerous impostors have come forward claiming to be her, but thus far all claims have been disproved.

Answer: James Bond

The 1963 film "From Russia With Love" was the second James Bond film and starred Sean Connery. The theme song was the first film theme song that Matt Monro recorded. The soundtrack album charted at position twenty-eight on the Variety Album chart. Monro was born in England and was known as the "Man With the Golden Voice".

He recorded a number of hit albums and hit singles in his career including the theme song for the 1966 film "Born Free" which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.