On a Bicycle Made for Two Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Although many people know the song as "Bicycle Built for Two", the actual correct name for the song is "Daisy Bell". The song was written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre. Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick and one of King Edward VII's mistresses, inspired the song.

Upon his initial arrival in the United States, the well-liked English composer had a few possessions with him. One of them was his bicycle. However, when he arrived in America, he was told he would have to pay import duties. William Jerome, a friend of Dacre's, made a comment that he was lucky he hadn't brought a bicycle built for two; otherwise, you'd have to pay double duty. The line "bicycle built for two" captured Harry's attention so much that he quickly incorporated it into a song.

Katie Lawrence, an English music-hall singer, sang the song "Daisy Bell" in the very early part of the 1890s, which became very popular, while the US singer Tony Pastor was the first singer from the United States to sing the song. In 1892 Jennie Lindsay performed the song at the Atlantic Gardens on the Bowery, which had the audience in raptures.

The very first recording of the song was by the American tenor, Dan W. Quinn, in 1893. The song was recorded by the North American Phonograph Co.

Bell Labs' IBM 7094 was programmed to sing "Daisy Bell" in 1961, marking the first instance of computer speech synthesis. The National Recording Registry of the United States now possesses this recording.

"The Gay Nineties Old Time Music, Daisy Bell", an album including only renditions of "Daisy Bell", was released on May 3, 2014, in connection with Mark Ryden's exhibit "The Gay 90s". Katy Perry, Tyler, the Creator, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Nick Cave, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Stan Ridgway of Wall of Voodoo, Danny Elfman, and others have covered "Daisy Bell" on the album. The album's earnings were donated to Little Kids Rock, a humanitarian organisation.