Women in Song Titles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oh Julie

Not to be confused with the song of the same name by the Crescendos, the 1982 'Oh Julie' was a UK Number One single for Welsh singer Shakin' Stevens. It was his third UK Number One and the first that he had written himself, and was covered by Barry Manilow later that year.

However, Manilow's version was less successful, peaking at Number 38 on the US singles chart. ('Oh Carol' is by Neil Diamond.)

Answer: Candida

'Candida' is the debut single by Dawn, with Tony Orlando on lead vocals. It was originally sung by Frankie Paris, but producers Dave Appell and Hank Medress did not like his vocals, so they approached Orlando - a friend of Medress - to do the vocals instead.

The group on the sleeve are not a real group; Orlando worked at Columbia Records and was worried about compromising his job, so Medress decided to release the song under the name Dawn so nobody would know who the singer was.

Answer: Diana

'Diana' was a Number One hit for a teenage Paul Anka in 1957 (he was fifteen when it came out). He wrote it about a girl at his church called Diana Ayoub, who he had a crush on. The Michael Jackson song, meanwhile, is 'Dirty Diana', a song about a groupie, that was released in 1988 and appears on the album 'Bad'.

Answer: Golden

The song in question is 'Sister Golden Hair', and it was America's second Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. It appears on their fifth album 'Hearts'. According to founder Gerry Beckley, it was not about any woman in particular and was actually inspired by his longtime friend Jackson Browne; Beckley had written the song before America released their album 'Holiday', but decided not to put it on the album.

It was also inspired by George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord'.

Answer: Terrorvision

The late Chris Rea wrote 'Josephine' about his daughter; it is the second single from the album 'Shamrock Diaries'. There are multiple versions of the song, including a dance remix by Paul Oakenfold. Terrorvision's 1998 single 'Josephine', from the album 'Shaving Peaches', is about the narrator's friend Joe coming out as trans and changing her name to Josephine.

Answer: PJ Harvey

'Is This Desire?' is PJ Harvey's fourth album, released in 1998. Unlike her last album 'To Bring You My Love', which had a heavy blues influence, 'Is This Desire?' was more influenced by trip-hop and electronica. The songs in question are 'Angelene', 'Catherine', 'My Beautiful Leah' and 'A Perfect Day Elise'. The latter was released as a single and charted at 25 on the UK Singles Chart.

Answer: Charlotte Sometimes

'Charlotte Sometimes' was inspired by the book of the same name. It is about a girl called Charlotte Makepeace who goes to boarding school in '50s Britain and finds herself travelling back in time to 1918, where she swaps places with a girl called Clare. Every night, Charlotte switches back and forth between the two periods and uses Clare's diary to communicate with her.

Although Charlotte becomes trapped in the past, she manages to return to her own time eventually.

Answer: Jenny

'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine' is the opening track on the Killers' 2004 debut 'Hot Fuss'. Although it was never released as a single, the song is still a fan favourite. It is part of a trilogy of songs about the murder of a girl called Jenny; the other two are 'Midnight Show', also on 'Hot Fuss', and 'Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf', which appears on the compilation album 'Sawdust'. Singer Brandon Flowers has cited Morrissey as an inspiration.

Answer: Martha My Dear

While many of the Beatles' songs were about human women, 'Martha My Dear' was actually about a dog - an Old English sheepdog belonging to Paul, to be precise. 'Lovely Rita' was inspired by a meter maid and 'Julia' is about John's mother. 'Sexy Sadie' is actually about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, written by John during the Beatles' stay on an ashram in India.

Other Beatles songs with women's names include 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', 'The Ballad of John and Yoko', 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'Dear Prudence' (also written in India).

Answer: Sister Janet

Admittedly, this is a tough one! 'Sister Janet' is a B-side which featured on both the US version of 'Cornflake Girl' and on 'G-d'. 'Marianne' and 'Talula' both feature on Amos' third album 'Boys for Pele', 'Talula' being one of the singles; the single version is known as the 'Tornado Mix' and appears on the soundtrack for 'Twister'. 'Jackie's Strength' is a single from Amos' fourth album 'From the Choirgirl Hotel'. ('Michael' is Michael Jackson and his sister is Janet Jackson.)