California Dreaming Trivia Quiz

Answer: Woody Guthrie

There are some who say that Woody Guthrie was the great granddaddy of modern folk music. He was certainly revered by those who followed as a master of the story-in-a-song genre. He had the knack of writing songs that expressed the frustrations, problems, challenges and dreams of 'ordinary' Americans.
Woody Guthrie was born in Oklahoma in July 1914 and died in New York City in October 1967.

His huge volume of songs included "This Land Is Your Land", "I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore", "Pretty Boy Floyd", "Union Maid", "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You", and, of course, "Do Re Mi".

Answer: John Steinbeck

"The Grapes of Wrath" told the story of the Joad family who were driven off their land in Oklahoma and set out for California. The novel earned Steinbeck a Pulitzer Prize. Henry Fonda starred in the 1940 movie version.

Answer: The Eagles

The Eagles formed in Los Angeles in 1971, and comprised of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner. The line-up was to change over the years. Their sound fused together country, folk and rock music and earned them a host of top-selling singles and albums, as well as six Grammys. "Hotel California", with its strange subject, became one of the best-known songs and the album of the same name was one of the best selling of all time.

Answer: It pours

"Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours..."

"It Never Rains in Southern California" was a US Number Five hit for the London-born Hammond in 1972. He wrote it with his then song-writing partner Mike Hazlewood while they were still living in England. It is estimated that songs written or co-written by Hammond achieved worldwide sales in excess of 360 million. As well as Hazlewood, collaborators included Hal David, Carol Bayer Sager, Leo Sayer, Graham Lyle, Diane Warren and John Bettis, with whom he won an Emmy for "One Moment in Time" in 1988.

Answer: The Cisco Kid

The Cisco Kid first appeared in the 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way". He went on to feature strongly in all media genres for much of the 20th Century. More than two dozen movies were made between 1914 and 1994 and the 1950 to 1956 TV series was the first to be shot in colour.

Gilbert Roland played the kid in the movie "Riding The California Trail".

Answer: Bob Seger

"And those Hollywood nights
In those Hollywood hills
She was looking so right
In her diamonds and frills..."

"Hollywood Nights" was taken from the 1978 album "Stranger In Town" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band". It reached Number 12 in the Billboard Hot 100. Tina Turner was among those to cover the song. Seger was born in Detroit, Michigan.

Answer: They formed a rock band

The Dreams was the name of the band formed by the kids. Kelly Packard, Michael Cade, Jay Anthony Franke were among the stars. It ran for five seasons and totaled 78 episodes.

Answer: British Caledonian

"We never forget you have a choice" was the slogan used by the airline. The advert featured a cheesy businessman extolling the virtues of various nationalities of air stewardesses. (Sorry for the PI description).

Sample lyrics: "Eastern girls are hip
I really dig the styles they wear
And American girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I fly there
Latin stewardesses really make you feel all right
And the German girls really do their best
To keep their passengers warm at night

I've been all around this great big world
And I've flown all kinds of girls
But I can't wait to get back to Gatwick
To the cutest girls in the world

I wish they all could be Caledonian
I wish they all could be Caledonian
I wish they all could be Caledonian girls"

British Caledonian was founded as the result of a merger in 1970 and operated out of Gatwick Airport. It ceased trading in 1988.

Answer: The Mentalist

Simon Baker played Patrick Jane, a 'consultant' hired by the CBI because of his special abilities to crack murder cases. Jane was formerly an entertainer who used what he claimed to be paranormal powers. He turned to helping the police after his wife and their daughter were murdered by a serial killer, Red John. The show first aired in 2008.

Answer: David Duchovny

"Californication" first aired in 2007, and former "X-Files" star David Duchovney (of course you spotted the hint in the question) played Hank Moody, a writer who had a more than complicated personal life. The series first aired on the cable channel Showtime, and probably had more explicit adult themes than big US TV networks would have allowed.