"Department Of Youth" was a hit in 1975 for Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier). Alice was quite a big-ticket item in the seventies. The film clip that accompanied this song was quite memorable - it showed Alice on stage with a number of teenage kids.
The kids represented the focus of Alice's song, they were the youth referred to. Alice conducts himself as the leader during the song which leads to a funny conclusion. After repeating the refrain "We got the power" a number of times, as the song fades out, Alice asks "And who gave it to ya?" The kids respond "Donny Osmond", to which Alice yells "WHAT?" Unfortunately, most radio stations cut the song off before this point, thereby missing the joke.
Dwight Eisenhower gets his mention at the end of the first verse:
"And we ain't afraid of high power
We're bullet proof
And we've never heard of Eisenhower
Missile power, justice or truth"
2. Rudolph Valentino
Answer: Manic Monday
"Manic Monday" was a 1986 hit for The Bangles. The song, written under a pseudonym by Prince, is about a woman longing for the weekend just passed.
Rudolph Valentino is highlighted in the first verse, as the singer wakes up early on Monday morning:
"Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream"
3. Doris Day
Answer: Dig It
American actress Doris Day (born Doris Kappelhoff) was mentioned in this very short song from the album "Let It Be" by The Beatles. Also mentioned in the lyrics are blues guitarist B.B. King and (Sir) Matt Busby, the former manager of Manchester United (1945 to 1969).
Interestingly, "Dig It" is one of the few fab four songs where the composition is credited to all four members of the group.
"Like the FBI
And the CIA
And the BBC
B.B. King
And Doris Day
Matt Busby, dig it, dig it"
4. Bob Hope
Answer: Goodnight Saigon
"Goodnight Saigon" is a haunting Billy Joel song from his 1982 album "The Nylon Curtain". The song refers to the experiences of participants in the Vietnam War and outlines their hardships and fears.
Bob Hope (the American comedian) is included in the lyrics, in a verse where the singer highlights the attempts the military made to provide the troops with some diversionary entertainment.
"We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might"
5. James Dean
Answer: Rock On
"Rock On" was a breakthrough 1973 hit for English singer David Essex. Following almost a dozen non-charting releases in his homeland, this song is a more edgy offering. The song looks at the early days of rock and roll, and youth sub-culture.
This leads into the focus of our question, James Dean. James was the lead in the movie "Rebel Without A Cause", a movie about...youth sub-culture!
"Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean
(James Dean)"
6. Marilyn Monroe
Answer: Candle In The Wind
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jean Mortenson) was an American sex symbol/actress in the fifties and sixties. Well known movies starring Monroe include "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Some Like It Hot".
Famously married to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, Monroe was the subject matter of Elton John's 1974 song "Candle In The Wind". Rather than the other songs in this quiz, where the question subject is mentioned in passing, this entire song is regarding the subject.
Written by Bernie Taupin, "Candle In The Wind" chronicles the life of Monroe from her humble beginnings to her death, and her helplessness when events were out of her control, such as in this wonderful imagery from the lyrics:
"And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in"
7. Greta Garbo
Answer: Bette Davis Eyes
"Bette Davis Eyes" was a 1981 hit for Kim Carnes, but it is little known that the song was originally recorded in 1971 by its co-author, Jackie DeShannon (best known for "What The World Needs Now Is Love").
The song is about a woman who excels in using her feminine charms to lure partners, only to move onto new pastures when that goal has been achieved.
"She's precocious, and she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush
She's got Greta Garbo's standoff sighs, she's got Bette Davis eyes"
(For those to young to know the song, or the actress, Bette is pronounced Betty).
8. Hank Williams
Answer: Tower Of Song
Hank Williams gets mentioned not once, but twice in this Leonard Cohen offering from 1988. The song is Cohen's acknowledgement of his craft, songwriting. Williams gets a mention as Cohen professed an admiration for his writing talents.
A Canadian, Cohen is perhaps best known for his song "Hallelujah" and his flat and sometimes almost toneless singing style. Reportedly, audiences often laughed when "Tower Of Song" was played in concert, as one of the lines states: "I was born with the gift of a golden voice". If golden means unique, he certainly fit the bill.
"I said to Hank Williams, 'How lonely does it get?'
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the Tower of Song"
9. Neil Young
Answer: Sweet Home Alabama
Ah Neil, where did you go wrong? The writers of this song clearly do not like you very much. "Sweet Home Alabama" is a 1974 song by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song was an acerbic response to Young's songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama", both of which called into question the southern state's attitude to its citizens.
Possibly because their home territory was being called into question, and possibly because Neil Young was a Canadian doing it, Skynyrd retorted with a pro-southern song, which included the following verse just for Neil, in which Mr Young gets mentioned three times in four lines:
"Well I heard Mr. Young sing about her
Well, I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around, anyhow"
10. Zizi Jeanmaire
Answer: Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?
"Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?" was a hit for British singer Peter Sarstedt in 1969. The song tells the fictional story of Marie-Claire, born into poverty in Italy but who rises into the jet set and sees the world.
Whilst the song lists a number of well-known identities, our answer is less familiar to the average reader. Zizi Jeanmaire (born Renée Marcelle Jeanmaire) is a French ballet dancer who appeared in a number of Hollywood films.
"You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are"
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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