Songs from New York, New York Trivia Quiz

Answer: Frank Sinatra

"Theme from New York, New York" was the theme song from the Scorsese-directed movie "New York, New York" (1977). It was composed by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It was written for, and performed in the film by, Minnelli.

In 1979, after success with performing the song live, "Theme from New York, New York" was re-recorded by Frank Sinatra for an album "Trilogy: Past Present Future" (1980). Since then it has become his signature tune.

Francis Albert Sinatra (1915 - 1998) was born across the Hudson River in Hoboken New Jersey. One of his nicknames was ""Ol' Blue Eyes" which was the hint depicted in the photo.

Answer: Take the "A" Train

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899 - 1974) was an American bandleader of a jazz orchestra where he played the piano. He led from 1923 until he died in 1974.

"Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard written by Billy Strayhorn but made famous by Mr Ellington. Many cover versions have been made subsequently including a version by Ella Fitzgerald.

The A train runs from 207th St in Upper Manhattan to Far Rockaway in Queens though this route has been elongated since it commenced in 1945. The train offers the longest single seat ride on the subway, with 600 000 people per day catching this service.

[The photo depicts the Canal St Subway station which is one of the Downtown Manhattan stops on the A train line].

Answer: Lullaby of Broadway

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was an American jazz singer labelled as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". Ms Fitzgerald made her amateur debut in 1934 in a talent contest. She was supposed to dance but was intimidated by a previous act that she thought was much better than her own so chose to sing instead. She won, and never looked back.

The song "Lullaby of Broadway" is a tribute to the Broadway nightlife as well as a hat-top to the city that never sleeps. "Lullaby of Broadway" was originally sung in the film "Gold Diggers" (1935), and subsequently earned an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1936. In 1980 it was used on Broadway for the first time in the musical called "42nd Street" where it underwent a second wave of popularity.

Broadway runs almost the length of Manhattan from State St in the Financial District, running north into The Bronx before following the Hudson River, until it reaches the Tappen-Zee Bridge in Westchester County.

[The photo depicts a mural outside Capital Records in Los Angeles which depicts many Jazz great including Ella Fitzgerald].

Answer: The characters were real and connected to Andy Warhol (as was Lou Reed)

Lewis Allan Reed (1942 - 2013) was the lead guitarist, singer and main songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground. When he left the band in 1970 for a solo career, this solo career lasted over 40 years.

This song was about cross-dressers who come to New York City and became prostitutes. Each verse introduces a new character: Holly, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy (Joe Campbell), and Jackie ("Thought she was James Dean for a day"). The characters are all cronies of the infamous Andy Warhol Factory, as was Mr Reed. "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" was what these characters would say to potential clients.

While all the characters came from somewhere (Long Island, and Miami FLA are mentioned) the NYC locations are not revealed other than the "Apollo".

While the song has at least one sexual reference, the song was not banned for this lyric but some people objected to "And the coloured girls go, doo dodoo" which was replaced by "An all the the girls go ..."

The song was Lou Reed's only Top Twenty hit anywhere in the world and was produced by David Bowie.

[The photo depicts Campbell's Soup cans, a feature of Andy Warhol's pop-art].

Answer: Sting

Sting was the lead singer and bass player for The Police, a successful and influential jazz influenced rock band of the late 70s and early 80s.

"An Englishman in New York" was a minor hit single from Sting's second solo album, " ...Nothing Like the Sun". The Englishman in question was not Sting himself but Quentin Crisp of "The Naked Civil Servant" fame who emigrated from London to New York in 1981.

[The photo depicts a bee with alternating bands of yellow and black on its abdomen. Gordon Sumner owned a sweater in the same colours and this is how he acquired the nickname of "Sting"].

Answer: Billy Joel

Mr Billy Joel was born in The Bronx in 1949 but spent most of his life living on nearby Long Island. Joel was the first recording artist in history to play all four of New York City's major sporting arenas: Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium and Madison Square Garden.

"New York State of Mind" is one of Mr Joel's favourite songs. It contains the line. "I'm takin' a Greyhound on the Hudson River line" which was where he was when he started writing the song after a four year stint living in Los Angeles. He considered the song a 'standard'.

[The picture shows a modified picture of a person standing in a NYC subway station. The Uptown sign informs the reader of "Uptown Girl", a number one hit Mr Joel wrote about his second wife, Christine Brinkly. If you look closely at the photo you can see the identity of the person is obscured by a photo of my "Piano Man" album cover].

Answer: Tom's Diner

Tom's Diner is an iconic diner situated at the corner of Broadway and 112th St in Manhattan. Ms Vega was ostensibly a frequent patron in the 1980s when she was a student at nearby Barnard College. The song is about Ms Vega reading of William Holden's death (in November 1981) whilst reading a newspaper in the diner. The song has been re-recorded by several musicians including sampling and hip hop versions
The diner went onto further subsequent fame when it became the exterior of Monks Restaurant in the TV series "Seinfeld".

While Ms Vega was born in Santa Monica in California, she supported herself in college playing bars in Greenwich Village, where she wrote many songs about her adopted city.

[The photo depicts another iconic diner, the upmarket Brooklyn Diner which has two locations in the Manhattan Theater district at 43rd and 57th Streets].

Answer: Chelsea Hotel #2

Mr Cohen wrote this song about a "very brief affair he had with Janis Joplin in 1968", explaining that she arrived to the Chelsea Hotel, where Mr Cohen lived, looking for Kris Kristofferson. Mr Cohan and Ms Joplin rode an elevator together where he told her that he was Kristofferson. She knew he wasn't (She said later - "I thought he was taller"), but figured ok, anyway. "We fell into each other's arms through some process of elimination," Mr Cohen said.

He regretted admitting the song was about Ms Joplin, when in 1994 in a radio interview, he referred to it as "the sole indiscretion in my professional life." He added regarding his kiss and tell: "Looking back I'm sorry I did because there are some lines in it that are extremely intimate".

[The photo depicts the distinctive architecture of Chelsea, New York City. It was tempting to put a English soccer club Chelsea Jersey up on screen instead. The clue would have been easier but geographically incorrect].

Answer: "Angel of Harlem" - U2

"Angel of Harlem" is a worldwide top twenty hit from U off their 1988 album "Rattle and Hum". It is a homage to Billie Holiday. New York land marks included in the lyrics include JFK airport, Harlem and WBLS radio station whilst Jazz references include John Coltrane, Birdland Club, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday herself as "Lady Day" ("Lady Day got diamond eyes, she sees the truth behind the lies").
The song was written by Bono when they landed in NYC for the first time. They had been driven from JFK to Manhattan with Billie Holiday playing on WBLS on the limousine radio.

[The photo depicts the Angel of the North, a monument in Gateshead, northern England - a bit closer to U2's home base of Dublin than NYC].

Answer: The 59th Street Bridge Song

The full title of the song is "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". Paul Simon wrote the song after returning to NYC after being in England when "The Sound of Silence" became a hit. He was going home at 6 am from Manhattan to Queens across the Queensboro Bridge (its official name) when he started to write the song (For anyone who has travelled across this bridge, it is very noisy - heavy traffic driving over a metal grated road - the premise of the song is given in the first line: "Slow down, you move too fast"). This was one of the first times "Groovy" was used in a popular song. It inspired songwriters Carole Bayer Sager and Toni Wine to write "A Groovy Kind Of Love."

[The photo depicts the 59th St Bridge crossing the East River].