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Quiz about Warning Enter These Songs At Your Own Risk
Quiz about Warning Enter These Songs At Your Own Risk

Warning! Enter These Songs At Your Own Risk Quiz


The Insipid Song Lovers Association visits the dark underside of pre-Beatles rock and roll - a world of crime and punishment, space aliens and vampires and (most hazardous of all) dumb love.

A multiple-choice quiz by uglybird. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
uglybird
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
182,623
Updated
Sep 12 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
4594
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: JanIQ (6/10), GlennaRuth (7/10), violinsoldier (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. ISLA is aware that songs in the 50s and early 60s had a reputation for being tame and safe. In 1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded a song about a coal miner that contradicts this notion. Not the mine but the miner is the more dangerous. The coal miner brags about the murders he's committed saying,

"Well, if you see me comin', better step aside.
A lotta men didn't, an' a lotta men died.
One fist of iron, the other of steel.
If the right one don't get you, then the left one will."

The song lamented that working in the mine just makes you "another day older and deeper in debt." How many tons of Number 9 coal did this miner load?

Answer: (A number)
Question 2 of 10
2. In 1960 Marty Robbins sang a ballad about a ruthless Arizona Ranger who was intent on capturing a certain outlaw, "Texas Red". This lawman's total disregard for due process is seen in the following lines,

"He'd come here to take outlaw back alive or maybe dead
But he said it didn't matter".

Clearly, this man was not interested in reading you your rights! After Texas Red is gunned down we are informed,

"Oh he (Texas Red) might have gone on living
But he made one final slip
When he tried to match the ranger
With the big ______ on his hip"

What did the song say the ranger carried on his hip that was big?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In 1958 Sheb Wooley sang a chilling song about a people-eating alien. Although this gruesome creature was distracted from his pursuits by fad fashions (the alien began wearing "short-shorts") and diverted from killing by a career in music (playing rock and roll music through the horn in his head), the monster clearly remained a menace. The public was supposed to be reassured because the monster ate only one color of people. What color was that?

Answer: (Six letters, begins with "p")
Question 4 of 10
4. Characters populating early rock and roll songs faced a threat equally as grave as people eating aliens, homicidal miners and out of control lawmen. They often fell victim to love induced stupidity. None other than the Big Bopper penned a song about two hapless Native Americans driven to mutual suicide by their unfulfilled longing for one another. Our heroic Indian brave,

"couldn't swim the raging river 'cause the river was too wide
He couldn't reach Little White Dove, waiting on the other side
In the moonlight he could see her blowing kisses 'cross the waves."

Meanwhile, "her little heart was beating faster, waiting there for her brave." There was, of course, only one way this could end. The two would-be lovers dove into the water, met in the middle and drowned. What was the name of Little White Dove's brave but foolish paramour?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. As egregious as was the death of our two Native Americans in the previous song, it could, perhaps, be excused as a response to their burning need to be together. However, if you have just escaped from a car that has stalled in he path of an onrushing train, it is hard to justify racing back, at mortal peril, to retrieve the ring your boyfriend gave you. Mark Dinning tells us at this song's beginning,

"That fateful night the car was stalled
upon the railroad track
I pulled you out and we were safe
but you went running back"

When they pulled the young lady out of the wrecked car, he tells us, "they found my high school ring clutched in your fingers tight." With what endearing name did Mark Dinning refer to his lost love?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 1958 John Zacherle created a song so macabre and gory that Dick Clark refused to play it on American Bandstand. It was called "Dinner With Drac" and began,

"A dinner was served for three
At Dracula's house by the sea
The hors d'oeuvres were fine
But I choked on my wine"

Why did Dracula's guest choke on his wine?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. In 1959, Bobby Darin issued a warning about a killer on the loose. The killer was one "Mr. MacHeath", whose modus operandi involved a jackknife and a bag of cement. Future potential victims are warned.

"Aah ... I said Jenny Diver ... whoa ... Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe"

What was the killer's nickname?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In 1959, the same year in which Bobby Darin issued his warning about the murderous MacHeath, Lloyd price told the disturbing tale of Stagger Lee. In a vengeful barroom attack, Stagger Lee shot the helpless "Billy" despite Billy's piteous pleas for mercy."

"Stagger Lee, said Billy,
Oh, please don't take my life!
I've got three hungry children,
And a very sickly wife."

Did the song indicate whether or not Billy was killed?


Question 9 of 10
9. Although the perpetrators of rock and roll violence in the pre-Beatle era were uniformly male, there is one instance of a female reveling in the thought of physical retribution. In 1963, Peggy, Barbara and Jiggs (ironically known as the Angels) released a song in which they taunted an over-aggressive suitor.
"Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back
Hey, he knows I wasn't cheatin'
Now, you're gonna get a beatin'"

Which of the following was NOT an accusation that was made against the offending young man in the song?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Even Walt Disney was associated with musical violence in the 1950s. In the Ballad of Davy Crockett, we are informed that Davy was,

"Born on a mountain top in Tennessee
The greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree"

What does the song indicate as Davy's first significant accomplishment, achieved at the age of three?
Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. ISLA is aware that songs in the 50s and early 60s had a reputation for being tame and safe. In 1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded a song about a coal miner that contradicts this notion. Not the mine but the miner is the more dangerous. The coal miner brags about the murders he's committed saying, "Well, if you see me comin', better step aside. A lotta men didn't, an' a lotta men died. One fist of iron, the other of steel. If the right one don't get you, then the left one will." The song lamented that working in the mine just makes you "another day older and deeper in debt." How many tons of Number 9 coal did this miner load?

Answer: 16

Merle Travis wrote "Sixteen Tons" in the 1940s. Some government officials viewed the song as pro-labor and the songwriter as a communist sympathizer. In the late 1940s the FBI warned radio station WJJD in Chicago against playing the song. With our current perspective we can easily see that the political content of the song was nil, but that it should have carried a warning label for gratuitous violence.
2. In 1960 Marty Robbins sang a ballad about a ruthless Arizona Ranger who was intent on capturing a certain outlaw, "Texas Red". This lawman's total disregard for due process is seen in the following lines, "He'd come here to take outlaw back alive or maybe dead But he said it didn't matter". Clearly, this man was not interested in reading you your rights! After Texas Red is gunned down we are informed, "Oh he (Texas Red) might have gone on living But he made one final slip When he tried to match the ranger With the big ______ on his hip" What did the song say the ranger carried on his hip that was big?

Answer: Big iron

Marty Robbins successfully brought western ballads to Top 40 radio, including El Paso, The Alamo and the song referred to here, Big Iron. These macho songs matched the Western movies and TV shows of the era, featuring braggadocio and liberal bloodletting. Perhaps tame by the standards of "Terminator" movies, these songs demonstrated that an early rock and roll song could be a dangerous place to be.
3. In 1958 Sheb Wooley sang a chilling song about a people-eating alien. Although this gruesome creature was distracted from his pursuits by fad fashions (the alien began wearing "short-shorts") and diverted from killing by a career in music (playing rock and roll music through the horn in his head), the monster clearly remained a menace. The public was supposed to be reassured because the monster ate only one color of people. What color was that?

Answer: Purple

"The Purple People Eater" sold over 3 million copies in 1958. Sheb Wooley had quite a career as an actor. He was a drunken killer in "High Noon" and also appeared in "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Man Without a Star," and "Hoosiers." Along with Clint Eastwood, he had a part in the television series "Rawhide".
4. Characters populating early rock and roll songs faced a threat equally as grave as people eating aliens, homicidal miners and out of control lawmen. They often fell victim to love induced stupidity. None other than the Big Bopper penned a song about two hapless Native Americans driven to mutual suicide by their unfulfilled longing for one another. Our heroic Indian brave, "couldn't swim the raging river 'cause the river was too wide He couldn't reach Little White Dove, waiting on the other side In the moonlight he could see her blowing kisses 'cross the waves." Meanwhile, "her little heart was beating faster, waiting there for her brave." There was, of course, only one way this could end. The two would-be lovers dove into the water, met in the middle and drowned. What was the name of Little White Dove's brave but foolish paramour?

Answer: Running Bear

J. P. Richardson, the Big Bopper, wrote "Running Bear and assisted the singer, Johnny Preston, by making some of the background noises for this 1959 song.
5. As egregious as was the death of our two Native Americans in the previous song, it could, perhaps, be excused as a response to their burning need to be together. However, if you have just escaped from a car that has stalled in he path of an onrushing train, it is hard to justify racing back, at mortal peril, to retrieve the ring your boyfriend gave you. Mark Dinning tells us at this song's beginning, "That fateful night the car was stalled upon the railroad track I pulled you out and we were safe but you went running back" When they pulled the young lady out of the wrecked car, he tells us, "they found my high school ring clutched in your fingers tight." With what endearing name did Mark Dinning refer to his lost love?

Answer: Teen Angel

Teen Angel shot to the top of the US charts in 1960. It only reached #37 in Britain. Could this be due to the discernment of English teenagers? Did they feel that the young lady did, in some sense, receive her just reward? In all probability, it had more to do with the fact that UK radio stations banned "Teen Angel" as a "death disc" citing the morbid nature of the song's lyrics.
6. In 1958 John Zacherle created a song so macabre and gory that Dick Clark refused to play it on American Bandstand. It was called "Dinner With Drac" and began, "A dinner was served for three At Dracula's house by the sea The hors d'oeuvres were fine But I choked on my wine" Why did Dracula's guest choke on his wine?

Answer: The guest learned that he himself was the main course.

John Zacherle, who never watched horror movies as a child, somehow ended up being hired in 1957 as the host for a New York television station's horror movie show. Taking the name "Roland Crypt", Zacherle introduced the movies by performing skits, one of which involved driving a stake through his wife's heart. For his role on the show John Zacherle earned the paltry sum of $100 weekly, but at least it was show biz.
7. In 1959, Bobby Darin issued a warning about a killer on the loose. The killer was one "Mr. MacHeath", whose modus operandi involved a jackknife and a bag of cement. Future potential victims are warned. "Aah ... I said Jenny Diver ... whoa ... Sukey Tawdry Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown Yes, that line forms on the right, babe" What was the killer's nickname?

Answer: Mack

Popular songs were no safe haven in which to hide from serial killers! "Mack the Knife" was a hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. Kurt Weill and E. Bertolt Brecht wrote the music in 1928 as the "Theme From the Threepenny Opera" (Marc Blitzstein later translated it into English). Lotte Lenya, whose name was used in Darin's version of the song, was Kurt Weill's wife.
8. In 1959, the same year in which Bobby Darin issued his warning about the murderous MacHeath, Lloyd price told the disturbing tale of Stagger Lee. In a vengeful barroom attack, Stagger Lee shot the helpless "Billy" despite Billy's piteous pleas for mercy." "Stagger Lee, said Billy, Oh, please don't take my life! I've got three hungry children, And a very sickly wife." Did the song indicate whether or not Billy was killed?

Answer: No

This song was based on an actual shooting that occurred in 1895. The victim died of his wounds. Although Dick Clark allowed the original version to be played on American Bandstand, Clark ultimately prevailed on Lloyd Price to record a version in which Billy not only lives, but the two men also reconcile and become friends.
9. Although the perpetrators of rock and roll violence in the pre-Beatle era were uniformly male, there is one instance of a female reveling in the thought of physical retribution. In 1963, Peggy, Barbara and Jiggs (ironically known as the Angels) released a song in which they taunted an over-aggressive suitor. "Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back Hey, he knows I wasn't cheatin' Now, you're gonna get a beatin'" Which of the following was NOT an accusation that was made against the offending young man in the song?

Answer: Unwelcome touching

Bob Feldman received his inspiration to write this song (with the help Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer) after overhearing a young woman issuing a threat to a young man. She informed him that her boyfriend was back and that he would pay for the lies he'd been spreading.
10. Even Walt Disney was associated with musical violence in the 1950s. In the Ballad of Davy Crockett, we are informed that Davy was, "Born on a mountain top in Tennessee The greenest state in the land of the free Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree" What does the song indicate as Davy's first significant accomplishment, achieved at the age of three?

Answer: He killed a bear.

Perhaps Crockett's most important real life accomplishment was learning to read and write, skills he did not master until age 18. Surely it was his literacy that allowed him to pursue a successful political career, eventually being elected to Congress for three terms.
Source: Author uglybird

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