Top 40 Follies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rag Mop

"R, I say R-A, R-A-G, R-A-G-G, R-A-G-G, M-O-P-P, Rag Mop!" Those who can remember the tune, will love singing Allan Sherman's parody: "R-A-T F-I-N-K." As far as I can remember, "The Bunny Hop" has no words, but having only two steps to it was a dance any partygoer could participate in. "Honeycomb" was Jimmie Rodgers' (the Washington state one, not the 1930s musician) hymn to the joys of married life.

Answer: You Send Me

Steve Allen had the audience falling out of their seats, deadpanning, "Darling, you ooo send me. You ooo send me. You ooo send me. Honest you do."

Answer: A Guy is A Guy

It took a recording by Doris Day to defuse it, though it quickly became apparent that what "this fella" did was walk her down the aisle "like a good girl should." "Button Up Your Overcoat" was a 1929 song from the musical "Follow Through." It was revived as a cold remedy commercial: "... take good care of yourself, you belong to me!"

Answer: A Casual Look

Okay, this one was pretty much of a gimme: The Six Teens recorded "A Casual Look", which dealt with looking really casual and really cool and (honest) ended up with the bride walking down the aisle "with a casual looooook." You may now run out of the room screaming.

Answer: A white sport coat

It was Marty Robbins who recorded "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation", which Jimmy Buffet turned into "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean." Personally, I preferred the guy in our senior class who ran around singing about "a white sport goat got me in the tuchas ..."

Answer: The Little Blue Man

Blake Hodgetts wrote it and it was sung by Betty Johnson, whose voice could give Doris Day a run for her money. The little blue man followed her down the street, crying "I wuv you, I wuv you!" For dumb lyrics, it would be hard to beat "Moonlight Becomes You", which runs, "Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your hair -- you certainly know the right things to wear ...."

Answer: Purple People Eater

Sheb Wooley's record had the backup singers chirping,"We Wear Short Shorts!" -- completely irrelevant and utterly charming.

Answer: The Little Space Girl

"The Little Space Girl" was about a man who encountered a lonely, weeping alien sitting on a park bench. The lyrics ran: "'Cause I've got four arms. (The better to hold you!) Three lips (The better to kiss you!) Three eyes --- All the better to see! I can really rock and swing 'cause I've got more of everything! Oh, Mister Earthman, will you marry me?" Moonmaid was not a song, but a real low point in the Dick Tracy comic strip -- one of the characters, Junior, married Moonmaid, who'd been brought back from outer space.

Answer: My Zelda

"My Zelda" was the late great Allan Sherman's parody of Harry Belafonte's "Matilda": "... my Zelda, she took the money and ran with the tailor!" Stan Freberg is well remembered for a lot of classic commercials, including the one for Contadina tomato paste: "Who Put Those 8 Great Tomatoes in That Little Bitty Can?" For some reason, this spawned a number of jokes.

Answer: Connie Stevens

I never would have guessed that, but I saw it on the internet and it must be so. Connie Stevens played the singer, Cricket Blake, on Warner Brothers' "Hawaiian Eye". Sue Thompson recorded "James, James, Hold the Ladder Steady" and "Sad Movies." Skeeter Davis recorded "(Don't They Know It's) the End of the World?" Mary Frances Penick is Skeeter Davis' real name.