Monday, December 13, 2004

Answers to Quiz

Here are the answers to the lyrics quiz I posted below:

1. Missus Sheridan's Ann

Ann Sheridan, movie actress and "oomph" girl

"In a sweater, say, who looks better than Missus Sheridan's Ann?"
-- "See That You're Born in Texas" (Cole Porter), Something For the Boys

2. When J.P. Morgan bows, I just nod

J. Pierpont Morgan, tycoon

"When J.P. Morgan bows, I just nod;
Green Pastures wanted me to play God."
-- "I Can't Get Started" (Ira Gershwin & Vernon Duke), Ziegfeld Follies of 1936

3. Truman Capote's balls

Truman Capote, author

"She's no longer a gypsy,
No more Equity calls.
She's gonna get those fancy invitations now
To Truman Capote's balls."
-- "She's No Longer a Gypsy" (Lee Adams & Charles Strouse), Applause

4. A fellow named Ben Hogan

Ben Hogan, golfer

"I went to see the President -- they asked me to wait.
And though I knew that he was swamped with matters of state,
A fellow named Ben Hogan walked right through the front gate!"
-- "Progress Is the Root of All Evil" (Johnny Mercer & Gene De Paul), Li'l Abner

5. Marilyn Miller in SUNNY

Marilyn Miller, Broadway star of the '20s

"Marilyn Miller in Sunny,
Jolson down on one knee..."
-- "Homesick Blues" (Jule Styne & Leo Robin), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

6. Grover Whalen and his hat

Grover Whalen, 1939 World's Fair guy

"With the skies blue above
And a peaceful habitat,
There'll be no danger of
Hearing Franklin give a chat,
And we'll know also, my love,
Grover Whalen and his hat
Are far away."
-- "Far Away" (Cole Porter), Leave it to Me

7. Jesse James could shoot

Jesse James, bank robber

"Jesse James could shoot, you know,
But did you know he drank?
And who held good old Jesse up
While he held up the bank?"
-- "Bad Companions" (Jean Kerr, Walter Kerr, Joan Ford & Leroy Anderson), Goldilocks

8. The Joe DiMaggio of love

Joe DiMaggio, non-steroid-abusing baseball star

"I'm Don Jose of Far Rockaway,
The man all women whisper of.
Don Jose, the Joe DiMaggio of love."
-- "Don Jose of Far Rockaway" (Harold Rome), Wish You Were Here

9. Buying tickets for Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell, actress

"I sure had to hop and to hustle
Buying tickets for Rosalind Russell!"
-- "Intermission Chat" (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Me and Juliet

10. Refined L.B. Mayer

Louis B. Mayer, M-G-M mogul

"I've never been dined by refined L.B. Mayer,
But I've still got my health, so what do I care?"
-- "I've Still Got My Health" (Cole Porter), Panama Hattie

11. We got Adam Clayton Powell

Adam Clayton Powell, civil rights leader

"We got a right to howl,
We got Adam Clayton Powell!"
-- "Don't Forget 127th Street" (Strouse & Adams), Golden Boy

12. I'm tired of Richard Dix

Richard Dix, movie star

"I'm finished with Navarro,
I'm tired of Richard Dix.
I'm pierced by Cupid's arrow
Ev'ry Wednesday from four till six."
-- "Mad About the Boy" (Noel Coward), Words and Music

13. He fell in love with Oscar Hammerstein

Oscar Hammerstein II, inventor of larks learning to pray

"Love songs I played him that sent shivers down his spine,
And he fell in love with Oscar Hammerstein."
-- "It's a Hell of a Way To Run a Love Affair" (Arnold Horwitt & Albert Hague), Plain and Fancy

14. Shakespeare will be shakin'

William Shakespeare, author of Francis Bacon's complete works

"Browning will report it to 10 Downing,
Johnson cry 'Why isn't Boswell here?'
Shakespeare will be shakin'
And awakin' Francis Bacon,
And they'll each deny the other wrote King Lear.
-- "Butler In the Abbey" (Yip Harburg & Jule Styne), Darling of the Day

15. Peggy Joyce has a business

Peggy Hopkins Joyce, prototypical gold digger

"Peggy Joyce has a business,
All her husbands have gold."
-- "I've Got Five Dollars" (Rodgers & Hart), America's Sweetheart

16. All men but Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, bearded Irishman

"Though you're aesthetic, apathetic
To all men but Bernard Shaw..."
-- "Try To Learn To Love" (Noel Coward), This Year of Grace

17. I'm Carmen Miranda

Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian Bombshell

"If this isn't love
I'm Carmen Miranda.
If this isn't love,
It's Red propaganda."
-- "If This Isn't Love" (Yip Harburg & Burton Lane), Finian's Rainbow

18. C. Aubrey Smith and those other codgers

C. Aubrey Smith, stock British actor from Hollywood movies like Trouble in Paradise

"Fred Astaire and Rogers,
C. Aubrey Smith and those other codgers."
-- The Late Late Show (Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne), Do Re Mi

19. Mr. Havelock Ellis

Havelock Ellis, pre-Kinsey sex expert

"When Mr. Havelock Ellis tries to tell us
Why we're so complex,
I say 'Mr. Ellis, what the hell is
Scientific sex?'"
-- "A Lady Needs a Change" (Dorothy Fields & Arthur Schwartz), Stars in Your Eyes

20. If I looked like Aimee MacPherson

Aimee Semple MacPherson, prototypical celebrity evangelist

"If she is not a cold-blooded person,
What is a girl to do?
But if I looked like Aimee MacPherson,
I'd be a good girl too."
-- "A Lady Must Live" (Rodgers & Hart), America's Sweetheart

21. Rudy Vallee's megaphone

Rudy Vallee, crooner

"I've no desire to be alone
With Rudy Vallee's megaphone."
-- "Find Me a Primitive Man" (Cole Porter), Fifty Million Frenchmen

22. I'll go back to Billy Rose

Billy Rose, New York producer/showman

"I think that I'll go back to Billy Rose,
'Cause I'm sick of keeping on my toes."
-- "The First Girl in the Second Row" (Hugh Martin), Look Ma, I'm Dancin'!

23. The one with Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson, ex-President

"Hooray for the Yankee dollar,
Inflatable Yankee dollar,
And also the one
With Andrew Jack-son!"
-- "Yankee Dollar" (Yip Harburg & Harold Arlen), Jamaica

24. The verity of Gene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill, playwright

The Provincetown Playhouse still owns
The art of Robert Edmond Jones,
From the classic drama we're a notable secessionist.
We've even made the censors feel
The verity of Gene O'Neill.
The meaning doesn't matter if the manner is expressionist!
-- "Soliciting Subscriptions" (Rodgers & Hart), Garrick Gaities of 1925

25. You're not Edwin Booth

Edwin Booth, great actor whose mediocre brother is now more famous

"You're not Edwin Booth and you'd best face the truth
That it isn't the greasepaint that smells."
-- "You've Got To Be a Little Crazy" (Leo Robin & Sigmund Romberg), The Girl in Pink Tights

26. Write to Mayor Lindsay

Former Mayor of New York

"When you're in a frenzy, write to Mayor Lindsay"
-- "Home" (John Kander & Fred Ebb), 70, Girls, 70

27. Old John L. Lewis

John L. Lewis, union leader

"Here if he'd stay awhile,
Old John L. Lewis might even smile."
-- "Climb Up the Mountain" (Cole Porter), Out of This World

28. Tommy Manville's love

Tommy Manville, oft-married heir to an asbestos tycoon

"Tommy Manville's love is not returned,
He sells asbestos, and he has learned
That with asbestos, he still gets burned."
-- "What Chance Have I With Love?" (Irving Berlin), Louisiana Purchase

29. Elizabeth Arden to do your face

Elizabeth Arden, makeup fiend

"Money isn't everything!
If you're rich, you pay --
Elizabeth Arden to do your face
The night you attend a play!"
-- "Money isn't Everything" (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Allegro

30. A Cole Porter tune

Cole Porter, no resemblance to the guy in Night and Day or De-Lovely

"I need the moon
And a Cole Porter tune.
Those beguines don't begin to beguine
In the afternoon."
-- "Nightlife" (Strouse and Adams), All American

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hooray!