POP QUIZ
A BTPM Classical listener wrote to me recently about a remarkable coincidence she experienced. She had just heard the song Beach Baby on the radio. It’s a 1974 pop song by the British group The First Class. The song concludes with a gorgeous musical quote from the Sibelius Symphony No. 5. Unfortunately, the listener couldn’t identify where the tune came from. She knew she’d heard it many times before, but just couldn’t place it. As luck would have it, we just happened to play the Sibelius Symphony No. 5 the next day on The Big One at 1 . . . and she just happened to be listening. Mystery solved! Beach Baby quotes Sibelius 5.
The truth is that lots of pop songs quote from classical music. It’s nothing new. The great composers quoted each other all the time. In hip-hop music, quoting, or sampling is considered an art when done cleverly enough.
Here are five well-known pop songs that quote classical music. See if you can identify the original classical pieces. Then, email me your score (5/5, 4/5, 3/5, 2/5, 1/5, 0/5) at mwimmer@wned.org. It’ll be fun!
1. Could It Be Magic sung by Barry Manilow
2. Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) sung by Allan Sherman
3. All By Myself sung by Eric Carmen
4. Memories sung by Maroon 5
5. It’s Now Or Never sung by Elvis Presley
