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About This Quiz
How well do you remember movie soundtracks? Take this quiz to find out.
One of the things that makes a movie memorable it the theme song associated with the film. After all, when you think of "Star Wars," you can probably hum the theme song (hey, if you can't, you're barking up the wrong quiz).Â
Even better than a good theme song is an entire movie soundtrack that is chock full of hits. For instance, can you sing along to every song on the 1975 soundtrack to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show?" If you can't, you might want to buy the soundtrack and see the movie, because this is one fun sound and vision experience.
Many movies have soundtracks that, once released to the public on vinyl, or now on CD or digitally, made their way up the charts. Some movies even have soundtracks that did so well that they are more memorable than the movies they are associated with.
If you are fans of amazing soundtracks such as the ones from "Purple Rain," "Saturday Night Fever," "The Bodyguard," "Dirty Dancing," "The Sound of Music," "Flashdance," and "Footloose," this is the quiz for you.
Let's get started to see if you can ace this quiz.
The "Top Gun" soundtrack produced which iconic song?
"This Is It."
"Danger Zone."
The soundtrack for" Top Gun" has sold more than 9 million copies to date, and it spent several weeks in the #1 position on the charts in 1986.
"I'm Free."
"Don't Fight It."
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"Somewhere Over the Rainbow?"
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The Wizard of Oz.
Many people have analyzed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Although technically challenging to sing, they see the music as directly reflecting a theme in the Wizard of Oz—the first low note representing Kansas, the second high note representing Oz, and the circling back to the original note representing the yearning Dorothy initially has for Oz, but also her yearning in Oz for home.
Mary Poppins.
Holiday Inn.
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Which iconic song is featured in "Rocky III?"
"Eye of the Tiger."
Sylvester Stallone wanted "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, but he couldn't get the rights to it. He heard "Poor Man's Son" and "Take You on a Saturday" and decided Survivor was the band to make the replacement. They were able to get a cut of the movie and heard the "eye of the tiger" line by Apollo Creed, which inspired them to write the lyrics.
"Never Surrender."
"Where Is My Mind."
"Gloria."
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"Summer Nights" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John?
Grease.
After failing to find the right leading lady, director Allan Carr met Olivia Newton-John at a dinner party thrown by Helen Reddy. Although Sandy was American in the original version, they changed the character, since Olivia Newton-John could not do an American accent. The singer used the change her character underwent in the movie to change her image in the music world, too.
I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Mystic Pizza.
500 Days of Summer.
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Which hit song was featured on the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack?
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
"I Think We're Alone Now."
"Stand By Me."
"(I've Had) the Time of My Life."
Bill Medley (One of The Righteous Brothers) initially turned down the opportunity to write "The Time of My Life." He thought the movie sounded like some sort of "bad porno." It took several months to convince him to work on it, and even then he didn't think it would ever be popular.
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"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees?
Grease.
Pulp Fiction.
Saturday Night Fever.
The soundtrack for "Saturday Night Fever" was the top-selling soundtrack of all-time until the soundtrack for "The Bodyguard" was released. It was the #1 album on Billboard charts for the first half of 1978, and stayed on the charts until March 1980.
Get Shorty.
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"Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler?
Flashdance.
Footloose.
Both "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" were created specifically for the movie and were used to promote Footloose, but neither video had any footage from the movie in it.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
Beat Street.
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"Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head?"
Singin' in the Rain.
Rainman.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
"Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" made it to the top of the charts in the U. S., Canada, Norway, and South Africa. Its unique sound didn't keep other directors from using it, and it is on the soundtracks for "Spy Hard," "Forrest Gump," "Spider-Man 2," "Clerks II," and a few other television episodes, such as "Monty Python's Flying Circus."
Ernest Goes to Camp.
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"Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel?
Working Girl.
Lolita.
Annie Hall.
The Graduate.
Paul Simon was reportedly taking a long time writing the songs for "The Graduate." When Mike Nichols began pestering him about another song, Simon replied that he had written one, but not for the movie. The new song about Mrs. Roosevelt was changed into one about Mrs. Robinson.
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"Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger?
Sixteen Candles.
My Girl.
Risky Business.
Bob Seger released "Old Time Rock and Roll" in 1979, but it was rereleased in 1983 when it was featured in "Risky Business." Paul Brickman chose the piece because he felt it was timeless and wouldn't date the movie.
The Usual Suspects.
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"You Could Be Mine" by Guns 'N Roses?
Terminator 2.
The plot for "Terminator 2" was actually the plot of the first movie. However, the budget was relatively small on T1, and so the idea of two robots battling it out was scrapped until T2.
Lethal Weapon.
Jurassic Park.
Rambo: First Blood.
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"American Graffiti," is known for which top-charting song?
"Rock Around the Clock."
"Happy Days" came out in 1972 as "Love, American Style." When "American Graffiti" took off, ABC reconsidered "Happy Days" and reworked it so it would resemble "American Graffiti," including incorporating the "Rock Around the Clock" theme song.
"Fame."
"Aquarius."
"Summer Nights."
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"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd?
The Bourne Ultimatum.
Con Air.
"Sweet Home, Alabama" was a response to Neil Young's anti-South song, "Southern Man." In a Rolling Stone article in 2012, Young admitted he would rather play Lynyrd Skynyrd's song than his own.
Die Hard.
Guardians of the Galaxy.
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"I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston?
10 Things I Hate About You.
The Bodyguard.
Whitney Houston's remake of the 1974 Dolly Parton classic wasn't going to be in the movie originally. The song ended up selling over 4 million singles and won two Grammy Awards.
Pretty Woman.
Ghost.
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"Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi?
Dances With Wolves.
The Quick and the Dead.
Young Guns II.
When the producers requested Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" for Young Guns II, the singer decided to write a song more fitting of a western. In appreciation, Bon Jovi was given a bit part in the film.
Unforgiven.
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"Toy Story" made which song an instant hit?
"Up Where We Belong."
"Short People."
"Big Boy Blue."
"You've Got a Friend in Me."
Hasbro and Mattel did not want the toy license for the movie because they did not think 11 months would be long enough to develop a line of toys for it. Thinkway Toys accepted the license, but they decided not to create any of the mutant toys in Sid's room.
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"We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner?
Escape From New York.
Brazil.
The Fifth Element.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
They always wanted someone like Tina Turner for the role of Aunty Entity. They saw Turner as a survivor who radiated a positive persona.
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"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen?
The Big Lebowski.
This Is Spinal Tap.
Wayne's World.
"Wayne's World" was the second movie made from a "Saturday Night Live" skit. They originally wanted a Guns N' Roses song in the car scene, but Myers felt "Bohemian Rhapsody" was more of a masterpiece. The song was given new life and went to #2 on the Billboard chart after the movie was released.
Wedding Crashers.
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What song was a hit as part of the movie, "Ghost?"
"You've Lost that Loving Feeling."
"Unchained Melody."
"Unchained Melody" never broke #4 on the charts when it was originally released by the Righteous Brothers in 1965. With its re-release in 1990 and feature in "Ghost," it rose to #1.
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"
"When a Man Loves a Woman."
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"Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn?
Roman Holiday.
Sabrina.
Always.
Breakfast at Tiffany's.
"Moon River" was originally titled "Blue River" but lyricist John Mercer quickly discovered other songs already had used that name. Henry Mancini, who wrote the melody, said it was the most difficult things he had to write because he couldn't figure out what a lady would be singing on a fire escape.
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"Back to the Future," made which song a #1 hit?
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
"Out of Touch."
"The Power of Love."
The script for Back to the Future was rejected by every major studio, and some rejected it more than once. Disney especially had a problem with the scene where Marty and Lorraine were in the back of a car together.
"Loverboy."
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"When Doves Cry" by Prince?
Get On Up.
Purple Rain.
Prince gave the director 100 songs from which to choose, and Magnoli loved "When Doves Cry" from the beginning. Rob Cavallo, Prince's manager, didn't think it was going to be a hit and questioned its inclusion.
The Wiz.
This is Spinal Tap.
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"My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion?
Titanic.
James Cameron only wanted an orchestral score for Titanic, but James Horner, the composer, felt the only way to invoke the emotion needed to keep audiences in their seats was to write lyrics to one of the pieces.
The Notebook.
When Harry Met Sally...
The Wedding Planner.
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"Gangster's Paradise" by Coolio?
New Jack City.
Goodfellas.
Boyz N the Hood.
Dangerous Minds.
Although Coolio received a Grammy for Record of the Year, he was not even nominated for an Oscar. The reason was that Coolio had reworked the song from "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder, and all Oscar nominations must be completely original works.
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"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John?
Escape to Witch Mountain.
Xanadu.
"Xanadu" was a flop in theaters and became one of the first movies nominated to receive a Golden Raspberry award. The soundtrack, however, did much better: "Magic" went to #1, while four other songs all landed in the top 20.
Grease.
Pete's Dragon.
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What song was made famous by "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?"
"All the Man That I Need."
"More Than Words."
"Everything I Do (I Do It for You)."
"Everything I Do (I Do It for You) only took about 45 minutes for Bryan Adams and his producer, Matt Lange, to write, but it stayed at the top of the U. S. charts for seven weeks and won a Grammy.
"Where Does My Heart Beat Now?"
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Which song was part of the #1 soundtrack for "When Harry Met Sally?"
"Be My Life's Companion."
"It Had to Be You."
"It Had to Be You" has been featured in many movies since it was first written in 1924. Harry Connick, Jr., performed most of the songs on the soundtrack, including "It Had to Be You."
"Listen to Your Heart."
"Look Away."
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Which song became a hit as part of the "Batman Forever" soundtrack?
"Kiss From a Rose."
Seal initially composed "Kiss From a Rose" on a four-track port-a-studio in 1987, but was embarrassed by it. He did eventually play it for a friend, who notified his producer that it was worth a listen.
"Partyman."
"Poison Ivy."
"The Future."
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"Happy" by Pharrell Williams?
Shrek the Third.
Despicable Me 2.
It took Williams ten times before he finally got to the version of "Happy" he released. The song was nominated for an Oscar.
Toy Story 3.
Big Hero 6.
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"Lose Yourself" by Eminem?
8 Mile.
Eminem won an Oscar for Best Original Song with "Lose Yourself." It was the first rap song to receive that honor.
Friday.
Juice.
Colors.
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"People Are Strange" by Echo and the Bunnymen (written by the Doors)?
Waterboy.
The Lost Boys.
"The Lost Boys" became the inspiration for the "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" series. "The Lost Boys" was Corey Haim and Corey Feldman's first film together.
Spy Kids.
Apocalypse Now.
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"You Never Can Tell" by Chuck Berry?
Jackie Brown.
Heat.
Pulp Fiction.
In the scene following the dance where Mia is injected, Travolta did not actually stab her. They first inserted the needle; Travolta pulled it out, and then the film was reversed post-production.
Four Rooms.
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"Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop?
Requiem for a Dream.
A Clockwork Orange.
Fight Club.
Trainspotting.
Although the song, co-written by David Bowie, was originally released in 1977, it received a second life thanks to the popularity of Trainspotting.
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"Beetlejuice" made which old song a hit again?
"Tom Dooley."
"This Land Is Your Land."
"Call Me Al."
"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)"
The "tarantula" mentioned in the Day-O song is actually a reference to the Brazilian wandering spider. Although they are the world's most venomous spiders, there is an antivenin available.
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"Tequila" by the Champs?
Meet the Parents.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
"Tequila" was originally developed from more of a jam session in the studio with Daniel Flores on sax. It was the B-side for "Train to Nowhere," and rose to #1 March 28, 1958, after a D. J. decided to play it.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Borat.
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