Q 01/05

In which New Jersey city was Frank Sinatra born in 1915?

A) Newark

B) Hoboken

C) Jersey City

D) Paterson

Answer · why

B) Hoboken

He was born in a tenement at 415 Monroe Street, the only child of Italian immigrants Dolly and Marty Sinatra.

Q 02/05

What instrument did the teenage Sinatra receive from his uncle for his 15th birthday?

A) A trumpet

B) A harmonica

C) An accordion

D) A ukulele

Answer · why

D) A ukulele

A ukulele, a gift from his uncle Domenico, was the instrument; he performed on it at family gatherings while idolizing the radio crooners of the day.

Q 03/05

In 1935 Sinatra got his first break singing with a local quartet on which radio talent show?

A) Major Bowes Amateur Hour

B) Your Hit Parade

C) The Chesterfield Hour

D) Kraft Music Hall

Answer · why

A) Major Bowes Amateur Hour

Major Bowes Amateur Hour gave Sinatra's quartet their break in September 1935, winning first prize and a place on a Bowes touring unit; the others let...

Q 04/05

Which trumpet-playing bandleader signed Sinatra to his first band contract in 1939, at $75 a week?

A) Benny Goodman

B) Glenn Miller

C) Harry James

D) Artie Shaw

Answer · why

C) Harry James

Harry James signed him in June 1939; their first record, 'From the Bottom of My Heart', sold no more than 8,000 copies, and Sinatra left within months...

Q 05/05

Which bandleader's contract entitled him to 43% of Sinatra's lifetime earnings until a 1942 legal battle?

A) Glenn Miller

B) Tommy Dorsey

C) Benny Goodman

D) Artie Shaw

Answer · why

B) Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey, whose band Sinatra joined in 1940, held the contract; Sinatra said Dorsey and his own mother were the only two people he was ever afraid...