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

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

The group won first prize with 40,000 votes and a six-month touring contract; the others admitted they let him join because he owned a car.

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

Their first record together sold no more than 8,000 copies, and Sinatra left within months for a bigger band.

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

Sinatra called him one of only two people he was ever afraid of, the other being his mother.