Aussie Movie Music Quiz

How well do you know Aussie movie music? Challenge yourself with these teasers on this substantial and brilliant topic!

1. Name the singer and the 1977 disco song written by George Young and Harry Vanda which is the centrepiece of the movie Strictly Ballroom. The song was a worldwide hit in 1978, peaking at No. 3 on the Australian charts and No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart.
2. This German-born Australian composer wrote the theme music to the 1974 TV series Rush and the 1985 musical The Sentimental Bloke. One of his sons is a Federal Labour MP and former Australian Attorney-General.
3. Bruce Rowland wrote the music for this film, and conducted the orchestra for the recording. He later composed a special version of the main theme for the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
4. Jessica Mauboy sings in ten of the sixteen songs on the soundtrack of this movie. It features some songs from the 1960s, including “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “What a Man”. The track “Ngarra Burra Ferra” is based on the Aboriginal hymn “Bura Fera” in the Yorta Yorta language of Victoria, spoken by the Yorta Yorta people of the Goulburn and Murray River valleys centred on modern-day Echuca. The double platinum soundtrack peaked at number one on the ARIA Album Chart.
5. This 2001 movie has a swag of hit songs, yet only one song – “Come What May”, was original, with the others being cover versions. The soundtrack includes the opening song “Nature Boy”, “Lady Marmalade”, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Material Girl.”
6. This 1975 movie directed by Peter Weir has its main title theme, music derived from traditional Romanian pieces performed by Romanian Gheorghe Zamfir. Name the movie and the instrument played by Zamfir.
7. In this top-grossing Australian film of 2000, a rural boy-band hilariously plays the theme from Hawaii 5-0 as the American national anthem. Directed by Rob Sitch it starred Sam Neill and the late Tom Long.
8. This P J Hogan directed1994 movie won numerous accolades including a Best Actress Golden Globe. Permission to use the songs on the soundtrack was so slow to be granted by its composer/performers that the creative team was about to use hits by the Village People instead. Permission was finally obtained 2 weeks before shooting commenced and the songs “Mamma Mia”, “Waterloo”, “Fernando”, and “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” were included on the soundtrack. Name the group and the movie.
9. Name the French composer and his composition from which the song, “If I Had Words,” the main theme of the movie “Babe” is taken.
10. This 1996 Scott Hicks biopic features Alex Rafalowicz and Noah Taylor as younger versions of the central character. The central character wins a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music, London and wins a concerto competition, but is plagued by ill-health. The actor playing the adult character won an Academy Award for this role. Name the movie, the award-winning actor, the character he portrays and for bonus brownie points, the piece played in the competition.

ANSWERS

1.Love is in the Air/ John Paul Young  2. George Dreyfuss 3. The Man from Snowy River 4. The Sapphires 5. Moulin Rouge 6. Picnic at Hanging Rock. Panpipes/Panflute  7. The Dish  8. Abba/ Muriel’s Wedding  9. Babe 10. Shine/ Geoffrey Rush/ David Helfgott/ Rachmanninov’s Third Piano Concerto.