Illustrated portrait of Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway Quiz: Guess the Song & Test Your Trivia

The Cab Calloway quiz turns the Cotton Club into a call-and-response game, since the 'hi-de-ho' of 'Minnie the Moocher' pulls the room in before the band lands. Guess the Cab Calloway song from that 1931 signature, 'The Jumpin' Jive' and 'Blues in the Night', then test your trivia on the zoot suit, the Betty Boop cartoons his dancing shaped, and the young Dizzy Gillespie who once sat in his band. Place the Hi-De-Ho Man in the 1930s and find out how well you know jazz's greatest showman.

Main genrePop (jazz, swing, jive)
Real nameCabell Calloway III
NicknameThe Hi-De-Ho Man
Best-known songs to guessMinnie the Moocher, The Jumpin' Jive, Blues in the Night, Kickin' the Gong Around, St. James Infirmary
Deep cuts fans missReefer Man, The Ghost of Smokey Joe, Are You Hep to the Jive?, Geechy Joe, We the Cats Shall Hep Ya
Eras in the quizThe early-1930s Cotton Club residency, the Betty Boop cartoons, the wartime jive years, the Stormy Weather film
Notable band membersDizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Chu Berry (tenor sax), Milt Hinton (bass), Cozy Cole (drums)
Quiz difficultyEasy on 'Minnie the Moocher', hard on the jive deep cuts and the film revivals

Começa o teu quiz a solo

Reconhece o máximo de músicas a partir de excertos áudio. Quanto mais rápido responderes, mais pontos fazes.

10 perguntas4 respostas cada

As 8 músicas mais conhecidas

De intros imediatamente reconhecíveis a refrãos universais — perfeitas para testar a sua memória.

01

Minnie the Moocher

02

The Jumpin' Jive

03

Blues in the Night

04

Kickin' the Gong Around

05

St. James Infirmary

06

Reefer Man

07

The Ghost of Smokey Joe

08

Are You Hep to the Jive?

🎵 Você sabia? Curiosidades sobre o artista

Por trás dos refrãos mais óbvios escondem-se escolhas de produção, videoclipes e hábitos de escuta que tornam essas faixas perfeitas para quiz.

'Minnie the Moocher', recorded in 1931, became Cab Calloway's signature and turned its 'hi-de-ho' refrain into a call-and-response the audience sings back.
Calloway's orchestra was a launch pad for jazz greats, including a young Dizzy Gillespie, who played trumpet in the band around 1939 to 1941.
In 1938 Calloway published 'The Hepster's Dictionary', a printed glossary of Harlem jive slang, one of the first of its kind.
Calloway's singing and rotoscoped dancing featured in early-1930s Betty Boop cartoons, including the 1932 short built around 'Minnie the Moocher'.
A new generation met him when he performed 'Minnie the Moocher' in the 1980 film 'The Blues Brothers', reviving the song for a wider audience.

Uma carreira para explorar em quiz

The hi-de-ho hook (call and response)

'Minnie the Moocher' is the giveaway: the 'hi-de-ho' scat begs the room to sing it back, and the 1931 hit is the one nearly every player names. It is the free point that opens a Cab Calloway round before the deeper cuts arrive.

The Cotton Club showman

Calloway led the Cotton Club orchestra as a whirlwind showman, conducting with his whole body, and his flowing white zoot suit became a signature of his later years. He compiled, documented and popularized Harlem jive slang in his 1938 'Hepster's Dictionary'. Placing a clip in that Harlem floor show, rather than a plain studio date, is the context a quiz likes to test.

The band behind the bandleader

His orchestra was a school for future stars: a young Dizzy Gillespie, tenor player Chu Berry and bassist Milt Hinton all passed through. Knowing a deep cut like 'Reefer Man' or 'Kickin' the Gong Around' from a short clip is where fans pull ahead.

The screen revival (where the era fools you)

Calloway kept resurfacing on screen: his dance drove early-1930s Betty Boop cartoons, he starred in 'Stormy Weather' in 1943, and he sang 'Minnie the Moocher' again in 1980's 'The Blues Brothers'. A clip from a later revival can point at the wrong decade on purpose.

Perguntas frequentes

How does the Cab Calloway quiz work?

A clip of a Cab Calloway recording plays and you name it, then answer trivia on his Cotton Club years, the 'hi-de-ho' scat and his film appearances.

Which Cab Calloway songs come up?

'Minnie the Moocher' leads, alongside 'The Jumpin' Jive', 'Blues in the Night' and deeper sides like 'Reefer Man' and 'Kickin' the Gong Around'.

What is Cab Calloway's 'hi-de-ho'?

It is the wordless call-and-response scat at the heart of 'Minnie the Moocher', where Calloway sings a line and the crowd echoes it back.

What trips players up in the Cab Calloway quiz?

The signature hit is easy, but the jive deep cuts and the later film revivals, from 'Stormy Weather' to 'The Blues Brothers', are where a round gets hard.

Who was Cab Calloway?

Cabell Calloway III, an American jazz singer and bandleader known as the Hi-De-Ho Man, who fronted the Cotton Club orchestra and made 'Minnie the Moocher' famous.

Is the Cab Calloway quiz free to play?

Yes. You can play the Cab Calloway quiz free on Songtrivia, with no account and no signup needed.

📚 Fontes e metodologia

Fontes consultadas

Wikipédia · AllMusic · Pitchfork · Billboard · equipe editorial Songtrivia.

Nossa metodologia

Cada tema é selecionado por um Mestre do Quiz especialista na categoria. A seleção cruza impacto cultural, desempenho nas paradas, potencial de reconhecimento e variedade de eras.