Cheers! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Andy Rourke

Andy Rourke was considered one of the finest bass players of his generation. While he wasn't a founding member of The Smiths, he did join soon after their inception, in fact, straight after seeing their first gig. He came to the band on the back of a great recommendation, that of Johnny Marr, the guitarist and founding member of the band. Rourke and Marr were friends from their schooldays in Manchester who'd had a common interest in music. Both would be found jamming during the school lunch breaks.

When interviewed about his bass playing by "Bass Guitar" magazine, Rourke indicated that he managed to produce The Smiths' sound as a result of overcompensation. He tried his darndest to produce the biggest sound he could muster. Prior to joining The Smiths, he'd honed his skills through a series of funk bands that he'd been involved in and this is evident on a number of tracks, in particular, the album "The Queen is Dead" (1986) and the single "This Charming Man" (1983).

After the band's break-up in 1987 Rourke lent his talents to the likes of Sinead O'Connor and her album "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" (1990), and the Pretenders album "The Last of the Independents" (1994). He also formed the band Freebase. Appropriately, he played his last concert alongside his good friend Johnny Marr at the Madison Square Gardens in September of 2022. Smith's lead singer, Morrissey, would eulogize "he didn't even know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else".

Answer: Rita Lee

In the case of Rita Lee, the words "Brazilian icon" are not used lightly. Rita, who was a founding member of Os Mutantes, sold in excess of 55 million records, and her autobiography "Rita Lee: Uma Autobiografia" (2016) was the biggest selling non-fiction book in Brazil in 2017.

Os Mutantes were trailblazers in Brazil, forging a sound that mixed traditional samba with psychedelia and the avant-garde. In Rita's words, they were "light years ahead of everyone else". They were leading figures in the Tropicalia movement in Brazil, using their music as a means by which to snub the military dictatorship that ruled her country.

Rita went solo in 1977 and would use the backing of the band Tutti-Frutti to record from there on. In 1975 she released the album "Fruto Proibido", which sold in excess of 200,000 copies in her homeland, a figure that was considered unheard of at the time. It prompted her being crowned the "Queen of Rock" and Rolling Stone magazine would rate her album the 16th best Brazilian album of all time in 2007.

Answer: Seymour Stein

The band, The Talking Heads, once said "Some people can spot a diamond in the rough. Seymour Stein was one of those people". As if to provide validation of this comment, Seymour signed up that very same band after seeing their first gig. He did the same when he witnessed a young band called the Ramones for the very first time.

Stein was a music lover, so it is no surprise to learn that he'd started his career as a junior clerk working for Billboard magazine, in 1958. In the early 1960s he went to work for King and Red Bird Records before teaming up with songwriter Richard Gottehrer to start up Sire. Using Richard's European connections they focused their energies on that continent and scored their first major success with a band called Focus and their 1973 hit "Hocus Pocus". Success was a slow burn for the pair and, two years later, Gottehrer walked out. Without those European connections Stein was forced to look locally. He'd predicted that the new wave was going to be punk rock and soon signed acts such as Dead Boys and Richard Hell, alongside the aforementioned Ramones and Talking Heads.

Expanding his horizons, he soon signed up bands such as the Pretenders, Depeche Mode, and Echo and the Bunnymen. However, his biggest signing, and he took himself out of a hospital bed to do it, was a young lady that went by the name of Madonna. He would, eventually, become Vice President of Warner Bros, where he remained until his retirement in 2018. In his memoir "Siren Song: My Life in Music" (2018) he stated his philosophy; "being liked was not my goal in life, my business was turning great music into hit records".

Answer: Jah Shaka

Jah was a dub reggae sound system operator, widely considered to be a trendsetter in the field. Drawing his name from the Rastafarian name for God and combining it with the name of the Zulu King Shaka Zulu, he set up his own London based sound system after a short period learning the ropes with the Freddie Cloudburst Sound System.

Towards the end of the 1970s he was drawing significant crowds but remained true to his foundation stones of spirituality, high energy and... being downright loud. This combination he would label "Warrior Style". At the end of the 70s, he would become the inspiration for a number of artists. Among these would be former Sex Pistol frontman Johnny Lydon, who'd set up his new venture, Public Image Ltd, and, in later years, the likes of Eastern Sher, Zion Train and Basement Jaxx.

Answer: Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte became popular by... no, that's not quite right, Harry Belafonte became a superstar by making Caribbean music something significant and popular, during the 1950s. He made early waves with his single "Jamaica Farewell" from his third studio album "Calypso" in 1956. Then, with what was to become his signature song, with "Day-O" ("The Banana Boat Song"), he became the first solo artist to produce a million selling single in the United States.

He was more than just a singer. He was a fine actor, a civil rights activist, and a humanitarian. In 1963 he helped organize the "March on Washington" and was first in line to help put together the all-star line-up that recorded "We Are the World" in 1985.

Showing his versatility as a singer, he delved into the blues, gospel songs, folk music, and show tunes. He appeared, as an actor, in dramas, musicals, and comedies. He would win three Grammys, an Emmy and a Tony Award, denied an ECOT because the Oscar that he'd earned was not in a competitive category

Answer: "Redd" Holt

Isaac "Redd" Holt joined forces with two of his schoolmates, Ramsey Lewis and Eldee Young, in 1956 to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio. It took nine years to attain significant success, but when it did, it arrived large. The album was called "The In Crowd" (1965), which was largely driven by its instrumental title track. It was the trio's biggest selling album and it went on to win them a Grammy Award. A year later, Young and Holt would split with Lewis and form Young-Holt Unlimited, releasing their big seller, "Soulful Strut" in 1968.

Redd would set up his own band in 1974 (Redd Holt Unlimited) and go on to found the Gumption Performing Artists Workshop. He also spent a great deal of time in Chicago's Urban Gateways, a nonprofit organization that provided multicultural performing, visual, and literary arts programs for the community. A winner of numerous awards, he would see out his career playing at the East Bank Club in Chicago.

Answer: Cynthia Weil

While Barry was the composer, Cynthia provided the words, in one of the most potent songwriting teams of their time. Based in the famous Brill Building they, not only, produced a string of timeless classics, they also helped to shape the sound of rock and roll in the 1960s. Some of Cynthia's finest collaborations included "Blame it on the Bossa Nova", a hit for Eddye Gorme in 1963, "On Broadway" (1963) and "Saturday Night at the Movies" (1964), both hits for the Drifters, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (1965), which consolidated the early success for the Animals and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (1964) and "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" (1966), both of which earned the Righteous Brothers enormous accolades and sales. This brief glimpse of her career highlights the pair's versatility, showcasing songs that are epic ballads to outright rockers.

Along with several Grammy and Academy Award nominations, Cynthia and her husband were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 1987. In 2011 they were presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest accolade that can be achieved in the SHOF. The year prior, the pair were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Answer: Ahmad Jamal

When you get praise from the likes of Miles Davis, you know you're in esteemed company. In his autobiography, Davis would remark about Jamal; "All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal. He knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement and the way he phrases notes and chords and passages". When you hear compliments of that nature, you can understand how Jamal could distance himself from the complexities of rhythms that made up bebop.

Jamal had diverse musical interests that ranged from Bach to Art Tatum to Earl Hines. These names are evident in his own brand of jazz, which he'd labelled "American classical music". He formed the Three Strings Trio in the early 1950s and they made waves with their 1958 live recording "At the Pershing: Not For Me", an album that would reside in Billboard's album charts for more than two years. Jamal's instrumental version of "Suicide is Painless" (1973) replaced The Mash (name of the artist) version on the "M*A*S*H" (1970) soundtrack and became the television version from 1973 onward. Jamal continued to record well into his 80s, with his last release being "Ballades" in 2019.

Answer: Gordon Lightfoot

Lightfoot's lyrics explored feelings of loss and longing, while his sound was rooted in folk music. His song "Early Morning Rain", which appeared on his debut album "Lightfoot!" in 1966 was covered by Ian and Sylvia the year before and saw it climb to the top of the Canadian Singles' charts. The song "Ribbons of Darkness", which was also on that LP, would become a hit for Marty Robbins. Gordon broke through to international fame in 1970 with his hit "If You Could Read My Mind", a song that was inspired by the disintegration of his first marriage.

Further success would follow with classic songs such as "Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), and the poignant "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976). Adored by his contemporaries such as Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, and Steve Earle, he was called a "national treasure" by fellow Canadian and music legend Robbie Robertson.

Answer: Astrud Gilberto

The song that made Astrud Gilberto famous was "The Girl From Ipanema" (1964) and it all happened by chance. In 1963 she traveled to New York with her husband Jaoa, who was collaborating on a work with the US saxophonist Stan Getz. Astrud was there to act as an interpreter. After Jaoa and Getz had completed their work, Getz was keen to do an English version of "The Girl From Ipanema", but felt he could not get someone at short notice to sing it. Jaoa suggested Astrud. Remarkably, this was Astrud's first professional recording and, after it was completed, Getz looked at her and declared, prophetically, "This song is going to make you famous". Not only was the song an international hit, it moved five million copies, earned Astrud a Grammy Award and created a massive spike in interest in the Bossa Nova.

Astrud would go on to enjoy a prolific singing career, creating music that combined pop and jazz, and melding them with traditional Brazilian rhythms. Among her works, she completed a duet with Chet Atkins in 1977 called "Faraway" and teamed up with George Michael to sing "Desafinado" for the 1996 AIDS benefit disc "Red Hot & Rio". In 2001 she retired and, a year later, she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.