Gaelic John: Musicians called Ian Quiz

Answer: Ian Astbury

Ian Astbury formed Southern Death Cult in his native Bradford in the early 1980s. The moniker was a homage to his beloved Native Americans, and a dig at the British music scene which has often been accused of a southern bias.

Southern Death Cult and Death Cult dealt in fairly grim post-punk/goth rock which was the perfect soundtrack for those bleak years, and built up a sizable local following.

They changed the band's name to just The Cult in 1984 and released "Dreamtime" which didn't really propel them to stardom, but the follow-up, "Love"(1985), did just that. Next came "Electric" which was produced by Rick Rubin and had them sounding more mainstream hard rock than ever, much to the delight of the masses.

Answer: Mott The Hoople

Mott the Hoople are almost exclusively remembered for the song "All The Young Dudes", although they released a string of seven studio albums from 1969 to 1974. The first four albums flit between traditional hard rock, proto-heavy metal, country and folk rock.

The fifth album, "All The Young Dudes", which yielded the hit single, was a shift to an explicitly glam rock sound that really worked. Despite new found success, the band recorded one more album and split up.

After the demise of Mott The Hoople some of the members carried on as Mott, then British Lions, but nobody was really interested. Peter Overend Watts became an acclaimed record producer. Dale Griffin also became a producer, but for BBC radio, and is known to many as the producer of some seminal John Peel sessions. Guitarist Mick Ralphs went on to form the hugely successful Bad Company.

Ian Hunter has had a pretty eclectic solo career, often working with ex David Bowie cohort Mick Ronson until his death. Hunter still performs today.

Answer: The Stone Roses

Despite being somewhat iconic of the Madchester scene, Ian Brown was actually born in Warrington in Cheshire. He was part and parcel of the Stone Roses' sound and image and his whole attitude summed up the scene as much as Johnny Rotten's did that of punk. Unashamedly rough, disinterested yet broodingly passionate, his laddish charm hasn't aged, even if he has.

Much has been said about the Stone Roses' somewhat surprising status that challenges the much more established greats of British music, but it seems to have a greater longevity than once pronounced by the dismissive traditionalists.

Browns' solo career has never had achieved the heights of the Stone Roses days, although all of his stuff is worth a listen. I'm particularly fond of his debut, "Unfinished Monkey Business", partly because I share his obsession with monkeys. He has been much more prolific since the band split, overtaking their puny two releases with six albums as of 2011, but it seems the Stone Roses will inevitably reform.

Answer: dubstep

Math rock has yet to gain the attention it deserves, although it's been bubbling up for years now, arguably developing out of post-punk/post-punk/noise stuff that has been around since the 1980s. It has even been argued that it's an updated version of progressive rock, called "new prog", and although it does have much in common with the more adventurous of the prog-rockers, it's moved quite some distance.

Ian Williams is one of the scene's most prolific artists, having played in seminal bands Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, and then co-founding Battles, who look set to crossover into the mainstream with their slightly more accessible sound. Central to the sound is Williams' guitar finger tapping. He also plays keyboards, often at the same time as the guitar as he only needs one hand for each.

Answer: flute

Ian Anderson started off on the harmonica, followed by the guitar, which he soon traded in for a flute. Although the flute became quite common on prog rock records, and beyond, Anderson is generally credited with having introduced it into rock music. He's also known for standing on one leg whilst performing, a trend which didn't catch on.

Jethro Tull's first album release was "This Was" in 1968, and although Anderson was still a novice on the flute, it featured his playing. Over the years the band have recorded stuff that can be described as prog rock, jazz rock, folk, hard rock, blues and even electronic.

The band have never split up (as of 2011), but it's the late '60s/early '70s were their heyday. "Aqualung" came out in 1971 and is their biggest seller and most critically acclaimed work.

Answer: Straight Edge

However nice it must be to spawn a sub-culture, it is no doubt frustrating that Minor Threat's blistering hardcore music is overshadowed by the straight edge tag.

Despite being fairly short-lived (1980 - 1983) and releasing very little material (it's all available on one CD, "Complete Discography", that lasts 47 minutes), Minor Threat were one of the most influential hardcore punk bands of all time, and are treasured by teetotalers and boozehounds alike.

Ian MacKaye moved away from hardcore a little when Minor Threat split, saying he'd had enough of the violence seen at gigs. He continued to release hardcore records through the label Dischord, which he co-founded with other Minor Thread member, Jeff Nelson, but his own bands moved towards what eventually became "emo-core". Embrace, Egg Hunt and Pailhead were more like projects than bands, but then he formed Fugazi (1987) who have been active, albeit on and off, ever since.

Answer: Ian Gillan Band

Ian Gillan was in a band called Episode Six before joining Deep Purple in 1969. He recorded a string of huge albums with Deep Purple, such as "In Rock" and "Machine Head", but by 1973 he was burnt out, so he quit.

After a brief hiatus from music, he came back with the prosaically named Ian Gillan Band and although in retrospect they produced some pretty interesting stuff, the laid-back jazzy noodling didn't go down well with fans. Undeterred he revamped the band, shortened it to Gillan and came out with some scorching, accessible hard rock on albums like "Glory Road" and "Future Shock". To my ears it's the best material he's ever been involved in.

Ian Gillan had a brief stint in Black Sabbath ("Born Again"), but ended up back in Deep Purple.

Answer: His suicide broke up Joy Division

Joy Division formed in Manchester in 1976 and moved swiftly through punk to post-punk and beyond. The first album, "Unkown Pleasures", created quite a buzz. The band seemed to be going from strength to strength and recorded the follow-up, "Closer". Things weren't going so well for singer Ian Curtis though and he committed suicide.

In hindsight many who were close to Curtis say they saw it coming but were unable to do anything at the time. Unfortunately, the wonderful music of Joy Division has gained the tag of "suicide tunes", but only posthumously. In actual fact the music is invigorating stuff and no more depressive than many other English acts of the era (they were dark times!) and it's a crying shame Curtis (like Syd Barrett/Nick Drake) is only remembered for his suicide (and his mental dance) rather than his deep insight and pertinent imagery.

Answer: Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Ian Dury and the Blockheads are fairly unique in that their comical lyrics and music hall burlesque mixed with rather sophisticated musical leanings actually hit a chord with the public. They weren't simply disregarded as a novelty act, nor just nurtured by the intelligentsia, and managed to eke out a career.

They rode the New Wave, although they had little in common with the other acts on the scene in terms of music, and then started hitting the UK charts. Their biggest hit was "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" (1979), but they also had hits with the wonderful "Reasons to Be Cheerful" and "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll".

Ian Dury died of cancer in 2000.

Answer: Lemmy

Lemmy, born Ian Fraser Kilmister 1945, is one of the biggest legends in heavy metal music. In fact, he's such a legend that a film has been made about him (2010), something usually reserved as a posthumous accolade.

He started his career in the Rocking Vicars, who were actually very successful on the club circuit in the north of England, and made jaunts even further afield. He found wider fame as bassist in space rock act Hawkwind. He appeared on some of their most enduring releases such as "Doremi Fasol Latido", "Space Ritual", "Hall of the Mountain Grill" and "Warrior on the Edge of Time".

Lemmy was kicked out of Hawkwind in 1975 and he formed Motörhead taking the name from a Hawkwind song he'd written. Although they've had their ups and downs over the years, Motörhead are one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time.