The Hair Quiz

Answer: Michael Jackson

In 1984, I was a young fan and remember hearing about this incident. Mega-popular Michael Jackson was filming a commercial for Pepsi-Cola at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. There were pyrotechnics involved in the shoot and he got too close to them and his jacket and hair caught on fire. Apparently the product he used in his hair contributed to his hair catching on fire.

He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and later moved to the Brotman Memorial Hospital Burn Center. He suffered second-degree burns on his scalp as a result of the accident.

Answer: The Rachel

During the first two seasons of the sitcom "Friends" Jennifer Aniston set off an international hair trend with her shoulder length layered haircut. The cut was called "The Rachel" after her character on the show. "Glamour" magazine ranks this cut as the fourth best on their list of "The 100 Best Hairstyles of All Time". "Marie Claire" magazine has estimated that over eleven million women around the world got this cut.

The style has made all kinds of other lists that discuss the influence of entertainment on fashion trends.

Answer: Samson

The story of Samson is a sad one. Born with incredible strength, he was a judge who led the people of Israel for twenty years. He was betrayed by his wife Delilah who attempted to find out the source of his strength so that the Philistines could defeat him.

He finally admitted to her that it was his locks that were the source of his strength and that they had never been cut. When she found out, captors were waiting and they cut his hair and gouged out his eyes. He was led in chains to Gaza where he was humiliated.

He was tied to pillars which he brought down upon the entire building, having found strength one last time.

Answer: Les Miserables

The fictional character Fantine is a young woman in "Les Miserables" who becomes pregnant by a rich student. All kinds of misfortunes happen to her as she attempts to raise her child alone. She becomes a prostitute and sells her hair and her teeth in order to provide for her child.

Her hair is sold in exchange for a wool skirt for her daughter. Fantine then succumbs to tuberculosis. In the 2012 movie adaptation of "Les Miserables", actress Anne Hathaway, who portrayed Fantine, cut her hair off in real life to give an authentic feel to the role. Apparently she cried at the extreme cut and donated her hair to charity.

Answer: Hair

The full title of this musical is actually "Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" and it was first premiered on Broadway in 1968. The play depicted the hippie counter-culture, drug use, sexual exploration and anti-war sentiment and was very controversial.

It was the first time completely naked actors and actresses had performed on a Broadway stage. The original Broadway production was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical and won a Grammy Award. A 2009 revival was produced and won a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Answer: Mohawk

Kazuhiro Watanabe set a record for his very tall mohawk hairstyle. The mohawk measures almost forty-five inches high and takes a team of stylists two hours to get it to stand up. It takes a jar of gel and three cans of hairspray to sculpt it. Watanabe grew his hair for over fifteen years to achieve this feat.

Answer: Red

Red hair is associated with the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R). The same gene mutation is associated with pale skin color and freckles which is common amongst individuals with red hair. It is the pigment pheomelanin that gives red hair its color. Red hair is most common in northern and western Europe, particularly in Celtic regions.

Some famous redheads include Conan O'Brien, Susan Sarandon and Ed Sheeran.

Answer: Hair dryer

French hairstylist Alexander Godefroy invented the hair dryer in 1890. That first hair dryer was a large contraption that was a bonnet attached to the pipe of a gas stove. The patrons of his hair salon had to sit under the bonnet in order to benefit from the heat.

The first patented hair dryer in the United States was in 1911 and the patent was awarded to Gabriel Kazanjian. Further improvements upon this invention included a portable hair dryer that was invented in the 1920s. The first portable hair dryers were heavy and cumbersome to use.

Answer: The Thing Called Love

"The Thing Called Love" is a movie about aspiring songwriters in Nashville and centers around the young people who are trying to make it there. The character Miranda Presley, played by Samantha Harris, is a young woman who moves from New York City to Nashville and while there gets caught up in a love triangle with two other aspiring songwriters.

She writes and performs a very funny song called "Big Bar Hair" with the lyrics "gonna torture my hair, gonna burn it blond" about women who tease their hair into big heights.

This film was River Phoenix's final film performance before he died.

Answer: Poison

There were a lot of popular heavy metal big hair bands in the 1980s including Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Warrant, Skid Row and Twisted Sister. Poison was one of those bands. They formed in Pennsylvania in 1983 and were originally called Paris. They have sold over forty-five million records worldwide and had many hits including "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "Unskinny Bop" and "Talk Dirty To Me."