"Demon Days" (2005) was the second album to be released under the banner of Damon Alban's "virtual" band concept, the Gorillaz. For Alban it signalled a return to form and a freedom in writing that seemed to have faded in his final years with Blur. Here he manages to inject his songs with a sense of theatre coupled with an eerie cloud of foreboding.
There are moments of light that become tainted with dread that somehow come out with a growing hope. "Dirty Harry" appears to paint US President George W. Bush as a gun toting vigilante who barely finds time for consideration for his troops on the front line in the Middle East. "Dirty Harry" would be the third single released from the album, following "Feel Good Inc." And "DARE".
The song would peak at number six on the UK Singles charts.
2. ____ Bodine
Answer: Harvey
"Harvey Bodine" is a track on Brad Paisley's ninth studio album "Wheelhouse" (2013). It tells the story of a hen-pecked man locked into a miserable marriage whose heart suddenly stops and he passes away. However, five minutes later, thanks to the aid of handy defibrillator, he is brought back to life. Trouble is Harvey can remember those five minutes when he lay dead.
They were "a peace unlike he'd ever known" and he is not at all impressed about being revived. Then he reasons that he was dead and his wedding vows read "till death do us part" which technically meant that he was free of his miserable marriage.
3. ____'s Hideaway
Answer: Hernando
"Hernando's Hideaway" is a tango tune written by Jerry Ross and Richard Alder. It formed part of song list for the stage musical "The Pajama Game" (1954). In the song Hernando's Hideaway is a nightclub that provides a key (pun intended - but only those who know the musical will get it) moment in the story. Bandleader Archie Bleyer, who produced such hits as "Bye Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie" for the Everly Brothers, recorded the most successful version of this track with his release reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1954.
4. The Son of ____ Holler's Tramp
Answer: Hickory
This song tells the tale of a woman with fourteen children who turns to prostitution to make ends meet after being deserted by her drunken husband. The song was written by Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Dallas Frazier. Singer O.C. Smith, best known for his version of "Little Green Apples", managed to take the song to number two on the UK Singles chart.
It would sneak into position forty on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. In 1977 the song enjoyed resurgence in popularity when singer Kenny Rogers recorded a version for his self titled solo album.
5. ____ and Rose
Answer: Harley
Australian music journalist, Ian McFarlane, was not mistaken when he described Joe Camilleri as "one of the most genuinely talented figures in Australian music". Camilleri, who'd enjoyed great success as a solo artist and at the helm of Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, was the driving force behind The Black Sorrows.
In 1990 the band released their sixth and most successful album "Harley and Rose". The album peaked at number three on the Australian Aria charts led by the title track which also climbed strongly in the singles charts.
The track would be nominated for Song of the Year at the 1991 Aria Music Awards but would lose out to the sensational "Burn For You" by John Farnham.
6. The Diary of ____ Wimp
Answer: Horace
Horace is a shy guy who struggles to get out of the house and hence doesn't have a wife. However, over the course of the week that is covered by this song he manages to find the girl and marry her. This was the second single from Electric Light Orchestra's hugely successful 1979 album "Discovery" and it would make it into the Top Ten in the singles charts in both England and Ireland. By this stage the band had been pared down to four members and Jeff Lynne would show of his versatility by playing piano, synthesizer and both lead and rhythm guitar on the track.
7. From ____ to Hendrix
Answer: Hank
This Neil Young track appears on his 1992 album "Harvest Moon". One of the interesting features here is that the backing vocals are provided by Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. It's interesting in that Young considers "Harvest Moon" to be a sequel to his 1972 album "Harvest" where the pair (Ronstadt and Taylor) had previously provided backing vocals to the song "Heart of Gold". "From Hank to Hendrix" tells the tale of the breaking down of a long term relationship with the narrator looking back on what has passed and wondering how he can go about mending it.
The title, whilst providing a time signature for the story, also pays homage to two guitarists who had a profound influence on Neil Young. "Hendrix" is, obviously, Jimi Hendrix whom Young considers "the greatest electric guitar player who ever lived" and the "Hank" is Hank Marvin (no, not Williams) of The Shadows.
8. I'm ____ the Eighth, I Am
Answer: Henry
This is an old Music Hall number about a man named Henry who weds the widow next door. She, in turn, had been married seven times beforehand and each of her former husbands were all named Henry. First recorded in 1910 this number would become the signature song for music hall star Harry Chapman.
However, it was UK band Herman's Hermits who would turn it into a massive hit in the 1960s. It became their second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. The Hermits' title records the name as "Henry", however, older versions are likely to show the name as "Henery".
This is because it was deliberately written to have three syllables and when sung in a Cockney style accent it comes out as "Enery".
9. ____ of Invisible Game
Answer: Hunter
Bruce Springsteen is a remarkable songwriter and there are songs that he writes and then doesn't release that so many other writers would rush to put forward as some of their own best work. "Hunter of Invisible Game" is that sort of song. Springsteen advised Rolling Stone magazine that he came up with the title decades ago but had no idea what to do with it. Gradually, over the years, bits and pieces came together and the song evolved. Completed somewhere in the period between 2004 and 2008 the track did not fit with any of the concepts Bruce had been putting together for his albums during that period, so it remained unreleased.
In 2013 he recorded the album "High Hopes", a collection of "older" tunes and covers and here it sat perfectly.
10. ____ Valley PTA
Answer: Harper
A cleverly written song by country singer Tom T. Hall who put pen to paper at the suggestion of Margie Singleton who was keen to record a song along the lines of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe". Singleton did produce the first recorded version of the track but did not succeed with it.
At the same time Billie Jo Spears set about recording her version as did Jeannie C. Riley. Riley's label, Plantation Records, rush released it and it struck a chord with the audience moving it from number 81 to number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in one week, the highest climb into that chart's Top Ten during the 1960s. Riley's performance would also see her earn the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
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