Not Much To Say Trivia Quiz

Answer: AFI

It took AFI (which stands for A Fire Inside) almost ten years to get recognized commercially. Formed in 1991 they finally cracked the Billboard 200 Album Charts with their fifth album "The Art of Drowning", which peaked at number 174. "Sing the Sorrow" followed three years later and featured the singles "Girl's Not Grey" and "Silver and Cold" which helped propel the album to platinum status.

It would peak at number five on the Billboard 200 and remain in the chart for almost a year. Their next album, "Decemberunderground", featuring the single "Miss Murder" would debut at number one on the same charts. AFI are a Californian band noted for their emo/gothic rock style.

Answer: R.E.M.

Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 R.E.M. was one of the pivotal bands in the creation of the alternative music genre. The music magazine Allmusic went so far as to state that their introduction marked the point in time that post-punk evolved into alternative music.

The band had instant success and garnered wide critical acclaim with the release of their first album, "Murmur", in 1983. They would become the inspiration for future alternative acts such as Radiohead, Pavement, Coldplay and Live.

Answer: War

Eric Burdon & War was a concept created by both Burdon and record producer Jerry Goldstein in 1969. Eventually they would simply go by the name War. This was an interesting crossover band on two fronts; firstly their music brought together elements such as R&B, reggae, funk, Latin and jazz to a rock base which provided them with a unique sound. Secondly, they transcended a range of cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. Along with "Spill the Wine" they would also have major hits with "The World Is a Ghetto" (1972), "The Cisco Kid" (1972), "Why Can't We Be Friends?" (1975) and "Low Rider" (1975).

Answer: Len

A sleeper hit that almost didn't make it onto the band's third studio album "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush". It initially got picked up by radio stations and then wound up on the soundtrack to "Go" (1999) which led to an increase in air time and suddenly the band was forced to move the release date of their album to two months earlier than planned.

The band consisted of brother and sister team Marc and Sharon Constanzo who first started performing in 1991. "Steal My Sunshine" would be their only hit and after struggling to repeat their success they wound up in 2005.

They would return seven years later and record another album.

Answer: Ash

Ash are an alternative rock band from Northern Ireland who were strongly influenced by the punk rock scene of the late 1970s. There were a number of pivotal events that took place in 1977 that had a profound impact on the band and, as a consequence, led to their naming of their debut album, released in 1996, "1977". (a) Two of the band's members were born in 1977 (b) a number of influential punk rock albums were released in that year but the most significant ones in the band's eyes were "Damned, Damned, Damned" and "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols". (c) The boys enjoy their "Star Wars" and this was the year that the epic film was released.

They have used this as inspiration on the album. Firstly the album opens with the sound of a TIE fighter to lead in the first track and the closing track uses a "Star Wars" reference in its title; "Darkside Lightside".

Answer: NEU!

It would be fair to say that, commercially at least, NEU! Are not well known, however, their impact on music in the 1970s and beyond should not be underestimated. They have been a profound influence on artists such as Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Even Radiohead's Thom Yorke has put forward that the band played a strong role in his own musical development.

Despite this their self titled debut album (released 1972), which is today considered a masterpiece, sold little more than 30,000 copies.

Their innovations continued into their second album, "NEU! 2", (1973) where their manipulations of various playback speeds on the record player, written off by critics at the time as mere gimmicks, are seen today as early examples of re-mixing.

Answer: ELO

Electric Light Orchestra was formed in Birmingham, England by Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan and would go on to sell in excess of 50 million albums worldwide. Their initial vision was to make their music a futuristic blend of rock and pop music fused with classical sensibilities.

Their works would include conceptual pieces such as 1974's "El Dorado" and 1981's "Time". Ron Wood left early in the piece to form Wizzard and, after enjoying early success with "See My Baby Jive" never got to experience the level of achievement that ELO rose to.

Answer: TLC

Formed in Atlanta, Georgia the band consisted of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Their ability to sell records was phenomenal. They would sell in excess of 65 million albums worldwide. Their 1994 album "CrazySexyCool" became the first album by a female group to achieve Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

When Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was killed in a car accident in 2002 the remaining members continued on as a duo and announced that they would record their final album in 2017.

Answer: CCR

Creedence Clearwater Revival were not only extraordinarily prolific during the late 1960s, early 1970s they were also producing songs of remarkable quality. From the start of 1969 to the end of 1970 they released five albums; you heard right, five albums in two years.

In the years between 1969 and 1971 they posted 12 singles releases, five of which were classed as double A sides. As mentioned above nine of these would reach the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 and five of these, "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Green River", "Who'll Stop the Rain" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door", would fall agonisingly short of top spot and settled at number two.

Answer: La's

"Eddie & The Cruisers" is a 1983 movie that starred Michael Pare as a troubled rebel and musician who gains local fame and then vanishes. The talk is that he'd supposedly left behind a master tape of recordings that were the work of genius.
The story of Lee Marvers and the La's follows an eerily similar pathway. The La's were formed in 1983 by Mike Badger. Lee would join the following year as a rhythm guitarist but it wasn't long before his song-writing prowess brought him to the fore and soon he would also become the face of the band. "Way Out", their first single, was released in 1987 and "There She Goes" came out the following year. Whilst the singles were not commercial hits for them initially they, the band, were darlings of the critics who greeted each of their offerings with warm praise. However, it would be 1991, four years after their first single that their eponymous (and sole) studio album would be released. Stories abounded that the seemingly endless delays were due to numerous line-up changes, Marvers being exceedingly nit-picky, clashes with producers and the cost of the album blowing out to £1,000,000. The album was lauded by the critics but Marvers was not happy and threatened many times to re-record it. In a 1995 interview with NME magazine he stated that his songs "sounded like a Nazi tank in Egypt".
Then he disappeared. This only served to fuel stories that he'd developed a drug habit or that he'd run off to join a monastery. But the most interesting rumour to surface was that he was still writing and that a treasure trove of songs existed that were as good if not better than "There She Goes".

...and there are still devout fans who believe that Marvers will return soon to record them.

(Footnote): Doncaster solicitor Matthew Macefield would eventually track down Lee Marvers as part of his research for his book "In Search of the La's: A Secret Liverpool" (2003) in a non-descript semi in the suburbs of Liverpool. He didn't look like genius, he didn't look like a druggie. He was an ordinary family man who answered the door with a baby under his arm.