Peter Gabriel's "Up" Trivia Quiz

Answer: REM

Peter Gabriel had been planning to use the title "Up" for several years, in keeping with several river-themed projects he had been considering ("Up the Amazon", "Up the Nile", etc). After finding out that REM was also using the name for their album, Gabriel stated "I have been living in the "Up" world for four years now and have no wish to come down". REM guitarist Peter Buck joked that the band "considered calling our album "Peter Gabriel's Up", but decided that just "Up" was the way to go", and REM lead singer Michael Stipe added "We love Peter Gabriel and we are honored to have this association - great minds think alike". REM's album did better on the U.S. (#3) and U.K. (#2) charts. Gabriel's album hit #9 in the U.S. and #11 in the U.K.

Incidentally, Shania Twain also released an album called "Up!" in 2002.

Answer: The Blind Boys of Alabama

Peter Gabriel said that he had been working for ten years on the song "Sky Blue", a version of which was included in the 2002 film "Rabbit Proof Fence" for which he composed the soundtrack, and it was when he heard the haunting chorus of the Blind Boys of Alabama that he knew the song was complete.

The gospel group had been around for six decades, but after being signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World label, they had their greatest success, winning Grammy awards for the albums "Spirit of the Century", "Higher Ground" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

Besides "Sky Blue", the group also provided backing vocals to the song "More Than This" on the album and performed on the tour for the album.

Answer: The Barry Williams Show

Peter Gabriel said that he had never heard of Barry Williams, the actor who played Greg on "The Brady Bunch"; he just wanted to use a generic name for the character in his song. The real Barry Williams was asked to appear in the video for the song, which starred Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin from "Happy Gilmore"). Williams can be seen taking a seat as an audience member in the video, which was directed by Sean Penn.

Answer: Darkness

Although the album felt very dark, Peter Gabriel stated that the theme of the album was life-affirming, one of death and renewal. The multi-layered "Darkness" started out quiet before turning almost industrial, repeating the formula throughout the song.

The song brought back memories of childhood fairy tales and nightmares: "Walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods, the deeper I go, the darker it gets". But the fears fade away when "the monster I was so afraid of lies curled up on the floor... just like a baby boy".

Answer: Melanie Gabriel

Melanie was the second daughter of Peter Gabriel and his first wife, Jill Moore. She was twenty-six when "Up" was released, and she accompanied her father on tour as the featured backing vocalist. She released a few songs of her own in the late 1990s/early 2000s which have an ethereal sound similar to Kate Bush.

Other contributors to the album included Gabriel regulars Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katche.

Answer: I Grieve

Peter Gabriel had performed the song "I Grieve" several years before the release of the "Up" album, and the song was included on the soundtrack to the 1998 film "City of Angels". But the song became associated with September 11, 2001, when Gabriel performed it on "The Larry King Show" on the one year anniversary of the attacks. Gabriel said that his daughters were living in the Tribeca area of New York City on the day of the attacks and that he wasn't able to contact them.

He remembered the relief he felt when he finally heard from them and could only imagine the pain of those who never heard from their loved ones.

Answer: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan died in 1997 before recording the studio vocals for the song, so excerpts from an earlier live recording of the song at a VH1 Honours Concert in 1996 were used. Khan began working with Peter Gabriel in the 1980s when Gabriel delved into world music. He collaborated with Gabriel on "The Last Temptation of Christ" soundtrack and released several albums on Gabriel's Real World record label.

Answer: Zorb ball

Zorb balls are human-sized inflatable hamster balls that are usually used for riding down hills. Not surprisingly perhaps, the adventurous sport was developed in New Zealand in the 1990s. Peter Gabriel rolled and bounced his zorb ball around the circular stage on which he performed during the "Growing Up" tour.

Other props he used during the concert included a bicycle he rode around the stage with singing "Solsbury Hill" and a harness from which he was suspended while singing "Downside Up".

Answer: Trent Reznor

The remix certainly had that Nine Inch Nails industrial feel, sounding as though it would have fit in perfectly on "The Downward Spiral" album. Despite the differences in their genres, Reznor had an appreciation for Peter Gabriel's work. He had been the producer for the 1994 soundtrack for the film "Natural Born Killers" and had selected the Peter Gabriel/Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan collaboration "Taboo" for the album.

Answer: The Drop

The quiet song was quite in contrast to the rest of the album. Although some listeners have interpreted the lyrics as describing people jumping from buildings on September 11, 2001, Peter Gabriel said the song was about "the last great mystery: death".

He used the analogy of watching people jump from a plane, not knowing where they've gone. The fragile, stripped-down song was typical of the minimalist songs Peter Gabriel used to close his concert tours, but he chose to use "Father, Son" for the finale of the "Growing Up" tour.