The Compleat Record Nerd Quiz

Answer: Eater

Eater were amongst the very first generation of British punk bands. But they were definitely a third or fourth tier band as far as importance is concerned (this is NOT to say that they were a bad group by the way). Mainly they were known for their drummer, Dee Generate, being a mere 14 years old at the time (and, for that matter, all members being between 14-17).

They were definitely T Rex fans (their name being taken from the T Rex tracks "Sun Eye", and they later covered "Jeepster"). They recorded a pretty good album entitled "The Album" and one truly great single "Thinking Of The USA". "You" was the B Side of their debut single "Outside View".

Answer: Lo & Behold

James' breakthrough album 'Sweet Baby James' has a number of delights on it. And once you get past the beautiful "Fire & Rain" I would love to think that a number of people might consider the track "Lo & Behold" to be amongst the next one to be found on that record.

As a kid I was into weirdo stuff like The Mothers, The Fugs, The Velvet Underground etc and also loud obnoxious bands such as Grand Funk, Blue Cheer, MC5 etc. However the first time I heard "Fire and Rain" I was enthralled. I did not buy the album because I was not sure if I wanted an entire album of 'soft rock'.

Then, on one of those $2.00 Warner Brothers samplers that were always being advertised as mail order items on their inner sleeves, I heard "Lo & Behold". And within a week I got the album. I am always selling off parts off my record collection (do NOT PM me about this: I'm serious.) and expanding it with new stuff, but that second James Taylor LP is never amongst whatever pile of stuff I am considering selling.

He may never be considered hip, but he has put out some very fine records in his career (and he is GREAT in concert - I strongly urge you to go see him live).

Answer: False

If you do not mind a bazillion versions of every single track on the 'Fun House' album you can spend a happy summer's day listening to this box set. But one track you will not hear on it is a track entitled "Dirtbag Love". Which is a shame because it really does sound like a song Iggy and Ron might have written. Oh well... Que sera sera.

Answer: The Fugs

Off of the Fugs' wonderful 1968 studio album 'It Crawled into My Hand, Honest'. As a ten year old I had no clue what this song was about and I still don't. Is this track a highlight from the album? No. Is this track amongst my favorite tracks on this album? Nope.

Then why did I pick this track for this quiz? Because the song title is so obnoxiously long and I'm angry. Angry that nobody is writin' new music quizzes for me to take every day! That's why.

Answer: Pork Queen

From their 1994 'Beautiful Vision" LP. I chose this track simply because that's the only Pork Queen album I ever owned. Plus I always loved the title (it takes up the entire second side of the record). This LP was issued in an edition of 300 copies only and packaged in old album covers that were "altered" by the band members. Each player personally decorated 100 copies.

This LP was recorded at Icky's in Eugene, Oregon on 4-4-84. Pork Queen were basically the project of Justice Schanfarber and whoever he decided to record with at any given time.

Answer: Burzum

'Det som engang var' is the second release by Burzum from 1993. Burzum is basically Varg Vikernes and whoever he chooses to play with on any given album of his (although usually it is just Varg). Varg's history is an ugly one (involving Murder and Church Burnings) that you can look up yourself if you so choose. He is one of the cornerstones of the Norwegian Black Metal scene.

Answer: Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff is was one of the HUGE names in Reggae music in the 60s and 70s. "Wonderful World Beautiful People" is a track from his 1969 album which was originally titled 'Jimmy Cliff', which was retitled 'Wonderful World Beautiful People' after the song was released as a single in the USA. The song went into the Top 25 in both the UK and the USA when it was released.

Answer: Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated

"Spooky Not Nice" is a track from Alexis' 1962 debut LP 'R&B from the Marquee'. For those of you who do not know: Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Cyril Davies are the Gods of the British Blues Revival in the 1960s. If you were a kid like me that worshipped at the altar of the British Blues Boom then chances are huge that somebody you worshipped was discovered by, and played with, one of these three people. I was lucky and got to see Alexis Korner's New Church as my second ever live concert in Trier, Germany in the summer of 1970. My grandmother took me! She actually did not hate it (opening band was the wonderful Ihre Kinder). I saw him again in 1973 at the "Klein Woodstock Auf Der Heide" Festival in Scheesel, Germany solo when he got ticked off by how all of the bands were lingering backstage with excuses as to why they could not play yet (because they all wanted to play after dark) while 40,000 people were waiting for ANYTHING other than yet another endless replaying of the Ten Years After 'Recorded Live' album over the PA.

He grabbed a Strat and played a 30 minute solo set as an apology for the endless delays (he was hired as the festival DJ NOT as an actual performer). As a reward for his impromptu solo set he got about ten encores and is since remembered as one of the major highlights of that festival...

Answer: Henry Vestine

Ok. I admit: this is a mean question. Harvey replaced Henry as the lead guitar player in Canned Heat in 1969 (his third ever live performance with the band was at Woodstock!). Harvey has recorded a number of really great solo albums and was also an integral member of one of John Mayall's bands in the early 1970s.

He also was auditioned as a potential replacement for Mick Taylor when Mick quit the Rolling Stones. He is truly one of rock music's most underrated guitar players.

Answer: Forever and Ever

Released in the UK in 1975 it was a number one hit for the band in 1976. However: during the time it took for that song to become Number One you COULD NOT escape it in most European countries! Now why on earth would this godawful piece of dreck even be remembered in this day and age? Does the name Midge Ure ring any bells with you? No? Rich Kids? Ultravox? Ok NOW you know who I am talking about. Well the truly horrid Slik were his first band that recorded a hit. If you are European please forgive me for reminding you about this song and this band. And, to compensate to you for that horror, allow me to say just six words to all of you Americans: "It's A Small World After All".

Answer: Sailor

The Nickelodeon was an instrument invented by Georg Kajanus for his band Sailor. It was a keyboard instrument that incorporated piano, glockenspiel and synthesizer and was played by two people facing each other (on both sides of the instrument). It was built in order for the band to be able to recreate their primarily acoustic based studio tracks live.

The band was not well known in the USA at all but in Europe they had a number of hits, including the great "Glass Of Champagne" and "Girls Girls Girls".

The instrument made them a lot of fun to watch whenever they performed on TV over there.

Answer: Rock

Scott Ashton. The Stooges. Drummer. An absolute legend. Scott 'Rock" Ashton. "He drummed songs," Iggy Pop said of him: "He had terrific force in his hands, and a natural power punch, a knockout punch, without flailing." That is all you NEED to know!

Answer: Grand Funk Railroad

The first Grand Funk album, 'On Time' was released as 'Grand Funk Railroad', the Flint, Michigan's band's original full name. The second album (aka 'The Red Album', one of the two main albums that begat the 'grunge' genre along with Blue Cheer's 'Outsideinside' btw - and this is straight from Mark Arm's mouth for those of you doubting me.) was issued as 'Grand Funk', after which all of the band's albums during their first run were issued as being recorded by 'Grand Funk'.

Answer: Showaddywaddy

Nope. You'd be wrong if you said T Rex. They only SPELLED OUT their name ONE TIME ONLY at the beginning of 'The Groover' single. And to the best of my knowledge the Rubettes and the Glitter Band never did. But the truly execrable Showaddywaddy were a different sort of unwanted present altogether. Mere seconds into their first hit: "Ooooooooooooo. Oooooooooooooo. Ooooooooooooo. Ooooooooooshowaddywaddyooooooooooo." And this aural misery of a song shall remain stuck in my head until my dying day for that reason. I should outta start a Kickstarter campaign for a lobotomy for myself because of these creeps.

Answer: Elton John

And to close out this quiz something you are either going to find stupid easy or flat out impossible. Because that's how I roll when I am tired. Tony Burrows was the singer on a dozen or more bands that you grew up with. Here's a few: The Ivy League, The Flower Pot Men, White Plains, The Pipkins, Edison Lighthouse, The First Class, Brotherhood of Man. Oh what? You mean what SONGS did he actually sing? Ummmm "Gimme Dat Ding", "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes", "Beach Baby", "United We Stand", "My Baby Loves Lovin'" and god knows how many more. He was probably the voice to your high school years if you went to high school between 1970 and 1976.

"So what in the shoe is the Elton John connection" you are screaming into my face? Easy: Elton was also known for picking up some spare change in his career by singing hits of the day on "sound-alike albums". Albums where a label would collect the big hits of the day and have (what often turned out to be very well known) musicians of the day rerecorded them and tried to sound as much like the original hit version as possible. That way they could issue the album and only have to pay performance royalties and not pay to use the original hit version of the song itself. And for the people who saw these albums for sale at supermarkets and gas station for about one fifth of the price of a regular LP in those days... they usually thought they were buying the real deal. Like I said: Elton was doing this "covering the hits" thing well into his career because he simply loved doing it (as well as, early on when he was not world famous yet, to get some extra cash in his pockets). There are at least two Elton compilations that were issues on cd in the 90s that specifically focus on his work in this field. And what is the very first track on these compilations? You guessed it: GREAT covers of "My Baby Loves Lovin'". Look for the 'Chartbusters Go Pop' cd by Elton. If this sort of thing sounds interesting to you you'll get a huge kick out of it (this particular issue also has GREAT liner notes that explain the whole thing better than I ever could).