The Ladies of Punk Trivia Quiz

Answer: Patti Smith

Born in Chicago on December 30, 1946, Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith moved to New York in 1967 and soon became involved with the city's underground artistic culture. She painted, busked, performed in plays, gave public readings of her poetry, and wrote for several rock magazines.

She met guitarist, rock critic and record store clerk Lenny Kaye during this time, and on February 10, 1971, she invited him to provide backing music for a poetry reading she gave at St. Mark's Church. Over the next two years, their group evolved into a full band, performing gigs around New York and eventually becoming one the regular acts at the famous CBGB music club.

In 1974, they recorded their first single, a cover of the rock standard "Hey Joe". The next year saw the release of Smith's well received debut album, "Horses", which has since been included by both "Rolling Stone" and "Time Magazine" among their respective lists of the greatest albums of all time, and was also preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2009. Smith's later albums include "Easter" (1978), "Wave" (1979), "Dream of Life" (1988) and "Gone Again" (1996).

Answer: One Way or Another

Blondie was formed in August 1974 by guitarist Chris Stein and singer Deborah "Debbie" Harry. The band name was taken not from Harry's distinctive blonde hair but instead from truck drivers who catcalled "Hey, Blondie" at her as they drove past. Blondie became a fixture at the CBGB music club, and were one of the first acts to secure a record deal.

Their self-titled first album was released in 1976, and the next year's follow-up "Plastic Letters" gave them two top ten hits on the U.K. Singles Chart.

Their third album, "Parallel Lines" (1979), continued their strong performance in the U.K. and also broke them through in the United States: the third single, "Heart of Glass", hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There followed three more Billboard number ones: "Call Me", "The Tide is High" (both 1980) and "Rapture" (1981). "One Way or Another", alas, peaked at number 24 on Billboard; it is, however, this author's favourite Blondie song.

Answer: The Runaways

The Runaways were formed by Jett (born Joan Larkin) and drummer Sandy West in late 1975, later joined by guitarist Lita Ford, vocalist Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox (born Fuchs). They met through the colourful producer Kim Fowley, who became heavily involved in the promotion of the band.

Their raunchy, rebellious image (largely driven by Fowley) led them to be dismissed by the press as a manufactured exploitation act. Nonetheless, they soon began performing at the CBGB and other punk venues and associating with first wave punk bands in New York and London. Whatever their origins, they were also musically self-directed, playing their own instruments and writing their own songs (most notably the riot grrl anthem "Cherry Bomb").

They all continued as musicians after the Runaways disintegrated in 1979. Joan Jett was the most successful; her second album, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned two top ten hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including the classic title track.

Answer: Gaye Advert

The Adverts were formed in 1976 by T.V. Smith (born Tim Smith) and Gaye Advert (born Black), later joined by guitarist Howard Pickup (born Boak) and drummer Laurie Driver (born Muscat). For the non-British, the last of these is a homophone for lorry (truck) driver.

The band was among the earliest to play at the Roxy music club, centre of the London punk scene. The pale, raccoon-eyed, leather-clad Gaye Advert became one of the first iconic female punk stars. By 1977, the band had just about learned how to play their instruments and released their first single, the self-deprecating "One-Chord Wonders".

They followed it up with U.K. Singles Chart hit "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", inspired by the decision of an American criminal to leave his corneas to medical science after his execution. An acclaimed debut album, "Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts", followed in 1978, but the band's second album, "Cast of Thousands", was less successful.

The group floundered after its release and eventually broke up in late 1979. Gaye Black left music afterwards, and eventually began to concentrate on the visual arts; in 2010 and 2011 she curated exhibitions of art produced by musicians and others associated with the punk movement.

Answer: Poly Styrene

One of the most distinctive and original English punk bands of the 1970s, X-Ray Spex was formed in 1976 by Poly Styrene (born Marion Elliot-Said; the spelling of her first name varies depending on the source one consults) and saxophonist Lora Logic (born Susan Whitby). Logic soon left the band, but Styrene continued as its vocalist and songwriter.

Their first single, the visceral feminist rallying cry "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!", appeared in 1977. Their sole studio album, "Germ Free Adolescents" followed the next year and boasted such anti-consumerist tracks as "Art-I-Ficial" and "Warrior in Woolworths." Styrene left the band in mid-1979, released the solo project "Translucence" in 1980, and then joined the Hare Krishna movement in 1983.

She briefly resurfaced in 1995 to record another X-Ray Spex album, "Conscious Consumer," then later released a second solo album, "Generation Indigo" in 2011. Sadly, she died of breast cancer shortly after its release.

Answer: The Rezillos

The Rezillos were born at the Edinburgh College of Art, where most of their future members were studying. The band was organised by art students Luke Warm (born John "Jo" Callis) and Eugene Reynolds (born Alan Forbes). Fay Fife (born Sheilagh Hynd) was recruited as a backing singer, but came to share lead vocals with Reynolds.

In concert, the band wore loud, garish clothing and sang either covers of classic tracks or pop culture soaked numbers like "Top of the Pops" (which, appropriately, made the top 20 of the U.K. Singles Chart) "Flying Saucer Attack", "Destination Venus" and "2000 A.D." Their debut album, "Can't Stand the Rezillos" (1978) reached number 16 on the U.K. Album Chart, but the band split up soon thereafter due to internal disagreements. Reynolds and Fife formed the entirely-different Revillos (their music label agreed to release them from their contracts only if they didn't use the name Rezillos) and made music under that name into the mid-1980s.

The original band reformed, primarily as a touring act, in 2001.

Answer: True

Siouxsie Sioux (born Susan Ballion) was one of the original punk groupies. Siouxsie and her friend Steven Severin (born Bailey) were part of the so-called Bromley Contingent, a group of teenaged fans of the Sex Pistols and David Bowie who helped popularize the punk "look." Siouxsie became well known at the London punk clubs for her fetish and bondage clothing, and later perfected the iconic gothic style of black eye make-up, red lipstick, spiky black hair and dark clothing. Alongside Severin, she formed Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1976. Such albums as "The Scream" (1978) and Juju (1981) tended towards the dark, brooding and atmospheric, but the band's debut single was "Hong Kong Garden", named for a Chinese takeaway in London and inspired by the noxious behaviour of racist skinheads visiting the restaurant.

Despite this grim background, the song is upbeat and catchy, with cymbals, tom-toms and Asian-style guitar riffs.

Answer: X

X was formed in 1977 by bassist/singer John Doe (born John Duchac) and rockabilly guitarist Billy Zoom (born Ty Kindell). Both men had recently discovered the music of such punk pioneers as Patti Smith and the Ramones, and were eager to play in a similar style. Doe had already met Exene (born Christine) Cervenka due to their shared interest in poetry, and when he asked permission to turn a poem she had written into a song for the band, she instead decided to sing it herself and joined the band as a second vocalist. X released its first single, "Adult Books" b/w "We're Desperate", in 1978.

Their first album, "Los Angeles", followed in 1980. They released six more albums in the 1980s and 1990s, and have also continued touring as a live act. Doe and Cervenka have each also released a number of solo albums.

The two were married from 1980 to 1985, and Cervenka was later married to "Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortenson from 1987 to 1997.

Answer: The Avengers

Probably the least heralded band covered in this quiz, the Avengers were together but briefly and did not release any full-length albums during their career. They formed in 1977 when San Francisco Art Institute student Penelope Houston (a fan of proto-punk musicians like Lou Reed and Patti Smith) met recent graduate Danny Furious (O'Brien) and his guitarist friend Greg Ingraham. Finding that they shared similar tastes and were interested in starting a rock band, they did just that.

They played a number of gigs in late 1977 and early 1978, culminating in opening for the Sex Pistols in San Francisco.

They released a well-reviewed and moderately successful three-song EP in 1977 anchored by the youth culture anthem "We Are the One": the only recording released during the band's lifetime. Alas, Ingraham left the group in January 1979, and they broke up soon thereafter. Penelope Houston went on to a surprising second career as a folk-punk singer-songwriter. Furious put together a self-titled compilation album in 1983, and Houston produced another, "Died For Your Sins", in 1999. Houston and Ingraham reunited in 2004, and have remained together since as an occasional touring act.

Answer: The Slits

Formed in 1976, the Slits initially comprised 14-year old singer Ari Up (born Ariane Forster; her mother later married John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon), drummer Palmolive (born Paloma Romero), guitarist Viviane "Viv" Albertine, and bassist Tessa Pollitt. They recorded some extremely rough tracks, never widely released, and then opened for The Clash in 1977.

The band went on to record several live sessions with DJ John Peel, but they did not produce a proper album until 1979, by which time Palmolive had departed and been replaced on drums by Budgie (born Peter Clarke).

Their two studio albums, "Cut" (1979) and "Return of the Giant Slits" (1981), forsook the loud guitars and vocals that characterised punk (including the Slits' earlier work) in favour of Afro-Caribbean reggae stylings. "Cut" is also known for its infamous cover photo of the three remaining female bandmembers clad only in mud and loincloths. Over the following years, the band became increasingly avant-garde and experimental, releasing a joint single with the dissonant post-punk band The Pop Group.

The band went their separate ways in 1982 but reunited in 2006 to release the EP "Revenge of the Killer Slits". A new full-length album, "Trapped Animal", followed in 2009. Sadly, Ari Up died unexpectedly of cancer in 2010.