This Train Pulls Into A Bar... Quiz

Answer: 'Train In Vain'

I ain't too proud to admit it: when this song first came out (as an unannounced bonus track on the awful 'London Calling' album) I despised this track on principal. I loved the band but other than the first LP my God did I hate their next two records. But then a few years ago I started collecting Clash bootlegs and I realized in some ways this is s great song. For starters it has a wonderful bass-line.

In any case this is from their third album, 'London Calling' in 1979. For me personally it's tied with their second album 'Give 'em Enough Rope' as one of the worst albums ever made. Most Clash fans love it and at the time most of their punk fans loathed this track, which became a very popular track for them. As I said: in hindsight I could think of many worse tracks on that album to hate.

Oh well...

Answer: 'Just Like This Train'

From her wonderful January 1974 release 'Court & Spark'. It was her sixth album and reached number two in the Billboard charts. I did not live in the USA at the time but I gotta ask: what kept this album out of the number one spot?

Joni spent most of 1973 in the studio recording this album. The album's great single ('Help Me') became her first and only top ten single. Village Voice voted it Best Album of the year and it was certified double platinum in the USA.

Answer: 'Station Man'

Fleetwood Mac's wonderful 1970 release, 'Kiln House' was their first album with Christine McVie, their first album without Peter Green and their last album with Jeremy Spencer. In a nutshell Peter Green took acid at Amon Duul 1's commune in Germany and kinda lost his mind.

He quit the band on their US Tour to go find God or something like that. As did Jeremy Spencer at some point, leaving the band short two of their three guitarists and Godless. Danny Kirwin (Peter's replacement) and Jeremy Spencer were now the band's guitarists.

The (great) album eventually reached number 69 on the Billboard charts (yes: there once was a time when Fleetwood Mac albums did not spend small eternities in the number one position on the charts). 'Station Man' was one of this album's highlights.

Answer: '5:15'

From their late 1973 'Quadrophenia' release. The album's release was actually preceded with the release of this as the first single a month before the album came out. Some people consider this one of their best singles releases from the seventies (me? I'm a 'Goin' Mobile' fan from the 'Who's Next' album, but I don't have a clue if that ever came out as a single).

The 'Quadrophenia' album was the band's second concept album after 1969's 'Tommy' release.

Answer: 'Terrapin Station'

I do not really know what I can tell you about the Grateful Dead without repeating the info about them from the first part of this quiz. This was the side-long title track from their summer 1977 release 'Terrapin Station'. I do remember at the time people ran hot and cold on this album. Personally I think it's their last really good studio album.

It was produced by famous Beatles' producer George Martin.

Answer: '8:05'

I love Moby Grape. End of story. Sort of, as I have to write something here.

This track is from their 1967 debut and self titled album. Their story is long and to a large degree tragic. Whittled down: they had tremendously high expectations from their record company. EVERY track on the album was released as a single at the same time, ensuring that nobody who bought the album would buy any of the singles and seriously confusing and annoying disc jockeys across the land as to which song the label was trying to hype. That and the fact that the album immediately got withdrawn to have one of the band member's middle finger airbrushed out of the photo did not help matters. Then some of the band members went nuts and you just cooked yourself a whole bouillabaisse of disasters. Needless to say: as great a band as they were the big break never came. Every now and then a version of the band plays live and the (club) shows are usually excellent and well attended.

Answer: 'Train To Nowhere'

This was the opening track of Savoy Brown's wonderful 1969 LP 'Blue Matter'. It was a very different sounding track (compared to what they usually do). In the USA Rolling Stone magazine called 'Train To Nowhere' their quintessential track. In the UK Zig Zag magazine did the same.

Answer: 'Riding On The L&N'

It's going to be REALLY difficult to sum up John Mayall in a few words. But I'll try. John Mayall is perhaps the single most important figure in the British blues-rock scene from the sixties (Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies would be the other two). Without Mayall bringing them to a large audience (mostly in Europe) you would probably not have Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green (or Mick Fleetwood & John McVie for that matter). Just listing the people who got their first taste of real fame in one of his bands would be about half an hour's worth of reading here.

The lineup on this track were: features Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond on saxophone. It was a single only release that came out in 1967 for his third LP 'A Hard Road". If you don't know where to start with his dozens of releases, this album, 'Crusade' and 'The Bluesbreaker With Eric Clapton' might be the best places to start (especially 'Crusade' - that is perhaps his best album ever).

Answer: 'Train For Auschwitz'

Admit it: You think I made this one up. And my oh my I wish I could say I had. I don't know a whole lot about Tom Paxton or this track, but with a title like that I just can't resist investigating further. It was released in 1972 on the 'Broadside Ballads, Vol. 6: Broadside Reunion' LP. Yes: there is a youtube video for it! I am assuming it was recorded in 1961 as I see there are versions of it from that year. Tom Paxton is a folk singer so it is easy for me to assume he put a folk twist on Auschwitz.

Answer: 'Trains And Boats and Planes'

What can I say about Dionne? Well... I know the way to San Jose. And I used to make a point in the eighties of going to her hot dog place on Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California that might be gone now (I do not live close by any longer but it would be a shame if it were gone as it was THE best hot dog place EVER. With fluorescent green wonderful green hot dog relish! I could probably tell you a hundred more things about this place than of Dionne and a thousand more things than I could about this song! My girlfriend told me it's a well known song, so I'll just go back to dreaming about her hot dogs.) Oh, the song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who wrote lots of hit songs for Dionne.

Answer: 'Driver 8'

'Driver 8' is from REM's "Fables Of The Reconstruction" (their third LP from 1985). The band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980. They were one of the first of what people call Alternative Rock bands. They became one of the most popular bands in the world, re-signing to the label Warner Brothers in 1996 for 80 million dollars (the most ever paid to any band for a recording contract.) They split up on September 21, 2011.

Answer: 'Zug'

Conrad (born on 17 March 1937) was an extremely prolific German electronic composer. He was an early member of the pioneering bands Tangerine Dream and Cluster (Or Kluster as they initially called themselves). In the 40 years between the early 70s and the early 2010s he issued more albums and cassettes than just about anybody this side of Jandek! One of the things he was known for were spontaneous shows in the street utilizing a kind of construction helmet with a built in microphone and speaker. If you can find it at a reasonable price 'The Green Box' is probably the best place to start with his myriad releases. 'Zug' (which translates to 'Train", and yes: there are a few videos of it on You Tube) was released on his LP 'Ballet Statique' in 1978.

Answer: 'No Trains To Heaven'

The GREAT Be-Bop Deluxe formed in 1974 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Bill Nelson. Bill became something of a smaller scale guitar hero in the seventies. 'No Trains To Heaven' was a track from their first LP 'Axe Victim' (my personal favorite album by them) released in June of 1974. Bill Nelson (their leader) had already released solo work before Be-Bop's formation and after they split up in 1978 Bill eventually released a ton of solo albums, very few of which focused on his guitar playing! Seriously: this guy has more solo records than most people have hairs on their head.

Answer: 'Jumping Someone Else's Train'

'JSET' was released as a single in 1979. As far as album appearances it eventually showed up on the US version of their 'Boys Don't Cry' album. The Cure formed in 1976 and nowadays are one of the world's biggest bands. I have a strong feeling they'll still be around for a 50th anniversary tour at a stadium near you in a few years! Their leader Robert Smith has been threatening the world with a "Nick Drake-like" solo album for decades now. I just hope I live long enough to see this happen!

Answer: 'Nightime At The Switching Yard'

Warren Zevon was most known for his song "Werewolves Of London" from 1978. He was the son of a Russian gangster. His parents were a Russian Jewish immigrant, and a Mormon Midwestern mother of English descent (How many of you can make that claim?). He was a successful songwriter with a very distinctive and often sarcastic point of view.

In September 2002 he announced that he had terminal cancer. He died in Los Angeles, California on September 7, 2003. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the Pacific Ocean.