American rock icon Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 70th birthday this week. This means it’s half a lifetime since he released his most commercially successful album, 1984’s Born in the USA. A decade earlier, 1975’s Born to Run had launched Springsteen…
Congratulations to all of last week’s contestants, especially those with 100%. Special congratulations to Tony, who finished in a rasping time with more than five minutes to spare. This week’s challenge wanders into unfamiliar territory for this quiz. You need…
It’s the year of Our Lord 2019, and we’re rapidly approaching peak-rock-star-death era. The Cars’ mastermind Ric Ocasek passed away earlier this week. I was surprised to learn that he was 75, older than many of the stars that he…
Congratulations to JP Robichaud, who astounded us all with his musical instrument knowledge with a perfect 16 This week you need to complete the song lyrics that contain a like. Can you master the similes? I scored 26/26 in…
Most successful musicians start their recording careers as young adults, but New Zealand country artist Aly Cook’s an exception. Cook’s been involved in the music scene for years, but only released her debut album in 2011, crowdfunding for each of…
Aside from their debut, each of The Go-Betweens’ studio albums follows a set formula – exactly ten songs with five written by Robert Forster and five by Grant McLennan. The pair anchored the Australian indie guitar band over two stints…
Congratulations to all the participants in last week’s music jokes quiz. Rich from KamerTunesBlog, helped by his job in music retail, scored the fastest time among the 24s, with Tony and Bruce hard on his heels. This week’s quiz requires you to…
Google’s dictionary defines a singer-songwriter as “a person who sings and writes popular songs, especially professionally.” The term’s come to have a more specific meaning – I understand it to mean artists who record as solo acts, who write their…
The Velvet Underground began as a collaboration between frustrated songwriter Lou Reed and classically trained John Cale. Cale had worked with experimental composers John Cage and LaMonte Young, and Reed’s interest in alternative guitar tunings and drone notes provided common…
Congratulations to all the participants in last week’s music jokes quiz. Tony from Mumbling About… scored the fastest time among all the 24s. This week you need to identify albums from 1987. The 1980s used to get a rough time…
