Harry Goodwin/Redferns
THE ARTISTS FORMERLY KNOWN AS POLKA TULK
21 Early Names of Famous Bands
In the music business, you have to hit not only the right chords but also the right name. Here’s a quiz to test your knowledge.
| 1. | Angel and the Snakes | a. | Bangles |
| 2. | Composition of Sound | b. | Beach Boys |
| 3. | Big Thing | c. | Beatles |
| 4. | Artistics | d. | Bill Haley and His Comets |
| 5. | Carl and the Passions | e. | Black Sabbath |
| 6. | Primettes | f. | Blondie |
| 7. | Tom and Jerry | g. | Byrds |
| 8. | Johnny and the Moondog | h. | Chicago |
| 9. | Caesar and Cleo | i. | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| 10. | Paramours | j. | Depeche Mode |
| 11. | Polka Tulk | k. | Led Zeppelin |
| 12. | Bangs | l. | Lynyrd Skynyrd |
| 13. | Beefeaters | m. | Mamas and the Papas |
| 14. | Falling Spikes | n. | Righteous Brothers |
| 15. | Sparrow | o. | Simon and Garfunkel |
| 16. | My Backyard | p. | Sonny and Cher |
| 17. | The New Journeymen | q. | Steppenwolf |
| 18. | The Elgins | r. | Supremes |
| 19. | The Four Aces of Western Swing | s. | Talking Heads |
| 20. | The Golliwogs | t. | Temptations |
| 21. | The New Yardbirds | u. | Velvet Underground |
Answers: 1 (f), 2 (j), 3 (h), 4 (s), 5 (b), 6 (r), 7 (o), 8 (c), 9 (p), 10 (n), 11 (e), 12 (a), 13 (g), 14 (u), 15 (q), 16 (l), 17 (m), 18 (t), 19 (d), 20 (i), 21 (k)
Stirring Opening Lines of 11 National Anthems
1 ALGERIA We swear by the lightning that destroys, By the streams of generous blood being shed By the bright flags that wave That we are in revolt …
2 BOLIVIA Bolivians, propitious fate has crowned our hopes …
3 BURKINA FASO Against the humiliating bondage of a thousand years Rapacity came from afar to subjugate them For a hundred years. Against the cynical malice in the shape Of neocolonialism and its petty local servants, Many gave in and certain others resisted.
4 GUINEA-BISSAU Sun, sweat, verdure and sea, Centuries of pain and hope; This is the land of our ancestors.
5 LUXEMBOURG Where slow you see the Alzette flow, The Sura play wild pranks …
6 OMAN O Lord, protect for us Our Majesty the Sultan And the people in our land, With honour and peace. May he live long, strong and supported, Glorified by his leadership. For him we shall lay down our lives.
7 PARAGUAY To the peoples of unhappy America, Three centuries under a sceptre oppressed. But one day, with their passion arising, ‘Enough, ’ they said and broke the sceptre.
8 SENEGAL Everyone strum your koras, Strike the balafons, The red lion has roared, The tamer of the bush with one leap, Has scattered the gloom.
9 TAIWAN The three principles of democracy our party does revere.
10 URUGUAY Eastern landsmen, our country or the tomb!
11 USSR Unbreakable union of freeborn republics, Great Russia has welded forever to stand; Thy might was created by the will of our peoples, Now flourish in unity, great Soviet land!
Dr Demento’s 10 Worst Song Titles of All Time
Radio personality Dr Demento’s private collection of more than 200,000 records is said to be one of the world’s largest. He puts his library of discs to use on ‘The Dr Demento Show’, which is heard on 200 radio stations in the US and on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
What’s a really bad song title? One that’s offensive or inarticulate, I’d say, or one that doesn’t readily identify the song it’s attached to (Bob Dylan did that for kicks in the Sixties). I think we can leave those alone for now.
Then there are the sort of song titles (often from country music) that are often rather clever, to be truthful, but induce the same sort of groans that often greet a really good pun when heard for the first time.
Some of those are included on this list, along with others that induce groans for altogether different reasons. Qualifiers: 1) This list does not duplicate my two earlier Book of Lists contributions. 2) All these songs have been heard at least once on ‘The Dr Demento Show’ (I actually like most of these songs).
After each song title the composer credits
