A Smiths Quiz

Tuesday 15th May 2007

I've just finished reading the article in the Observer about the first meeting between Morrissey and Johnny Marr, which took place a staggering 25 years ago this month (May 2007)!!!

As much as i'd love to, i'd never get away with doing this at The George, so here's a special online Smiths quiz. Pretty basic, but some good questions:

Round One: General

1. What was the name of the first Smiths' single, released in May 1983?

2. Johnny Marr and bassist Andy Rourke had previously played in a band with which actor, who would later become a familiar face on Coronation Street?

3. Which guitarist joined The Smiths in early 1986, initially as a replacement for the sacked Andy Rourke?

4. The highest chart position of any Smiths single was a 1992 re-release of which song?

5. Prior to fronting The Smiths, Morrissey wrote for which American band's fan club?

6. Morrissey briefly fronted a Manchester punk band with Billy Duffy (later of The Cult) on guitar; what were they called?

7. Which three poets are name-checked on "Cemetry Gates" from the "Queen Is Dead" album?

8. "Work Is A Four-Letter Word" was originally recorded by which 60's artist?

9. At which venue was the 1986 live album "Rank" recorded?

10. And which Elvis song was regularly sung as part of a live medley with "Rusholme Ruffians"?

11. Which 80's radio DJ provided the inspiration for the Smiths' song "Panic",following his on-air decision to play Wham's "I'm Your Man" directly following a news report on the Chernobyl disaster?

12. "How Soon Is Now" was originally the B-Side to which single?

13. Which was the only single taken from the "Meat Is Murder" album?

14. The 1986 single "Ask" featured which female singer on backing vocals?

15. Johnny Marr changed his surname from Maher to avoid confusion with the drummer from which already established Manchester band?

Round Two: Those Covers

Name the single (if you are very geeky, the B-Sides too!!)

Round Three:

Which Smiths songs were covered by the following people?

1. Sandie Shaw?

2. Placebo (CD Single "Nancy Boy)?

3. Bernard Manning? (on Jonathan Ross's "Last Resort"; Remember? Luckily, there's YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cS0bZiJ1Q )

4. Supergrass (CD single "Sun Hits The Sky")?

5. Kirsty MacColl (B-Side to her single "Free World")?

6. Muse (B-Side to "Hyper Music")?

Round Four; The Lyrics

1. "The devil will find work for idle hands to do..."

2. "I am the ghost of Troubled Joe hung by his pretty white neck some eighteen months ago..."

3. "God, how sex implores you to let yourself lose yourself..."

4. "So rattle my bones all over the stones because I'm only a beggar-man whom nobody owns..."

5. "You are your Mother's only son and you're a desperate one.."

6. "Call me morbid, call me pale I've spent too long on your trail..."

7. "But didn't you see the jealousy in the eyes of the ones who had to stay behind?"

8. "Sad veiled bride, please be happy handsome groom, give her room..."

9. "Yes, we may be hidden by rags but we have something that they'll never have..."

10. "If you must write prose/poems the words you use should be your own don't plagiarize or take on loan..."

11. "When you cycled by here began all my dreams the saddest thing I've ever seen..."

12. "You made a record, they liked your singing all of a sudden the phone stops ringing..."

13. "At the record company meeting on their hands - at last! - a dead star!"

14. "Hopes may rise on the Grasmeres but honey pie, you're not safe here..."

15. "I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside..."

Answers to follow in a week or two..letting you stew...