From the release of the Velvet Underground’s debut in 1967 until his death in 2013, Lou Reed stood out as one of rock music’s most individual and uncompromising figures. Like David Bowie, a sometime collaborator, Reed stood for progression and experimentation. His albums weren’t always commercially successful, and his music was rarely the sort of thing with which to give yourself a lift after a bad day at the office. But he was always distinctly, uniquely Lou. The first section of this quiz covers Reed himself, while the second covers three other artists who score low on the chuckle-ometer: Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, and one latter-day acolyte, Nick Cave. Enjoy. Or, if not, wallow.
Answers: here
1 Reed’s 2003 opus The Raven is a series of recitals and musical pieces based around the work of which American author and poet? Which New York painter and friend of Reed’s from the Factory days provided the art for the cover?
2 Where did the Velvet Underground play a nine-week residency in 1970, gigs made famous by the official 1972 release of bootleg tapes recorded on the final night (Reed’s last performance with the band)? Which pounding track opens the set?
3 Reed contributed vocals to the 1988 album Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom by which New York band? On which of his own compositions did he sing?
4 On ‘Good Evening Mr Waldheim’ from the 1989 album New York, which African-American politician and which religious leader came in for some stick alongside the Austrian head of state named in the title?
5 On what occasion did the New York Times publish a poem by Reed called ‘Laurie Sadly Listening’? Who’s the ‘Laurie’ referred to in the title?
6 Who was Reed’s tutor at Syracuse University, an American poet to whom he dedicated the Velvet Underground song ‘European Son’? To which artist is Reed and John Cale’s 1990 album Songs for Drella dedicated?
7 The Children in Need version of Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ was released in 1997 by popular demand after appearing on TV in what capacity? Which film had already increased the song’s profile earlier in the decade?
8 Which Velvet Underground song did Canadian band Cowboy Junkies include on their classic album The Trinity Session in 1988? And who had previously covered the song on their 1972 album All the Young Dudes?
9 What’s the title of Reed’s 1975 notorious double album, a squall of feedback and noise lasting nearly two hours? And what’s the live album he made in 2008 in an attempt to bring some of this material into a live context?
10 Which fiercely distorted and dissonant Velvet Underground track lasts for 17 minutes in its original studio version? On which album, the band’s second, did it appear?
11 What was the title of Reed’s greatest hits released in 2004, acknowledging his place in the artistic life of his hometown? Which song from Transformer was reworked and rereleased around the same time, taking the singer back into the UK Top 10?
12 Who replaced Angus MacLise as the drummer in the Velvet Underground before they had even set foot in a studio? What was the most notable feature of this drummer’s 1991 solo album, I Spent a Week There the Other Night?
13 What was the final album Reed released as a solo artist without any credited collaborators? Which long-term associate of Reed’s played bass on the album, as he did frequently on Reed’s records from the 1980s to the 2000s?
14 ‘Waltzing Matilda’ is the first part of a three-part song cycle that makes up the title track of which 1978 Reed album? Whose voice is heard in the spoken section of the third part, ‘Slipaway’?
15 Which two titles from the following list are not the names of studio albums released by Reed: The Blue Mask, Coney Island Baby, Heroin, New Sensations, Sally Can’t Dance, Sex with Your Parents, Legendary Hearts?
16 If ‘Like a drunk in a midnight choir’ is the second line, what’s the first? And on which Leonard Cohen album is this the opening track?
17 What was Nick Cave’s third solo album, a collection of covers with a Biblical quote for a title? Which Reed-penned song did Cave include on the album?
18 Which musician has played on every Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album so far except Push the Sky Away, released in 2013? And which original Bad Seed returned for the album, his first record with Cave since 1986?
19 What’s the title of the 1972 album that put Neil Young firmly up front as a solo artist? What, loosely speaking, did the album acquire 20 years later?
20 When Young went to Hollywood and Redwood and crossed the ocean, for what was he searching? Which of the song’s lyrics seems much more apt when Young sings it today?
21 What was Leonard Cohen’s outerwear of choice on Songs of Love and Hate? Which historical figure is recognised in the title of the last track on the album?
22 Which 2012 album saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse rip up a number of traditional folk songs in their own inimitable style? Which British anthem ended the album?
23 What are the titles of the two discs on the 2004 double-album release by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds?
24 Which Leonard Cohen song gave the singer his only UK singles chart entry in 2007 when it was rereleased amid a surge of interest in his work? On which 1984 album did the song initially appear?
25 What’s the name of the violent Australian western, directed by John Hillcoat, for which Nick Cave wrote the screenplay, as well as composing the soundtrack with Warrn Ellis? And what’s the title of the stylised 2014 documentary about Cave, directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard?
26 Which Oliver Stone film from 1994 featured three tracks from Leonard Cohen’s 1992 album The Future? In the title track from that album, what does the singer want to see the return of, alongside Stalin and St Paul?
27 Fed up with younger artists failing to speak out against the Bush administration, Neil Young released a politically charged album in 2006. What was it called? Which controversial track on it called for dramatic anti-government action and included excerpts from George W Bush’s speeches?
28 Which 2012 Leonard Cohen album became his highest charting album in the US when it reached No3, 45 years after his first album came out? What’s the title of the 2014 follow-up, released a few months before the singer turned 80?
29 Under what name did the band that became the Birthday Party release their first album, Door, Door in 1979? And what’s the name of the Nick Cave project that made two noisy albums in 2007 and 2010?
30 Weld, Year of the Horse and Road Rock are all examples of what? And what was the album of feedback and noise that accompanied the initial release of Weld?