Colour has infused pretty much every artist’s work. Prince’s car would have been much less interesting had it just been a little corvette (and it wouldn’t have scanned). And the White Stripes would never have found fame and fortune if they were just called the Stripes, surely? Hence this colourful quiz.
The first part of the quiz is 15 straight two-part questions. The second part is an identification game. We give you three tracks off an album and you have to give us the artist and album title.
Answers: here
1 Which delicate colour gave Procol Harum their only UK number one in 1967? In which 1991 film does a priest admonish a young organist for getting the words to the song wrong as he practices it on the church organ?
2 Who had a minor hit with ‘Pretty in Pink’ in 1981? Who starred in the lead female role in the John Hughes film that took the song’s name as its title and made it chart far higher?
3 For Prince, the rain was this colour – what was for Hendri? And which legendary 1967 rock festival did he showcase the song at?
4 What was Chuck Berry’s B-side to ‘Too Much Monkey Business’, written after he saw cops arrest a Hispanic man for no reason? Who wrote a 1967 classic about an identically endowed girl?
5 ‘5AM’ and ‘Crying for No Reason’ were hit singles off which 2014 number one album by which London singer?
6 What is the correct title of the Beatles’ album generally known as the White Album? Which is the only Beatles album to have a colour in its actual title?
7 ‘Change Gonna Come’, ‘Wonderful World’ and a cool version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ are all on which classic 1967 soul album? Which other soul singer wrote the first two songs?
8 Who, respectively, were Back in Black in 1980 and Back to Black in 2006?
9 Under what name does Alecia Moore usually record? And under what name did she release an album with Dallas Green?
10 Who had a 2011 number one with ‘Read All About It’? Who sang guest vocals on the song?
11 What colour was Dorothy Moore’s world turned in 1976? Who had a big country hit with the same Bob Montgomery song in 1967?
12 Who had a top ten UK hit with ‘Fade to Grey’ in 1980? Which prominent eighties pop star co-wrote and produced the song?
13 To Lose My Life was the 2009 UK number one debut album by which London band? What was the title of their 2011 follow-up?
14 Which two Davids had hit singles with ‘Silver Lady’ (1977) and ‘Silver Dream Machine’ (1980)?
15 Which 1941 song was popularised during the Second World War by Vera Lynn? Who released a version as the B-side to their cover of ‘Unchained Melody’, the best-selling single of 1995?
Identify the artist and album from the following tracks.
16 ‘Turn to Stone’; ‘Mr Blue Sky’; ‘Wild West Hero’ (1977)
17 ‘Give Me a Reason’, ‘Irresistible’, ‘Breathless’ (2000)
18 ‘Nightblindness’, ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’, ‘Please Forgive Me’ (1998)
19 ‘Fight Test’, ‘Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell’, ‘Do You Realize??’ (2002)
20 ‘Stormkeeper’, ‘Miss Me Blind’, ‘Karma Chameleon’ (1983)
21 ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’, ‘Candle in the Wind’ (1973)
22 ‘Space Dog’, ‘Past the Mission’, ‘Cornflake Girl’ (1994)
23 ‘Bodysnatchers’, ‘House of Cards’, ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ (2007)
24 ‘Conversation 16’, ‘Anyone’s Ghost’, ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ (2010)
25 ‘Long and Lost’, ‘Queen of Peace’, ‘Ship to Wreck’ (2015)
26 ‘Tank’, ‘Threatened,’ ‘Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’ (1978)
27 ‘Why Don’t You Love Me Anymore?’, ‘Sensitive New Age Guy’, ‘GMF’ (2013)
28 ‘The Last Time’, ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, ‘State of Grace’ (2012)
29 ‘The Song of Solomon,’ ‘Top of the City’, ‘Rubberband Girl’ (1993)
30 ‘World Leader Pretend’, ‘Stand’, ‘Orange Crush’ (1998)