This quiz is about writing about music, concentrating on books rather than magazine journalism. The first section is a series of straight questions about books written by musicians or critics. The second section lists the titles of 15 music biographies and asks you to match them with their subjects.
Answers: here
1 Just Kids was a 2010 autobiography by which punk poet and rock singer? The book chronicles her relationship with which famous New York photographer in the seventies?
2 King Ink (1988) and King Ink II (1997) were collections of poetry and writing by which musician and songwriter? What was the title of his first novel (1989)?
3 In 2005, which literary music writer released a book studying the recording and impact of one Bob Dylan song? What was the song?
4 Which musician wrote the 2009 book, Bicycle Diaries, extolling the virtues of cycling? What was the title of the same writer’s 2012 book, a reflection on music, the industry and his own career within it?
5 Who was the author of a New York Times bestseller called The English Roses, a picture book for children? What was the name of the outsider envied by the other four girls (the Roses referred to in the title)?
6 Which musical movement was the subject of Jon Savage’s book, England’s Dreaming? Whose second volume of autobiography, Anger is an Energy, chronicles some of the same events?
7 Stoned was the autobiography of which former Rolling Stones manager? Who wrote The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, regarded by many as a definitive biography?
8 Psychotic Reactions and Carburettor Dung is a series of essays by which American rock critic, who died in 1982? Who portrayed him in the 2000 film about the music business, Almost Famous?
9 Who wrote classic Bob Marley biography Catch a Fire? Which band was the subject matter of his 1994 book, The Nearest Far Away Place?
10 Whose hand-written Journals, released posthumously in book form in 2002, went to the top of the book bestseller lists in both the US and the UK? What was the title of Charles Cross’s book on the same subject, a year earlier?
11 Elvis Costello published his autobiography in 2015, with the title Unfaithful Music and. . . . what? Which writer published two novels, Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms, with the same titles as two of Costello’s albums?
12 Cider with Roadies (2005) was which rock journalist and DJ’s account of his formative years in the North West? And which poet wrote the 2008 memoir Gig?
13 Apathy for the Devil was the seventies memoir of which legendary rock journalist? What was the collection of his writings published in 1994?
14 Thank You for the Days and Reelin’ in the Years are volumes of anecdotal autobiography by DJ Mark Radcliffe. Which two bands released those songs?
15 From the Velvets to the ???? Complete the title of Clinton Heylin’s 2005 account of the roots and records of the American punk scene. Who was the subject of his first book, Behind the Shades?
Which artists are the following books about? Where no author is given, the author is the artist (or, more likely, their ghost writer).
1 Charles Shaar Murray, Crosstown Traffic, 1989. 2 Scar Tissue, 2004. 3 A Bit of a Blur, 2007. 4 Jerry Hopkins, No One Gets Out of Here Alive. 1980 5 Take It Like a Man, 1995. 6 Dirty Blonde, 2007. 7 I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, 2016. 8 Tony Fletcher, Dear Boy, 2010. 9 Secrets of a Sparrow, 1993. 10 Life, 2010. 11 Chronicle, Volume 1, 2003. 12 The Heroin Diaries, 2007. 13 Barry Miles, Many Years from Now, 1997. 14 Reckless, 2015. 15 Philip Norman, Shout! 1991.
Possible answers: The Beatles; Boy George; The Doors; Bob Dylan; Jimi Hendrix; Chrissie Hynde; Alex James; Grace Jones; Anthony Kiedis; Courtney Love; Paul McCartney; Keith Moon; Keith Richards; Diana Ross; Nikki Sixx.