Thursday 23 April 2020 / music
Big Fat Lockdown Quiz: The Beatles Edition
Beatlemaniacs, listen up! Are you tired of fumbling through questions about the Top 40 and last year's X Factor winner in every Zoom quiz? Itching to show off your knowledge of the intricacies of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership? Then this is the lockdown quiz for you! I've made an easy, medium and hard quiz, so if you're the sort of fan who knows the difference between Hey Jude and Hey Bulldog, you might want to skip 'easy'!
HARD
Q1: Which Beatles song was covered by the Rolling Stones in 1963?
Q2: Which song did Paul McCartney claim to have written about his dog?
Q3: Which of these public figures was NOT featured on the cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: Bob Dylan, Edgar Allen Poe or James Dean?
Q4: Who became a temporary Beatle when he replaced a sickly Ringo on their 1964 tour?
Q5: In 1965, The Beatles became the first British band to release a double A-side single. Which two songs were on that single? (two points available)
Q6: Who produced the Let It Be album?
Q7: Which two Beatles fall over while running away from fans in the opening credits of their 1964 film, A Hard Day’s Night? (only one point available)
Q8: What was the name of the German artist and bass player who designed the Revolver album artwork?
Q9: What is the only Beatles song to feature lead vocals from a non-Beatle?
Q10: Their counterculture anthem All You Need is Love was written for the first ever live international television programme. What was that programme called?
Q11: What was the B-side to She Loves You?
Q12: Brian Epstein was the Beatles most famous manager, but who was their first?
Q13: The music video for Lady Madonna was actually supposed to be for another song. Which song was it?
Q14: Why does a murderous cult attempt to kidnap Ringo in the 1965 film, Help?
Q15: As The Quarrymen, Paul, John and George (with John Lowe and Colin Hanton) paid to record a few songs in a Liverpool studio. How much did it cost them?
A1: I Wanna Be Your Man
A2: Martha My Dear
A3: James Dean
A4: Jimmie Nicol
A5: We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper
A6: Phil Spector
A7: George Harrison and Ringo
Starr
A8: Klaus Voorman
A9: The Continuing Story of
Bungalow Bill
A10: Our World
A11: I'll Get You
A12: Allan Williams
A13: Hey Bulldog
A14: Their sacrificial ring is stuck on his finger
A15: 17 shillings and 6 pence.
MEDIUM
Q1: Before Ringo Starr joined the band in 1962, who was the original drummer?
Q2: Which 1965 single came to Paul McCartney in a dream?
Q3: Which Beatle was barefoot on the famous cover of Abbey Road?
Q4: Who was the only Beatle to have actually lived on Penny Lane in Liverpool?
Q5: Which of these singles finally broke The Beatles four-year streak of number ones in the UK: Strawberry Fields Forever, Love Me Do or Hello Goodbye?
Q6: Which 1966 Beatles song was both the first song to feature backwards music and the first song to have a music video?
Q7: Which member of the band is actually called James?
Q8: Which scathing song was written about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who the band studied under in India: She Said She Said, Lady Madonna or Sexy Sadie?
Q9: Who angered the band (apart from John) by moving a bed into the studio during the recording of Abbey Road?
Q10: Which song was inspired by an antique circus poster?
Q11: Why did Paul McCartney get deported from Hamburg in 1960?
Q12: The Beatles famously got rejected by a major record label in what is now considered the greatest mistake in music history. Which label was it?
Q13: With which song did Ringo Starr get his first writing credit?
Q14: Despite famously writing I am the Walrus, who did John later claim was in fact the walrus in the song Glass Onion?
Q15: What city were The Beatles in when they found out they'd got their first American number one with I Want to Hold Your Hand?
A1: Pete Best
A2: Yesterday
A3: Paul McCartney
A4: John Lennon
A5: Strawberry Fields Forever
A6: Rain
A7: Paul McCartney
A8: Sexy Sadie
A9: Yoko Ono
A10: Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite
A11: He nailed a condom to the wall and set it on fire
A12: Decca Records
A13: What Goes On
A14: Paul McCartney
A15: Paris
EASY
Q1: Which Beatle married Linda Eastman in 1969?
Q2: What was the name of the Liverpool music venue where they made their name?
Q3: Which iconic song was written by Paul McCartney to comfort Julian Lennon after the divorce of his parents?
Q4: Which Beatles song shares a name with a famous novel by Haruki Murakami?
Q5: Which song contains the lyrics ‘close your eyes and I’ll kiss you/tomorrow I’ll miss you’?
Q6: Which Beatle shared an ex-wife with Eric Clapton?
Q7: Which Beatle was rumoured to have died in 1966 and subsequently been replaced by a lookalike?
Q8: Which song was inspired by Mia Farrow’s sister, Prudence Farrow?
Q9: The band’s 1968 album The Beatles is more commonly referred to as: A) The Blue Album B) The White Album or C) The Yellow Album?
Q10: Which of these songs was NOT written by George Harrison: Yesterday, Piggies or Here Comes the Sun?
Q11: In which song did Paul imagine his future grandchildren would be named Vera, Chuck and Dave?
Q12: Why did fans throughout the American 'Bible Belt' burn Beatles albums en masse in 1966?
Q13: Which was the last Beatles album to be released?
Q14: What was Ringo Starr's real name?
Q15: In which Californian city did the Beatles play the final show of their last ever tour?
A1: Paul McCartney
A2: The Cavern Club
A3: Hey Jude
A4: Norwegian Wood
A5: All My Loving
A6: George Harrison
A7: Paul McCartney
A8: Dear Prudence
A9: The White Album
A10: Yesterday
A11: When I'm 64
A12: John claimed The Beatles were 'more popular than Jesus'
A13: Let It Be
A14: Richard Starkey
A15: San Francisco
Tuesday 7 April 2020 / poetry
Smear: Poems for Girls published in US
The new expanded edition of Smear: Poem for Girls, which features my poem 'Dust', is now available in the US! Greta Bellamacina is such a beautiful poet and I've admired her work for a while, so it was a great honour to be included in her anthology.
NORMAL PEOPLE
You. must. watch. this.
The stakes are always high when adapting a beloved book for film or television, but for a novel as big as Normal People, the expectations were immense. Dubbed 'the great millennial love story', we follow on-off lovers Marianne and Connell through school and university in Ireland. One of the rare adaptations that's actually better than the book, Normal People deserves all the praise it's getting and more. Excruciatingly intimate and devastatingly poetic, it's television at its finest. Give it all the awards!
All twelve episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.
ONE TREE HILL
Okay, so no one's claiming One Tree Hill is exactly ground breaking programming, but it's definitely great entertainment. With its notoriously bonkers storylines - like when a stoned dog literally ate supervillain Dan's heart - and more car crashes/stalkers/affairs than you can shake a stick at, this teen drama is a ride from start to finish. Realistic portrayal of American youth, it certainly is not (or at least, I hope it's not) but it's so full of heart you'll be gripped by episode two.
All nine seasons are available on Amazon Prime.
All nine seasons are available on Amazon Prime.
BUZZFEED UNSOLVED: SUPERNATURAL
This internet hit has garnered a huge following, having been buoyed by the infamous 'hey there demons' meme that's been circulating for the past few years. It follows two friends as they hunt for ghosts in some of America's most haunted locations. Interest in the supernatural is not a viewing requirement; the draw of the show is watching hardcore sceptic Shane and believer Ryan bicker, dispute evidence and generally do stupid stuff in creepy houses. As much a comedy as it is a ghosthunting show, this has been one of my favourite discoveries of the year.
All six seasons are on both YouTube and Amazon Prime.
LUTHER
Okay, so I was massively late to the party with this one. Pretty much everyone has seen this already, but I'm giving it a shout out just in case you missed it. DCI John Luther investigates some of the most evil crimes in London with the occasional help of Alice, a psychotic killer he failed to convict. In the meantime, he finds himself pursued by the law for his sometimes unorthodox methods of catching a criminal. At times terrifying, this is one of the darkest police dramas on television - and it's utterly captivating.
All five seasons are available on Sky, and the first four are available on Netflix.
THE O.C.
I was an obsessive O.C. fan in my early teens, but I didn't think I'd enjoy re-watching it as much as I have. It's definitely aged a lot since it premiered in 2003 and some of the performances aren't quite as #Emmyworthy as I thought they were first time round, but it's still a lot of fun. Whether it's the nostalgia value or the voyeuristic opportunity to see how the other half live (although why the Cohens' huge McMansion doesn't seem to have a third bedroom for Ryan baffles me to this day), a cheeky O.C. rewatch is the perfect escapism we all need right now.
All four seasons are available on Amazon Prime.
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