The AnswerBank Articles

Who was Django Reinhardt

A. Jean Baptiste 'Django' Reinhardt is the name at which you arrive, if you take the influences of any major guitarist in the world, and trace them back to the beginning. The guitar, in all its00:00 Mon 08th Oct 2001

What's the album with a heart and a guitar on the cover

A. The album in question is Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, the eponymous debut from one of America's most enduring rock bands, still rocking 25 years on from this release at the height of punk00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

Who was Bessie Smith

A. Bessie Smith was a blues singer and composer who lived and worked in the early part of the last century. She was known as 'The Empress Of The Blues', and her style and material have influenced00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

Where did the violin originate

A. The violin is an impressively ancient musical instrument, its origins can be traced back to the 9th century in Europe, and it is thought that even earlier versions existed throughout Asia. Q. 00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

What's the landmark Beatles album

A. It has to be Rubber Soul, a landmark album, not only for The Beatles, but also for pop and rock music as whole: it can be seen as the release that stands where 'rock' music actually began, and00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001

Where did electronic music start

A. The pioneer of modern electronic music is Professor Leon Theremin, a Soviet inventor who created the electronic instrument, which bears his name, as a by-product of his research into radio waves.00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001

Who is known as The First Lady of country music

A. That particular accolade has been bestowed on Tammy Wynette, an artist who has played a large part in defining the approach and the status of female country artists today. Q. In what way was00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001

Are there any group managers as famous as Brain Epstein

A. The most obvious candidate is Peter Grant, who managed The Yardbirds in their last few months, before following guitarist Jimmy Page into his new venture, Led Zeppelin. Q. What was so00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

Why is Luciano Pavarotti so famous

A. Pavarotti’s fame is a combination of his particularly high profile as a renowned opera tenor, which has given him ‘cross-over’ appeal into a more mainstream entertainment area, and00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

Is Born To Run Bruce Springsteen's greatest album

A. Opinions vary, as opinions do on a subject as variable as greatest albums, but the critical consensus is agreed that Born To Run is a landmark release in Bruce Springsteen's catalogue, and in00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001

What's a Deadhead

A. The name Deadhead is given to one of the fans of the pioneering sixties hippie jug band The Grateful Dead. Q. That name rings a bell. A. It would - The Grateful Dead are one of the00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001

Is there a link between horror fiction and rock music

A. There is - particularly because of a sympathetic understanding between the anti-heroes of horror fiction, and the similarly disposed inhabitants of the outer circles of rock. Q. Is it just a00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001

What can you tell me about classical quartet Bond

A. First of all, it's 'bond' ' all lower case letters, probably to distance themselves from the Capital-letter owning super spy and film star of the same name, but apart from the name, no other00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001

How important is Nirvana's Nevermind album

A. Opinions vary about the significance of Nirvana's second album, but it put Seattle - previously a rather low-key US city - firmly on the map as a style centre, and turned 'grunge' into a music/00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001

What is meant by the word baroque when applied to music

A. The English word baroque comes from the Italian 'barocco', meaning bizarre. It's used to define an innovative section of cultural history when painting, architecture and music passed from more00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001

Can Michael Jackson still cut it

Invincible, to be released in October A. He has. After an audio silence of nearly six years, he is about to release a new album. A single, You Rock My World, is already out. Q. The album should00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001

What's the greatest album of the 1980's

A. According to American rock bible Rolling Stone magazine, you'd be looking at London Calling by The Clash, although if you want to be precise, it was actually released in December 1979. Q. 00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001

What's the best rock album of the 1980s

A. According to American rock bible Rolling Stone magazine, you'd be looking at London Calling by The Clash, although if you want to be precise, it was actually released in December 1979. Q. What00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001

Has the replacement for Napster finally arrived

A. Maybe not on such a massive and successful scale, but in its own small way, the WOMAD Digital Channel has managed to steal a march on all the major labels and Internet Service Providers by being00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001

Why is the new Oasis tour important

A. Because it's ten years since the band played their first gig together, and their return to 'medium' sized venues represents an opportunity for their fans to see the band at closer quarters than is00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001