Opaque Questions That Would Bug Most People

  • Publisher: Music Sales Limited
  • Date of publication: November 2004
  • ISBN: 1844494128
  • Dimensions: 210 x 135mm soft back
  • Extent: 400 pages
  • Price: £16.95
  • Order:Amazon.co.uk

A formaheap prize quiz

All of the answers to this quiz were available online throughout the competition. By choosing keywords, most of which were included in the questions, and typing them into an internet search engine, the answers could be found.

This is a time-consuming activity and the number of entries was low. These opaque questions really did bug most people! Nevertheless, the standard of entries was high and only two questions were not answered correctly by anyone.

The two problem questions were the one about the dancer and the one about the boy band.

Many people suggested that Mary Jane Eisenberg was the dancer. It is true that Mary Jane Eisenberg famously shook bouquet and danced at Beefheart’s My Father’s Place concert on 18 th November 1978. At the Rhino website there is a photograph of her on stage with Don, curlers in her hair and a red telephone in her hand. Don was a big fan of hers and there is a photograph online showing Don at one of her other performances. Mary Jane Eisenberg went on to perform with Bette Midler and later formed her own dance company. She is still active in the dance world. She did not, however, tour in the UK with Captain Beefheart in the early seventies.

Some ingenious suggestions for the boy band were rejected because although the song titles offered were similar to ‘Safe As Milk’ titles the songs did not sound like ‘Safe As Milk’ songs and had different words. The Black Keys’ ‘Grown So Ugly’ on their album Plastic Factory – I mean Rubber Factory – could have been a contender if only The Black Keys could fulfil some basic requirements for being a boy band. (The fact that some people gave The Black Keys as an answer did not affect the final result.)

All the real answers are below, along with some extra information that will take up even more of your time to read!

Competition winners

Congratulations to the winner, Michael Harmsworth, who correctly answered seventeen and a half of the twenty questions. Michael receives a copy of Mike Barnes’ book ‘Captain Beefheart’ plus the boxed set of Knebworth memorabilia ‘There Must be A Better Way’.

Four other winning entrants receive a copy of Mike’s book. In descending order of the number of correct answers given they are Jeff Economy, Oliver Garus, Peter Mack and Carlton B. Morgan.

In addition to the publicised prizes I’ll send an original copy of the programme for The National Film Theatre’s January 2004 showing of ‘Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart’ to each entrant.

The answers

It’s a veritable Beefheart trivia feast.

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