FUNDAMENTALS
SENJAM RAJ SEKHAR
The resonant timeless voices of John Denver, Paul Anka and others continue to delight music lovers across the world. Find out how much you know about the golden voices of yesteryears. Write in with your suggestions, questions (with answers) to senjam@gmail.com.
GOLDEN VOICES
1. Which singer made his mark first as the musical director, conductor and pianist of Bette Midler before his solo singing career? 2. She was the daughter of a Welsh scholar and grand daughter of Nobel laureate Max Born and spent her early years in England and Australia. Identify her. 3. This golden voice became a star at the age of 15 when his song
Diana topped the charts. Name him. 4. Civil rights activist David Harris had a famous singer wife. Name her. 5. He worked as an assembler at the General Motors and as a hairdresser, cosmetologist, before plunging into music full time. Name this person famous for his trademark duck walk. 6. Why did David Robert Jones change his name to David Bowie? 7. The Twist by Chubby Checker made it one of the most contagious music and dance fads across the world. The
Twist was however originally written by somebody else. Who? 8. His father was an Air Force pilot who held three world records in military aviation during his career. He himself was a trained architect who gave it up in favour of music. Who? 9. Bill Haley’s Rock round
the clock is the earliest rock ‘n’ roll classic. In which movie did the song originally feature? 10. McKinley Morganfield was an obscure blues singer in his native Mississippi, till the world discovered him. How do you better know him as?
ANYTHING GOES
1. Which popular brand sends the toys it creates for testing to schoolkids? Once the toys meet the approval of the kids, it is mass produced and then packed at its factory in Baramati. Which brand? (D. Sharanya, Hyderabad) 2. The opening shot of which acclaimed Hindi movie was taken in front of the Karlovy Vary Film festival in the then Czechoslovakia? (Dee Surendranath, Hyderabad) 3. Floating ATMs are found in this city in India. They are owned by the State Bank of India and have been installed in a ferry. Name the city. (Philip Joshua, Secunderabad) 4. In June 2015, Vijender Singh took the decision to not represent India at Olympics any longer by turning professional. Against whom did Singh win his first ever pro bout? (Adithya Jeevan, Thiruvananthapuram) 5. Frogmen are part of the Spetsnaz unit in Russia. What is the United States’ equivalent called? (Rajiv Lochan, Kolkata) 6. The series of uprisings across the Arab world began in Tunisia. Why was the movement in Tunisia called Jasmine Revolution? (Sanjay Nair, Noida) 7. When they were first launched, Hollywood actresses like Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, Fay Wray, Janet Gaynor were the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Why? (R. Subramaniam, Chennai)