X in music is a self contained piece of work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in its structure.
The term X is derived from the Greek word rhaptein, which means ‘to sew’, as in to sew a song together.
However, most of us know X from a bombastic song released by a British rock band.
What am I talking about?
Category: Music
[337]
Kendrick Lamar’s album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ very popular in 2015. But, Lamar almost ended up naming the album ‘To Pimp a Caterpillar’, before he went with the eventual title. For what reason of tribute did he want to name Caterpillar instead of Butterfly?
[314]
X is the seventh studio album by this American hip hop group Y. Only one copy of this album was created, with no ability to download or stream it. The only copy was purchased directly from the group in 2015 for $2 million by Z (a Pharma CEO), making it the most expensive work of music ever sold.
Identify X, Y & Z.
[313]
Yahweh was an ancient god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and later of Judaism.
Yahweh’s name is continued to be taken today through the term X, which literally means ‘praise to Yahweh’.
The term X can be found in Christian prayers & through songs of Jeff Buckley & Leonard Cohen.
Identify the term.
[271]
The name of the album X was an allusion to mental state of the band rather than any relation to the physical place. In fact, it was performed with the suffix A Piece for Assorted Lunatics.
Reaching X has always been a challenge given its ‘hidden’ nature. In 2018, China was the first county to touch base with it.
Identify X.
[264]
The original name of this band was Smile. In 1970 Tim Staffell, the lead vocalist left the band and was replaced by X Bulsara.
The band changed their name and became music royalty.
Identify the band.
[244]
On 4 December 1971, a concert with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was held in the casino’s theatre. During the concert, the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun towards the ceiling.
Another music band was in town at the time, and took inspiration from the event and wrote a famous song about it.
Can you identify the song & the band?
[226]
In 2021, this band announced a 12-point plan to cut their carbon footprint of touring by 50%.
This included crating dance floor that generates electricity when fans jump up and down, to having cut down on air travel.
Over the last 3 years, they have achieved 59% reduction in direct CO2e emissions, planted 7 million trees & reused 86% LED wristbands at their concerts.
Can you identify the band?
[218]
Monty Norman composed a song “Bad Sign, Good Sign”, for a musical adaptation of V. S. Naipaul’s novel A House for Mr Biswas, set in the Indian community in Trinidad.
This song went on to become an inspiration for which globally recognizable piece of music associated with adventure?
[196]
X is a song published in late 1800s and has previously been called the most recognizable song by Guinness World Records.
Despite its popularity the song was copyrighted by Warner Music Group, and has entered public domain only since 2015.
Identify the song.
[194]
David Bowie 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes” was the first to start this trend. Since then Janet Jackson and Britney Spears are featured at top with six songs each. Michael Jackson and Ayumi Hamasaki have five each, while Madonna has 3 appearances in top 5.
Michael & Janet Jackson currently hold the top spot.
What am I talking about?
[153]
The following tracks were selected to represent humanity for something (non-exhaustive list). Can you take a guess?
1) Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 by Bach
2) “Kinds of Flowers,” recorded by Robert Brown.
3) Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
4) ‘Pygmy girls’ initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull
5) “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar
[150]
There are two brands named in the Eagles song Hotel California.
Can you name them both?
[132]
On February 25, 1998, world-famous opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti was all set to perform the aria Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot at the 1998 Grammy Awards. That evening, after the show had already begun, he became too ill to perform as planned (which was frustratingly common with Pavarotti — he was called the “king of cancellations”). The producers of the show were desperate to find a way to fill Pavarotti’s time slot and approached X, who was also scheduled to perform one of their own wildly iconic hits that night.
X asked to listen to Pavarotti’s rehearsal once and agreed on the spot to perform in Pavarotti’s stead, with almost none of the meticulous prep that a performance this complex would’ve required – and they absolutely nailed it. Over a billion people worldwide watched the performance, and X was met with an instant standing ovation. X went on to record the aria and perform it live several more times in later years, most notably for Pope Francis in 2015.
Who is X?
[122]
Apeks, Atomic Aquatics, Cressi, Mares, Sherwood, and Zeagle are all popular brands of scuba regulators — but arguably the oldest and best known is another brand that shares its name with a famous 1971 rock “concept” album (and its title song).
What brand?
[114]
Following a rather tepid album release in 1986, influential English artist X had a bit of a brainwave and released a seventh solo album titled (in Cyrillic) СНОВА В СССР in 1988, consisting entirely of live-in-studio covers of older (English) rock and roll songs, and distributed only in the Soviet Union on the Soviet government-run Melodiya label.
Soon after, though, copies of the album began popping up outside the Soviet bloc (which, in a way, had been X’s initial intention), going for anywhere between $100-$250 in the US and up to £500 in the UK. This eventually led to a global release of the album in 1991, notably with the title misprinted as “СНОВА Б СССР”.
Who is X?
[108]
St. Burchardi Church is a nearly thousand-year old church in Halberstadt, Germany, just a short walk away from the famed Halberstadt Cathedral.
On February 5, 2024, fans flocked to the church to bear witness to a moment they’d been waiting for for two years. Another such moment is expected to occur in 2026, and there will be quite a few more after that.
What’s going on behind that unassuming stone face?
[103]
According to a myth, Bheema (of Pandava fame) was in exile & working in the kitchen of the king Virata. Since he didn’t know how to cook, he simply chopped all the vegetables in the kitchen, boiled them & added grated coconut.
The dish turned out to be delicicous & is eaten till date. Name the dish.
[99]
This athlete’s signature move was born when his younger brother dared him to perform a Tony Yayo/50 Cent dance move on stage infront of spectators.
The athlete added a line along with the move and both because hugely popular.
Name the athlete & the move.
[84]
What is the common thread here?
