Cover Me! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pandora's Box

Pandora's Box were an all female band formed by Jim Steinman and centered around Ellen Foley, who is well known to Meat Loaf fans as she was the female vocalist on "Bat Out Of Hell" (1977) track, "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" (1977).
Although the band released just one album, "Original Sin" (1989) and had little to no success, many of the tracks on the album have since been covered by other artists.

Apart from "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" (1989) being a hit for Celine Dion, "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" (1989) and "It Just Won't Quit" (1989) were recorded by Meat Loaf on his 1993 album, "Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell" while "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be" (1989) was recorded by Erika Christensen for the soundtrack to the 2003 movie, "Wuthering Heights".

Answer: Marilyn Manson

Manson may be known for the shock value which often accompanies his music, but much like Alice Cooper before him, he is a talented musician, able to put his mark on a song when he covers it.

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983) was originally a Eurythmics track, which Manson transformed from an upbeat pop song to a track full of menace and foreboding, while Northern Soul classic, "Tainted Love", originally a Gloria Jones recording from 1965, became a booming, "don't mess with me" anthem.

"Personal Jesus" (1989) was a chart hit for Depeche Mode but was made into a much more complete song (in my opinion) by Manson, benefiting from the heavy bassline and his unique vocal delivery.

Answer: Gnarls Barkley

Ray Lamontagne may be from New Hampshire USA, but it was in UK where he first achieved success, when his debut album, "Trouble" (2004) was a top five hit on UK album chart.

The single, "How Come" (2006), was taken from the "Trouble" (2004) album and although it wasn't a hit, it is now sought after for his incredibly soulful and heartfelt version of "Crazy" (2006).

Since his debut album, USA have realised the talents of this home grown boy and he has had much success on the Billboard 200 album chart, with three consecutive albums, "Gossip in the Grain" (2008), "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise" (2010) and "Supernova" (2014) all peaking at number three.

Gnarls Barkley, the duo comprising CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse released "Crazy" as their debut single, and it took the music world by storm becoming a top five hit in many countries, including Switzerland and UK where it topped the charts.

Answer: Billie Jean

The world lost an amazing vocal talent when Chris Cornell died on May 18th 2017. He had been frontman for bands, Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden and Audioslave achieving success with all three.

Cornell also released four solo albums in his lifetime, all of which were top 20 hits on the Billboard 200 chart in USA, with the most successful being "Scream" (2009) which was a top ten hit.

"Billie Jean" (2007) was included on the "Carry On" album from 2007 and climbed to the lower reaches of the singles chart in both Canada and UK.

Answer: Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers were formed in Caerphilly in 1986. Both as a four piece and, following the disappearance of Richey Edwards in February 1995, as a three piece band they have built up a loyal following due to their musicianship and intelligent lyrics.

Starting with their debut album, "Generation Terrorists" in 1992, every album since has been a top 20 hit on UK album charts, with "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" (1998) and "The Ultra Vivid Lament" (2021) reaching the number one spot.

For their 2003 album, "Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers)", the band included a whole disc of cover versions, originally from artists as diverse as Paul Robeson, Camper Van Beethoven, Guns N' Roses and Wham. It was on this album, they also included their version of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1970) which had originally been included on "The Help Album" (1995), a charity album that also featured contributions from Oasis, Blur and Radiohead.

Answer: Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson has, for many years been the face of English folk, with an amazing ability to craft fine songs such as "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (1991). He began his career and honed his craft with folk rock band Fairport Convention in the late '60s and after leaving them in the early '70s has continued bring pleasure to millions, both on record and live.

His 2006 album "1000 Years of Popular Music" showcased his talent to fine effect as he runs through songs dating back to the mid-13th century ("Sumer is icumen in") all the way up to the Britney Spears' hit "Oops!... I Did It Again" (1999) with tracks from Hoagy Carmichael, Abba, Henry Purcell and Prince in between the two.

Answer: Come As You Are

Yuna released "Come As You Are" (1991) in 2011 and it failed to chart anywhere, but oh boy did it ever make people within the music industry take notice?
By the following year, 2012, she was writing songs for her debut album with luminaries such as Guy Sebastian and Pharrell Williams, both of whom also had production credits on the album.

That album, titled "Yuna" (2012) and the follow up, "Nocturnal" (2013) were minor hits and then in 2016, with the release of the "Chapters" album, she finally got the recognition from the music buying public.

"Chapters" was a top 20 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in USA and also gave her a top three hit on the Billboard Adult R&B singles chart in USA, with the track "Crush" (2016) which featured Usher.

Unfortunately, success is a fleeting beast and despite "Best Love" (2017) reaching number two on the aforementioned singles chart as well as "Forevermore" (2019) being a number one in her home country, Yuna has not had a sustained run of chart hits.

Hopefully this changes in the future as more people discover this talented lady.

Answer: Lykke Li

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (1960) was a smash hit in many countries for The Shirelles, including USA where it was the first by a black all-girl group to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Lykke Li who has had varying degrees of success in both UK and her native Sweden, recorded the song in 2009, but has never officially released it, although it did appear in trailers for the 2013 remake of the movie "Carrie". Strangely though, although it was used in the trailers, the song is not included on the official soundtrack release.

Answer: Portishead

I am not usually a big fan of trip-hop, but found myself on several occasions singing along to Portishead, but then John Martyn covered it and made, in my opinion, the definitive version of the song as his vocals perfectly convey the pain and frustration hinted at in the song.

The original Portishead version of the song in 1995 reached number 13 in UK charts and the band would go on to have greater success two years later when "All Mine" (1997) was a top ten hit.

John Martyn may have spent over forty years as a much loved and respected musician but this never translated into chart success for him, with his 1982 album, "Well Kept Secret" being his most successful, peaking at number 20 in UK album chart.

Answer: Jay-Z

Jay-Z hit the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA with the original release of "99 Problems" in 2004, as well as having a UK top 20 hit with it.

Hugo released his version in 2011 to great acclaim, but unfortunately very little chart success, although the track was featured in the 2011 movie, "No Strings Attached", starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

Someone else who used the track a couple of times was Barack Obama, as Jay-Z performed at his 2009 Staff Ball, changing the lyrics to "I got 99 problems but a Bush ain't one" and 2013, Obama himself repurposed the lyrics, quoting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, "Some things are beyond my control. For example, this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to Cuba. It's unbelievable. I've got 99 problems and now Jay-Z is one."