The 'Sgt Pepper's' Album Cover. the Sequel Quiz

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

The use of the word cryptograph can be traced back to Edgar Allan Poe in his story 'The Gold-Bug' (auric insect). Two of his other famous works were 'The Raven' (blackbird) and 'The Black Cat' (ebony feline). Interestingly, two ciphers Poe wrote in 1841 under the name W. B. Tyler were not solved until 1992 and 2000. William Friedman, one of America's foremost cryptologists, credits Poe's 'The Gold-Bug' with inspiring his interest in cryptography. He was instrumental in deciphering Japan's PURPLE code during WWII.

Poe is also credited with being a pioneer in the detective and science fiction genres. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle credits Poe as an inspiration and the Mystery Writers of America have named their awards for excellence in the mystery genre 'The Edgars'. In science fiction, Jules Verne wrote a sequel to Poe's novel 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket' called 'An Antarctic Mystery'. H. G. Wells also noted this story for its intelligence.

Beyond this, Poe was also influential in the horror genre. H. P. Lovecraft dedicated an entire section of his long essay, 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' to Poe and the horror genre. Alfred Hitchcock says Poe is the one who inspired him to make suspense films. Vladimir Nabokov references many Poe works in his novels.

This question was enigmatically written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Lenny Bruce

Lenny Bruce pulled no punches with his comedy and was arrested multiple times for his boldness. Audiences in the 1950s and 1960s were not accustomed to or comfortable with a comedian using vulgar language and joking about taboo topics. Lenny found himself in front of the Illinois Supreme Court, where he was acquitted.

However, he soon found himself convicted of obscenity by the New York Supreme Court, where he was sentenced to four months in a workhouse. Bruce would die before his appeal could be heard, but he was posthumously pardoned in 2003. By the end of his life, only the city of San Francisco was willing to let him perform his comedy.

By modern standards, Lenny Bruce's comedy would barely raise an eyebrow. His boundary-pushing opened the door for comedians like George Carlin and Richard Pryor, before Andrew Dice Clay would blow the door down completely. A few films have been made about Lenny's life, and a television character was modeled after his comedic style. He is also the subject of several songs, including Bob Dylan's 'Lenny Bruce'. He is also the fourth from the left on the top row of the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album.

Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg is not afraid to bring this question to you, and he feels fine!

Answer: Salome

Born in Brighton in 1872, Aubrey Beardsley is one of the iconic figures of the English aesthetic movement of the "gay Nineties". After working for several years in clerical jobs, in 1891 he became a professional artist, also attending classes at the Westminster School of Art. Beardsley specialized in black ink drawings strongly influenced by Japanese art and characterized by a flair for the erotic and the grotesque, as well as the elegant, curved lines associated with Art Nouveau. Sadly, Beardsley's creative output only lasted six years, as he succumbed to tuberculosis, from which he had been suffering for most of his life, in March 1898.

During his short but intense career Beardsley produced a remarkable body of work as an illustrator and also co-founded two publications closely associated with aestheticism and decadence - 'The Yellow Book' and 'The Savoy'. His drawings for Oscar Wilde's controversial play 'Salome' - loosely based on the account of John the Baptist's death in the Gospel of Mark - were created in 1893-94 for the English edition of the play, originally published in French in 1893. The hauntingly beautiful illustrations, with their Oriental influences and subtle eroticism, are among the most significant examples of Art Nouveau graphic art.

This artistic but somewhat naughty question was written by Phoenix Rising member LadyNym, who has had a lifelong interest in the art and literature of the turn of the 20th century.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan was specifically requested to appear on the 'Sgt Pepper's' album, and has been an important figure in music ever since his debut album in 1962. As a lover of wordplay, I have always found it interesting that his 1969 song 'Lay Lady Lay' can be spelled using only letters from his last name, "Dylan", and his 1966 album 'Blonde on Blonde' is an acronym for his first name, Bob (and would be another instance using only letters of his full name if it weren't for that pesky "e" altering "Blond" to "Blonde"). Weird Al Yankovic released a song in 2003 called 'Bob'; it was written in the style of Bob Dylan and every line of the song is a palindrome.

Phoenix Rising member salami_swami is often called a BLAND BOY for his love of Bob Dylan wordplay, but for this particular question, he finds himself to be BOLDLY NOBBY.

Answer: Tyrone Power

Tyrone Edmund Power III was born in Cincinnati in 1914. He became a star after his debut movie, 'Lloyd's of London' in 1936. He starred in many more hit movies before 1942, when he volunteered for the US Marine Corps, where he worked as a pilot. Post-war, Power resumed his successful movie making, always the star. While shooting 'Solomon and Sheba' in Spain in 1958, he died of a heart attack aged 44. His scenes had to be reshot with Yul Brynner, the new star. The movie was finally released in 1959.

While all the actors listed died in 1958 or 1959, only Tyrone Power appeared on the 'Sgt Pepper' album cover.

Phoenix Rising team member, 1nn1, wrote this 'powerful' question.

Answer: H. G. Wells

A prolific author, Herbert George Wells was born in England in 1866. After a series of unsatisfying unskilled jobs, he won a scholarship to attend the Normal School (later the Royal College) of Science, to study biology. He used his early experiences and what he learned during the time he was studying in his novels, developing his unique style to pen fantastic and imaginative stories.

Among his most famous books are 'The Time Machine' (1895, his first novel), and 'The Invisible Man' (1897). He also wrote 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' (1896), 'The War of the Worlds' (1898), 'When the Sleeper Wakes' (1899), and 'The First Men in the Moon' (1901) - among a host of other full novels and short stories.

Many of his books were adapted into films and are still widely referenced in popular culture. Reflecting the impact of his work, Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. He is sometimes called the "father of science fiction".

He died aged 80 in 1946; a commemorative blue plaque was placed outside Wells's home in Regent's Park, London exactly 100 years after his birth.

This question was carried from the future to this quiz by Phoenix Rising teammate VegemiteKid.

Answer: Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire's career as a dancer, actor, singer, choreographer and all round entertainer on stage, film, and television spanned more than seventy years. A star of the film 'Top Hat' (1935), his mantle boasts an honorary Academy Award, a BAFTA, three Emmys, two Golden Globes and a Grammy Award.

His appearance on the cover artwork of the 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album (1967) was no accident, as both parties were unabashed fans of each other. Whilst Astaire would describe the Fab Four as "tremendous artists", John Lennon would coax him into making a cameo in a short film that included himself, Yoko Ono and George Harrison. The clip would later be included in Lennon's 1971 film 'Imagine'.

In other connections, Paul McCartney would draw upon Astaire's 1935 track 'Cheek to Cheek' as inspiration for the Beatles' song 'Here, There and Everywhere' (1966) and the band would also pay homage to him with their track 'Your Mother Should Know'.

Fred is the ninth image from the left in the back row. This question was created by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who, unfortunately, dances like Fred fell down a stair.

Answer: Tony Curtis

The movie was about a car race, around the world, in the early 1900s. The white-suited, debonair hero, The Great Leslie, was played by Curtis, with the villain, Professor Fate, trying all sorts of evil to defeat him. The delightful Natalie Wood initially was a competitor, but her car broke down, and she was forced to travel with Leslie. The movie is known for perhaps the greatest food-fight on film, and has a ripper support cast - Peter Falk ('Columbo'), Larry Storch ('F-Troop'), Vivian Vance ('I Love Lucy'), Denver Pyle ('Dukes of Hazzard'). It was nominated for several Oscars, winning for Best Sound Effects.

Curtis starred in many other movies, across a range of genres, including 'Some Like It Hot', 'Spartacus', 'The Boston Strangler'.

He is on the album cover, in the second row, next to Dion DiMucci.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's ozzz2002, who loves the slapstick humour of 'The Great Race'.

Answer: Dion DiMucci

Dion DiMucci was born in the Bronx in 1939. His first commercial success was with the Belmonts, a group formed from his Bronx friends and named after a neighborhood there. They charted in 1958 with 'I Wonder Why' and really soared with their single 'A Teenager in Love'. Dion was touring with Buddy Holly and others in 1959 and took the tour bus instead of a chartered flight - as memorialized in Don McLean's song 'American Pie', that was the night the music died. Whether he lost a coin flip or decided to save money, the reason Dion was on the bus instead of the plane is unclear but it undoubtedly left its mark.

In 1960 Dion left the Belmonts. 'Runaround Sue', recorded with the Del-Satins, was a major hit in 1961 and Dion was officially a star. After a lull, and kicking a heroin habit, Dion recorded 'Abraham, Martin and John' which refers to three assassinated Americans - Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy - not John Lennon.

Later, Dion recorded contemporary Christian music and was nominated for awards in that genre. In the late 1980s he returned to rock music, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He has released a memoir entitled 'The Wanderer'. Still active and touring in his 80s, Dion lives in Florida with his wife - Dion and Susan (probably not 'Runaround Sue') have been married since 1963.

Dion appears on the 'Sgt Pepper' album cover, secondnd row from the back, next to Tony Curtis.

This question wandered into the quiz when player pusdoc let it runaround and participate in the Phoenix Rising team effort.

Answer: Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane's Civil War novel, 'The Red Badge of Courage', was published in 1895 when he was 24 years old. Although he was born after the war, the novel was lauded for its realistic depiction of that time of unrest. The novel is about a soldier who runs away from battle, is ashamed of his cowardice, and longs for a wound, a red badge that would proudly declare his courage.

On the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', Stephen Crane can be found in the third row, eighth from right, tucked in between Issy Bonn's arm and head.

This question was brought out into the open by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.