courtesy of Ken Jennings

[Tinka Cat]

Here's the latest Question 7 from KJ:

7.  What unusual distinction is shared by these musical artists?  The Beatles, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, No Doubt, OutKast, Paul and Paula, Pink Floyd, Plain White T's, Hank Williams.


He describes this as being a particularly "accessible" question 7, but I must not be looking at it the right way.

"Hey" songs:

Hey Jude
Hey Joe
Hey Baby
Hey Ya
Hey Paula
Hey You
Hey There Delilah
(I don't know the Hank Williams.)

And you could add Robert Palmer (Hey Julia) and Bruce Channel (another Hey Baby) to that list, right off the top of my head. I peeked on the Hank Williams, so I won't reveal it but when you see it you'll go "Of COURSE!!"

Is it Hey, Good Looking?

[Tinka Cat]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

[urth]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

I  believe you got it. Gang of Four had an album called Gold, not sure about JSBE.

[RGMike]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

I  believe you got it. Gang of Four had an album called Gold, not sure about JSBE.

turns out they had one called "Orange"

[Lightnin' Rod]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

I  believe you got it. Gang of Four had an album called Gold, not sure about JSBE.

turns out they had one called "Orange"

Very close, but not taking into account the "in this order" part of the clue... So

KC = Red,
JSBE = Orange,
Gang of Four = Yellow (an EP)*
REM = Green
JM = Blue
Matt Bianco (who knew) = Indigo*
STP = Purple

So, you would have a color wheel if you placed them on one in this order (every color a combination of the two adjoining (not counting primary colors)).

*with help from wiki...

eta:  on further consideration, indigo screws up the wheel a bit, but you get the idea...  Indigo is still a combination of blue and purple.

[Lightnin' Rod]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

I  believe you got it. Gang of Four had an album called Gold, not sure about JSBE.

turns out they had one called "Orange"

Very close, but not taking into account the "in this order" part of the clue... So

KC = Red,
JSBE = Orange,
Gang of Four = Yellow (an EP)*
REM = Green
JM = Blue
Matt Bianco (who knew) = Indigo*
STP = Purple

So, you would have a color wheel if you placed them on one in this order (every color a combination of the two adjoining (not counting primary colors)).

*with help from wiki...

eta:  on further consideration, indigo screws up the wheel a bit, but you get the idea...  Indigo is still a combination of blue and purple.

Okay, duh, forget the color wheel -- it's a rainbow...

[urth]

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, listed in this order? 

King Crimson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gang of Four, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Matt Bianco, Stone Temple Pilots.

they all produced albums titled by a color, although I can't get the JSBE or Go4

King Crimson = Red
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- ??
Gang of Four -- ??
R.E.M. = Green
Joni Mitchell = Blue
Matt Bianco = (I'll guess "White," just b/c of his name)
Stone Temple Pilots = Purple

I  believe you got it. Gang of Four had an album called Gold, not sure about JSBE.

turns out they had one called "Orange"

Very close, but not taking into account the "in this order" part of the clue... So

KC = Red,
JSBE = Orange,
Gang of Four = Yellow (an EP)*
REM = Green
JM = Blue
Matt Bianco (who knew) = Indigo*
STP = Purple

So, you would have a color wheel if you placed them on one in this order (every color a combination of the two adjoining (not counting primary colors)).

*with help from wiki...

eta:  on further consideration, indigo screws up the wheel a bit, but you get the idea...  Indigo is still a combination of blue and purple.

Okay, duh, forget the color wheel -- it's a rainbow...

Ah, of course. In high school biology, we had a mnemonic to help us remember the colors of the spectrum in order: Roy G. Biv (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).

[mshray]

there ya go!

[mshray]

7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs?  "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem, "Cornerstone" by Arctic Monkeys, "Everything" by Alanis Morrisette, "No Surprises" by Radiohead, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Dylan, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer, "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, "Yellow" by Coldplay.

haven't had much time to think about this one, but a bunch of these are songs I don't know well at all.

[Lightnin' Rod]

7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs?  "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem, "Cornerstone" by Arctic Monkeys, "Everything" by Alanis Morrisette, "No Surprises" by Radiohead, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Dylan, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer, "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, "Yellow" by Coldplay.

haven't had much time to think about this one, but a bunch of these are songs I don't know well at all.

I opened iTunes to play the Radiohead song and noticed that OK Computer also has a song named "Subterranean Homesick Alien", which may or may not be a clue.  But like you I'm not very familiar with the other tunes.

[mshray]

7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs?  "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem, "Cornerstone" by Arctic Monkeys, "Everything" by Alanis Morrisette, "No Surprises" by Radiohead, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Dylan, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer, "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, "Yellow" by Coldplay.

haven't had much time to think about this one, but a bunch of these are songs I don't know well at all.

I opened iTunes to play the Radiohead song and noticed that OK Computer also has a song named "Subterranean Homesick Alien", which may or may not be a clue.  But like you I'm not very familiar with the other tunes.

Forgot this one was still out there.  The answer is: "The music video for each of these songs was shot as one continuous take for the entire video.  (Or in a few cases, I gather, was at least edited to appear as such.  I doubt Alanis really cut her hair in real time for the "Everything" video.  Sort of hard to get a second take.)"

[mshray]

Another tough question 7 from Mr. Jennings:

What unusual distinction is shared by these musical acts, joined in 2008 by Coldplay and Fleet Foxes?  Alice Cooper, Crash Test Dummies, Marvin Gaye, Guns N' Roses, New Order, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Pogues, Procul Harum.

[mshray]

answer to above:

Each released an album that used a classic fine-art painting as its cover.  Coldplay's Delacroix homage and Fleet Foxes' use of Breughel recently joined those Latour flowers on the Power, Corruption, & Lies cover, the Winslow Homer painting on Southern Accents, and so forth.  Did you know that the Use Your Illusion covers by G&R are details from Raphael's The School of Athens?  Hey, me neither.

[Gazoo]

answer to above:

Each released an album that used a classic fine-art painting as its cover.  Coldplay's Delacroix homage and Fleet Foxes' use of Breughel recently joined those Latour flowers on the Power, Corruption, & Lies cover, the Winslow Homer painting on Southern Accents, and so forth.  Did you know that the Use Your Illusion covers by G&R are details from Raphael's The School of Athens?  Hey, me neither.

I never would have gotten this, being unfamiliar with most of that art, but the New Order cover was used recently in a British stamp set celebrating classic rock covers:

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1952508,00.html

Manchester band New Order released its second album, Power, Corruption & Lies, in 1983. The album design was orchestrated by one of the maestros of the Manchester scene, Peter Saville, and is a reproduction of the painting A Basket of Roses by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour. It's said that the owner of the painting, the National Heritage Trust, originally refused New Order's label, Factory Records, permission to use it. When the head of the record label, the late Tony Wilson, called to ask who owned the painting and was told that the Trust belonged to the people of Britain, Wilson famously replied, "Well, the people of Britain now want it."

[urth]

answer to above:

Each released an album that used a classic fine-art painting as its cover.  Coldplay's Delacroix homage and Fleet Foxes' use of Breughel recently joined those Latour flowers on the Power, Corruption, & Lies cover, the Winslow Homer painting on Southern Accents, and so forth.  Did you know that the Use Your Illusion covers by G&R are details from Raphael's The School of Athens?  Hey, me neither.

I never would have gotten this, being unfamiliar with most of that art, but the New Order cover was used recently in a British stamp set celebrating classic rock covers:

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1952508,00.html

Manchester band New Order released its second album, Power, Corruption & Lies, in 1983. The album design was orchestrated by one of the maestros of the Manchester scene, Peter Saville, and is a reproduction of the painting A Basket of Roses by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour. It's said that the owner of the painting, the National Heritage Trust, originally refused New Order's label, Factory Records, permission to use it. When the head of the record label, the late Tony Wilson, called to ask who owned the painting and was told that the Trust belonged to the people of Britain, Wilson famously replied, "Well, the people of Britain now want it."

Very cool that the Brits included an image of a vinyl album sliding out of the right side of the covers. A little ironic though, since several of those albums were first issued in the 90s and probably were not released on vinyl at the time they first came out.

Also, noted that the color scheme on some of the covers pretty well hides the silhouette of the Queen and stamp denomination in the upper corner (Zep 4, Tubular Bells in particular).