This month we needle Jem Godfrey.
Q1** In the late 80s, your band Freefall used to rehearse at a studio in Leatherhead, Surrey. Can you name the studio and its owner?**
JG: Tweeters, the owner was Nigel Wade.
A: Correct.
Q2
Where did Freefall record the Not Very Big Deal EP?
JG: Von’s in Liverpool Road in Islington.
A: Correct.
Q3
The track Hellstate appeared as an instrumental on Freefall’s only album, Thrown. Why didn’t this feature lyrics, which the live version did?
JG: It was simply that we hated the lyric!
A: Correct!
Q4
You wrote Atomic Kitten’s huge hit, Whole Again. It was released with two official B-sides, can you name them?
JG: [Laughs] No is the answer to that!
A: There were two versions of the CD single – one had Holiday and one had Locomotion.
JG: That’s probably why I’ve erased it from my memory!
Q5
Frost* played Rosfest in 2009. Name two other headliners?
JG: Argh… I must know. It was Lazuli – they were great. And, er… Barclay James Harvest?
A: Two for two! The other band was NeKtar.
Q6
‘This life I have I give to you, These thoughts I have they’re all for you, These things you say I know they’re true’ is from what song?
JG: Dear Dead Days – one of my favourite bits.
A: Correct.
Q7
And how about: ‘Watch the hand as it’s moving 24 times around/Every second’s like a minute till you’re back on the ground’?
JG: Shit … I have no idea, is it a pop one?
A: Yes. It’s Joy And Pain by Ronan Keating.
JG: Ah… of course.
Q8
*Frost’s original drummer Andy Edwards had to call
a halt to his touring work when he became Head of Music at
which college?**
JG: Kidderminster College.
A: Yes, hoorah!
Q9
You made a guest appearance on an album that contains the tracks Street And Circus and The Bridge. Can you name it?
JG: Is that Lee Abraham? Er… it’s not Minor Giant is it?
A: No, it’s Lucid by Matt Stevens.
JG: Bugger… that’s a great album too.
Q10
Out of the current Frost* line-up, who is the oldestf?
JG: It’s Nathan.
A: It is! He’s currently level 43.
GENERAL PROG
Q11
What do It Bites tracks Bullet In The Barrel and Staring At The Whitewash have in common?
JG: They were all B-sides.
A: Which never appeared on an official studio album. Correct.
Q12
What connects Simple Minds, The Charlatans, Tony Banks and It Bites?
JG: They didn’t all record in the same studio, did they?
A: No. They all released albums produced or part-produced by Steve Hillage.
Q13
Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Bill Bruford were all members of which strangely-named London band immediately prior to forming Yes?
JG: Mabel Greer’s Toyshop.
A: It was indeed.
Q14
How many Yes studio albums did Trevor Horn produce?
JG: Three. No four. He did their last but one one, didn’t he?
A: Yes – Drama, 90125, Big Generator and Fly From Here.
Q15
Can you name the most recent Edison’s Children album?
JG: Er… no, I can’t. Sorry, Pete!
A: It’s The Final Breath Before November.
Q16
Alongside such luminaries as Jon Lord and Brian Auger, which keyboardist was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame this year for his career in the world of prog?
JG: I didn’t even know that Hammond had a Hall of Fame! Oh, it’s got to be Emmo, hasn’t it?
A: It was indeed, Keith Emerson.
Q17
The Fierce And The Dead did a short UK tour in 2012 with two other bands – name them and the tour?
JG: Was it Knifeworld? Oh, wait a minute – it was the Stabbing A Dead Horse Tour, and the other band was… Trojan Horse.
A: Yes!
Q18
Which of the following classic keyboards was the first to become commercially available: the Fender Rhodes electric piano, the Mk.1 Mellotron or the Moog Modular synthesiser?
JG: I’m going to go for the Fender Rhodes.
A: It was actually the Mk. 1 Mellotron,
in 1963.
Q19
Who did Nick D’Virgilio perform the whole of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway with at ProgFest in 1994?
JG: Was it his own band, and they did brass versions of it all, that sort of thing?
A: No, it was Giraffe, the late Kevin Gilbert’s band.
Q20
Tony Banks has written several film soundtracks. The most well-known’s probably The Wicked Lady, but can you name any two of the other three?
JG: Quicksilver and Lorca And The Outlaws (aka Starship - Ed.).
A: Yes. The other one was The Shout.
TOTAL SCORE 13⁄20
“Well, thank you for asking me to do this, At least I’ve learnt a thing or two!”
