Popping Around the Groves of Academe

Popping_head.jpg

By Kurt von Meier, Asst. Prof., Art History, UCLA

Following Joel Siegel's intriguing "Super - Quiz" in a recent edition (March 9) of INTRO, other--more sluggish--publications like News­week have begun to discover Pop Culture; and trivia tests now enjoy high ratings on national TV pro­grams. This general burgeoning in the weed gardens of the mind, and the proliferation of increasingly self-con­scious Camp guides, make it worth­while emphasizing, from time to time, the potential historical significance of the so-called trivia for both contem­porary scholarship and for future evaluations of Pop Culture. The scholar concerned with the history of twentieth century art may well con­sider the truths revealed by Pop Cul­ture to be as essential for a compre­hension of his primary subject matter, as a sound knowledge of Biblical and patrological texts is for understanding Early Christian and Medieval art.

Fortunately, this illuminating con­temporary documentation is much more accessible; in fact, we are daily assaulted with so many verbal and visual images, that one of the recur­rent problems involves the screening of evidence. There are, of course, tra­ditional academic ways in which this material can be approached; hence there are also valuable lessons which can be learned from its study in a university context. By the same token, one real danger is that much relevant and revealing information about Pop Culture may be irreplaceably lost to future scholars because of a disastrous pseudo-intellectual and self-righteous condescension toward it, all too cur­rent among academics today.

Some methodological problems common to research in several areas of the contemporary arts are sug­gested by the following quiz, com­posed with the help of Dr. Carl Belz, Assistant Professor and Director of the Art Gallery at Mills College, and Miss Jane Gale, a graduate student in art history at UCLA. The Pop Music frame of reference was chosen because this field in particular has been ig­nored by cultural historians, despite a great deal of recent journalistic atten­tion. In addition, it contains some of the most clear -cut archetypal and iconic images among the various sub­divisions of Pop Culture. A widely repeated pattern in the titles of Pop music groups provided the basis for the quiz. The name of the leader is given, with a blank left for filling in the name of the group with which the leader is associated. In some cases the leader is always billed with the group, while in others the association might be more ephemeral, or even a one-shot effort in recording or per­formance. Some (indeed, perhaps a surprisingly large number) of the 100 examples will be familiar to most readers, stressing the profound and pervasive influence of Pop music upon our collective Weltanschauung, and by extension stressing also the signifi­cance of Pop music for the icono­graphical and iconological analyses of cultural historians. Other examples might be more obscure; and in the process of ferreting out answers ­facts virtually lost, although only a few years or in some cases only a few months old — the intelligent reader should become impressed with the need for a new attitude and a more efficient methodological approach to Pop culture.

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blank with the name of the appropriate group. Example: Martha and the Vandellas. Note extra credit questions.

  1. Earl van Dyke and the Who also play for?
  2. Chuck Higgins and the_______
  3. Taco and the_________
  4. Dickey Doo and the________
  5.  Little Joe and the________
  6. Maurice Williams and the______Ian and the______
  7. Bonnie and the ________Managed by?______
  8. The Rev. H. B. Crum and the_______
  9. Kitty and the _______
  10. Tommy and the _______
  11. Joni Wilson and the ______
  12. Elvis Presley and the ______Singing?______
  13. Homer and the _______Playing the _______
  14. Barry and the ________
  15. Ferlin Husky and his _______
  16. Jimmy Gilmer and the ______
  17. Bobby Boris Pickett and the ______
  18. Round Robin and the _______
  19. Johnny and the ______.Or, the ______Conrad and the ______
  20. Little Pete and the _______
  21. Eddie and the ______. Also the Polak version, Eddie and the ______
  22. Johnny Wesley and the ______
  23. Jimmy Charles and the ______
  24. Sonny Till and the _____. Also Sonny and the _____. Sonny and _____
  25. Gladys Knight and the ______
  26. Lee Andrews and the ______
  27. Ruby and the ______
  28. Dion and the ______Jimmy Soul and the ______
  29. Frankie Lymon and the ______
  30. Boddy Holly and the ______
  31. Gerry and the ______
  32. Don Julian and the ______
  33. Danny and the ______
  34. Wayne Fontana and the ______
  35. Gene Vincent and the ______
  36. Steve Gibson and the ______
  37. Paul Revere and the ______
  38. Smokey and the ______Smokey's name?______
  39. Booker T and the ______. Which stands for?______
  40. Bill Haley and his ______. Playing what movie soundtrack?_____
  41. Freddie and the ______. Doing the? ______
  42. B. Bumble and the ______
  43. Rosie and the ______. Not to be confused with The Maddox Bors. and ______
  44. Bobby Darin and the ______
  45. Jimmy Sacca and the ______
  46. David Seville and the ______
  47. Annette and the ______
  48. Buddy KNox and the ______
  49. Sam the Sham and the ______. Sam's original name?______
  50. Eddie Coolie and the ______
  51. Hank Ballard and the ______.Playing the original version of?______
  52. Billy J. Kramer and the ______
  53. Dick Dale and the ______
  54. Patti La Belle and the ______. Out of?______
  55. Little Anthony and the ______
  56. Joey dee and the ______. Brought Rock and Roll to society with?______
  57. James Brown and the ______
  58. Mitch Ryder and the ______
  59. Gary Lewis and the ______
  60. Somthin' Smith and the ______
  61. George "Rob" Cannibal and the ______
  62. Jay and the ______
  63. Little Ceasar and the ______, or the ______
  64. Jr. Walker and the ______
  65. Nolan Strong and the ______
  66. Ronnie and the ______
  67. The Beagle and the ______
  68. Clyde McPhatter and the ______. Who also sang with this group?______
  69. Herman and the ______. Or, Herman's ______
  70. Tony Williams and the ______
  71. Billy Butler and the ______
  72. Herb Alpert and the ______
  73. Red Nichols and his ______
  74. Neil Sedaka and the ______
  75. Alvin Cash and the ______
  76. Jean Shepard and the ______
  77. Gene Phillips and the ______
  78. Dave "Baby" Cortez and ______. With the Baby on what?______
  79. Ike and Tina Turner and the ______
  80. Cliff Richard and the ______
  81. Screaming Lord Sutch and his ______.In what recent political contest?_____
  82. Lionel Blair and his _____. Whatever they actually do.______
  83. Don and the ______
  84. Dean Dallas and the ______
  85. Bill Harrell and the ______
  86. Huey "Piano" Smith and the ______
  87. Jody Reynolds and the ______
  88. Jerry Butler and the ______
  89. Tom Swain and he ______
  90. Duane Eddy and the ______
  91. Ray Kinney and the ______
  92. Benny Kalama and the ______
  93. Don Hinson and the ______
  94. Grady Martin and the ______
  95. Mr. Gasser and the ______
  96. Al Casey and the ______
  97. Bob and the ______. Singing the classic of its kind:______
  98. Gene Mc Daniels and the ______
  99. Capt. Stubby and the ______
  100. J.T. Adams and the ______