BONUS: Monday Trivia #133 [Burt Likko wins!]
Editors Note: Since Michael Cain won this week’s contest in a matter of hours, we’re putting up a second Monday Trivia entry. Here it is:
Continuum, Evolution, Here’s to the Ladies, Into the Light, No More Drama, Solitaire, Soon, Soul In the Horn, Step by Step, This Beautiful Life.
This is not an exhaustive list.
TUESDAY HINT #1: You could also add Chaos & Creation In the Backyard or MDNA.
TUESDAY HINT #2: If you’re thinking of Journey or John Mayer, you’re off course.
TUESDAY HINT #3: All of the albums listed above belong to a larger universe. However, it should be noted that this larger universe did not by definition exist prior to 1967. Also, this larger universe will grow by at least one album each year for the foreseeable future.
Well, they’re all album titles…Report
That’s a start! I was looking up movies and TV shows.Report
Wait, are we allowed to Google? I thought that was a no-no.Report
I’ve seen one or two where it would qualify as cheating, but when it’s a basic list, google won’t provide the answer.Report
TUESDAY HINT #1: You could also add Chaos & Creation In the Backyard or MDNA.Report
TUESDAY HINT #2: If you’re thinking of Journey or John Mayer, you’re off course.Report
What if I’m thinking “New Kids On The Block”?Report
You are so on the right track.Report
Damn you Tod. I’ve pored over albums and then I see that Continuum is not the John Mayer and Evolution is not the Journey album. So now I have found ambiguity as to what other artists have released albums with these names.
Continuum: NOT John Mayer, so I presume it’s by thrash-metal band Prototype
Evolution: NOT Journey, so it could be any of: Boyz II Men, Martina McBride, or Blood on the Dance Floor
Solitaire: This could be Neil Sedaka or Andy Williams or symphonic-metal band Edenbridge
Besides, I’m stumped. I’ve checked out some obvious and what I thought were non-obvious things about the albums I can be certain are on the list, and found nothing in common yet.
<shakes_fist> Argh! Damn you Tod! </shakes_fist>Report
TUESDAY HINT #3: All of the albums listed above belong to a larger universe. However, it should be noted that this larger universe did not by definition exist prior to 1967. Also, this larger universe will grow by at least one album each year for the foreseeable future.Report
So it’s maybe Super Bowl related…something like albums performed by halftime show artists?Report
Or, Billboard 200 #1’s?Report
Glyph is almost close enough to declare him the winner.
Almost.Report
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy released This Beautiful Life in 1999. In 1999 (earlier that year) they also performed at Super Bowl XXXIII, performing one song, “Go Daddy O.” But “Go Daddy O” does not appear on This Beautiful Life.
I suppose their Super Bowl appearance could have been, at least in part, intended to promote sales of This Beautiful Life, the way Madonna performing a song from MDNA in 2012 was. Beyoncé did not have a new album in 2013, so that might be why she’s not on the list?
So is it just albums released by an artist the same year the artist performed at a Super Bowl? That would seem to fit for, say, Al Hirt.Report
Yes. Each of the albums on the list are albums an artist was currently touring to promote when they performed during the Superbowl halftime show:
1967: Al Hirt, Soul of the Horn
1973: Andy Williams, Solitaire
1975: Mercer Ellington, Continuum
1991: New Kids On the Block, Step By Step
1992: Gloria Estefan, Into the Light
1994: Tanya Tucker, Soon
1995: Tony Bennet, Here’s to the Ladies
1998: Boys II Men, Evolution
1999: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, This Beautiful Life
2000: Mary J. Bilge, No More Drama
2005: Paul McCartney, Chaos & Creation In the Backyard
2012: Madonna, MDNA
It’s interesting that when you look at the whole list, what stands out is that for the most part artists do Superbowl halftime shows at a moment when they are not selling very many albums relative to their career.Report
Glyph should be getting an assist here. I would have floundered around a long time before I went back to Super Bowl halftime shows.Report