The BritishV8 Pub

The Buckeye wins the prize! .....and the opportunity to post the next question.

Ok, this will probably be an easy one. Which of the following items were NOT new to MGB during the first year of the US version of the Mark II.

1. 4 syncho gearbox
2. Widened transmission tunnel
3. Negative ground
4. Tube type axle
5. Pre-engaged starter
6. Spin on oil filter
7. Pollution controls
8. Energy absorbing steering column
9. Three wipers
10. “Pillow” dash
11. Alternator
12. Taped wiring harness (Not cloth)
13. Side reflectors
14. Reverse lights
15. Dual circuit brake master cylinder

Spin on oil filter.

That one item is correct but there are several more. The correct answer will include those items that were delivered on the B prior to the Mark II or those that appeared after the first year of the Mark II.

Spin on oil filter, three wipers, and side reflectors, all came later. Reversing lamps came six months prior to the MkII.

tube axle was common to ALL MGB GT's including Mark I's

Between the three of you, Jim, Mike and Chris you have everything except one, #12, the taped wiring harness. The Mark II originally came with a cloth covered harness. So the correct answer is:

4. Tube type axle
6. Spin on oil filter
9. Three wipers
12. Taped wiring harness (Not cloth)
13. Side reflectors
14. Reverse lights

Since Mike supplied the most correct answers, I'll give it to him.

Since it's now on this buckeyes shoulders, here goes. Cecil Kimber (MG) and Trevor Wilkinson (TVR) are two of my favorite automotive entrepreneurs. I have always found it ironic that both of these guys left or were forced out of the companies they founded after less than two decades. In what years did Cecil and Trevor leave their respective companies? In what years did they die? Bonus, exactly who sacked Cecil and what were the exact circumstances of his death?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2009 11:35PM by RMO 699F.

Trevor Wilkinson left TVR in 1962 (although he owned TVR until 1965) and he didn't die until last year (2008), at the age of 85. He died of natural causes, in Minorca, where he had lived in retirement.

Cecil Kimber... now there's a brilliant man who didn't get the happy and honored retirement he deserved.

Cecil Kimber was sacked by Sir Miles Thomas of the Nuffield Organization. Kimber's firing was blamed on his decision to seek and accept wartime contracts that would keep the Abingdon workforce employed and busy. The specific contract that pissed Thomas off was one to build "nosepieces" for the Albermarle bomber - see photo below. Thomas thought that Nuffield (the parent company) should arrange all war contracts and then parse them out over the company's various divisions/plants. They had been doing a miserable job of this, and Abingdon had mostly sat idle. Anyhow, after Abingdon got the Albermarle bomber contract, Thomas demanded and received Kimber's resignation in November 1941.



Cecil Kimber died in 1945, in a freak train accident. The description on Wikipedia matches what I've read elsewhere: returning home from London, where he'd been on a business trip, less than 100 yards from the start of his journey... "The wheels of the train on which he was traveling kept slipping on a newly replaced section of rail forcing the driver to pull to a stop in a tunnel. Unable to see in the darkness, the driver was unaware that the train had in fact started to slip back down the hill. A signalman, attempting to avert a collision with another train, decided to switch the points however the train was already too far back down the track. With the front and rear of the final carriage effectively running on different parallel lines there was nothing that anyone could do to prevent a collision with a metal signal gantry which proceeded to slice the overturned coach in two. Kimber was one of only two casualties."

Spot on moderator Jacobson!! You got all the details exactly right..and earned the right to present the next bit of trivia! I now yield to the expert from Colorado!

Cool!

Okay, here's a pop-culture question for "the MTV generation."

It's 1985... a music video for a number one hit single comes on your TV... and it features an Austin Healey 3000 being driven down dusty southern California roads. Both the song and the album it was on were hits - they both reached "number one" (in U.S.A., according to Billboard magazine.)

The trivia question in three parts: (1) name the singer, (2) name the song, and (3) name the album.

:-)

One of these?:

"I Want To Know What Love Is"," Foreigner
2 February 1985/2 weeks
The band's first # 1 single, and the first release from Agent Provocateur, though some band members feared the ballad would damage their rock image. Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins), Jennifer Holliday and the New Jersey Mass Choir provided backup vocals. The song debuted at # 45 in Billboard's Hot 100 and took eight weeks to climb to the top.


"Careless Whisper," Wham!
16 February 1985/3 weeks
Debuting at # 37 in the fourth week of December 1984 -- the highest new entry in Billboard's Hot 100 that week -- this song took eight weeks to hit the top, becoming the group's second American # 1. It was an international hit, a # 1 in England as well as China, not to mention various other countries. In April, Wham! would be the first major Western rock band to perform in the Republic of China, at a concert before 12,000 people in the People's Gymnasium, Peking.


"Can't Fight This Feeling," REO Speedwagon
9 March 1985/3 weeks
Many wondered if REO Speedwagon could duplicate the success of their hugely successful album, Hi Infidelity, and it took the band a long time to do so. Band member Kevin Cronin had started writing the song 10 years earlier; other band members were dubious about the quality of the ballad -- until it debuted at # 46 and sped to # 1 seven weeks later.


"One More Night," Phil Collins
30 March 1985/2 weeks
Became # 1 on the same day that another of Collins' # 1's -- "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" -- was being performed at the 57th Annual Academy Awards, as it had been nominated for an Oscar. Almost simultaneously, his third solo LP, No Jacket Required, also topped the Billboard 200 album chart.


"We Are The World," USA for Africa
13 April 1985/4 weeks
At 3:50 pm GMT, five thousand radio stations around the world simultaneously played this song for the first time. Dreamed up as an American version of the British Band Aid charity performance of "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Ken Kragen, founder of United Support of Artists for Africa, the song was produced by Quincy Jones and written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. It sold 800,000 units on the first weekend of its release, entered the Hot 100 at # 21 and took just three weeks to reach # 1. In all, over 7 million singles were sold, and $44 million raised to fight famine in Africa.


"Crazy For You," Madonna
11 May 1985/1 week
Written by John Bettis and Jon Land for the soundtrack of Vision Quest, there were some who feared this ballad was not suited to Madonna, who'd previously released "Borderline" and "Material Girl." But the ballad was a huge success, broadening Madonna's horizons and supplanting "We Are The World" at the top of the chart after three weeks at # 2.


"Don't You (Forget About Me)," Simple Minds
18 May 1985/1 week
Written for the film The Breakfast Club and initially intended for Bryan Ferry, this song was only the second song that Simple Minds recorded that they did not write. Although band member Jim Kerr was openly critical of the lyrics, the song became the group's first American hit after seven years of recording.


"Everything She Wants," Wham!
25 May 1985/2 weeks
With this # 1 hit, Wham! became the first act since the Bee Gees to have three chart-toppers off one album (Make It Big). According to the George Michael, who wrote the song, it tells the story of a man who finds himself trapped in a marriage that isn't going well. Michael admitted it was a departure from the lightweight pop music the duo usually turned out.


"Everybody Wants To Rule The World," Tears for Fears
8 June 1985, 2 weeks
The last song selected for the album Songs From the Big Chair, this tune, according to Roland Orzabal, sounded too "un-Tears for Fears to me," but producer Chris Hughes insisted. The song was re-recorded in 1986 as "Everybody Wants To Run The World" for the Sport Aid charity event.


"Heaven," Bryan Adams
22 June 1985, 2 weeks
This song was recorded two years previously for the film Night in Heaven. Although the film was a flop, Adams had become such a hot property that radio DJs began playing the song off the soundtrack, and it was placed on the artist's third LP, Reckless and released as a single.


"Sussudio," Phil Collins
6 July 1985/1week
This was Collins' third consecutive # 1 single. The title is a word made up by the artist to verbalize a drum roll used on the track. And the subject of the song? A younger man's fantasies about an older woman. Critics said it sounded too much like a Prince song, and Collins freely admitted that he'd borrowed the tempo from "1999".


"A View To A Kill," Duran Duran
13 July 1985/2 weeks
The first "Bond" title song to hit #1; previously, Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die" and Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" had peaked at # 2. It was Duran Duran's second chart-topper ("The Reflex" was the first). After recording this song, the band split up for a while, with John Taylor and Andy Taylor joining The Power Station, and Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor formed Arcadia.


"Everytime You Go Away," Paul Young
27 July 1985/1 week
British singer Paul Young had his first American # 1 with this cover version of the song by Daryl Hall and John Oates (from their first album, Voices). Hall complimented Young for his definitive version of the song, and at the end of the summer of 1985 joined Young on a New York stage for a duet of the # 1 hit.


"Shout," Tears for Fears
3 August 1985/3 weeks
The duo's second chart-topper from the Songs From the Big Chair album ("Everybody Wants To Rule The World" being the first), "Shout" took months to record. In fact, Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley took eight months to finish the LP, which was intended from the start to be more commercial and radio-friendly than their previous platter, The Hurting.


"The Power Of Love," Huey Lewis & The News
24 August 1985/2 weeks
Bones Howe, music supervisor for the film Back to the Future, knew from the start that the producers wanted Huey Lewis to write an original piece for the movie. The first song crafted by Lewis, "In The Nick Of Time", ended up going onto the Brewster's Millions soundtrack. Lewis substituted "The Power Of Love" and "Back In Time", and some thought the latter would turn out to be the big hit. They were wrong, and Huey Lewis & The News had their first # 1 song.


"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)," John Parr
7 September 1985/2 weeks
This collaborative effort by David Foster and Briton John Parr was written for the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack at the very last minute. This week proved to be the first time that the top three songs were from movies -- in addition to "St. Elmo's Fire", "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News (Back to the Future) and "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) charted at # 2 and # 3 respectively.


"Money For Nothing," Dire Straits
21 September 1985/3 weeks
Because of Mark Knopfler's use of the word '@#$%&' in the lyrics, "Money For Nothing became the year's most controversial chart-topper. Knopfler was inspired to write the song after overhearing a guy commenting on the MTV videos being played on every new TV set in an appliance store. When Sting agreed to perform backing vocals, his publishing company insisted on sharing the profits, so Sting was given credit as co-writer.


"Oh Sheila," Ready for the World
12 October 1985/1 week
The third MCA single for the six young men from Flint, Michigan who called themselves Ready for the World was thought by some to be a Prince song. Strangely enough, "Oh Sheila" had a virtually identical chord progression to that of the Tommy Roe 1962 # 1 hit, "Oh, Oh Sheila".


"Take On Me," a-ha
19 October 1985/1 week
A-ha became the first Norwegian group to top the American chart with "Take On Me," a song boosted significantly by an award-winning, part-live, part-animated video directed by Steve Barron. Interestingly, this was a second version of the song; the first, when released as a single, failed to catch fire, and the band re-recorded it.


"Saving All My Love For You," Whitney Houston
26 October 1985/1 week
This song had originally been recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. back in the Seventies, and it was the second single released from Houston's debut album. (The first was "You Give Good Love", which crossed over from the R&B chart to peak at # 3 on the pop singles chart.) This was the first of an amazing string of # 1 hits for Houston that established her as the Number One diva of the Eighties.


"Part-Time Lover," Stevie Wonder
2 November 1985/1 week
The first single from Wonder's long-awaited LP, In Square Circle, this song was the first to go to the top of five Billboard charts -- the Hot 100, Hot Black Singles, Hot Adult Contemporary, Hot Dance/Disco Club and Hot Dance/Disco 12" Singles Sales. As 22 years had passed since Wonder's first # 1, he became the artist with the longest span of chart-toppers to date.


"Miami Vice Theme," Jan Hammer
9 November 1985/1 week
Czech-born Jan Hammer, former keyboardist for the Mahavishnu Orchestra, had worked with the likes of Carlos Santana and Jeff Beck before composing the soundtrack for the film A Night In Heaven. Miami Vice producer Michael Mann asked him to score the pilot episode, and when the series was picked up by NBC, Hammer proceeded to compose 20 minutes of original music for every episode. This composition became the third TV theme to top the Hot 100 (the other two being the themes from S.W.A.T. and Welcome Back, Kotter.)


"We Built This City," Starship
16 November 1985/2 weeks
This song, written by Bernie Taupin and Martin Page, made the rounds for months before being picked up by the producers of the first album for the rechristened Starship. Two of the producers, Dennis Lambert and Peter Wolf, wrote a new chorus for the song and became the band's first # 1. (Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship had never had a chart-topper.)


"Separate Lives," Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
30 November 1985/1 week
"Separate Lives" was written for the film White Nights -- by Stephen Bishop back in 1982 after Taylor Hackford pitched the idea for the movie to him. Bishop was nominated for an Oscar for this song, only to lose out to Lionel Richie, who had penned "Say You, Say Me" -- yet another song from White Nights. Backing vocalist Marilyn Martin had performed with Joe Walsh and Stevie Nicks, and had performed on Kenny Loggins' # 1 hit "Footloose" before she sang this duet with Phil Collins.


"Broken Wings," Mr. Mister
7 December 1985/2 weeks
This song was written in 20 minutes by band members Richard Page and Steve George along with Page's cousin John Lang, and was one of the three songs on the demo tape the band presented to RCA records. A release from Mr. Mister's second LP, the song languished for months before even hitting the charts. But then it sped to the top. Miles Davis cut a jazz cover version.


"Say You, Say Me," Lionel Richie
21 December 1985/4 weeks
The second # 1 single from the film White Nights -- the first being "Separate Lives" -- which made that movie only the sixth to produce two chart-toppers in the rock era. Because of contractual obligations, though, "Say You, Say Me" could not be released on the official soundtrack; it came out, instead, on Richie's Motown LP Dancing on the Ceiling -- and ended up in fourth place on the list of Motown's all-time most successful singles. And with this song, Richie had written a # 1 hit in nine consecutive years.

you're warm, but you have more work to do

What the hell is that, Rick, the shotgun approach?!

The winner is a MTV song by a UK band that just doesn't do it for me. I think it sucks, personally. (Sorry, okay , not really sorry, from a loooong time rock & roller).

1.Roland Orzabal (full name Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana)

2. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"

3. Songs From the Big Chair



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2009 11:36PM by MGBV8.

Carl, you only got two out of the three parts correct...

(I'm not a big fan of the band either, but I give them credit for putting a Healey in their video.)

check it out:




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2009 12:06AM by Moderator.

Good!

I'd hate to be right on a Tears For Fears trivia question. I know it, now.

Okay, in case anyone missed it, for part "1" of this question the correct answer was "Curt Smith". He was the bass player for Tears for Fears. (Roland sang most of their hit songs, but not "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".)

Since Carl got two of three, he gets to ask the next question.

Got a rock-and-roll British sports car question, Carl?

While we wait for that, I'll post one JUST FOR FUN. (It's really still Carl's turn, and anyway this one is too easy...)

Identify this rock and roll bass player:

Sure looks like Bill Wyman........

Yep, long time bass player of the Rolling Stones, Bill owned an MGB...

I went looking for a picture of Mick with his Morgan Plus 8,
but I came up with something even cooler. Check it out!

Didn't even have to consult the Internet on that one - have been a Stones fan for a long time!