Q 01/05

How many separate grooves does a stylus follow across each side of a typical vinyl LP, from edge to label?

A) 1

B) 20

C) 300

D) 5,000

Answer · why

A) 1

One continuous spiral runs from the rim to the label, so a needle set down at the edge can play the whole side without being moved.

Q 02/05

Which 2021 Paul Thomas Anderson film borrows its title from an old slang nickname for a vinyl record?

A) Phantom Thread

B) Licorice Pizza

C) Inherent Vice

D) Punch-Drunk Love

Answer · why

B) Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza was a Los Angeles record shop chain, named after an expression that likens an LP to the colour of licorice and the shape of a pizza.

Q 03/05

Which band hid looping gibberish in the run-out groove of a 1967 album, so it plays until the needle is lifted?

A) Pink Floyd

B) The Beach Boys

C) The Rolling Stones

D) The Beatles

Answer · why

D) The Beatles

The Beatles closed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with the loop, straight after a 15-kilohertz tone that John Lennon suggested adding to annoy ...

Q 04/05

Which pair of NASA probes, launched in 1977, each carry a gold-plated record of Earth's music and greetings?

A) Pioneer

B) Viking

C) Voyager

D) Mariner

Answer · why

C) Voyager

Voyager 1 and 2 each carry the copper disc, which is meant to be played at 16⅔ rpm and travels with its own stylus and playing instructions drawn on t...

Q 05/05

The word album for a music collection comes from bound sets of 78 rpm discs that resembled books of what?

A) Photographs

B) Road maps

C) Wallpaper samples

D) Pressed flowers

Answer · why

A) Photographs

Photographs gave the format its name: by about 1910, shops sold bound books of empty sleeves so buyers could file several three-minute discs together.