Torey Mundowsky
A clad-in-black Brandon Flowers.
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 | 11:34 p.m.
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers is the focus of the Q&A piece in the current issue of Rolling Stone, which features Stephen Colbert on the cover of its 50 Best Reasons to Watch TV issue. The interview, conducted by Austin Scaggs, is on page 42, advantageously positioned where the NFL’s pullout schedule has been stapled. The interview reminds of a nerve-wracking gambling episode Scaggs’ recounted to my colleague Richard Abowitz for this L.A. Times blog from two years ago.
During the Scaggs-Flowers phone conversation, conducted recently while Flowers was driving around his hometown of Las Vegas, the thoughtful frontman remarkably remarks, “If you’re an actor, you have no business making an album, no matter how good you sound in the shower.”
(Paging Dr. Drake, Dr. Noah Drake.)
The Killer are back in Las Vegas on Saturday for a show at Mandalay Bay Events Center. This week’s Monday List is a quiz culled from the R-S interview. Following are the Top 11 questions (and answers) about Brandon Flowers:
1. When Flowers says, “We kind of nailed it,” to what is he referring? A) A new backyard gazebo at his Las Vegas home. B) The song “Human.” C) The set closing at this year’s Lollapalooza. D) The opening night show at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel.
2. Flowers is reportedly driving a vintage American-made car during the interview. Name the make and year.
3. Flowers says he enjoys playing two table games in Las Vegas casinos. Name them.
4. “Day & Age” producer Stuart Price has compared Flowers to which female recording star, for his drive and determination to succeed: A) Pink. B) Amy Winehouse. C) Tina Turner. D) Madonna.
5. What does Flowers claim is his least-favorite Killers song? A) “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll.” B) “Human.” C) “On Top.” D) “Why Do I Keep Counting?”
6. When asked which U.S. city is his favorite to hit on tour, Flowers names two. Which are they? A) San Francisco and Chicago. B) Nashville and Memphis. C) Seattle and Los Angeles. D) Boston and New Orleans.
7. Who does Flowers say he is currently musically “jealous”? A) Franz Ferdinand. B) Fleetwood Mac. C) Kings of Leon. D) Cheap Trick.
8. The Killers are considering an album of covers. With whom have they collaborated on the single song to be released on that album, and what is the song? A) Kanye West on “Superstition.” B) Louis XVI on “One Night in Bangkok." C) Bono on “Under Pressure.” D) Trey Anastasio on “Truckin.”
9. What is Flowers’ son’s name, and how old is he?
10. Rufus Wainwright wrote a song about Flowers, which appears on Wainwright’s “Release the Stars” album. What is the name of that song? A) “Tulsa.” B) “Nobody’s Off the Hook.” C) “Between My Legs.” D) “Slideshow.”
11. Super-bonus, lighting-round question (two-parter): One member of The Killers has a black belt in tae kwon do, and another speaks Klingon. Match the musician to the talent.
Answers: 1-C. 2-1959 Corvette. 3-Roulette and blackjack. 4-D. 5-A. 6-B. 7-B. 8-B. 9-Gunnar, 1½ months (born July 28). 10. A. 11 (Mark Stoermer is a black belt, Dave Keunig a Klingon converser).
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