Проблему частично решил таким вот образом
$al = array("А","Б","В","Г","Д","Е","Ё","Ж","З","И","Й","К","Л","М",
"Н","О","П","Р","С","Т","У","Ф","Х","Ц","Ч","Ш","Щ","Ъ","Ь","Ы","Э","Ю","Я",
"0","1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9");
foreach ($al as $val) {
$query = mysql_fetch_array(mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `bands` WHERE `artist` LIKE '" .$val. "%' ORDER BY `artist`;"));
echo $query['artist'];
}Теперь вопрос:
Можно ли уменьшить кол-во запросов к базе?