I like music rounds, proper ones, not those ones which are 'press when you hear the tune'. The easiest ones for a host to run are name the artist/tune/year/first word of the next record. As time wears on I find I am not quite keeping up with modern acts such as The Spice Girls, and get all grumpy when teams of young hardy bucks start running away with them. I'm an idiot, I know.
Anyhoo, I did the stats on the music rounds in two great quizzes I went too on consecutive nights in Donaghadee and Bangor. One I remained bouyant, the other I was blown out of the water and the debris sank without trace.
We all want stuff we can answer, yet on the second quiz I knew only one of the first 12 records. Now, I know I'm getting on, and stuff is taking longer to recognise or even evading me altogether but I'm still OK. I still get first place to answers in large groups, I got a great score on Radio 2's Popmaster, I was in the lead at the half way point of The Great British Pop Quiz or something in London and broadcast nationally on TV, so I want to understand - what happens?
Whatever. Here are the two quizzes:
Quiz One
| Question | Artist | Song | Year | UK# | Me | Notes
| 1 Title | Outkast | He Ya | 2003 | 3 | Yes | Billboard #1
| 2 Title | Def Leppard | Pour Some Sugar on me | 1987 | 18 | Yes | Billboard #2
| 3 Title | Abba | Voulez Vous | 1979 | 3 | Yes |
| 4 Title | Girls Aloud | Biology | 2005 | 4 | No |
| 5 Artist | Christina Aguilera | Don’t know | 2010 | 10 | Yes | 12 teams Am guessing year and position
| 6 Artist | Shania Twain | When | 1998 | 18 | Yes |
| 7 Artist | Mika | Relax, Take It Easy | 2007 | 18 | No | #1 in several European countries
| 8 Artist | Swing Out Sister | Breakout | 1986 | 4 | Yes |
| 9 Artist | Barry White | You See The Trouble with Me | 1976 | 2 | Yes |
| 10 Artist | Nick Berry | Heartbeat | 1992 | 2 | Yes | Clued up about actor
| 11 Artist | Kings of Leon | Use Somebody | 2008 | 2 | Yes |
| 12 Artist | Kelis | Caught Out There | 1999 | 4 | No |
| 13 Artist | Go West | King Of Wishful Thinking | 1990 | 18 | Yes |
| 14 Title | Gladys Knight etc | Midnight Train to Georgia | 1973 | 10 | Yes | Billboard #1
| 15 Artist | Gerry and The Pacemakers | I Like It | 1963 | 1 | Yes | Only two teams – says something
| 16 Artist | Eurythmics | Here Comes the Rain Again | 1983 | 8 | Yes |
| 17 Artist | Hollies | The Air That I Breathe | 1974 | 2 | Yes |
| 18 Artist | Erasure | Love To Hate You | 1991 | 4 | No |
| 19 Artist | Wet wet wet | Sweet Surrender | 1989 | 6 | Yes |
| 20 Artist | Nick Kershaw | I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me | 1983 | 2 | Yes |
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1 from the 1960s, 4 70's 5 each from the 80s, 90's and noughties. 19 separate years represented. Nothing from the last ten years. All top twenty hits
Quiz Two
| Question | Artist | Song | Year | UK# | Me | Notes
| 1 Song | Girls Aloud | Biology | 2005 | 4 | No | What are the odds. This was in yesterdays quiz and I STILL didn’t get it.
| 2 Artist with Post Malone | Morgan Wallen | I Had Some Help | 2024 | 2 | No | Made history by debuting at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and maintaining the top spot on each for its first five weeks
| 3 Artist | Greta van Fleet | Highway Tune | 2017 | - | No | #1 in Poland!
| 4 Song | Gwen Stefani, Akon | Sweet Escape | 2006 | 2 | No | Billboard #2 as well
| 5 Year | Katy Perry | Waking Up in Vegas | 2008 | 19 | No | Billboard #9. I thought it would have been waaay higher
| 6 Song | Chappell Roan | Red Wine Supernova | 2023 | 31 | No | Billboard #41
| 7 Artist | Blur | The Universal | 1995 | 5 | No | Made top 50 in 3 UN countries
| 8 Artist | Cocteau twins | Heaven or Las Vegas | 1990 | - | No | Did not chart in any national list. 7 teams got it!!!!
| 9 Song | Dido | Thank you | 1990 | 3 | Yes | Billboard #3 as well. This was a curious version, with a percussion intro, and not opening with the first verse
| 10 Lyrics | Tracy Chapman | Fast Car | 1988 | 5 | No | Billboard #6
| 11 Song | Pixies | Here comes your man | 1989 | 54 | No | And that’s about it. I still should know it
| 12 Artist | White stripes | The Hardest (Button To Button) | 2003 | 23 | No | And #42 in Ireland
| 13 Year | Fleetwood Mac | Landslide | 1975 | - | No | Billboard #51. None right. In 2021, the song was listed at No. 163 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time
| 14 Song | Bruce Springsteen | Thunder road | 1975 | - | No | Never released as a single, ranked number 111 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list 2021
| 15 Artist | Carly Simon | You're So Vain | 1972 | 3 | Yes | Billboard #1 and several other countries
| 16 Lyrics | Abba | Mamma Mia | 1975 | 1 | Yes | Never heard of it
| 17 Artist | Steely Dan | Reelin' In The Years | 1972 | - | Yes | Billboard #11. A six season Irish TV program of the same name did use the tune
| 18 Year | Talking Heads | Psycho Killer | 1977 | - | No | Stop Making Sense is a great music concert movie
| 19 Lyrics | Billy Joel | Pianoman | 1973 | - | No | Billboard #25 but far more popular than its chart positions would indicate. Nobody got it all the same
| 20 Movie | Charlie XCX | Speed Drive | 2023 | 9 | Yes | Barbie
| 21 Song | Kelly Clarkson | My Life Would Suck Without You | 2009 | 1 | No | Billboard #1
| 22 Lyrics | Don McClean | American pie | 1971 | 2 | Yes | Billboard #1. Standard ‘which of these didn’t reach UK #1’
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8 from the 1970s (7 from the first half)!, 2 from the 80s, 3 from the 90's, 5 from the noughties, 1 from the twenteens, and three from the last five years. 7 non charting tunes in the UK; having said that I would suggest that five of those are 'legitimate' asks.
Comparing both they yield a close average year (1990 and 1994). Given 7 from the first half of the 70s in Quiz 2 I would have bet my house on me acing it. I did not.
A very obvious aspect in pop quizzes, as with anagrams, dingbats and other idiosyncratic puzzly stuff is that more hands make light work. If a team has a both sexes and a spread of age, if they are moderately competent, it is going to be very difficult for an individual to compete with them on music. There is the intuitively logical factor that younger people are faster. Now, this is important for pub quizzes in that any host would prefer teams than individuals (but please don't point that out, I'd be fekked).
I went to a quiz earlier this year that was entirely music from 2000 -2010, it is the only quiz I have walked out of. Not angry, just bored shitless, it was a done deal after ten of the 180 questions, and it just held no interest for me. These two quizzes were both terrific, spreading the chance around and intresting me (look up the stats for I Had some Help; if that does not justify inclusion in a pop quiz nothing does. But they certainly had a different level of challenge for me.
The last two pop quizzes I have organised I made a special effort to be inclusive with date spread (80 UK number ones from 80 years, and five sections from 5 eras). On both of them I really pissed people off, so what do I know?
So, given the understanding that we all love the music from when we are teenagers, that percieved bias is inescapable, actual bias is understandable (and probable), and we are blessed to enjoy music I can only say I musn't grumble if a music quiz pulls the rug from under my feet. I fekkin' will though!!
Alan Leach, the head honcho at SpeedQuizzing makes a good point. Separating the music from the general knowledge for separate prizes may be more inclusive to those who have a blind spot with music. And anybody who thinks naval gazing, phone nicking, synthetic drug advocating, scruffy, Madchester Britgroan from the 1990s is music has such a blind spot (sic).
In conclusion, I really haven't got a clue have I? :)
Hosts: spread it around a bit please. I do like pop trivia questions.Everybody: Go sit on a rock at Orlock Bay and listen to For Good from Wicked.
And none of it really matters anymore