Trivial Matters

Last night I did a music pub quiz for my friends. (Don’t worry, I’ll post a primer on pub quizzes soon.) We had eleven people show, which was as good a turnout as I could expect. Some of them wanted to form two teams, but I had written the quiz with three teams in mind, so I pushed for that, and we wound up with Sans Dans (formerly The B Sharps, changed to reflect the fact that the other two teams had a guy named Dan on them), The Triplets (our team of three), and Le Quizerables.

The first round did not go as well as I had hoped. The questions proved to be too obscure in some cases, and just plain wrong in at least one case. (Why I thought The Rose came out in 1991 and had James Caan, I’ll never know.) But things picked up in round two, Name That Cover. I played cover tunes and asked them to nme the tune and the original artist. I knew that none of them would get ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde from listening to the Tori Amos version (dubbed The Creepiest Song Ever), but I was surprised that all three teams got Doris Day for Que Sera, Sera.

The two handouts were a hit and a miss. One dealt with movie and TV soundtracks that they had to identify based on a listing of five tracks. That one went over well. The one-word album covers, however, did not. The only cover that everyone knew was Rumours. Going into the final round, Le Quizerables had a nice lead and got to choose the final round category: Portland Bands or Two-Hit Wonders. What I didn’t tell them was that both had to do with a TV theme song. Le Quiz went with the Two-Hit Wonders question, and everyone knew that Paula Cole had done the theme for Dawson’s Creek. (The Portland Bands question dealt with the Dandy Warhols song for Veronica Mars.)

In the end, it was Le Quizerables all the way, and they all went home with $15 iTunes gift cards. Everyone seemed to have fun, dispite the obscure/hard questions, and I’m looking forward to writing another quiz before the end of the year.

Here are the questions from the first round:

1. Who is the only artist to have a number one single in each year of the 1990s? Mariah Carey

2. Name one of the two artists currently recording the theme for the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Jack White OR Alicia Keys
Bonus: For three bonus points, name the recording artist who was previously working on the theme. Amy Winehouse

3. Who was named “Best New Artist” at the 2007 Grammy’s? Carrie Underwood

4. [Movie Audio Clip] Name the movie this clip comes from. Moulin Rouge
Bonus: For three bonus points, name the actor singing. Ewan McGregor

5. Who of the following was not a member of the “Rat Pack”?

A. Frank Sinatra
B. Bobby Darin
C. Dean Martin
D. Joey Bishop

6. Which artist’s record holds the distinction of the longest studio album name in history, clocking in at ninety words? Fiona Apple
WHEN THE PAWN hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he’ll win the whole thing before he enters the ring
There’s no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won’t matter, cuz you’ll know that you’re right

7. The one-hit-wonder from New Zealand, OMC, had a #4 Billboard hit in 1997 with “How Bizarre.” What does OMC stand for? Otara Millionaires Club

8. Which of these colors is not a Weezer self-titled release?

A. Blue
B. Green
C. Red
D. Yellow

9. Speaking of colors… In 2004 DJ Danger Mouse released “The Grey Album” which combined the Beatles’ “White Album” with which rap artist’s “The Black Album”? Jay-Z

10. According to Justin Timberlake, if step one is “cut a hole in the box,” and step two is “put your junk in the box,” what is step three? Make her open the box

11. Which 1991 musical starred Bette Midler and James Caan? For The Boys

12. “The House of the Rising Sun” was a #1 hit for The Animals in which year?

A. 1962
B. 1964
C. 1966
D. 1968

13. Of the 2003 OutKast release, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which half of the album was done by Andre 3000, and included the hit “Hey Ya!”? The Love Below
Bonus: For three bonus points, name their Prohibition-era musical that was released into theaters in August 2006. Idlewild

14. Started in the 1970’s, this genre of music was made popular in the 1990’s by bands like Enigma and artists like Enya. New Age

15. True or false, the band “The Postal Service” got its name because the two members collaborated on their first album by mailing lyrics and music sheets back and forth. True

16. In the South Park episode, “Mecha-Streisand”, this front-man for The Cure is the only one who can stop Mecha-Streisand. Robert Smith

17. Tenacious D is comprised of Kyle Gass and which leading Hollywood funnyman? Jack Black

18. According to Mental Floss magazine, which Beatle has a longer entry in Wikipedia, John Lennon or Paul McCartney? McCartney (9,912) over Lennon (7,341)

19. Leonard Bernstien is reported to have shouted to his orchestra, “Don’t you get it? This piece is about sex!” when referring to which Stravinsky ballet? The Rite of Spring

20. “The Umbrella Academy” is a comic book series by Gerard Way, who is better known as the lead singer for which rock band? My Chemical Romance

21. How did Patsy Cline die? Plane Crash

22. MTV had a nationwide contest to make the music video for which early Madonna song? The entries were played for 24 hours straight, resulting in the same song being played over and over again. True Blue

23. Spell “Fergalicious.” F-E-R-G-A-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

24. Which British pop star performed alongside Jimmy Page at the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics? Leona Lewis

25. Which artist surpassed The Beatles for most consecutive number one hits? Whitney Houston (7)

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