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University Challenge and music ...

droodzilla said:
I usually manage one question (sometimes two) per round on Only Connect - except for the missing vowels round where I can be surprisingly nifty.

It's my favourite quiz show but it is infuriating.
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What bothers us is the incredibly poor ‘funny tale’ that the presenter insists on smugly saying at the end of each show. Clever, yes - funny, no.

The wall where you have to find the links is our favourite. I score more with University Challenge
 
I’m usually quite good on the classical stuff with University Challenge (unless it’s opera). Sometimes the questions relate to rock/pop from the 60s or 70s, which is fine for me, less so for the young contestants. Any questions relating to contemporary pop music I’m reduced to guesswork.
 
Last night wasn't much better;

For the starter, the first few bars of Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues were correctly identified; but ...

"...we're going to carry on from Nights In White Satin, which was on Days Of Future Passed. It made heavy use of classical orchestration by Peter Knight.

Your music bonuses are three more albums with orchestral backing conducted by Knight. Name the main artist or group in each case.

Firstly...
# Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
# Calling occupants of interplanetary craft... #

A: Cyndi Lauper.

No, that was the Carpenters.


Secondly, this singer.
# Smile, though your heart is aching
# Smile, even though it's breaking
# When there are clouds in the sky
# You'll get by... #

A: James Brown.

No, that's Sammy Davis Jr. And finally...

# My hands are shaking
# Don't let my heart keep breaking
# Cos I need your love... #


Tracy Chapman. No, it doesn't sound anything like Tracy Chapman!
It's Dusty Springfield.

- - - - -

Spectacularly wrong on every bonus question.
 
Big Tabs said:
What bothers us is the incredibly poor ‘funny tale’ that the presenter insists on smugly saying at the end of each show. Clever, yes - funny, no.

The wall where you have to find the links is our favourite.
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We record the Monday night quizzes, and watch on delay/catch-up, fast-forwarding through the uninteresting specialist rounds on Mastermind, and past VC's introduction, the sing-a-longs, and the closing monologue in Only Connect. No point in watching something that annoys.
 
Alex N said:
If the music questions were about today’s popular genres, such as beigecore and UK drill, how do you think you’d do?
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I always do poorly on them, such as a few years ago, when one team on UC was invited to name a few of them, and where every one of the three excerpts played sounded just like the other; I think they were Seed House, Drip Hop, and Filth. Or something like that. But that's a series of questions on a specific topic as the bonus questions.

With last Monday's Mastermind example, though, I feel the popular, commonplace imagery of Louis Armstrong either playing trumpet, or with trumpet in hand, as opposed to Clarinet, I would suggest has had more years to permeate into "General Knowledge", which after all, was the subject round....
 
If you think the teams on UC know little about music, wait until the questions are about British geography. National Parks crops up fairly frequently, the dearth of even vaguely correct guesses is fairly alarming on a broad level.
 
Martin69 said:
If you think the teams on UC know little about music, wait until the questions are about British geography. National Parks crops up fairly frequently, the dearth of even vaguely correct guesses is fairly alarming on a broad level.
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... and try asking an English Uni team anything about Scotland....
 
Well, I'd expect most people to know that Louis Armstrong played the trumpet although I am not surprised they hadn't heard of Benny Goodman
 
Given what some of these dudes know lots about, I can forgive their ignorance of The Carpenters and pointless facts about British geography. We have a thing called Google for that stuff now.
 
paulfromcamden said:
It's clear none of the team are PFM members or they would have recognised the seminal Machine Gun, traditionally recommended whenever someone posts asking about smooth jazz, something suitable for a dinner party or music to sooth their newborn infant.

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I just played a bit of that and my wife ran into the room shouting "What the Hell is happening?".

I might use that as my mobile ringtone.
 
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