I know the Music round is my chance to score points on University Challenge, but for gods sake!!!

I didn't know that either!

There was once one were they had to identify different genres of dance music, made deeply unfair by the fact that Paxman didn't have the faintest clue about any of it, but acted as if he did. Contestant: "That's jungle" Paxo: "No, it's obviously drum n bass" (withering stare).

Recently, they had a round where they played brief snips of the intro for all the tracks off an album. Kinda easy, and the team got them all except for:

"tinklytinkly/BAMBAMBAMBAM/skirrrrskirrrr"

Stude: "Um, The Velvet Underground?"
Paxo: "No, that's the third album, this was the Velvet Underground and Nico.."

that's totally unfair.

Well that depends on whether the question was to name the artist or the title. If he was after the title then I think Paxo was within his rights.

It was for the title, yes.

Suggests that Paxo is familiar with the VU oeuvre

The question was to name the album title and the dick was wrong and I was yelling him the right answer at the telly.

It was a "kooky" female art/design student who got it wrong

Was that the London College of Art or whatever? Pretty knowledgeable team on the whole in that episode.

Stude: "Um, The Velvet Underground?"
Paxo: "No, that's the third album, this was the Velvet Underground and Nico.."

I never really pay much heed to who's actually playing on the telly.

Tonight's resident indie dude recognised Strokes, Arcade Fire and Yeah Yeah Yeahs but mistook Radiohead, of all people, for Jose Gonzalez. You could see him wracking his brains for the name of the Gonzalez album. Tsk.

That made me laugh a bit.

Haha, oh God, none of them recognised John Lennon.

Or Otis Redding

Or Eva Cassidy (ok I can let them off that one).

I figured then most likely to have recognised Eva Cassidy given Lennon fail, tbh.

Times change:

Recently, the music round featured "bands/acts that Jack White has featured prominently in"

and the one guy on the Uni team got them all right.

I guessed at all but the last "White Stripes" one, in hope.

yeah the last few pop music rounds have been tough!

This weeks music round is a "Pazz and Jop" themed round.

I got none but the starter, the team guessed more obscure bands than the correct answers, and Jeremy clearly knew none of them.

I guess the days of "ummmm, The Who?" are well and truly over.

I somehow got TV on the Radio right even though I don't think I've ever heard them.

This week, music round was based on the momentous "Sex pistols 1st gig at the Lesser free trade hall" gig.

Specifically, the bands that had members that were there. As opposed to the 2nd etc.

(Mark E Smith wasn't at the first one, it has now been established)

I know the Music round is my chance to score points on University Challenge, but for gods sake!!! even my gran knows that Cole Porter sounds bugger all like Bo Diddley!!

Well, I laffed. So did paxo..

Trying to think what the other team got that wrong with.

But god to think further on that, unless Cole Porter was a totally random name, what does that say about timeless vital music. Just wondering if Bo can just sound like old music to people. I guess it's 60 years old now but I'd just find it too electrifying to categorise like that. Not to disparage Porter of course.
I guess the Sex Pistols are grandad music by now too. Does dadrock gain a generation as it gets older?

Yeah, I was laughing at that sequence.

Cole Porter/Woody Guthrie for Bo Diddley
Modest Mouse for The Cure
"don't know" for The Clash
Wham for George Michael (so close!)

Not that anyone needs to know this stuff, but the kids looked so lost.

Really do wonder if there was any thought behind the 2 suggestions for Bo Diddley beyond being names of old artists that the tema member had heard of.
Or odes it all blend into one great big continuum of old timey folky stuff without electronic beats.

Since most of the Cole porter I've heard has tended to be later interpretations wonder if there is much real similarity. An attempt to make popular music based on black rhythms and influences? But I bet the original still sounds pretty staid by today or even 50s/60s standards.

I'm guessing they were just naming old artists whose music they'd never actually heard (or never linked up with that name). And to be fair to Manchester, Paxman wouldn't let them go without taking a guess.

I'm constantly amazed at how simple the popular music questions are and how rarely they get them. Like I don't understand how you can live your life knowing the most obscure aspect of fluid dynamics but not recognise a really famous top ten single.
I guess more and more it's basically 'they're young'

Most 19 year-olds not hugely interested in 20-30 year-old pop music feels reasonable

Also less and less likely to access music thru older curators like "classic radio" etc

Also always been posh kids on UC who don't have much interest in pop music of any era

infuriates me when they act all embarrassed for actually knowing a pop music question

Well that's a different kind of douchiness but hardly limited to kids

yes, but it's a common occurrence on the TV show University Challenge

It's usually Paxman who starts it

that's true

It's sad/irritating when kids have those packaged opinions about things they're too young to have experienced as "live" cultural moments but if my boy's anything to go by I blame reading and watching too many internet Fantanos

"received wisdom": not quite an oxymoron but something like that

Posts, yes if its something like knowing the lineup of One Direction or some such, but genuine annoyance if its something they 'should' know, (see the 'Velvet Underground AND NICO' up thread)

I think the relative importance of 1D or the VU is your opinion, not a historical truth, and to a 19-20 year-old that's an even more arbitrary distinction.

Sure, but then that's what this quiz is about: Knowing the year of accession of King Henry III vs the year Ringo joined the Beatles. In 1972 only one of these facts were deemed important.

Something about pop music questions not being tied into canonicity - it's a different kind of question/knowledge, just as akin to current affairs or sociology as it is to catalogues of dates. By kinder's argument upthread I see no difference between the likelihood of knowing about the Beatles or Drake or fluid dynamics or etc

Or in shorter words, thinking one pop question should be more obvious than another is nothing but a product of age and upbringing.

The idea that out of 1D and VU, only one would be in a library.

(Not an actual library obv, one of those fusty old ones that politicians like to stand in front of to look important)

Most 19 year-olds not hugely interested in 20-30 year-old pop music feels reasonable

Pretty sure some have been more contemporary though. I wasn't making the argument that one pop question should be more obvious than another, not at all, in fact that's what astonishes me is that as a rule they hardly ever get them right whether it's VU or Elton John.
Plus I disagree, I don't set out to listen to Katy Perry or w/ever but somehow it just gets absorbed by my brain somewhere while I'm doing other things, or some info on pop culture will be thrust in my face while I'm online or standing in a shop - this doesn't happen with physics facts.

I would love to see a list of past music questions.

http://play.bbc.co.uk/play/pen/g9bwm75d4q

Well, here's a BBC quiz that ties in with this quiz, so hey its Friday so as the great Hans Keller obce said, 'after all, why not?'