They say that the history of rock & roll is written by losers. But one place where music geeks inevitably win is the world of trivia. Knowledge is literally power in the quiz realm, which is why our current trivia renaissance is proof that humanity is getting, if not smarter, at least more knowledgeable. Maybe, I guess, I don’t know.
So in my night job as a quizmaster, I’m always catering to the music geeky, and I enjoy giving them something to chew on beyond the basic Name That Tune format. Thus I designed the audio round that will be featured at this Monday’s edition of my live game show, The Big Quiz Thing: “Three Degrees of Musical Separation.”
For each question, players must name the three artists, played one immediately after the other. The gimmick: The artists’ names are phonetically linked. Thus, you might hear a tune by R. Kelly, followed by Kelly Clarkson, followed by Sonny and Cher. In other words, “R. Kelly Clarksonny and Cher.” Ha!
Try it yourself: Here’s an example from an earlier edition of the game. The juxtaposition of vastly different artists is fun:
Or this one; remember, the names are linked phonetically, even if the spellings don’t match up:
Better yet, come to this Monday’s Big Quiz Thing at Crash Mansion (199 Bowery at Spring St) for ten brand-new ones, and your chance at massive prizes: $250, tickets to Off Broadway’s The Toxic Avenger, other great stuff, not to mention plenty more trivial delights, including the video round, “The Geography Junk Bin.” Monday, November 9, 7:30pm, $7 cover, bigquizthing.com for more info, unabashed plug out.
Welcome to Play Count, the Volume’s weekly mix of the best in recent hip-hop. In this edition, new music from Nyle, Phonte of Foreign Exchange, Oddisee, Freddie Gibbs and more. This week we highlight some of the best shows coming to town next week for CMJ.