Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart
Yeah I agree. This questionnaire is very heavily based on "older" music, from jaz to blues and right back to classical. Had he asked who plays bass in Slayer or name both Iron Maiden guitarists, or maybe what was The Pet Shop Boys' most successful album, I think a lot more people would know these things. Like Necro says, even he and I, at the fifty-year mark, are stumped by some of these questions, so how are kids going to know?
I think it's too one-sided and certainly does not answer the question "how much do you know about music" unless you qualify that by inserting either the word "older" or "certain types of". It needs to be more comprehensive. Look at the list: how many questions refer to music/artistes less than 40 years old in terms of how long they've been around. I mean: Scott Joplin? Give me a break! Seriously. More "modern" questions will give you a far fairer and more balanced result.
Can I have my tuppence worth back now please?
Oh, and my Sherlock Holmes comment was of course a joke...
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I did okay on the quiz but I would definitely flunk a quiz with questions about contemporary pop artists like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, and Mumford and Sons.
Most of the artists on your quiz were before my time but any person with a curiosity about music should know about Scott Joplin, Cole Porter, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington.
Some of the roots music questions are challenging even to the musically educated forum members. Few people outside of acoustic guitar players know what the Carter lick is. I know Carter lick is, but I can't explain it to a lay person unless I have a guitar as a prop. It's like trying to explain what hammer-on or a pull-off is without using a guitar to demonstrate the techinques.
Holland Dozier & Holland were Motown's top songwriting team but Norman Whitefield, Barrett Strong, Deke Richards Smokey Robinson and Motown president Barry Gordy were also prolific composers for Motown. I know that Lamont, Dozier and Holland wrote most of the Supreme's big hits but I'd have to do a fact check if you asked me to name a Lamont, Dozier, and Holland song, excluding the Supreme's biggest hits. It's a tough question even for a person with a knowledge of soul music.
I'd be surprised if over 20% of MB forum members percentage know who Blind Willie McTell, Charley Patton and Fred McDowell are. Of course I'd be among the ignorant had one of your questions had been about mariachi music or gangsta rap.
The title "King of the Delta Blues Men" is a dubious one because Robert Johnson, Son House, Willie Brown and Charlie Patton have all been called the "King of the Delta Blues Singers" at one time or another.
Patton was playing a full decade before Son House or Robert Johnson. However Patton's generational peer, Willie Brown was a better singer and guitar player than Patton. But Willie Brown lost his claim to "king" when he only recorded 8 songs and disappeared into obscurity forever, while Patton recorded nearly 100 songs.