Pop Quiz for the Company Outing

Almost everyone thinks they know a lot about music. Until three seconds of an intro play, and suddenly no one knows anymore whether it’s Queen, Toto, or “that band with that hair.” As soon as the teams are formed, a cozy dinner table surprisingly quickly turns into a fiercely passionate music editorial team. There’s discussion, singing, guessing, and above all, lots of shouting: “Play it one more time!” Of course, there’s always someone who thinks they know the answer after just two seconds. That sounds impressive—until it turns out they’ve been misremembering the artist’s name for twenty years.

The fun part about this quiz is that you get to decide which musical era takes center stage. In the mood for classics from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s? Then names like ABBA, Queen, and the Bee Gees are guaranteed to come up. Prefer cheesy hits, Eurodance, and sing-alongs from the ’80s and ’90s? That’s fine, too. Or go all the way back to the ’90s—to the era of boy bands, girl bands, flippo’s, and songs that everyone claims they “didn’t like at all back then,” even though they can recite the entire lyrics without a hitch.

For fans of the 2000s, there’s plenty to recognize, of course. Think MP3 players, ringtones, Hyves, MSN, and hits that instantly bring back a flood of childhood memories these days. Do you want a little bit of everything mixed together? Then choose a mix of the ’90s, ’00s, and ’10s, or go for a broad Top 2000 edition. That way, every generation gets its moment. One coworker knows everything about Fleetwood Mac, another recognizes a Beyoncé song in half a second, and someone else suddenly turns out to have a disturbingly extensive knowledge of the Vengaboys. During the quiz, song intros, music clips, artists, lyrics, and surprising challenges alternate. And of course, that calls for some lively discussion.