Thank You For The Music… … and the tricky questions that came after! Quizmaster tests brainpower at Dunstable Probus Club
With no guest speaker to tax their brains this month, members of Dunstable Probus Club still had no reason to relax. Quizmaster extraordinaire John “Matty” Matthews was back at Tilsworth Golf Centre with his ever-popular Music Quiz.
Not wishing to tamper with a winning formula, Matty presented 20 questions based on carefully selected snippets of music. Simple enough, you might think. Recognise the tune, name the song and sit back feeling smug. But hang on – that was merely the first hurdle!
Having identified the music, members might then have to name the musical from which the song came, identify the lead singer of a band or even select the colours of the singer’s national flag. Quite how that last one fitted into a music quiz was best left to Matty.
His philosophy is that everyone should enjoy themselves, so making questions completely impossible is not the objective. Multiple-choice answers were occasionally provided, although sometimes quizzers were left to their own devices. Even then, the options could be surprisingly limited – provided, of course, that you knew the answer!
One question asked “during which football World Cup year” a particular song was a hit. First, teams had to identify “It Might as Well Rain Until September” by Carole King. Once that little hurdle had been cleared, the rest was almost straightforward. Almost.
Members formed small teams, answer sheets were distributed and pencils sharpened. A couple of gentle opening questions eased everyone into the proceedings before Matty got down to business. All too soon, the 20 questions were over and the moment of truth arrived.
“Hands up if you scored more than 13.” All hands went up. Fourteen? Still everyone. Fifteen? One team fell by the wayside. Sixteen? Another casualty. Eventually, two teams reached 18, but one triumphant team fell just short of the full house with 19 out of 20. An outstanding performance, and congratulations to the winners!
The traditional prize is a tube of Nestlé Smarties, but these elusive little rewards were, once again, unavailable locally. KitKats were pressed into service instead. One suspects that Matty’s quiz is considerably easier to organise than its prize supply.
With the quiz having asked all the questions this month, Graham Smith’s vote of thanks on behalf of the Club was mercifully straightforward. Thanks, Matty – and please come back next year. We’ll have the pencils ready. Whether we’ll have the answers is another matter.
Dunstable PROBUS Club meets on the second Monday of the month and membership is open to retired or semi-retired professional and business women and men. The Club’s main purpose is the promotion of good fellowship and if you would like to come along, please contact us on 01582 608242. The next meeting will be held on Monday 9th November 2026 when lunch will be followed by a talk from Kay Kempster entitled “A woman's world 1894”.