Hot Quiz Action: Is The Dears' Murray Lightburn A Brit-Pop Wiener?

Every so often, to give ourselves and our readers a giggle, Chart magazine will run a little quiz based on a musical genre classification. As a special holiday treat to you, dear reader, we'll run one of our patented quizzes each day this week, complete with answers from one of your favourite Can-Rock stars.

Can-Rock curmudgeon Murray Lightburn of The Dears seemed like the perfect candidate to take our Are You A Brit-Pop Wiener quiz, seeing as he leads one of the most complex and lovely pop-noir bands in the country. But how does he feel about the pretentious world of British pop music? Read on and find out...

ChartAttack: Do you feel Suede still rocked after Bernard Butler left the band? (2 points for no)
Murray: No. Although once I saw them in a small venue in Montreal with the new kid and I was indeed blown away. However, they were playing Dog Man Star. So that's still a win for Butler.

Do you own records by both parties in the following:
The Kinks and Supergrass? (3 points)
No.

Echobelly and Marianne Faithfull? (2 points)
No.

Primal Scream and T.Rex? (2 points)
Actually, I don't any of those records. However, if I were to own records by of these bands, it would probably be these two. And even that's a stretch.

Boo Radleys and Small Faces? (7 points)
No.

Super Furry Animals and The Animals? (7 points)
No.

Do you think most of the bands the NME hype as the next big thing suck, but still read the mag anyway? (2 points)
Yes.

Do you know who Paul Weller is? (2 points)
Yes. Unfortunately.

Do you save old copies of NME so you can look at them later? (3 points)
No. If I even paid for one, I'd have to shoot myself.

Have you ever had a bob, shag, sideburns or faux-hawk? (1 point)
No... I think?

Have you ever seen the following movies:
Blow Up? (2 points)
No.

Gimme Shelter? (1 point)
No.

24 Hour Party People? (1 point)
No.

To Sir With Love? (1 point)
No.

Quadrophenia? (2 points)
Yes.

Do you own three or more Smiths records? (1 point)
Yes. Of course. Nothing will ever come close to them.

Do you own six or more Morrissey and Smiths records combined? (3 points)
Probably.

Do you own records by any of the following: Adorable, The Coral, Cast, Menswear, Shack? (1 point per record)
If you ever find me within a 100-mile radius of these records, and I believe they all only put out ONE record, shoot me.

Do you still mourn the passing of The Verve but grudgingly accept Richard Ashcroft's solo work as better than having nothing? (3 points)
No.

Do you hate the band Korn? (1 point)
Yes. Shouldn't everyone?

Give yourself 1 point for each of the following statements that are true:
Jesus And Mary Chain are fucking great.
Yes. But I'm only agreeing to that to appease a friend.

I remember when Bez from the Happy Mondays broke his arm.
Yes.

Starsailor are for girls and teenagers.
Yes.

I own at least one piece of clothing with a Union Jack on it.
No.

Blur rock, despite Damon selling out.
No.

I'm so tired of James' "Laid," but I still dance to it.
No.

I want to own a scooter.
Yes.

The Beautiful South are more dangerous than they sound on record.
Yes.

I would love to go drinking with Jarvis Cocker.
No.

Yes, I do own The Stone Roses' Second Coming album.
No.

The Cure and Echo And The Bunnymen still rule. (1 point)
No. Good God, no.

Westlife should be tied to the wheels of a double-decker bus? (2 points)
Yes. Even though I haven't the slightest who they are, it sounds like they need to die.

Have you ever watched the movie Quadrophenia and didn't understand why the mods liked The Who and hated the rockers because here in North America it's the rockers who like The Who? (3 points for no)
Yes. But I also didn't understand Quadrophenia.

Choose your favourite Gallagher brother. (2 points for Liam and Noel, no points for "the other one")
The other one. Whoever he is. Why don't we tie them to a double-decker bus that is falling off a cliff and explodes when it hits the ground?

There you go. Murray scored 20 points — relatively low, but keep in mind, he seemed to know an awful lot about all these bands, he just happens to hate them. Take that as you will...

Anyway, Murray ranked in the second lowest category on the quiz. Here's an analysis of his score: "Yes, we do concede that Robbie Williams is technically Brit-pop. But he's far more on the Ricky Martin-Edwin axis than the Richard Ashcroft-Rufus Wainwright one. And cute pleated skirts don't count as being Brit-pop."

Take the Brit-Pop Wiener quiz for yourself in the November 2002 issue of Chart with Treble Charger on the cover.

Back issues of Chart magazine can be purchased here.