The Jackson Four

You read that right. We're The Jackson Four.

Not The Jackson Five. We bear no relation to the Gary, Illinois-originated Motown family of famously bizarre identity crises.

No, we're The Jackson Four. Well we were and for one night only. ..And just as well.

PJ and RJB (The Norfolk Dumpling) stayed with us for a couple of nights this week between house hunting in Hampshire and heading-off to Boston, Mass. So on Tuesday night we arranged dinner at The Prince -- a fine gastro-type boozer just up the road -- but had to eat early to accommodate its music pub quiz at 9pm.

Pub. Music. Quiz. Brilliant combination and PJ was like a kid at Christmas at the prospect.

You know the drill. Tables of friends, colleagues or loose acquaintances in musically-themed imaginatively-named teams -- "The Trucks Don't Work", "Devon 17" and so on. And as PJ is a 'Jackson' and there were four of us, so then we were named. Imaginitive and musically-themed.

In the recokning we did OK, but not great coming ninth from a field of 12. But then, many of the folk do do this every week. They train and revise The Encyclopaedia of British Hit Singles and other such muso minutiae constantly.

Who in their right mind would possibly know what the current #1 in the singles charts is? (I haven't known who's #1 since the mid- 80s!) Who cares who played lead guitar for Chicago, what a Beyonce album cover looks like or the surnames of the brothers in Oasis? (Oh, I do know that one..) Anyway, I wouldn't recognise a Sugarbabes intro if it knocked on my door and tried to sell me a mop head.

Clearly there are gaps in the collective muscial knowledge and tastes of this ramshakled line-up. We need to rethink the strategy, broaden out and get a new team together and a new name. RJB and PJ are out -- they live abroad anyway. We need folk from Stokie.

So it's definitely me (punk, post-punk, indie and rock), P (good with ABBA, easy listening and fromage in general), Alex (Smiths, Morrissey, Smiths, Madchester and indie), Katie, Vince (rockabilly) and Katie. Maybe Mark and Lady P can join in too or be super-subs..?

And the name? 'iPod, Therefore I Am.'