Ernie Ranglin will help honour Charles Hyatt on Monday. - Claudine Housen

When the quizmaster or quizmistress on School's Challenge Quiz says "this is an audio question", the students involved always straighten up and look even more intent than is customary. But I was very surprised a few nights ago when a particular audio question was delivered, the faces went blank and the five seconds ran out.

The clip that was played was from Night Nurse. Nobody knew that it was Gregory Isaacs.

I did not see the visual question about Ernie Ranglin that also went unanswered, but writing in another newspaper on Sunday, Clyde McKenzie lamented a similar situation.

As distressing as it is that some of the brighter high-school minds could not put a name to Cool Ruler's huge hit and the face of a guitar legend, both of whom are living, it may not be as critical as it appears. Unfortunately, involvement in and knowledge of popular music is often not a priority of the more academically gifted among us and it is possible that any number of non-quiz type schoolchildren may have been able to identify Isaacs' nasal twang, if not Ranglin's pleasant face.

The Cool Ruler, Gregory Isaacs. - Winston Sill

That said, it does point to a weakness in the entertainment-related media, as the saturation that is required for face and voice recognition is simply not provided for not only Isaacs and Ranglin, but those performers and musicians who are dubbed 'vintage'. It is a double-edged label, as while it acknowledges the historical importance of the person, it also separates them from the current generation.

It would help immensely if they had a current presence and most of those labelled 'vintage' do continue to put out music. However, it often appears as if they are stuck with one particular set of songs made a long time ago, as the new material simply does not get the same attention.

And we have questions about some our best which go unanswered on quiz.