Quick, what was Eminem’s birth name?

If you said Marshall Mathers without having to Google it or phone a friend, then you are a perfect candidate for a new app produced by former local resident Ric Chapman called Songopoly.

Mr Chapman ran a televised game show by the same name several years ago. It ran for three seasons and 67 episodes in Bermuda. Now that Mr Chapman is living in Cronulla Beach, New South Wales, Australia, he has taken the game to the next level. The game is now available for download on the App store.

“It’s hard to get my mind around the fact, that five years ago, while lying on the beach at Jobson’s Cove in Warwick after a swim among the big parrotfish there, I wrote a script and some questions which started Songopoly the television show,” he said. “Kenny DeFontes who owns VSB Channel 11, loved the format, and the next thing you know it had come to life.”

After three successful years, it morphed into a radio version too and was heard for a year on MIX 106FM.

“Great memories, but now, it’s out there for the world to consume via the App store, and I really hope Bermudians in particular, embrace it and download it as it forms a neat little part of their historical pop culture,” said Mr Chapman.

Mr Chapman said many Bermudians played the game when it was on television in Bermuda. Leigh Hawke was crowned Grand Champion in Season Two, and won prize money along with a brand new scooter that, sadly, was stolen about two months after she won it.

“There was even a celebrity night which featured MIX 106FM’s leading DJs: the Captain (Keevil Burgess), Shelley Thunder (Shelley Johnson) and Eddie G (Eddie Gladwell),” he said. “Shelley won.”

He is now trying to get a televised version of the show up and running in Australia. He thought, in the meantime, the Songopoly app will satisfy the appetites of those who love playing apps, or playing iPad, iPhone games, and or simply love music trivia.

“Imagine you’re on one of Bermuda’s busy pink buses,” he said. “It pulls in to a stop and someone gets on listening to music. You can distinctly hear the Eagles singing, Take It Easy.

“Just when the song reaches the part where Glenn Frey belts out, ‘Now I’m standing on the corner of ...’ the person gets off the bus. What are you left with? Well simple, perhaps the most famous landmark and lyric in pop music history, and so your brain will try and remember it.”

(Before you head off to Google it, the answer is Winslow, Arizona.)

Mr Chapman said tunes make you think and remember. There are over 3,000 questions on the app, which includes different player levels and a multiple choice format for answering. If you get the answer wrong, the app responds with a (hopefully) amusing insult. On the other hand, if you get it right, you get a “soul enriching” compliment. The object of the app is to reach the end, naturally.

“I saw Sudoku taking off and it was a complex numbers game that made all those bus and plane commuters happy by taking the boredom of travel away and making their minds work,” said Mr Chapman. “So I wanted to do something similar. This time predominantly with well-known scripted words. It doesn’t have the graphics of some of the more well-known games, it is just something that entertains and make you think, and also remember days passed, and start humming away while playing.”

He has tried to promote the app by sending Tweets and Facebook messages to celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Blake Shelton.

“I quickly found out that big stars just don’t reply and that’s understandable,” he said. “But then earlier this week I did get a response to a message I left on Just Bieber’s site. I had told him that there’s a phenomenal drawing of him on the Songopoly app if players win through past Level Five, to reach it. I got a Like from whomever controls Beebs’ website, which made me happy.”

The Songopoly app is available through the App Store for $1.99 and has 50 levels on it.

“Which is great if you love music, and commute often,” said Mr Chapman.