I love Tom Robinson’s show on Saturday evenings. That is to say, I love the show that Tom broadcasts on Saturday evenings — I rarely actually listen to it on Saturday evening, but that is the joy of modern radio: we can listen to stuff when we like. The benefits of the internet are the subject of much debate, but ‘Play Again’ would be most people’s idea of a good thing. Tom likes a theme and, as this is a quiz book, themes are the order of the day. All the songs and artists in this section involve questions in some way; either they have an overt question in the title, or the lyrics are written in a heavily interrogative style. As usual, they are all two-part questions.
Answers: here
1 What was the title of Hazel O’Connor’s debut album, the soundtrack to a film of the same name? Which interrogative single from the album was a last-dance-at-the-disco classic in the eighties?
2 What was the all-important question asked by Department S in 1980? Where did the band get their name?
3 In 1970, who asked ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain?’ And who was the group’s leader and songwriter, still recording and playing today?
4 What was the title of the EP released by the Arctic Monkeys a few months after the release of their debut album in 2006? What was its lead track?
5 Which are the only two David Bowie singles to contain a question mark in the title?
6 ‘Is It Wicked Not to Care?’ appeared as the third track on which classic Belle and Sebastian album? Which Scottish singer provided the vocals, as she did on numerous occasions before embarking on a solo career?
7 What was the best-selling album of the nineties? It never topped the bestseller lists for one single year. Robson and Jerome sold more in 1995; which album by a Canadian singer outsold it in 1996?
8 Who sang the first line of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ in 1984? Who sang it at Live Aid in 1995?
9 Who thought getting to the top of the UK album chart in 1970 was merely A Question of Balance? Who wrote and sang lead vocals on the opening track, ‘Question’?
10 What geographical question did a famous Bacharach and David song ask in 1968? And who took it into the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic?
11 The Who are a band whose name inevitably led to punning titles. Which two Who albums are grammatically interrogative, even though the question mark wasn’t used on either?
12 On his debut album, Doggystyle, Snoop Dogg asked two fundamental questions in one song title. Which one?.
13 ‘Who Killed Bambi?’ appears on the Sex Pistols’ Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle album. Who sings it? And who did kill Bambi?
14 ‘What Becomes of the Brokenhearted’ was a UK Top 10 hit twice for which singer? The 1974 re-release was even more successful than the original, which gave the singer his first big hit in which year?
15 ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding’ is a song best known for the version by which new wave singer and his band? His producer, Nick Lowe, wrote the song and recorded it first with which earlier band?
16 What was Buzzcocks’ first UK Top 40 single, in 1978? Which durable Northern Irish band (with a question mark in their name) have covered it?
17 Who had a massive hit with ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ in 1956, aged 14? What was the second line of the song?
18 Who reached number three on the UK chart with ‘Who’s That Girl?’ in 1983? Who released a single with the same title in 1986 (from a movie of the same name) and hit number one in the UK and US?
19 Originally a B-side, which 1986 song by the Smiths seemed to query the linear nature of time? A later version by US band Love Spit Love was the theme for which TV sci-fi series from 1998 to 2006?
20 What did Duran Duran want you to please, please tell them now? Surprisingly, given how big they were, they only ever had two UK number one singles — what was the other?
21 ‘Who Cares What the Question Is?’ was the opening track on Octopus, the third album by which British indie band? From where do they hail (it’s the same place as Level 42)?
22 What question took girl group the Shirelles to the top of the US chart in 1960? Carole King, who co-wrote the song, released her own version a decade later on which classic album?
23 ‘What Can I Do?’ was a track from the second (and Mercury Prize-winning) album by Antony and the Johnsons. What was the album, and who provided additional vocals on the track?
24 Which Tamla Motown song was segued with ‘Tainted Love’ to give Soft Cell their first major hit? Who was the other half of the band alongside Marc Almond?
25 What self-pitying question did Pet Shop Boys ask on their second single off their second album? Which British sixties pop great joined them on the track?
26 What rhetorical question did Bat For Lashes ask on her first album, Fur and Gold? What is the real name of the artist who records as Bat for Lashes?
27 Who collaborated with Rihanna on her 2010 single ‘What’s My Name?’ What is Rihanna’s full name?
28 The opening track on Bob Dylan’s second album is a series of questions. Where was the answer, and what was the album?
29 Who took the bitter break-up song ‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ to the top of the UK charts in 1957? In which Marx Brothers film did the song appear in 1946?
30 Which crucial culinary question, combining mastication and slumber, was a novelty hit for skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan in 1959? What song about his father’s employment was his third and final UK number one in 1960?