Jarvis Cocker has an eclectic approach to his radio show, rarely sticking to a formula and eschewing regular features in favour of whatever is on his mind. So, in equally whimsical fashion, here are 15 questions on a vaguely religious theme for Sunday Service.
The second set of questions concerns Jarvis himself. Pulp were never dull and often entertainingly spiky. Cocker himself has remained an interesting observer on the music scene and life in general. He retains a rock and roll spirit without self-destructive excess. He may not thank us for saying this, but he may even be a national treasure.
Answers: here
1 What connects Donny Osmond and Brandon Flowers of the Killers? Which Atlanta-born female soul legend could be added to this strand?
2 Who asked ‘What if God was one of us?’ in 1995? What was her debut album that it came off?
3 Which Madonna song begins with the singer uttering the word ‘God’? Which company cancelled a deal with Madonna after Christian groups in the US panned them for using the song in an ad?
4 ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine . . .’ recites Patti Smith at the beginning of which cover from her album Horses? Who wrote the original song?
5 What, respectively, were Tom Waits’s and Depeche Mode’s versions of Jesus?
6 In which Beatles song did Mother Mary come to the singer in times of trouble? What did she speak?
7 Where is Heaven, according to Belinda Carlisle? And how far does Eddie Cochran have to go to get there?
8 Who declared that he had forgiven Jesus in 2004? And what fact about Christ did Bruce Springsteen regurgitate on his 2005 album Devils and Dust?
9 Under which name did three members of R.E.M. release an album with Warren Zevon in 1990? Which Prince song did they put out as a single?
10 Who took ‘My Sweet Lord’ to the top of the UK singles chart in 1970 and 2002? What prompted the second chart entry?
11 ‘Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam’ appeaed on which famous 1994 live album? Which Scottish band recorded the original song (with ‘Wants’, not ‘Doesn’t Want’) for a 1987 EP?
12 Whose 2009 album The Life of the World to Come took its song titles and topics from passages in the bible? And what type of bible were Arcade Fire reading in 2007?
13 Which two major British acts released albums called Faith in the 1980s?
14 Who had a UK number four in 1968 with the Bacharach and David song ‘I Say A Little Prayer’? Who went two places higher with ‘Save a Prayer’ in 1982?
15 Frank Sinatra liked to belt out ‘Get me to the Church on Time’: for which musical was the song written? Which David Bowie song uses the line in its chorus?
16 Who worked with Jarvis on ‘Sliding Through Life on Charm’ on her 2002 album Kissin Time? Which song from West Side Story did they sing together on her later 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go?
17 Which annual London festival did Jarvis curate in 2007? Which 6 Music colleague of Jarvis’s curated it in 2016?
18 When Jarvis took a break from 6 Music in 2014, who took over his show on a semi-permanent basis? What time does the show start?
19 Which future 6 Music DJ described 1991 Pulp single ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’ as a ‘throbbing ferment of nightclub soul and teen opera’ in the NME? It was the first from which album?
20 Which key member of Pulp left the band between Different Class and This is Hardcore? Mark Webber, who took over guitar duties, was formerly connected to the band in what capacity?
21 What was the name of the band fronted by Jarvis who appeared at a Hogwarts Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? Members of which other British group made up much of the backing band?
22 In Pulp’s ‘Common People’, what did ‘she’ study at St Martin’s College? And where did he take her for their first date?
23 Which Pulp album features the songs ‘Seductive Barry’, ‘The Fear’ and ‘Party Hard’? What was the lead single from the album?
24 What was on the other side of a Pulp double-A side single with ‘Sorted for E’s and Whizz’? And which newspaper got their knickers in a twist over the single?
25 The video to which Pulp song featured various well-known figures remembering losing their virginity? Which of the following did NOT appear: Reeves and Mortimer, John Peel, Alison Steadman, Jo Whiley?
26 What was the tongue-in-cheek title of the last Pulp single fom the original incarnation of the band in 2002? Whose cover of ‘Disco 2000’ appeared on the second CD of the single?
27 In 2008 Jarvis released a version of Heaven 17’s ‘Temptation’. Who sang on the track with him? What other obvious connection did Heaven 17 have with Jarvis Cocker?
28 ‘Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time’ and ‘Baby’s Coming Back to Me’ were both on Jarvis’s self-named 2006 debut solo album: which veteran singer had he let use both tracks on her own album two years earlier? Which Sheffield musician played guitar on most of the tracks on Jarvis?
29 Which major label released all the Pulp albums from their halcyon years? On which famous indie label did he release his solo works?
30 On Jarvis’s 2009 album Further Complications, the singer stated he had never said he was . . . what? What sort of blues did he essay on this album?