h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This should be easier than the last one - no obscure Googling required.

Below you'll find a number of words taken from six song titles - all were top five singles in the UK. But I've removed a word from each song (the removed words are all different, and do not appear elsewhere in the list).

You need to rearrange this list into six song titles, adding a new word to make each.

Finally, take the six words you've added, and rearrange them to make another song title.

Good luck!

* * *

a
arise
brother
don't
give
he
he's
heavy
light
lonely
love
my
never
only
talk
up
we
you

I'm going to guess:

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So one of the words in the answer is "ain't". How many songs are there with "ain't" in the title? We want one with six words.

It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it (12)
It ain't necessarily so (4)
Ain't no stopping us now (5)
You ain't nothing but a hound-dog (6 if hound-dog is one word)
Ain't misbehaving (2)

Fings Ain't Wot They Used To Be (Max Bygraves)

Incidentally, did you know that 'It Aint What You Do It's The Way That You Do' It was first recorded in 1939?

Ella Fitzgerald 'Taint what you do...

Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

I ain't got nobody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMAeJ73JEg

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing
[with Lady Gaga and ony bennett, no less

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYfF9VKMp4w

Is the final title also a top five uk hit?

Deek

Otherwise...

Don't stop. Fleetwood Mac. Stop

We don't talk anymore. Cliff Richards. Anymore

Only the lonely. Roy Orbison. The

Sun arise. Rolf Harris. Sun

Deek

Never gonna give you up. Rick Astley. Gonna


Deek

I ain't quite sure how I've arrived at this but...

The sun ain't gonna shine anymore. Walker brothers.

Deek

We have a winner!

Yes, it was The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.

Don’t Stop was incorrect, but the others were good, with the addition of Love Shine A Light, the Eurovision winner from Katrina and the Waves.

Thanks for playing!

Well, "Only the lonely" is one I've heard. Not bad for a non-USA-centric quiz.

I hope these weren't too obscure - all but one were American hits too:

Only *The* Lonely (Roy Orbison) [#2 in the US / #1 in the UK]
*Sun* Arise (Rolf Harris) [#61 / #3]
He *Ain't* Heavy, He's My Brother (Hollies) [#7 / #3]
Never *Gonna* Give You Up (Rick Astley) [#1 / #1]
Love *Shine* A Light (Katrina and the Waves) [unreleased / #3]
We Don't Talk *Anymore* (Cliff Richard) [#7 / #1]

leading to

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore (Walker Brothers) [#13 / #1]


Which all goes to prove that Rick Astley is clearly the most successful recording artist of the last 60 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Pop music operates in an international market. There are generational issues, though. I remember a lot of the hit tunes from my childhood and adolescence, after which I branched out into other music and pretty much tuned out of the pop scene. My generation is so large, though, that our collective influence has kept the oldies from our youth in a dominant position in many areas. Many Generation Xers fretted about this. They wanted *their* music to be heard more.

Nowadays I try to at listen to the artists that have sold the most albums worldwide. It's far from a perfect strategy [many hit songs never appear on albums, so they don't get into my collection], and more than a few of the ones I *do* listen to are forgotten after I hear them. Oh, well....