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

I started this convo on my journal but it will probably get more reads here.

Which songs (all personal opinions, of course) have a middle eight/instrumental/break that is better than the rest of the track?

Here are my offerings:

Wings: Wonderful Christmas Time

Police: Walking on the moon

Culture Club: Do you really wanna hurt me?

I've been trying very hard to think of songs to which this applies, and I'm having great difficulty! Usually I find it's the other way round - a great song can be let down by a weak guitar solo, or a middle 8 that sounds like it belongs in a different song. 'Jump' by Van Halen always strikes me as a classic example of the latter. The song stops, there is an 'Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solo'(R) and then the song starts again, but the two don't really sound like they belong together.

I'll keep thinking...

Oooh, a thought. What about that song 'Spaceman' from the jeans advert years ago. Thousands of people bought that 'cos they liked the bit that appeared in the commercial, only to find that the rest of the song was a bit of a dirge and nothing like it

Oh yes, Babylon Zoo. You can still hear the 'glug glug' of their sinking career.

A good opportunity for a pat on the back Danny - you do a grand job of picking off the music-related posts on H2.

Thanks! I try to keep on top of them - and list the most recent ones on the Guild page - but I don't always find time/motivation to post anything useful!

Blatant thread resurrection time:

Queen's Teo Torriatte (from A Day At The Races). Pleasant enough song, but it's the middle eight that used to give me goosebumps.

All together now:

"When I'm gone..."

coffee shop by the chili peppers comes to mind