Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself an Earworm! Quiz

Answer: It's a Long Way to Tipperary

The song was allegedly written for a bet when English music hall entertainer, Jack Judge, accepted a challenge from a friend that he could not write a new song and then perform it in his evening set all in one day. Judge did!

The song was a music hall hit straight away but when soldiers in the First World War took to singing it as an unofficial anthem it quickly became linked inextricably to the military and is now considered an official anthem by many.

Answer: Anything Goes!

Written by the legendary Cole Porter for his musical "Anything Goes", this song is still being sung and recorded in the 21st century. It just goes to show that generational disapproval of modern life is nothing new.

Answer: White Christmas

Irving Berlin wrote over 850 songs in his career but after writing "White Christmas" he allegedly said that this was the best song that he or anyone had ever written. Looks like he may have had a point - the Guinness Book of Records lists it as the best selling song of all time.

Answer: Love Letters

Written by Victor Young and Edward Heyman, the same duo who wrote the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love". The first singer to have a hit with it was Dick Haymes but it has been recorded by scores of artists, with biggest hits coming from Ketty Lester, Elvis, and Alison Moyet.

Answer: Who Wrote the Book of Love?

The toothpaste was Pepsodent and the jingle went "wonder where the yellow went". It was earwormish enough to inspire The Monotones to write their own earworm and their only chart success.

Answer: Return to Sender

As well as reaching number one in the UK and US, Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender" was the first official Christmas number one in Ireland; of course, the official Irish Charts weren't founded until October 1962. It was written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell. Blackwell was also responsible for "All Shook Up", "Don't Be Cruel" and "Great Balls of Fire".

Answer: To Sir, With Love

Teacher Sidney Poitier reforms tough inner-city London schoolkids by using his integrity and dedication. Film Tagline - "A story as fresh as the girls in their minis, and as cool as their teacher had to be!"

Lulu's single went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and stayed there for five weeks, making it Billboard's top record of the whole year. It didn't even place in the UK charts.

Answer: A year has passed since I wrote my note

Both Sting and Andy Summers have named this as their favourite Police track whereas Stewart Copeland has said that the album it came from, "Regatta de Blanc", is the best Police record.

While the song only appeared in the lower half of US charts in 1979, it charted very highly around the rest of the world and was The Police's first number one in the UK. The US eventually took notice and The Police picked up six Grammys over the next three years.

Answer: Pina Coladas

The title of this song about meeting your current lover while trying to cheat on them through the personal columns is "Escape", but it's often just referred to as "The Pina Colada Song". It reached number one on the US Billboard 100 charts in December 1979, making it the very last US number one hit of the 70s.

Answer: "Everyday I Write the Book" - Elvis Costello

Maybe Elvis Costello was inspired by The Monotones! In interviews, Costello claimed to have dashed it off very quickly, just to see if he could write something that simple, and was never expecting that it would become an earworm, or what he describes as one of his "calling cards".

He said, "I invested less emotionally in it than any other song from that time yet it's the one that everyone warmed to, so you can never tell; and I said 'I'll write another one like that' - I don't think I could."

Answer: Music of the Night

"..The power of the music of the night."

This earworm is from "Phantom of the Opera", and the original cast recording of the musical, with Michael Crawford, entered the UK charts at number one. "Phantom of the Opera" is Broadway's longest running show in history, reaching 10,000 performances in 2012. Take a bow, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Answer: Stan

The real earworm in this Eminem hit, "Stan", about a deranged fan, comes from British singer-songwriter Dido who sings the refrain. It brought Dido to mainstream attention and her own record sales went through the roof; her 1999 album "No Angel" become the top-selling album of 2001 - not just in the UK but worldwide.

Answer: "Technologic" - Daft Punk

Daft Punk are a French duo best known for their nineties earworm "Around the World" and later this one and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", all of which created a craze for homemade videos on Youtube called Daft Hands.

Their style has been described as a mixture of techno, acid house and electro but they say their influences include the epic earwormists The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones.

Answer: a bad romance

"Bad Romance" won a Grammy award for Best Female Earworm - oops, I mean Best Female Vocal Performance. Lady Gaga said she wrote it while travelling on her tour bus and added "There was certainly some whisky involved in the writing of the record." Hope she wasn't driving.

Answer: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

"..a lot of kisses on the bottom, I'll be glad I gottem!"

In 1935, the great Fats Waller released this simple but enduring number that has been covered by... just about everyone in every decade since! and is considered a standard in the Great American Songbook. The film "You've Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, used Billy Williams' 1957 smash-hit cover version.

In 2013, "Kisses on the Bottom" won a Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.