Who Can It Be Now: The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back To The 80s One Line At A Time [Paperback]

Pete Fornatale (Author), Frank R. Scatoni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1998

For the generation that was raised on MTV, here's the book version of the game that's sweeping barrooms and living rooms across the country. Who Can It Be Now? is fun, funny, and addictive -- and if you don't believe us, just try guessing who sang these immortal lines:

"Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?"
"Oh, Daddy, dear, you know you're still number one"
"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar"

If you guessed Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, and the Human League, buy this book now. Welcome to dinner conversation through the next millennium. If you're still scratching your head, there's a book about Angela Lansbury in Aisle Four.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Just when you thought the world was safe from Dippety-Do, leg warmers, ripped clothing, and Lionel Richie, here comes Who Can It Be Now? The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back to the '80s to resuscitate the long-lost songs that stubbornly refuse to stay lost. Does "Oh, Daddy dear, you know you're still number one" ring any bells? Or how about that lip-curling classic, "In the midnight hour, she cried 'more, more, more'"? If you guessed Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and Billy Idol's, "Rebel Yell," you're a candidate for the championships in this popular bar game turned book. Replete with unforgivably unforgettable trivia, what-were-we-thinking glamour shots, and wry factoids about the era, Who Can It Be Now packs the appeal of Name That Tune and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon between shiny covers. You might say it's a book that "straddles the line in discord and rhyme." --Rebekah Warren

Review

John Sellers Author of PCAT: Preparation for the Pop-Culture Aptitude Test -- Rad 1980s Version Two minutes of Who Can It Be Now? brought me back to the '80s faster than watching a whole season of Family Ties. I had to look down to make sure I wasn't wearing parachute pants. -- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; Second Edition edition (November 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684856301
• ISBN-13: 978-0684856308
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the best... of... Tiiiimes, November 5, 2000

By 

absent_minded_prof (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Can It Be Now: The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back To The 80s One Line At A Time (Paperback)

If my review title makes you scratch your head and say to yourself, "hmmm, where do I know that from?", you should really buy this book. (It's from Styx.) Anyway, this book is a little tongue in cheek, obviously, but it does more than just make fun of Tommy Tutone, Bananarama, The Human League, songs like 867-5309 Jenny, etc. It has dozens of little quizzes, where you see the lines from songs on one page, and then when you flip to the next page you find out the names of the groups that sang them. Interspersed throughout the book are tons of little articles (blurbs, really) about various groups, which tell you, in all likelihood, more than any human would ever want to know about, say, Spandau Ballet. But it's still a good book. I recommend the living daylights out of this one, it's hilarious, especially at parties.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun & Nostalgic Trip Back to the '80s, January 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Can It Be Now: The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back To The 80s One Line At A Time (Paperback)

"Who Can It Be Now?," named after the Men at Work song, is just over 200 pages of music and pop culture trivia taken from the '80s. Most of the book is devoted to just one-liners (not the entire song), with the lyric on one side of the page and the song title, band/artist, and bits of trivia on the opposite side. Some of the sections in the book feature one-hit wonders (like Kajagoogoo {"Too Shy"} and Toni Basil {"Mickey"}), actors-turned-singers (like Patrick Swayze {"She's Like the Wind" in 'Dirty Dancing'} and Rick Springfield), as well as bits of movie, TV, and celebrity trivia, but only if it pertains to a certain '80s song. There are also lots of black-and-white photos (pretty much on every page) of singers/performers/actors, like Debbie (Deborah now) Gibson, Michael and Janet Jackson, Mr. T, Weird Al, and the Brat Pack, just to name a few.

Despite some of the catty remarks and photo alterations (see Mary Lou Retton and Lionel Richie), this book will certainly make you laugh and reminisce if you're a child of the '80s. It's hard to digest all of the info in this book in one sitting (flipping back and forth between the lyrics and answers does lose its appeal after awhile), but halfway into it, you'll be dusting off your old CDs/cassettes/vinyls and playing them while reading this book. The only gripe I have is that there's no index or table of contents to find certain pages quicker; other than that, "Who Can It Be Now?" is a fun and nostalgic trip back to the '80s. Worth reading if you're an '80s fanatic like I am.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Kick off your Sunday shoes!", November 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Can It Be Now: The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back To The 80s One Line At A Time (Paperback)

Buy this book! Give it to your friends! Take it to all your parties. I'm telling you. I can't put this book down. Lyric after lyric after lyric. My favorite one: "You don't have to watch 'Dynasty' to have an attitude." Vintage Prince; vintage '80s. Anyway, if you want to impress your friends, or just have a good old time, get this book.