From Our Lips to LifeHacker's Ears
March 12, 2018 9:15 AM Subscribe
AskMetaFilter, March 4: What songs does everyone recognize, but not know?
LifeHacker (with credit to AskMetaFilter), March 12: Here's a Playlist of Songs You Know But You Can’t Name
LifeHacker (with credit to AskMetaFilter), March 12: Here's a Playlist of Songs You Know But You Can’t Name
And the internet ouroboros is complete.
posted by runcibleshaw at 9:22 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 9:22 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
Not to be all parliamentarian, but isn't this more of a MeTa things?
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:22 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:22 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
This was discussed a little bit on metatalk too.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:23 AM on March 12, 2018
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:23 AM on March 12, 2018
Mod note: I am interpreting the intent here as "hey, the resulting expanded list/playlist on Lifehacker is fun too, and fuck it let's talk about songs like this here some more while we're at it", so, hey, fuck it, let's do that. But yes for those interested in more the meta-aspect as a policy or practice question, there's also a recent MetaTalk about such stuff.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:25 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:25 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Quick, somebody make a FanFare post about some of the songs!
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:29 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:29 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
This is dangerously close to crossing the streams.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:30 AM on March 12, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:30 AM on March 12, 2018 [13 favorites]
You should post that FanFare post request on Jobs! Then, when it's finished, to Projects!
posted by box at 9:32 AM on March 12, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by box at 9:32 AM on March 12, 2018 [14 favorites]
(Also, how much money does Lifehacker (and related sites) make from those daily-deal posts?)
posted by box at 9:32 AM on March 12, 2018
posted by box at 9:32 AM on March 12, 2018
I don't recognise Opus No 1 even after hearing it. Is it a US thing?
And look! Convicted paedophile Gary Glitter's there!
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:39 AM on March 12, 2018
And look! Convicted paedophile Gary Glitter's there!
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:39 AM on March 12, 2018
well, I'm going to immediately call foul on that Lifehacker list, as the lead-off track from my most recent radio show was its #1 selection -- Percy Faith's egregiously voluptuous Theme From A Summer Place.
I mean, seriously, hate on those 10,000,001 strings all you want, the world we know was built upon them (at least in part).
posted by philip-random at 10:13 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
I mean, seriously, hate on those 10,000,001 strings all you want, the world we know was built upon them (at least in part).
posted by philip-random at 10:13 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
I never realized that that music from "Chariots of Fire" was called "Chariots of Fire."
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:16 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:16 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thanks to some reasons, I to this day associate Gymnopédie No.1 with surreal pornography.
posted by Ferreous at 10:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 10:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
I understand a person might not know any one of these but I find it hard to believe people in general don't know the names of songs like Spanish Flea, Powerhouse, Heart and Soul, Rock and Roll Part II, Classical Gas. I mean what do people think these songs are called? How would you avoid knowing the name The Entertainer or The Blue Danube? I'd say the same for things like Fanfare for the Common Man but I realize that's where I hit the outside edge of my music nerdery and I do realize that some people don't take years of music theory and grow up with a diverse stack of records in the house.
I don't recognise Opus No 1 even after hearing it. Is it a US thing?
I don't recognize this at all either. I rarely use the phone though and more rarely am on hold so it's not too surprising.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:29 AM on March 12, 2018
I don't recognise Opus No 1 even after hearing it. Is it a US thing?
I don't recognize this at all either. I rarely use the phone though and more rarely am on hold so it's not too surprising.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:29 AM on March 12, 2018
What a visceral offense it is, to be thought unable to name Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass.
*syncopated woodblocks* DOO-DOOOOO A DO DO DO, BUMP A DOOO WAMP A DOOP DOO DOO
posted by The Gaffer at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
*syncopated woodblocks* DOO-DOOOOO A DO DO DO, BUMP A DOOO WAMP A DOOP DOO DOO
posted by The Gaffer at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
Surprised that "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz didn't make it to either the first MeFi post or the playlist.
"Baba O'Riley" was my immediate go-to but someone here caught that last time.
Can't figure out how the heck "Jump Around" got on the playlist because they repeat that phrase like eighty gazillion times.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:39 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Baba O'Riley" was my immediate go-to but someone here caught that last time.
Can't figure out how the heck "Jump Around" got on the playlist because they repeat that phrase like eighty gazillion times.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:39 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I understand a person might not know any one of these but I find it hard to believe people in general don't know the names of songs like Spanish Flea, Powerhouse, Heart and Soul, Rock and Roll Part II, Classical Gas. I mean what do people think these songs are called? How would you avoid knowing the name The Entertainer or The Blue Danube?
I think you are *seriously* overestimating the musical knowledge of the average person.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:39 AM on March 12, 2018 [27 favorites]
How would you avoid knowing the name The Entertainer or The Blue Danube?
By not being interested in music, or not being good at recognizing it, or not receiving education in it, or having forgotten said education due to disinterest / lack of recognition ability, etc...
posted by Vesihiisi at 10:43 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
By not being interested in music, or not being good at recognizing it, or not receiving education in it, or having forgotten said education due to disinterest / lack of recognition ability, etc...
posted by Vesihiisi at 10:43 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I know the names of almost all these, but that's was my job at one time. I missed the initial discussion, but still I feel pretty old to find that "The Syncopated Clock" is not on the list.
posted by Miss Cellania at 10:45 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Miss Cellania at 10:45 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I think you are *seriously* overestimating the musical knowledge of the average person.
I guess so - or I had really exceptional music teachers. We learned all of those along with a lot of the older stuff on this list and sometimes also played them (badly) in my small town public elementary and middle schools in the 80s.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:46 AM on March 12, 2018
I guess so - or I had really exceptional music teachers. We learned all of those along with a lot of the older stuff on this list and sometimes also played them (badly) in my small town public elementary and middle schools in the 80s.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:46 AM on March 12, 2018
I don't recognise Opus No 1 even after hearing it. Is it a US thing?
It's the default on-hold music for Cisco phone systems (or was). Here's someone doing a rap to Opus No 1.
posted by nightwood at 10:49 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's the default on-hold music for Cisco phone systems (or was). Here's someone doing a rap to Opus No 1.
posted by nightwood at 10:49 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Songs I recognize but can't name?
... All of them.
posted by kyrademon at 11:00 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
... All of them.
posted by kyrademon at 11:00 AM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chrysostom: "
I think you are *seriously* overestimating the musical knowledge of the average person."
I don't even recognize the names let alone associate them with specific sounds. Not to surprising to me really; when are these songs ever associated with the title? Also the 10K.
posted by Mitheral at 11:03 AM on March 12, 2018
I think you are *seriously* overestimating the musical knowledge of the average person."
I don't even recognize the names let alone associate them with specific sounds. Not to surprising to me really; when are these songs ever associated with the title? Also the 10K.
posted by Mitheral at 11:03 AM on March 12, 2018
I understand a person might not know any one of these but I find it hard to believe people in general don't know the names of songs like Spanish Flea, Powerhouse, Heart and Soul, Rock and Roll Part II, Classical Gas.
The vast majority of people only know them from movies, TV, playing at events, etc. They've never had reason to have heard the titles, and a lot of these songs are older and don't get much play, or get play only because the songs have become ubiquitous background songs.
I mean what do people think these songs are called?
"That song from..." For example, I only knew "Rock and Roll Part II" as that song they play during sports games for a long time. The Simpsons taught me the name of "Classical Gas". "Powerhouse" was just some song from Looney Tunes cartoons until I got curious and looked up the title.
I'm surprised there wasn't any Creedence Clearwater Revival on the list. "Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie". CCR is kind of the poster band for this concept: everyone has probably heard their songs, but I'm guessing most younger people don't know who did those songs.
posted by Sangermaine at 11:05 AM on March 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
The vast majority of people only know them from movies, TV, playing at events, etc. They've never had reason to have heard the titles, and a lot of these songs are older and don't get much play, or get play only because the songs have become ubiquitous background songs.
I mean what do people think these songs are called?
"That song from..." For example, I only knew "Rock and Roll Part II" as that song they play during sports games for a long time. The Simpsons taught me the name of "Classical Gas". "Powerhouse" was just some song from Looney Tunes cartoons until I got curious and looked up the title.
I'm surprised there wasn't any Creedence Clearwater Revival on the list. "Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie". CCR is kind of the poster band for this concept: everyone has probably heard their songs, but I'm guessing most younger people don't know who did those songs.
posted by Sangermaine at 11:05 AM on March 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
Miss Cellania, I nearly added that one in the Ask thread! Junior high band staple.
posted by dilettante at 11:05 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dilettante at 11:05 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
This also works the other way: "What the hell is Spanish Flea? Oooohh."
posted by dirigibleman at 11:06 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dirigibleman at 11:06 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie".
I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:07 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:07 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
Here's one song that everyone in this entire world knows but just the tiniest of fractions actually knows the name of it: John Cage's 4' 33"
posted by NoMich at 11:10 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by NoMich at 11:10 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
"Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz didn't make it to either the first MeFi post or the playlist.
Or "Song 2" by Blur, which everyone in the US knows as "that Woo-Hoo song that only gets played at sporting events".
posted by elsietheeel at 11:14 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Or "Song 2" by Blur, which everyone in the US knows as "that Woo-Hoo song that only gets played at sporting events".
posted by elsietheeel at 11:14 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
I mean what do people think these songs are called?
Blue Danube is e.g. for plenty of people called "that song from 2001, you know, during the long space station docking scene". Like Sangermaine (and others) have said: its music that appears in a non-didactic context in service to something else.
It's essentially the same process by which I get to know a lot of pop songs without knowing who the artist or band is, and that's when listening to the radio in the car which is a context where knowing that stuff is nominally actually part of the format. Except in a film or a TV show or a cartoon or an ad, nobody stops in the middle of a scene to say "and that's Johann Strauss, of his latest album..."
posted by cortex at 11:19 AM on March 12, 2018
Blue Danube is e.g. for plenty of people called "that song from 2001, you know, during the long space station docking scene". Like Sangermaine (and others) have said: its music that appears in a non-didactic context in service to something else.
It's essentially the same process by which I get to know a lot of pop songs without knowing who the artist or band is, and that's when listening to the radio in the car which is a context where knowing that stuff is nominally actually part of the format. Except in a film or a TV show or a cartoon or an ad, nobody stops in the middle of a scene to say "and that's Johann Strauss, of his latest album..."
posted by cortex at 11:19 AM on March 12, 2018
I understand a person might not know any one of these but I find it hard to believe people in general don't know the names of songs like Spanish Flea, Powerhouse, Heart and Soul, Rock and Roll Part II, Classical Gas.
When would anyone learn the names of these songs unless they were studying them for a class or learning them on a musical instrument? Music (other than the music one chooses for oneself) is primarily "learned" by osmosis, with no context other than the tv show or movie (or supermarket or taxi or Uber) it's playing in. This seems a bit of a snobbish dismissal of most people as somehow less culturesd or intelligent than you.
posted by tzikeh at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
When would anyone learn the names of these songs unless they were studying them for a class or learning them on a musical instrument? Music (other than the music one chooses for oneself) is primarily "learned" by osmosis, with no context other than the tv show or movie (or supermarket or taxi or Uber) it's playing in. This seems a bit of a snobbish dismissal of most people as somehow less culturesd or intelligent than you.
posted by tzikeh at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Song 2's on the playlist.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dirigibleman at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Is there a word in German for when something is posted and discussed on AskMeFi, MetaTalk and here on the Blue?
posted by Wordshore at 11:32 AM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 11:32 AM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Schadenblauenpostverklinken
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:35 AM on March 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:35 AM on March 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
Dreifecta.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:41 AM on March 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:41 AM on March 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
Here's one song that everyone in this entire world knows but just the tiniest of fractions actually knows the name of it: John Cage's 4' 33"
You know, I can only get maybe a minute or two into that one before I have to put something else on.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:46 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
You know, I can only get maybe a minute or two into that one before I have to put something else on.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:46 AM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
cortex: " music that appears in a non-didactic context"
Non-DIEGETIC.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:50 AM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Non-DIEGETIC.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:50 AM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Someone's a real pendant.
posted by The Gaffer at 11:56 AM on March 12, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by The Gaffer at 11:56 AM on March 12, 2018 [9 favorites]
John Cage's 4' 33"
You know, I can only get maybe a minute or two into that one before I have to put something else on.
I did once see this performed live. It was as part of the intro to a screening of this movie. There was a band on hand for the post-screening party anyway, the director thought, why not do a proper version of 4' 33", so he called the band up (bass-drums-guitar-etc), had them take up their instruments ... and then just stand there for the allotted time.
It worked. Very well.
posted by philip-random at 12:00 PM on March 12, 2018
You know, I can only get maybe a minute or two into that one before I have to put something else on.
I did once see this performed live. It was as part of the intro to a screening of this movie. There was a band on hand for the post-screening party anyway, the director thought, why not do a proper version of 4' 33", so he called the band up (bass-drums-guitar-etc), had them take up their instruments ... and then just stand there for the allotted time.
It worked. Very well.
posted by philip-random at 12:00 PM on March 12, 2018
I understand a person might not know any one of these but I find it hard to believe people in general don't know the names of songs like Spanish Flea, Powerhouse, Heart and Soul, Rock and Roll Part II, Classical Gas. I mean what do people think these songs are called?
"Heart and Soul" = "that song that everyone can do on the piano - not 'Chopsticks' but the other one, the one that they used in Big that goes 'ba-ba-baaaa, badadadadada ba ba ba'....."
"Rock and Roll Partk II" = "that song that you hear on sports shows all the time where a bunch of people are shouting 'hey'". I also had someone tell me once it was called "Doctor Who and the Time Lords", because he thought that a parody version he'd heard first was the original. (I also once saw someone confuse "Rock and Roll Part II" with "Life In a Northern Town" for reasons I am not able to ascertain.)
And for me, "Gymnopedie No. 1" was "the new theme to the show that replaced Jonathan Schwartz's show on NPR".
Most people get their clues about "what is the name of this song" from the words sung in the song. If you have a song that doesn't include the title in the lyrics, people are going to assume the title is something else ("Baba O'Riley" vs. "Teenage Wasteland", "Song 2" vs. "Woo-hoo"). And if you've got an instrumental, people are less likely to know the title and will resort to humming it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:01 PM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Heart and Soul" = "that song that everyone can do on the piano - not 'Chopsticks' but the other one, the one that they used in Big that goes 'ba-ba-baaaa, badadadadada ba ba ba'....."
"Rock and Roll Partk II" = "that song that you hear on sports shows all the time where a bunch of people are shouting 'hey'". I also had someone tell me once it was called "Doctor Who and the Time Lords", because he thought that a parody version he'd heard first was the original. (I also once saw someone confuse "Rock and Roll Part II" with "Life In a Northern Town" for reasons I am not able to ascertain.)
And for me, "Gymnopedie No. 1" was "the new theme to the show that replaced Jonathan Schwartz's show on NPR".
Most people get their clues about "what is the name of this song" from the words sung in the song. If you have a song that doesn't include the title in the lyrics, people are going to assume the title is something else ("Baba O'Riley" vs. "Teenage Wasteland", "Song 2" vs. "Woo-hoo"). And if you've got an instrumental, people are less likely to know the title and will resort to humming it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:01 PM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'll back away slowly now because clearly I am wrong about how much people know about song titles. But:
When would anyone learn the names of these songs unless they were studying them for a class or learning them on a musical instrument? Music (other than the music one chooses for oneself) is primarily "learned" by osmosis, with no context other than the tv show or movie (or supermarket or taxi or Uber) it's playing in. This seems a bit of a snobbish dismissal of most people as somehow less culturesd or intelligent than you.
This post, the ask, and the Lifehacker link are three places where people would learn the names of these songs without studying them. There have been many versions of this sort of thing. Old commercials for compilation albums where snippets of songs play while the words go by highlighted in yellow is where I picked up a lot about music I wouldn't have listened to otherwise. Ends of movies where the titles are listed is where I've found the "hey it's that song" things.
I wasn't trying to dismiss or be snobbish. It just surprised me that people wouldn't know more of these.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:10 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
When would anyone learn the names of these songs unless they were studying them for a class or learning them on a musical instrument? Music (other than the music one chooses for oneself) is primarily "learned" by osmosis, with no context other than the tv show or movie (or supermarket or taxi or Uber) it's playing in. This seems a bit of a snobbish dismissal of most people as somehow less culturesd or intelligent than you.
This post, the ask, and the Lifehacker link are three places where people would learn the names of these songs without studying them. There have been many versions of this sort of thing. Old commercials for compilation albums where snippets of songs play while the words go by highlighted in yellow is where I picked up a lot about music I wouldn't have listened to otherwise. Ends of movies where the titles are listed is where I've found the "hey it's that song" things.
I wasn't trying to dismiss or be snobbish. It just surprised me that people wouldn't know more of these.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:10 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
I was both surprised and not surprised to discover that the name of the stock circus music that I normally associate with kooky clowns is actually called "Entry of the Gladiators". Bread and circuses, I guess?
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:11 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:11 PM on March 12, 2018
I to this day associate Gymnopédie No.1 with surreal pornography.
I wish to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:18 PM on March 12, 2018
I wish to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:18 PM on March 12, 2018
"Rock and Roll Partk II" = "that song that you hear on sports shows all the time where a bunch of people are shouting 'hey'". I also had someone tell me once it was called "Doctor Who and the Time Lords", because he thought that a parody version he'd heard first was the original.
The "parody version" is Doctorin' the Tardis by the Timelords (née the KLF) which samples the hell out of the Gary Glitter tune and was itself a number-one hit in the UK.
posted by neckro23 at 12:26 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
The "parody version" is Doctorin' the Tardis by the Timelords (née the KLF) which samples the hell out of the Gary Glitter tune and was itself a number-one hit in the UK.
posted by neckro23 at 12:26 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
The "parody version" is Doctorin' the Tardis by the Timelords yt (née the KLF) which samples the hell out of the Gary Glitter tune and was itself a number-one hit in the UK.
Heh; he claimed it was called "Doctor Who and the Timelords" probably for the "people will go with the words they hear being sung" reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on March 12, 2018
Heh; he claimed it was called "Doctor Who and the Timelords" probably for the "people will go with the words they hear being sung" reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on March 12, 2018
I wish to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
You'll want to go to some certain tube sites and use the tags "languid" and "rueful".
posted by The Gaffer at 12:29 PM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
You'll want to go to some certain tube sites and use the tags "languid" and "rueful".
posted by The Gaffer at 12:29 PM on March 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
It just surprised me that people wouldn't know more of these.
I knew there was a song named Blue Danube, and I know the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I didn't know Blue Danube was the name of the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And that's the case for a lot of these.
posted by bondcliff at 12:29 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
I knew there was a song named Blue Danube, and I know the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I didn't know Blue Danube was the name of the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And that's the case for a lot of these.
posted by bondcliff at 12:29 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
While I might get hate from some people for suggesting this, there was a whole group of us that recognized the rock song used in Thor: Ragnarok, but nobody the name or artist. So I'd like to toss in Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in there too.
There are probably plenty more of those classic rock songs that fall into this category now.
posted by evilangela at 12:35 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
There are probably plenty more of those classic rock songs that fall into this category now.
posted by evilangela at 12:35 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I never realized that that music from "Chariots of Fire" was called "Chariots of Fire."
It is not.
The title of the piece from the title sequence of Chariots of Fire is...
Titles!
(linked again for everyone who didn't get sick if that song thirty-seven years ago)
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 12:42 PM on March 12, 2018
It is not.
The title of the piece from the title sequence of Chariots of Fire is...
Titles!
(linked again for everyone who didn't get sick if that song thirty-seven years ago)
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 12:42 PM on March 12, 2018
"Amen Brother" by The Winstons is on there, which seems a wee bit weird in that I'd have thought most people would only have heard a lamentably uncredited looped sample of the drum solo from 1:25-1:32, and I'd only expect dance music nerds to recognize an Amen break as opposed to any other drum loop.
(Not that it isn't a great break! And ubiquitous. NB link goes to whosampled.com, which is like tvtropes but for audio)
posted by doop at 12:44 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
(Not that it isn't a great break! And ubiquitous. NB link goes to whosampled.com, which is like tvtropes but for audio)
posted by doop at 12:44 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
cortex: " music that appears in a non-didactic context"
Non-DIEGETIC.
You learn something every day I guess.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:22 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Non-DIEGETIC.
You learn something every day I guess.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:22 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
I see what you did there
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:28 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:28 PM on March 12, 2018
Nah, I meant non-didactic: music that appears in a context other than that of specifically teaching the listener about that music. Whether that music is appearing in a diegetic or exegetic context is another question entirely, though maybe an interesting one to dig in on as far as e.g. how often diegetic music does (contrary to my general point) end up getting explicitly referenced by the characters in a scene in a way that could clue the viewer in. (See, for example, the Bohemian Rhapsody bit in Wayne's World. Diegetic and didactic, and taught young me what that song was at the same time I learned that it existed)
posted by cortex at 1:30 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by cortex at 1:30 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
A #1 song I don't see on the list(s), which I would guess everyone recognizes but can’t name, has the title Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye. (When it became popular, they had to invent a band to go on tour with it. If you can name that band, you know your one-hit wonders.)
posted by LeLiLo at 1:43 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by LeLiLo at 1:43 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
While I might get hate from some people for suggesting this, there was a whole group of us that recognized the rock song used in Thor: Ragnarok, but nobody the name or artist. So I'd like to toss in Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in there too.
There's a lot of Zeppelin songs that have names that have nothing directly to do with the lyrics. How many people know the actual name of "The Crunge", "D’yer Maker" or "Over the Hills and Far Away"?
posted by octothorpe at 2:14 PM on March 12, 2018
There's a lot of Zeppelin songs that have names that have nothing directly to do with the lyrics. How many people know the actual name of "The Crunge", "D’yer Maker" or "Over the Hills and Far Away"?
posted by octothorpe at 2:14 PM on March 12, 2018
If you don't know Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll part 2," you should listen to the A side once.
posted by Miss Cellania at 2:19 PM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Miss Cellania at 2:19 PM on March 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
The disco track September by Earth Wind and Fire should be on this list too. Unlike half these tracks, it's not an instrumental and they say the title regularly in the song, but you still have no idea what it's called unless you've been told the name.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:49 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:49 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
See, I interpreted that Ask completely differently, as: What are the songs that everyone seems to know, and no one seems to know how, why, or what these songs even are? I was going to submit "Kernkraft 400", by Zombie Nation, a song that, upon what I assumed was my first time hearing it, made me say, "Oh I know this song."
posted by chainsofreedom at 2:50 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by chainsofreedom at 2:50 PM on March 12, 2018
Surprised that "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz didn't make it to either the first MeFi post or the playlist.
My friends who are aware that this song exists call it "Sunshine in a Bag", which is as good a name as any for it, to be honest.
posted by droplet at 2:51 PM on March 12, 2018
My friends who are aware that this song exists call it "Sunshine in a Bag", which is as good a name as any for it, to be honest.
posted by droplet at 2:51 PM on March 12, 2018
-- "Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie".
-- I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:24 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
-- I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:24 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
chainsofreedom - Kernkraft 400 was lifted from a C64 soundtrack, in turn based on It Happened Then by Electronic Ensemble. I think that little hook was destined to spread far and wide the moment somebody played it.
posted by doop at 3:48 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by doop at 3:48 PM on March 12, 2018
Late to the party, but I'd like to add Perpetuum mobile.
posted by unliteral at 3:52 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by unliteral at 3:52 PM on March 12, 2018
You guys keep misspelling “For What It’s Worth”.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:49 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:49 PM on March 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
One thing that doesn't appear to be on there, slightly younger than Left Bank Two, though not as famous, is the music from the Take Hart gallery, which is called Marguerite by Bob Morgan. It was also on the Channel 4 test card for a while, and I actually videoed a whole morning of test card several days running so that I could have a crappy mono recording of it. I was absolutely besotted with it, and still am a bit. It's also an example of how a run of perfectly ordinary library music can throw out an absolute gem, more often with a completely unmemorable title. For example, no one would think twice about a piece called Comedy Close Up Number Two, but for anyone of my generation who watched Vision On it's an immediate madeleine.
Vision On particularly was a source of many of my musical obsessions (perhaps ironically, given that it was a programme designed to include deaf children). Its opening theme was called Accroche-Toi, Caroline, it's closing theme was called Java.
These are things I only know now. For decades, I was walking around with all these nameless tunes rattling around in my head, and the fact that the modern world has not only named them but made them available is almost enough to convince me to forgive it for the other nonsense it's dropped on our heads. There are hardly any of these now, of course, though sometimes I stumble across one that I didn't know I knew - a recent example would be Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin, which was on an advert a few years ago. One thing I was looking for for many years turned out to be the theme from the GameBoy Robocop game, but which I knew from a series of TV adverts.
Speaking of classics embedded in a run of otherwise unremarkable library music, does either list contain Heavy Action by the mighty Johnny Pearson? I can't tell. By contrast he also brought us the lovely and sentimental Sleepy Shores, a KPM track that became a hit single.
My reading comprehension completely shot, I also can't tell whether the list contains Battle Without Honor or Humanity, which it really ought to. What the hell, there's a live version, why not?
posted by Grangousier at 5:05 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Vision On particularly was a source of many of my musical obsessions (perhaps ironically, given that it was a programme designed to include deaf children). Its opening theme was called Accroche-Toi, Caroline, it's closing theme was called Java.
These are things I only know now. For decades, I was walking around with all these nameless tunes rattling around in my head, and the fact that the modern world has not only named them but made them available is almost enough to convince me to forgive it for the other nonsense it's dropped on our heads. There are hardly any of these now, of course, though sometimes I stumble across one that I didn't know I knew - a recent example would be Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin, which was on an advert a few years ago. One thing I was looking for for many years turned out to be the theme from the GameBoy Robocop game, but which I knew from a series of TV adverts.
Speaking of classics embedded in a run of otherwise unremarkable library music, does either list contain Heavy Action by the mighty Johnny Pearson? I can't tell. By contrast he also brought us the lovely and sentimental Sleepy Shores, a KPM track that became a hit single.
My reading comprehension completely shot, I also can't tell whether the list contains Battle Without Honor or Humanity, which it really ought to. What the hell, there's a live version, why not?
posted by Grangousier at 5:05 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
So I'd like to toss in Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in there too.
The famous internets version was that charming viking/kitten animation by Joel Veitch/rathergood. (regret it looks like they have some kinda copyright tussle)
posted by ovvl at 5:43 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
The famous internets version was that charming viking/kitten animation by Joel Veitch/rathergood. (regret it looks like they have some kinda copyright tussle)
posted by ovvl at 5:43 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
What? “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” was from 1969, and wasn’t some cheesy 80s hit? I find this really confusing.
posted by snofoam at 5:51 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by snofoam at 5:51 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Vision On particularly was a source of many of my musical obsessions (perhaps ironically, given that it was a programme designed to include deaf children).
Vision On was such pure genius, amazing music and sound effects.
The music for Humphrey the Tortoise by Pierre Arvay seemed timeless.
posted by ovvl at 5:57 PM on March 12, 2018
Vision On was such pure genius, amazing music and sound effects.
The music for Humphrey the Tortoise by Pierre Arvay seemed timeless.
posted by ovvl at 5:57 PM on March 12, 2018
well, I'm going to immediately call foul on that Lifehacker list, as the lead-off track from my most recent radio show was its #1 selection -- Percy Faith's egregiously voluptuous Theme From A Summer Place.
When I was in elementary school, things only recently transitioned away from prayer in the morning to "meditations" and at least every other morning the music played over the intercom while we all put our heads down on the head and meditated was Percy Faith's "Theme From a Summer Place." Can't remember any of the other tunes, but I loved that one and still have it on my phone.
Percy Faith was behind IMHO the greatest Christmas album ever.
I'd vote for "On Green Dolphin Street" being on the can't name list.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:28 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
When I was in elementary school, things only recently transitioned away from prayer in the morning to "meditations" and at least every other morning the music played over the intercom while we all put our heads down on the head and meditated was Percy Faith's "Theme From a Summer Place." Can't remember any of the other tunes, but I loved that one and still have it on my phone.
Percy Faith was behind IMHO the greatest Christmas album ever.
I'd vote for "On Green Dolphin Street" being on the can't name list.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:28 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think I found the motherlode, a YouTube playlist of Seeburg Background Music aka "when any show from the 80s or 90s wanted to sound like the 50s" music.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:36 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:36 PM on March 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
Btw - "Theme From a Summer Place" was written by Max Steiner. You might know him from his music for another movie.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:09 PM on March 12, 2018
posted by lagomorphius at 9:09 PM on March 12, 2018
-- "Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie".
-- I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
-- Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
Huh. And here's me thinking we were talking about "Paint it Black".
posted by quinndexter at 9:39 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
-- I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
-- Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
Huh. And here's me thinking we were talking about "Paint it Black".
posted by quinndexter at 9:39 PM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'd vote for "On Green Dolphin Street" being on the can't name list.
I had been wondering, since high school, what's the deal with that song? Turns out it was taken from a movie, made from a novel, of the same name. The plot concerned some kind of doomed love postal mixup.
posted by thelonius at 6:58 AM on March 13, 2018
I had been wondering, since high school, what's the deal with that song? Turns out it was taken from a movie, made from a novel, of the same name. The plot concerned some kind of doomed love postal mixup.
posted by thelonius at 6:58 AM on March 13, 2018
I was surprised upon hearing Average White Band's Pick Up The Pieces; I'm fairly sure I've heard that exact same horn riff in a James Brown song.
posted by acb at 10:48 AM on March 13, 2018
posted by acb at 10:48 AM on March 13, 2018
Also, isn't Keith Mansfield's Funky Fanfare essentially an instrumental of The Kinks' Lola? Or was Lola based on/ripped off from it?
posted by acb at 11:08 AM on March 13, 2018
posted by acb at 11:08 AM on March 13, 2018
"Fortunate Son" to most people is "that song that plays in every 60s/Vietnam War movie".
I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
-- Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
Huh. And here's me thinking we were talking about "Paint it Black".
Nah man, that HAS to be For What It Is Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
(Which I never knew the name of until just now, I had to Google the lyrics.)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:00 PM on March 13, 2018
I think you mean Gimme Shelter :) Or All Along the Watch Tower :)
-- Respectfully submitting "We Gotta Get out of This Place."
Huh. And here's me thinking we were talking about "Paint it Black".
Nah man, that HAS to be For What It Is Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
(Which I never knew the name of until just now, I had to Google the lyrics.)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:00 PM on March 13, 2018
(Also now I see Huffy Puffy beat me to it.)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:26 PM on March 13, 2018
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:26 PM on March 13, 2018
I knew there was a song named Blue Danube, and I know the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I didn't know Blue Danube was the name of the song from the docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Something like this problem led a much younger me to believe that Dancing in the Dark was Like a Virgin.
I knew there was a song called Like a Virgin. I knew it would be embarrassing not to be able to identify the song called Like a Virgin. I knew there was this thing they played at the skating rink where I couldn't really make out the words but every line in the verse would scan perfectly with the words "just like a virgin." So I decided that song was what Like a Virgin was.
It later transpired that it was not.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:34 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Something like this problem led a much younger me to believe that Dancing in the Dark was Like a Virgin.
I knew there was a song called Like a Virgin. I knew it would be embarrassing not to be able to identify the song called Like a Virgin. I knew there was this thing they played at the skating rink where I couldn't really make out the words but every line in the verse would scan perfectly with the words "just like a virgin." So I decided that song was what Like a Virgin was.
It later transpired that it was not.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:34 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
I barely had any kind of formal music education, so here, in order of prominence, are the sources of my musical knowledge:
1) The preset songs on the shitty Casio keyboard I had as a child
2) Looney Tunes
3) The internet, once it got around to existing and I developed an interest in music.
4) The Little Einsteins videos I was forced to watch by my children.
5) This post.
I can already tell my children will have a different lifestyle than me. They'd identify more than one of the songs featured here as "Little Einsteins song" in much the same way I would have identified something as "Looney Tunes song" at their age.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:49 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
1) The preset songs on the shitty Casio keyboard I had as a child
2) Looney Tunes
3) The internet, once it got around to existing and I developed an interest in music.
4) The Little Einsteins videos I was forced to watch by my children.
5) This post.
I can already tell my children will have a different lifestyle than me. They'd identify more than one of the songs featured here as "Little Einsteins song" in much the same way I would have identified something as "Looney Tunes song" at their age.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:49 PM on March 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you don't know Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll part 2," you should listen to the A side once.
Oh my God. Gary Glitter is Bill Hader's dad.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:58 AM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh my God. Gary Glitter is Bill Hader's dad.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:58 AM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by jaduncan at 9:21 AM on March 12, 2018 [1 favorite]