Aaaah, aah, aah ah; Eeeee, ee, ee, ee <-- WTF *is* this, on radio??

Cafe Society
1

A person in our office has a radio perpetually tuned to one of those “top 40 / pop” type stations in the NY area, and something like 12 times per day this thing comes on. Dunno if it’s a “song” (in the loose sense that the term is used in top40land) or one of those recurrent DJ schticks (like when they’d play a bit of Denis Leary’s “Asshole” while nominating “Today’s Asshole” from recent newsclips on the classic rock station, that kind of thing), but man is that thing ever getting underneath my skin!

It sounds like it might be intended as a mockery of some kind of religious (perhaps Islamic;) cantors doing the call-to-worship thing. No words, as far as I can tell, just aaaah and eeeee.

Think in A minor, starting off at the octave and descending:

A, G, A, G, F, E… {Aaah, aa-aa-ah, aah, aaaaah…} {pause}

A, G, A, B, G, F, (D) E… {Eeeee, ee-ee-eeee, eeeee, ee, e, eeeeee} {pause}

{repeat x 20 or so}

2

I thought you might be thinking of the Outkast song “Hey Ya.”

The lyrics of the part your “eeeee e-e-e eeeee” reminds me of is “heeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeey yah! Heey-eey Ya!”

Does anybody else think this is what the OP is thinking about? To listen to it, you can go to VH1.com and check out the examples of the top 12 (or is it 20?) video count down. Preview the song and see if it’s what you are thinking of.

I thought the song was ridiculous at first, but darn it if it isn’t catchy. haha

3

Beats hell out of me. The VH1 videos are in god-knows-what-format, when I go to them nothing happens in the window that’s supposed to be displaying. And at some point both barnes & noble and amazon switched sample-audio formats from sensible downloads of tolerable formats like Windows Media Player and Real (not my preference but I can play them) to something that utilizes a pc-executable named “hurl.exe”.

So I have yet to hear so much as a smidgen of this thing called “Hey Ya” to find out if it’s the abomination on the radio.

If anyone knows where I can snag a clip in QuickTime, MPEG, MP3, WAV, Real, WMV, AVI, or even MIDI, post a link.

4

Hey Ya MIDI on this page.

5

Doesn’t sound like Hey Ya! – chord progression is G, C, C, D, E, all major keys although sung in kind of a G major but with the melody starting on the 6th so it sounds kind of modal.

6

Are there any actual words to it you can make out, or is it just the “aaaaaaa/eeeee”?

I’m racking my brain here, but I’m not coming up with much. What instruments are being played, if any?

Could it be a segment of The Darkness’ “I Believe In a Thing Called Love?” There are a couple places in the song that could be what you’re describing. Please excuse me if I’m way off, it’s been a long time since music appreciation :slight_smile:

7

Is it a full song or just a clip?

If the latter, I vote “Friday the Thirteenth” noises.

8

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title.

9

OK…not Hey Ya. Not even remotely similar to Hey Ya. Hey Ya is in a MAJOR key and by no conceivable stretch of the imagination sounds like an Islamic cantor.

More info on the AAAAA EEEEE song: there’s more to it if you’re closer to the radio than I usually am – a fast drumscape trummeling along and a reggae-rapper saying something incomprehensible very fast.

Hang on a bit, I’ll see if I can construct a midi myself.

10

Sounds like it might be Sean Paul.

11

You could always call the radio station after they play the sound effect and ask them where it came from.

12

I don’t listen to a lot of Top 40, but I have recently heard something that sounded very Middle Eastern. It was, if I remember correctly, an intro/outro from a song by Audioslave. Try their singles “Show Me How To Live”, “Cochise” or possibly “Like a Stone” (both of which have had recent airplay). If you can find an Audioslave fan, I’m sure they’d know exactly what you mean.

For what it’s worth: Audioslave is Soundgarden’s lead singer with the band (but not the annoying political spaz) from Rage Against the Machine. If the singing reminds you of any of the old Soundgarden singles, then I’m probably right.

13

Here. Homemade MIDI file of Aaaah, aaah, aah / Eeee, eee, ee, converted to MP3. Set it to loop and imagine the vocals alternating between Aah and Eee to get the full effect.

The receptionist denies knowing what it is.

14

OK, I think it is I-E-A-I-A-I-O by System of a Down. Is there a part that the fast rapping says, “Fighting crime with a partner, Lois Lane, Jimmy Carter” ?

If so that is it.

This is NOT top 40 though. It is hard rock/metal. Fits your description so far though.

15

I only heard the fast rapping part once, when I went up close to the receptionist’s radio when it was playing. From my desk, I only hear the “aaaah eeeee” part.

You’re right, it doesn’t sound like “I put your picture away” or Mary Blige or the other stuff that’s usually played on that station. Which is why I thought maybe it was part of a DJ’s schtick, perhaps something that gets played just before the radio personality starts pretending to be a crazed Islamic mullah who has a craving for American pop or something like that.

Whatever it is, it’s monotonous.

16

I don’t know nothin’ about nothin’, but I think summerjack is correct, and you should follow his lead.

17

I found a MIDI file of the System of a Down song “I-E-A-I-A-I-O” (not a particularly easy strin to search for, btw). Nope. That one is very mechanical/industrial and fast paced with no ear-space for the long cantor-like “Aaaah, eeeee”. Unless they really botched up the MIDI to the point it bears very little relationship to what the song actually sounds like, it’s safe to dismiss this one as a possibility.

18

This probably isn’t it, but when I read the thread title I thought you might be asking about “Witch Doctor” by David Seville:

I told the Witch Doctor I was in love with you
I told the Witch Doctor you didn’t live me too
My friend, the Witch Doctor, he told me what to do
He told me,

"Oo ee oo aa aa
"Ting tang walla walla bing bang
"Oo ee oo aa aa
“Ting tang walla walla bing bang!”

19

Just an off the wall guess here, but is it a remix of Howard Dean’s “battle cry”? The “We’re going to Washington, DC; we’re going to take back the White HOOUSE! YEEEA!” thing. Radio stations around here are playing a bunch of versions and sound bites of it.

20

Oh seriously. No, it is not Ooh Ee Ooh Aah Aah Ting Tang Wallla Walla Bing Bang. And it isn’t Howie Dean’s yee ha.

C’mon, I put up a MIDI file. Tell me you don’t think my MIDI file sounds by any remote stretch of the imagination like either of those items!?