Can anyone identify this song?

Cafe Society
1

OK, this is a long shot, as I don’t remember any of the words, but it’s worth a try . . .

I was listening to an “American Pie” Pandora station two days ago, when a catchy song came on. It was very upbeat, sounded almost 1950s or early 1960s-ish, and its most memorable feature were the backing vocals - it was a repeating sequence of “Ooos.” The actual lyrics weren’t exactly monotone, but the pitches were less varied than the backing. Unfortunately, as I set Pandora to play in the mornings in order to wake myself up, and in the morning I am pretty much an incoherent zombie, I didn’t check to find the title. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to find the song - it sounded kind of like Motown, but I’ve been going through all the top Motown hits and it’s not there (and to my ears, this sounded like a hit song - I have a feeling it’s a pretty famous song that I’ve heard somewhere before). The Pandora station itself has a pretty big time range, from the early 60s to the late 70s/80s, so it might be from much later.

I’m usually pretty good with remembering lyrics, but none of the words stuck in my head - all I remember is that is was something about love (I know, REALLY helpful, only every pop song ever written . . .). It was a happy, very energetic song, and it’s been driving. me. insane.

So, if anyone knows a catchy tune, possibly from the 50s-60s, with a continuous backing “Ooo” chorus off the top of their heads, I would be eternally grateful.

2

Shall we let the long shots commence…

I’ll start off with Billy Joel’s The Longest Time.

It’s not actually from the 50’s-60’s but it’s a doo wop song so it sounds like it (and it is from the 80’s) and it’s got the oohs and aahs in the background.

3

Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed?

4

Hmm, neither of those - though The Longest Time is similar. Looking back at my OP, I see that this is even more of a long shot than I originally thought - there are a lot of peppy songs about love with ooo backing vocals out there . . .

5

If you log into Pandora, does it give you a playlist of songs you’ve listened too? It’s been years since I’ve actually logged into my account that I don’t remember if it does that.

6

It gives you a list of songs thumbed up and thumbed down, but as far as I know, you can’t access unmarked ones. There might be a list of them somewhere, though, so I’ll keep looking - that’s probably my best shot.

7

I was going to suggest You Can’t Hurry Love by Phil Collins, but I doubt that’s it. Not enough oohs.

8

Could be the Supremes though. Or Love Child as long as I’m thinking about the Supremes. But, even half asleep, the Supremes are a pretty recognizable sound.

9

Ooh Ooh Song?

10

It’s not You Can’t Hurry Love, but I think it’s either a Supremes song or of the same style as a Supremes song - the general tone sounds really similar. I’ll go check out more of their
work . . .

Would have been perfect, but no. :smiley:

11

This one falls into the peppy category, but doesn’t have “ooh”'s. Still, it should be better known than it is…it was a moderate hit but isn’t usually played on oldies stations:

Needle in a Haystack – The Velvelettes
This one by The Supremes starts with a prominent “oooh,” so it could be a contender:

Baby Love

12

It’s not “The Shoop Shoop Song,” is it?

Betty Everett version:

Check out the short interview at the end. According to Wikipedia, she thought the song was puerile but agreed to record it.

13

So female vocals? Do you remember that much?

14

Adele - Rumor Has It

You’re welcome! :wink:

15

This is almost certainly not it (you’d have to be really really asleep). But I always recall the backing vocals of this song more than the lead:

Not in Love, by 10cc

16

Walk Like a Man, by the Four Seasons?

If you were half asleep it would be easy to miss the slightly lower voices singing “Walk”

17

I want to say yes, but I’m afraid that if I do, it’ll turn out to be late period Leonard Cohen or something . . .

I’m a heavy sleeper, but not that heavy. :smiley:
Given that my recollections are so vague that they’re useless, my current plan is to listen to the “American Pie” station as much as is humanly possible until the song comes up again - as long as my tastes don’t change, it’s bound to happen eventually. If I come across it, I’ll be sure to post it here to clear this up once and for all. Ooo backing vocal song - you can’t hide forever!

ETA: I didn’t see the post above mine before writing this - sadly, it’s not Walk Like a Man, though it was a good guess.

18

jsgoddess: Hold onto your hat–every “vocal” part in that song that doesn’t have words, is a synthesizer! 10cc found a “patch” that mimic-ed human vocals and when you play 11th and 13th chords over top the rest of the mix, it sounds like 200 people “Ahhhh-ing” behind you. Incredible sound!

19

I’m not shocked. It’s a very unusual sound. I had it in my head all last night!

20

I was debating whether to post this, as no doubt everyone (including me) has completely forgotten about it. However, I did say I’d report back if I found anything, so here I am. Late last night I was listening to the Paul Simon station when, lo and behold, the song came on! It’s Dion’s “Runaround Sue.”
So . . . it isn’t Motown, the ooos aren’t continuous, and the lyrics aren’t particularly happy.

Um.

But hey, it’s about love! So I got that part right. :wink:

Anyway, now I can officially die happy. Or at least have this song stuck in my head for the next two weeks.