While researching a college paper on electronic music, my wife came across a claim that you can hear someone say “Can you dig it, Varèse?” on Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma (here are a couple of cites). I was (and remain) a huge Pink Floyd fan, but was never able to hear anyone say this on the album.
I can’t find any original source for this claim, so who knows where it started. Is there anybody out there who has actually heard “Can you dig it, Varèse?” on the album? What song did you hear it on?
Here’s a link to Ummagumma. And another to one of Varèse’s compositions, if you’ve never heard one.
The music of Pink Floyd is loaded with little fiddly bits & weirdness. On one song from the Zabriskie Point soundtrack (1970), you can just hear, “A Florida holiday and a color TV!”. Imagine that line being used in the 1980s as a suicide note… because it was.
In one outtake from the Zabriskie Point soundtrack (one of many songs called Love Scene) you can hear someone whisper, “penetration”. I nearly fell off the couch. Funniest Floyd song ever.
Oh sure, the phrase is clearly audible about halfway through Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict…but you have to play it backwards at half speed.
Just kidding–I got nothin’.
Ha! It’s certainly possible. If you play Empty Spaces backwards, you can hear this exchange:
Roger: Hello looker… Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont…
Voice: Roger! Carolyne’s on the phone!
Roger: Okay
I don’t have a copy of this album to check (I’d gladly listen to it), but I wanted to mention that your first cite mentions Steve Reich’s Drumming & I recently picked up a new recording of this work by the Colin Currie Group and it’s fantastic; prolly the best performance/rendition/recording of this work that I’ve ever heard. Here’s a sample.