# Famous spoken guest voices in iconic songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 9, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585 "2024-10-09T05:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/21 "2024-10-09T08:38:19Z")
_Parklife_, by Blur, with Phil Daniels. _Tubular Bells_, by Mike Oldfield, with Viv Stanshall. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/22 "2024-10-09T08:45:20Z")
_When the Walls Came Tumbling Down_, by Def Leppard, with Dave Cousins of Strawbs ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/23 "2024-10-09T09:28:10Z")
‘Two Tribes’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood had the iconic Patrick Allen recreating his narration from Protect and Survive. The video to ‘Always on my mind’ by Pet Shop Boys had Joss Ackland doing a voicover at the end. Not sure if that was included on single version. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/24 "2024-10-09T10:09:34Z")
What we got here is failure to communicate. The monolog from Strother Martin who played the warden in Cool Hand Luke starts out the Guns an Roses song Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/25 "2024-10-09T10:47:26Z")
The Clash’s “Ghetto Defendant” contains spoken word passages by Allen Ginsberg: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/39RSGRVRvHE/maxresdefault.jpg "Ghetto Defendant (Remastered)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39RSGRVRvHE) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/26 "2024-10-09T10:54:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The outro to “Nights in White Satin” certainly warrants a mention. > [@Spoons](#): > > Wasn’t that Justin Hayward? It was Mike Pinder (Moody Blues keyboardist). It was written by drummer Graeme Edge, who recited it himself sometimes when they did it live after Pinder left the band. > [@SunUp](#): > > Don Pardo also did a voiceover for the bridge on “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “I Lost on Jeopardy.” Yes, that’s a great example. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/27 "2024-10-09T12:04:54Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Iconic? Certainly one of the most ambitious prog rock albums: Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, with David Hemings narrating For the 25-yeara-later follow-up, **Return to the Center of the Earth** , they got Patrick Stewart to do the narration. Very nice. The music’s great, too. But the words Stewart speaks are dreadful. For the original **Journey to the Center of the Earth** all of the spoken words are taken verbatim from the English-language translation of Verne’s novel (as published by Penguin). The follow-up album is original material that is frequently ungrammatical, ill-conceived, and just plain bad. It doesn’t help that Picard – I mean Stewart – mispronounces “quarternary” as “duoternary.” Scary thought: We’re already past due for the _50-years after_ second follow-up ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/28 "2024-10-09T12:19:43Z")
Clap For The Wolfman, by the Guess Who, had Wolfman Jack. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/29 "2024-10-09T12:31:47Z")
In the iconic Beck hit “Loser,” I used to think it was George HW Bush intoning “I’m a driver, I’m a winner…things are gonna change, I can feel it,” but turns out it’s some obscure actor in some low-budget movie. ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/30 "2024-10-09T12:56:27Z")
David Letterman is the one yelling “hit Somebody” in Warren Zevon’s “Hit Somebody (the Hockey Song)” Pink Floyd’s “Keep Talking” has some spoken word from Stephen Hawking, though I don’t think he recorded it for the song-I think they just sampled his voice from something else he had done. Eddie Trunk can be heard doing a radio spot for Overkill on their song “Old School” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/31 "2024-10-09T13:08:14Z")
Speaking of Pink Floyd, this thread got me wondering who says “There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.” On the _Dark Side of the Moon_ song _Eclipse_. Turns out [according to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(Pink_Floyd_song)#External_links) it’s The doorman of Abbey Road Studios, Gerry O’Driscoll. So, not really qualifying as a _ **famous** _ guest voice, per se, but famous-_adjacent_…? In any case, an interesting enough piece of music trivia to qualify for a posting here (I hope 😊). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/32 "2024-10-09T13:27:53Z")
Not “famous,” but still someone with a long career. Game show announcer and Los Angeles DJ Charlie O’Donnell did the news voiceover on Simon and Garfunkel’s “7 O’clock Report/Silent Night.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/33 "2024-10-09T14:01:48Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Speaking of Pink Floyd, this thread got me wondering who says “There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.” On the _Dark Side of the Moon_ song _Eclipse_. > > Turns out [according to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(Pink_Floyd_song)#External_links) it’s The doorman of Abbey Road Studios, Gerry O’Driscoll. So, not really qualifying as a _ **famous** _ guest voice, per se, but famous-_adjacent_…? In any case, an interesting enough piece of music trivia to qualify for a posting here (I hope 😊). O’Driscoll also speaks on “Great Gig in the Sky” (“I’m not frightened of dying, any time will do” etc) and a couple of other PF songs. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/34 "2024-10-09T14:31:50Z")
Electric Light Orchestra’s **Eldorado** has Peter Forbes-Robertson ( **Thunderball**?) doing a voiceover for the Overture. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/35 "2024-10-09T14:39:18Z")
I was going to post this, since it’s one of my favorite albums, but since you got it first, I’ll post Vincent Price narrating the introduction to _ **Tales of Mystery and Imagination** _: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8BKQ5MTFQY&list=OLAK5uy\_lNCAUSEhegqjQAMMocw1QFu9G-bE4zeTM/](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8BKQ5MTFQY&list=OLAK5uy_lNCAUSEhegqjQAMMocw1QFu9G-bE4zeTM/) (Also another great album) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/36 "2024-10-09T14:43:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Clap For The Wolfman, by the Guess Who, had Wolfman Jack. The Stampeders’ cover of Hit The Road Jack also had Wolfman Jack. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RT59AyYmQ2M/maxresdefault.jpg "Stampeders - Hit the Road Jack") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT59AyYmQ2M) ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/37 "2024-10-09T14:50:07Z")
Madness has a great song called “Michael Caine.” [Yes, he speaks.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8El9LYiSV4) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/38 "2024-10-09T14:54:33Z")
Certainly not famous, but very, very iconic. I give you _ **Dr. Poppycock:** _ [https://www.lileks.com/bleatophany/trek1.mp3/](https://www.lileks.com/bleatophany/trek1.mp3/) ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/39 "2024-10-09T15:07:15Z")
A band called “The Times” has a song called “I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape.” One of McGoohan’s claims to fame was starring in a 60s TV show called “The Prisoner.” [The song features some great dialog from the series.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbPalNmHKlE) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/40 "2024-10-09T15:07:50Z")
I was going to mention that one. I’ll add another Simon & Garfunkel song, “Fakin’ It” featuring a single spoken sentence by Beverley Martyn during an odd interlude. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585.md?page=3)