# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/101 "2024-10-11T05:36:37Z")
Hehe, I have my 12" still. I never knew where the samples were taken from, though. I imagine a lot of them are from a drag racing sound effects record if they’re not from that movie **strong text**. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qXrLKplLAhM/hqdefault.jpg "Jesus Built My Hotrod (Redline/Whiteline Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXrLKplLAhM) Speaking of Gibby and the Surfers, Orbital sampled the beginning (and a bit more) of Gibby doing the spoken intro of “Sweat Loaf” on their track “Satan”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gFjKPLc5qD0/maxresdefault.jpg "Orbital - Satan (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFjKPLc5qD0) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/102 "2024-10-11T07:01:43Z")
The OP wasn’t looking for anything like this, but I’ll offer it as an example of how _not_ to incorporate spoken words into your song: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/truzy5iOUKM/hqdefault.jpg "Crowbar - Oh What a Feeling") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=truzy5iOUKM) The song is from the 1970s, and is a decent enough rocker. The band had some success in Canada. And while the band could sing and play well, the spoken-word part that starts at about 2:56 is not good. For starters, the speaker (likely the band’s leader) has obviously never done spoken word recording before. He is no Viv Stanshell, Richard Burton, Phil Rizzuto, Orson Welles, Jim Steinman, or Vincent Price. He’s a lead guitarist who is being asked to say something with silence behind him, and it is apparent that no matter how many times he has rehearsed this, he’s uncomfortable doing it. Secondly, the producer, while he did a great job on mixing the instrumental track with the vocal track, obviously had no idea how to produce a spoken-word recording. Everything else is fine, but you strain to hear the spoken words. Lesson here: if you want something with a spoken-word insert, get talent that knows how to do it, and get a producer who knows how to produce it. Like I said, the example above is how _not_ to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/103 "2024-10-11T07:24:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Pete Townshend’s “Give Blood” is from his 1985 concept album, _White City: A Novel_, which also had an associated long-form music video/movie produced for it. _White City_ is Townshend’s most underappreciated album and this post reminded me that I haven’t listened to it in years. I think I’ll give it a spin. Fun fact: The music for the title track, “White City Fighting”, was written by David Gilmour but he didn’t have any lyrics for it, so he gave it both to Townshend and to Roy Harper. Harper’s version of the song is called “Hope” and is a slower tempo, with Jimmy Page on guitar, and it’s hauntingly beautiful. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4iQsyf-Dhnw/hqdefault.jpg "Roy Harper - Hope") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iQsyf-Dhnw) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/104 "2024-10-11T07:56:03Z")
Thank you for that, @Smapti. It’s oddly beautiful. For those who do not recognize the video’s art, I’ll state that it is modelled upon Rizla cigarette papers. Their “medium reds,” which are pictured in the video, were my paper of choice when I rolled my own cigarettes. And just to dispel any rumours, I only ever rolled tobacco in them. Never anything else. Made for a few interesting times in our house. “Heading downtown, Spoons?” “Yeah, Mom, I want to hit A for Whatever, have a look at B 'cause I see they have a sale on, and go to the head shop for a few more packs of Rizlas.” “Okay, have fun dear.” Most parents would freak out about their kid going to a head shop. Mine simply accepted it, if I was going to smoke roll-my-owns and my preferred papers were only available there. ---
**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 11, 2024, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/105 "2024-10-11T08:57:25Z")
“Je t’aime… moi non plus” by Serge Gainsbourg famously features actress Jane Birkin speaking and making other noises. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/106 "2024-10-11T12:11:23Z")
Supertramp’s “Fool’s Overture” has a clip of Winston Churchill’s famous “We shall never surrender!” speech. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/107 "2024-10-11T14:31:40Z")
I could be wrong about this but I’ll throw it in. When Tracey Ullman did her cover version of the Madness song My Girl (gender changed to My Guy for her) quite a few eyebrows were raised when the then serving leader of the opposition (senior British politician) Neil Kinnock appeared in the video. If you watch during the video Neil is silent but at the very end of the clip Tracey is answering a telephone. Is that Kinnock’s voice buried in the mix? I honestly don’t know. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7\_qoWDzmY&pp=ygUNdHJhY2V5IHVsbG1hbg%3D%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7_qoWDzmY&pp=ygUNdHJhY2V5IHVsbG1hbg%3D%3D) TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/108 "2024-10-11T15:05:11Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Supertramp’s “Fool’s Overture” has a clip of Winston Churchill’s famous “We shall never surrender!” speech. The Damned’s “In Dulce Decorum” has his “Finest Hour” speech at the beginning. But then it has Lord Haw Haw saying “Germany Calling” a few seconds after that, making me wonder if the guy who put those clips in the song knew the 2nd clip WASN’T Churchill at all. [Lord Haw Haw, aka William Joyce, of course was a British expatriate living in Germany who broadcast propaganda in English during the war.] ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/109 "2024-10-11T15:43:45Z")
A sampled sermon by Reverend Paul Horton provides the “lyrics” in David Byrne & Brian Eno’s [Help Me Somebody](https://youtu.be/KcGa22wuZ4I?feature=shared) ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/110 "2024-10-11T16:41:01Z")
Iron Maiden wanted to use Vincent Price for the spoken word intro to The Number of the Beast but Price wanted £25,000 which the band weren’t prepared to pay. So they used minor actor and director Barry Clayton. Clayton might be known to British people of a certain age as the narrator of kids show Count Duckula but… To be honest doing the intro to the Iron Maiden song was probably peak fame for him… https://www.youtube.com/embed/WxnN05vOuSM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=OLAK5uy_kJWCqs9IWd6VTIMEipf_f3rI0q289WDKY TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/111 "2024-10-11T17:00:24Z")
Pop Will Eat Itself song Can You Dig It? contains a couple of vocal samples from the cult film The Warriors [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=36nWNAvtwrw&pp=ygUicG9wIHdpbGwgZWF0IGl0c2VsZiBjYW4geW91IGRpZyBpdA%3D%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=36nWNAvtwrw&pp=ygUicG9wIHdpbGwgZWF0IGl0c2VsZiBjYW4geW91IGRpZyBpdA%3D%3D) Sigue Sigue Sputnik song Love Missile F1-11 includes a clip from A Clockwork Orange in the original UK version (which I believe this is) [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y2oHEFytuc&pp=ygUdTG92ZSBtaXNzaWxlIGYxLTExIHVrIHZlcnNpb24%](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y2oHEFytuc&pp=ygUdTG92ZSBtaXNzaWxlIGYxLTExIHVrIHZlcnNpb24%25) Although the US version had the clips removed because the band never got legal clearance. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-lnVvIXXSQ&pp=ygUmbG92ZSBtaXNzaWxlIGYxLTExIHNpZ3VlIHNpZ3VlIHNwdXRuaWs%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-lnVvIXXSQ&pp=ygUmbG92ZSBtaXNzaWxlIGYxLTExIHNpZ3VlIHNpZ3VlIHNwdXRuaWs%3D) TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/112 "2024-10-11T17:15:40Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Don Pardo’s intro to Zappa’s Illinois Enema Bandit > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOSw045gvc&pp=ygUWaWxsaW5vaXMgZW5lbWEgYmFuZGl0IA%3D%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOSw045gvc&pp=ygUWaWxsaW5vaXMgZW5lbWEgYmFuZGl0IA%3D%3D) When he was on SNL Zappa had Pardo recite the “That’s right folks” line live. Which means Don Pardo was the slime oozing from the tv set. > [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > 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) “The Prisoner” by Iron Maiden had a clip from the show to start the song. We want information, information, information Who are you? The new number two Who is number one? You are number six I am not a number, I am a free man ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/113 "2024-10-11T17:29:49Z")
Iron Maiden did it pretty often. Sometimes they handled it themselves sometimes they hired actors. On some of the songs it’s hard to find who did it. An English actor named Barry Clayton did the narration on _Number of the Beast._ ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/114 "2024-10-11T18:38:05Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > At the beginning of _Daydream Believer_ by the Monkees, Davy Jones asks “What number is this, Chip?” to producer [Chip Douglas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Douglas). In response, Douglas and engineer [Hank Cicalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Cicalo) respond in unison with “ **Seven A**!” Both men are fairly famous in the industry, Douglas also was a member of the Turtles and wrote several hits. I’ve always liked that moment. DDB is one of the only two Monkees songs that have held up for me over time. _The Girl I Knew Somewhere_ is the other. Re Chip Douglas: I’ve always felt that _Daydream Believer_ coulda shoulda been a Turtles song. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/115 "2024-10-11T20:45:41Z")
Tough Guys by Reo Speedwagon from Hi Infidelity starts with a clip from the old TV show Our Gang. I think it would have been released if it wasn’t for a word that wasn’t suitable for radio. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/116 "2024-10-11T21:33:46Z")
That’s Anne Bancroft - sampled from _The Graduate_ - saying “I am not trying to seduce you” in _The Macarena_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/117 "2024-10-11T21:45:40Z")
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Phony Calls” uses a clip of Nancy Cartwright and Hank Azaria from _The Simpsons_ (as Bart prank-calling Moe). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/118 "2024-10-12T12:54:26Z")
Almost every song by Man or Astroman? Includes some sort of spoken word outtake. My favorite is Evel Knievel in “Nitrous Burnout”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IBQlldRhqMQ/hqdefault.jpg "Man Or Astroman? - Nitrous Burn Out 2012 - (Live at Castle Rock, Edinburgh, UK, 1994)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBQlldRhqMQ) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/119 "2024-10-13T14:37:55Z")
The song [E=MC²](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%3DMC%C2%B2_(song)) by Big Audio Dymamite contains lots of quotes from the 1970 British film “Performance”, mostly by long-career if not famous Anthony Shannon as Harry Flowers yet the second line of dialogue is spoken by Mick Jagger playing Turner. ---
**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 13, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-spoken-guest-voices-in-iconic-songs/1008585/120 "2024-10-13T14:54:11Z")
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