# Half forgotten old songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 13, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840 "2024-06-13T17:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**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:** [June 23, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/181 "2024-06-23T21:20:27Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > There’s only a handful of Hendrix tunes that get occasional play, and we all know what they are: “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” “Foxy Lady,” “All Along the Watchtower” and perhaps “The Wind Cries Mary” and “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).” Yeah, those are largely the ones you hear, along with “Fire” and “Castles Made of Sand”. I’ve never heard “Dolly Dagger” on the radio, but I did hear “Machine Gun” on KXT recently, and it made my day. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/182 "2024-06-23T23:00:39Z")
I hear all these and Crosstown Traffic with frequency on Sirius XM. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/183 "2024-06-24T01:46:41Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Hey Joe I always thought that groovy intro was classic Hendrix. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I heard it on [Billy Robert’s original version](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PziiNzFWZog). ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/184 "2024-06-24T14:06:41Z")
I love Firefall! _Cinderella_ and _Strange Way_ are two of my all-time favorites. Another song you don’t hear much anymore is _Thunder Island_ by Jay Ferguson. Another of my all-time favorites. It’s a perfect summer song. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/185 "2024-06-24T14:17:43Z")
[quote=“Lucas\_Jackson, post:183, topic:1002840”] \*_I always thought that groovy intro was classic Hendrix. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I heard it on Billy Robert’s original version._ Now **that** is interesting. Thanks for posting that link, Lucas. I had never heard that version before. Upon further digging you’ll find that the authorship of “Hey Joe” is a really tangled web. Roberts claimed it, as did Chet “Dino Valente” Powers and at least one other person. The Hendrix version is obviously inspired by the Roberts recording, with the opening riff and the walkup on the bass later on. I have three versions of it in my record collection: the 1965 single by the Leaves that credits “Dino Valente”; the Hendrix version that credits Billy Roberts; and one by the Byrds (on their LP “Fifth Dimension”) that credits Chet Powers, who was also known professionally as Dino Valente (among several other pseudonyms). Then there was a girlfriend of Roberts (Niela Miller) who also claimed credit. And then there are people who claim that Roberts himself lifted the song from several traditional compositions. I love music history. It can be fascinating, ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/186 "2024-06-24T16:56:14Z")
I just checked out the Wiki page on Hey Joe - pretty fascinating stuff. It states that it was the last song played at Woodstock - always thought it was [Instrumental Solo.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB4COAhDY1E) And Cher covered!? [Here’s a link to another article](https://www.goldradiouk.com/features/song-facts/hey-joe-jimi-hendrix-facts-meaning-lyrics/#:~:text=The%20song%20also%20share%20a,More%20on%20that%20later.) that has info and links to some other covers. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/187 "2024-06-24T18:28:18Z")
Earlier today, I thought of a song I hadn’t heard or thought of for a long time: REO Speedwagon’s “Golden Country”, from their second album. A great classic. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/188 "2024-06-25T19:16:24Z")
The first song that came to my mind is the 1970 song [The Witch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2LHQmp3kd8) (the second version) by The Rattles. When’s the last time you heard that on the radio? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/189 "2024-06-25T20:56:15Z")
Yeah, thanks Lucas, that’s quite some rabbit hole. Change of direction - it’s a very long time since I last heard this gem [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N5LveBIjg3o/hqdefault.jpg "Mink DeVille - Spanish Stroll") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5LveBIjg3o) j ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/190 "2024-06-25T23:33:01Z")
Never, but it didn’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/191 "2024-06-26T01:58:55Z")
Late Byrds found them going off in odd directions, but included two of my favorite songs never ever played on the radio. Find a lyrics page when you listen. Behind the super bouncy melodies the lyrics descend into some of the most acid-tinged barbs at American culture to come out of the Nixon era. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g8L9VKnedkA/hqdefault.jpg "Byrds America's Great National Pastime") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8L9VKnedkA) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZDM6ceGZSA8/maxresdefault.jpg "The Byrds - I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician (Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDM6ceGZSA8) ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/192 "2024-06-26T12:03:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > _Late Byrds found them going off in odd directions, but included two of my favorite songs never ever played on the radio._ As one who followed the Byrds long after their popularity almost totally evaporated, I have that album, “Farther Along,” and it isn’t very good. However, I bought the album because I actually did hear “America’s Great National Pastime” on a very obscure small town radio station, one time, and thought the lyrics were a hoot. It’s a pretty good song and the album’s highlight. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/193 "2024-06-26T13:35:59Z")
I’ve never heard any version of this song. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/194 "2024-06-26T13:39:09Z")
Yep, that’s a new one to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/195 "2024-06-26T16:28:06Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I haven’t heard this recently: (referring to ABBA, and “Waterloo”) Unless you can find a station that specializes in '70s music, or an oldies station that hasn’t already moved past the '70s (as I noted earlier), that doesn’t surprise me at all. ABBA was pop, not rock, and has no place in the typical “classic rock” station format. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/196 "2024-06-26T18:26:43Z")
I agree about the later albums. Fortunately, the two songs I linked to were included on _Best of the Byrds, vol. 2_, which means they stayed in my rotation for all these decades. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/197 "2024-06-26T19:19:32Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > As one who followed the Byrds long after their popularity almost totally evaporated, I have that album, “Farther Along,” and it isn’t very good. I’m a big Byrds fan, IMHO they were the best American rock band ever, and their first six albums from “Mr. Tambourine Man” up to “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo” were a run of sterling albums no band ever had. But their later career with only McGuinn as remaining founding member still had a lot of gems. song and album wise. Of course that outfit of the band had the secret force of Clarence White, and the albums “Ballad Of Easy Rider” and “Untitled” are among my favorites. They also were a very good live band at that stage, just listen to the live part of “Untitled” (or better, to the remastered and extended “Untitled/Unissued”), “Live At The Fillmore” or “Live At Royal Albert Hall”. I agree that “Byrdmaniax” and “Farther Along” were the weakest of that batch, but they still had a few strong cuts each. The 1973 reunion (of the founding formation) album was a total dud, though. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/198 "2024-06-27T14:42:23Z")
With regard to the several comments on how classic rock stations have limited playlists, which is true: but periodically, SiriusXM “refreshes” their playlists, and the songs you’ve heard over and over are replaced by a new set (to be played over and over). I was listening to their 60’s station and heard Paul Revere and the Raiders “Just Like Me”, for literally the first time in nearly 60 years. (I was a big PRatR fan as a kid). And also “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha”. I can’t say I missed that one in its absence. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/199 "2024-06-27T18:00:04Z")
This could probably go in the “Silly songs that are (probably) not joke songs” thread, but I also had pretty much forgotten it. Hadn’t thought of L7 in awhile. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MKwnbu_2tew/maxresdefault.jpg "Just Like Me (Remastered)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKwnbu_2tew) Apropos of nothing, I think it may be the first dis song I heard where I knew who the target of the dis was. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840/200 "2024-06-27T18:11:41Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > And also “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha”. I hear that song daily. It (or at least a small snippet) is my wake-up alarm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-forgotten-old-songs/1002840.md?page=11)