Impossible song ID

Cafe Society
21

My google-fu is strong!

I was able to eliminate a lot of potential contenders just by knowing that I needed a Brit accent.

Then I reasoned that you were savvy enough to know the difference between reggae and ska; that helped eliminate a lot more.

Then I reasoned that you remembered the chorus correctly, with it’s call & response style. I also kind of figured that the “and night time’s a party” was more of a denouement than a part of the regular chorus (I was right!).

Then I searched thru every listing of a song called “Everyday’s A Holiday”, thus eliminating “Every Day Is A Holiday”, which is a big band/swing/jazz favorite made popular initially by Mel Torme, as well as a bunch of reggae songs, a British TV movie theme song, and the horrible remake by Esthero.

Then, disregarding your post #18 above entirely, I started searching for phrases, and on like page 12 of one of my google searches, I found a story on cnet.com about using youtube to find obscure songs. In the comments was a post from a guy who was describing the same problem you had: he remembered this song (seriously, the same exact song) but couldn’t remember who did it. Only he said he heard it on a tape his brother’s friend made from KROQ back in the early '80s, which was then shipped back to Colorado where he lived. He never found their album, but remembered the song. Fast forward 25 years, and he was watching some random video on youtube, saw that some other poster had made a comment about seeing THAT band perform with Tupelo Chain Sex, and -viola!- he remembered that was the name of the band that did “Everyday’s A Holiday”. He was kind enough to provide a link to their myspace page. :smiley:

I await my next challenge from the Dope!

22

Amazing.

I’m impressed!

23

Thanks!

It was actually a bit of work, that one.

OTOH, it was nothing compared to what I went thru to find out more about a band who’s CD I’ve actually owned since the late '80s.

Just this past spring, I spent almost 4 days tracking down a band from the San Francisco area called Trees Of Mystery. I have their CD, Mooks on Parade, which is an amazingly polished, confident, genre-bending little gem of an album, with at least 3 bona fide “excellent” songs on it.

I did a lot of internet searching, which was hard since Trees of Mystery is also a very popular place in California, near SF. Finally, I went to my old friend the telephone. I called clubs, I called radio stations, I called booking agencies, I called newspapers and magazines in SF. I finally ended up tracking down the guy who used to own the studio they recorded the album in studio now gone, he works as an instructor at a college now), and he told me enough about the band members that I was able to track 2 of them down and finally get the story on the band.

I had like 4 pages of notes I had made, with phone numbers and names and when I talked to people and who referred me to who… it was awesome!

ETA: I love doing this type of research; I often spend whole days just “finding stuff out”. If I could get a job doing it, I would.

24

Snowboarder Bo, I am in awe!

25

I broke up with my girlfriend a few months ago, so it’s been a while since I’ve heard this first thing in the morning. Thanks! :smiley:

26

+1 Dude you rock. Tupelo Chain Sex indeed; my Obscure-o-meter is pegged in the red…

27

Indeed. That was extremely well done!

28

Once again, I’m reminded why I happily pay my membership fee here. Well done, Bo.

29

You introduced me to three new (and good) bands AND found the song? We owe you a beer or something. :smiley:

30

Okay, I’ll repost a request that no one was able to answer on this board a while ago: Back around 1968, there was a short-lived novelty tune played in the Washington, DC area which consisted of a young lady singing about the charms of various men. I don’t think there was much in the way of lyrics beyond her dreamily reciting their names. However, I have no idea who sang the song, or what it was called.

Anyway, at the time I started writing down a list of some of the names mentioned, and to this day still have this list, which is: Johnny, Harvey, Charley, Herby, Arthur, Henry, Tony, Erving, Sammy, Dino, Erskine, Stanley, Kenny, Bobby, Orville, Jeffry, David and Englebert. Any help in identifying the title or artist would be appreciated.

I would also like a recipe for transmuting base metal into gold, but that is optional.

31

Are those names in the exact order they were sung?

32

First, let me say that I’m impressed that you kept a list of names for over 40 years. That’s some kind of serious focus or something you got goin’ on there!

Second, I was also going to ask if the names are in order, without gaps, or if they are just some of the names in the song, perhaps not in order, perhaps with gaps.

Third, I was going to point out how difficult it can be to track down a novelty song. Many novelty songs are first recorded by DJs or their friends/comrades/collaborators for use only on the DJs show and/or station. They never see any release or airplay outside of that one station. Note that Weird Al’s first recording was done on a cassette deck and mailed in to Dr. Demento, who later invited Al to his studio, where they recorded him with better equipment, solely for the Dr. D. show. Back then, radio shows were pressed onto LPs which were then distributed to the stations that aired the show. This gave those stations access to the song once people began calling in to hear “that funny song about the bus” that they heard in a drunken stupor late at night (when Dr. D. typically aired).

But the morning DJs who write and record songs don’t do this. They just slap the song on tape (CD now) and play it during their show, with no distribution at all.

For instance, I have a copy of a song that I call Born A Stagehand. It’s been passed along for years now (I’ve had it for at least 5 years), but I’ve never been able to figure out who did it. The recording has enough polish, and the lyrics seem to be familiar with what stagehands in Local 1 do (in a cheeky way), for me to believe that it was done in a studio, but as you can see from my link, the origin of the song is unclear. And that song was clearly done in the last 5-20 years. My own WAG is that it was something some NYC morning DJs put together, played once or twice, then forgot about. Except for some stagehand who somehow recorded or wangled a copy to play for his friends, who then copied and played for friends, etc.

Your song may be similar: something DJs recorded for use on their show or station, played a bit for fun, then forgotten.

Not saying it can’t be found, just that the degree of difficulty is raised by a) the song’s novelty status and b) the fact that it could very well have been a regional, undistributed recording.

33

I can’t be sure, but I believe they are. The names were jotted on a 3x5 card that I happen to have kept all these years. Whenever the song was played on the radio, I added a few more names, so I think they are in the order she sang them.

34

Wave her a friendly farewell

  1. Another single guy, with a strong high country voice, complaining about the state of modern country music. No real chorus, but the last bit is the key thought

You took the yodel away from Jimmie Rogers.
You took the fiddle away from a Texan named Bob Wills
[snip]
Won’t you please give us back country music
It helps us make it through the working day

Many thanks for looking
Hometownboy

35

I have three songs that I taped off the radio years ago, that weren’t back- or front-announced, so I don’t know who performed them. They’re very good, IMHO, and of the country or alt-country persuasion.

More precisely, they came from fan tapes played online from the legendary KFAT, Gilroy, California, which played an early cross-genre roots music mix from mid-1975 to January 1983. More about KFAT

I haven’t been able to find them from a lyrics search. In order to be cool with copyright, I’m only going to include the first line or two and coupe from the chorus

Help me, Straight Dope; you’re my only hope.

  1. A group, along the Poco/Flying Burrito Brothers/Pure Prairie League vein

(opening)
What put me on the road to alcohol;
What put me on the road to cocaine…
[snip to chorus]
How could they and why would they
Tear a poor boy apart
They get you where they want you
With a silver bullet in the heart

  1. Single guy, country edging-toward-bluegrass timbre, about a lady who has not treated him well. Some nice mandolin picking througout.

I only try to do some good, and the faces turned toward me begin to cry…
[snip]
I knew I would, I guessed I should
Wave her a friendly farewell

Other lyrics mention the mask she wore that revealed a whore

  1. Another single guy, with a strong high country voice, complaining about the state of modern country music. No real chorus, but the last bit is the key thought

You took the yodel away from Jimmie Rogers.
You took the fiddle away from a Texan named Bob Wills
[snip]
Won’t you please give us back country music
It helps us make it through the working day
Thanks for looking
Hometownboy

36

What is a “fan tape” exactly? And did you record them from the radio or did you download them using the internet?

37

Okay, nm… i just went to their website, and near as i can figure, they have people send in cassettes they made by taping the station, then they make those songs, etc. available on the internet; do I have that right?

In any case, I notice that they have an email link to an archivist at the bottom of the page. That guy may have access to old playlists, etc. and in any case is likely going to be familiar with the music generally. He’s going to be your best bet at finding out who did these.

38

Yep, that’s what they did. I listened to the tapes online. You’re right; I should ask those at the source.

In the meantime, dopers can listen at the links below:

Silver Bullet

I Knew I Should

Give us back our country.mp3

39

Bugger. That’s my website you referenced above! I go searching (again) for a clue about this song and this is as close as I get! I have half a mind to go to some stagehand bar near the theatre district in NYC and play that song. If I don’t get beat up I might learn where it came from.

Steve

40

I don’t think that would help you. I have friends in Local 1, and none of them know or remember where it came from. It’s been floating around for at least 4 years now, as I know it was 2006 when I first heard it.

The guy who played it for me is actually out of Local 1 but he got it from some nephew or his daughter or something.