Mistaken ID & Musical Disillusionment

Cafe Society
1

My wife has often used “INXS” (and various permutations thereof) as one of her favored passwords. I’ve never understood why, because we don’t actually own any music by them, but I never really gave it much thought.

So, we’re eating at IHOP this weekend and they’re playing a string of 80s songs, and a song starts playing that perks her ears up.

“Oh, I love this song. I really used to like INXS a lot, especially this song”.

The problem was that the song was “Melt With You” by Modern English. You’d think her entire belief system had been undermined when I told her not only did she have the wrong band, but she also had the wrong continent that the band was from :stuck_out_tongue:

So then, the next day, we’re painting a room in our house and have a classic rock station on (“hits from yesterday and today blah blah blah”). A song starts playing, and my wife again goes, “I really like this song.” Now, given that I really don’t like this song, I’d never bothered to research who the artist was, but I figure she would know, so I ask.

She says Janis Joplin. :dubious: :confused: :eek: Again, even though I don’t know who actually sings the catterwauling of “What’s Going On” (turns out, it’s 4 Non Blondes), I know it can’t possibly be Janis Joplin.

A quick Google proof later, and my wife is batting 0-for-2. She couldn’t actually believe she was wrong on either count, but I know I’ll get a bit of mileage out of this… :smiley:

So anyway, ever had a deep abiding conviction that you knew who sang something, only to be not only mistaken, but egregiously mistaken?

2

First one that comes to mind would take a long time to tell correctly, but bottom line: an incredibly “over confident” buddy of mine spent 20-30 minutes telling me what an idiot I was for not realizing this song (called “Back Where I Started”) was Led Zeppelin. As we waited for the commercial-free segment on the FM radio station to end, so the dj would announce the 10 or so songs that had been played - with the one in question being the first, and therefore easy to spot - I had a brainflash and said “not only is it not Led Zep, it’s Box of Frogs” (obscure - duh! - band made up of ex-members of the Yardbirds and I am a pretty big YB’s fan…).

The level of derision increased even further - how could I be such a dolt, I thought I respected your taste in music, etc. He went so far as to hold up a full bottle of tequila and announce that if I was right, he’d drink the whole thing in one go. I stuck to my guns, quietly.

Finally, the dj takes a deep breath and runs through the list of songs right before a commercial break. As we listen in complete silence, the dj ends with “and the first song was by the ex-members of the Yardbirds - Box of Frogs - hope you liked it.” Cue to commercial.

I was feeling benevolent so I didn’t force the alcohol poisoning. However, it has been about 14 years since it happened and I can still shut him up with a single phrase (something no one else can do…).

3

Um. Well, I watched Signs and hated the ending like many people did, but I also hated the music. It seemed like it was just the same three notes, over and over, throughout the entire movie.

Sometime later, I saw both The Hours and Koyaanisqatsi and I disliked their scores for similar reasons. Seemed like it was just the same three or four notes, over and over. Finding out that The Hours and Koyaanisqaatsi were both scored by Philip Glass, I thought Signs must have been too. Turns out the score of Signs is by James Newton Howard.

Does that count?

4

I was just getting into Led Zeppelin, and had most of their albums – but not all of them – when I heard a song on a classic rock station that I was positive was them. Maybe you’ve heard it, too: Lonely is the Night by Billy Squier. I knew it was Zeppelin, knew it in my soul. That bridge! That voice whining over the guitar and syncopated drums! That totally big bad-ass Bonham sound coming from the drummer!

I Googled for “Led Zeppelin Lonely Night” and got nowhere. I tried every combination I could, and then a week later, heard the song again. I caught a few more lyrics, Googled just the lyrics, and got the shock of my life. I had never even heard of Billy Squier. The song is, to this day, the only song by him with which I’m familiar.

I bought Physical Graffiti a few weeks later… I think I liked that song better when it was called Nobody’s Fault But Mine.

5

You don’t know The Stroke? Everybody Wants You? :eek: :wink: I love Billy Squier, and Lonely is the Night is one of my faves.

And now I’m gonna be walking around the office singing “Stroke me, stroke me, hunh! hunh!”

No one will notice anything different.

6

I used to think “No Sugar Tonight” by the Guess Who, was a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Also, for many years I thought “Dancing In The Moonlight” was a Van Morrison song (turns out it’s by King Harvest).

7

I mistook the Disturbed song “Liberate” as being by Korn. The really embarrassing part is that I’m a bigger fan of Disturbed, but just didn’t happen to yet own the CD that “Liberate” was on. I’d heard the song and someone said they thought it was Korn because of the semi-“rapping” style at the beginning, and I didn’t think anything of it until this past week, I heard the song actually be identified on the radio. Whoops… (I’m not so much disillusioned as heavily embarassed.)

Confusing it with “Moondance,” perhaps?

8

:smack: I’m such a dolt.

But you know what, maybe this is excusable. I mean Van Morrison does have “Moondance”. And “Dancing in the Moonlight” could have been sung by him, really.

Yeah, yeah. That’s the ticket.

Great. Now I’m gonna have some warped “Can I have just one more moondance with you in the moonlight, it’s such a fine and natural sight” hybrid monster in my head.

Replacing the Stroke, at least.

9

When I first heard that song that goes “Come my lady, come come my lady, your my butterfly, sugar, baby” I thought it was definately by Limp Bizquit.

There also plenty of songs that I get mixed up between the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean.

10

There was the time I tried to explain to my easy-listening loving father that the Page/Plant credits meant Led Zeppelin, not Enoch Light and the Light Brigade, originally recorded Black Dog.

11

Both our own Inigo Montoya and Indygrrrrl were sure that Neil Young sang for the group America.

They were incorrect.

From this thread

I used to think Fight the Good Fight by Triumph was by Rush.

12

Back in the early '90s I watched Born on the 4th of July and for some time afterwards thought fondly on the song “It’s a Hard Rain Gonna Fall”, which I believed to be a Bob Dylan song covered very very nicely by the Indigo Girls.

From time to time I’d peek at Indigo Girls albums in search of that track, to no avail.

The fact that the performance was by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians probably had something to do with that.

13

Wow. Linda Perry really doesn’t sound much like Janis Joplin. And the single “What’s Up” was released over 20 after Jopln’s death. I can understand confusion with similarly time artists, but wow, ArchiveGuy… If I were you I’d be tempted to start feeding Mrs. Archive some dis-information, it could be fun.

“Why of course ‘White Rabbit’ was performed by Blondie!.. ‘Jagged Little Pill’? Why that would be Canadian artist Joni Mitchell…”

In the 80s I had a lot of difficulty with many of the bands like Depeche Mode, New Order, and Erasure.

As for my response to the OP, like dwc1970 I had the worst time with Guess Who and CCR. I’m much better now, but man! It used to screw me up, no matter how hard I tried. And I don’t think they sound much alike either!

“It’s Guess Who… Guess Who… Guess Who… Guess Who… Guess Who…”

“Who sings that?”

"Gue-- CCR!.. Dammit! :smack: "

14

“Lies” by the Knickerbockers is such a well-crafted Beatles soundalike, I thought it WAS the Beatles for many years.

Luckily, I never got the nerve up to ask anyone at the record store.

15

I thought 10cc’s “Things We Do For Love Lyrics” was something Paul did between between Abbey Road and Uncle Albert. :eek: :confused: :smiley:

16

snort
I don’t even know if anybody could blame you for that.

I thought Red Rubber Ball was recorded by Simon and Garfunkle. I’m still not entirely convinced it wasn’t.

17

You have a good ear, pepper!!
That song was written by Paul Kane/Simon. :eek:

18

My husband foolishly made a bet with me, with witnesses no less, about a song playing on the radio. The song is called “Dirty Work” and I mentioned that it was an unusual sound for Steely Dan. The WryGuy guffawed. “You goof! Of course it’s unusual for Steely Dan, 'cuz it’s David Gates and Bread!”

I said, “Wanna bet?”

He said, “I will bet you a THOUSAND DOLLARS you’re wrong!”

(Later that year, with the same witnesses present, he bet me another thousand dollars over a Christmas gift our daughter had received. I won that one, too - had the Christmas in question on video.)

So far, he hasn’t paid up on either bet, but I will prevail… eventually.

19

I’m with you on that. Mostly, the version I’ve heard is by Cyrkle. But for ages I’d swear there was a S&G version. I thought I was having some kind of psychotic break with reality… then I googled it and found out that yes there is a S&G version on Old Friends. I think it’s something they tended to perform live.

20

You Were on My Mind by Ian and Silvia

and

It Hurts to Be in Love by Gene Pitney

I knew for absolute certain that both these songs were the Everly Brothers.