I can’t believe there have been twenty posts and no one has mentioned “Smoke on the Water.”
Most of the songs on the Sgt. Pepper album have unique opening sequences.
“Hey Jude”
Thus Spake Zarathustra, from 2001: a Space Odyssey
Roundabout, from Yes
Heard it Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
“Come Together” by The Beatles
“Saturday In The Park” by Chicago
“Lola” by The Kinks
“And When I Die” by Blood, Sweat, and Tears
“Walk of Life” by Dire Straits
I can name that tune in three notes, Tom… Tocatta and Fugue in D-minor, by JS Bach.
“Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath - The first note is all I’d need, or even just the wind, rain and church bell leading up to it, and I’m sure anyone who has heard it before can get in in 2 or 3.
Jingle Bells in three notes. I don’t know of another bit of music that starts with those three repeated notes.
Hamster Dance in a measure.
The Chicken Dance in a measure.
The Beer Barrel Polka in a measure.
Green Sleeves in a measure.
Phantom of the Opera in three notes.
This link to a video is so appropriate for this thread. It’s also super funny.
Pachelbel Rant
Good stuff. Thanks for the link.
By now every intelligent life form in the galaxy surely knows that the sung syllables
One two three
must inevitably be followed by
o’clock, four o’clock rock.
Good point. I’m pretty sure I could name any of Elvis’s early hits in just a note or two – once I heard them start up. But I can’t be sure enough to list them. In fact, it’s been long enough since I heard any of them that I doubt I could hum the intro to any of them.
Jailhouse Rock for sure.
Your welcome.
OK, to test the idea that many if not most reasonably well-known songs can be identified from a tiny snippet of their intro, I present NameThatIntro.zip - less than a second from the very start of 22 not too obscure tunes. I think you’ll find most of them pretty easy.
Here are the ones I knew right off:
1. Stevie Wonder - I Wish
4. The Bee Gees - Stayin’ Alive
9. Isaac Hayes - Theme From “Shaft”
15. Labelle - Lady Marmalade
16. Sweet - Blockbuster
18. Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade
19. The Zombies - Time Of The Season
I didn’t know any of the others, though.
One chord:
Beethoven’s Third Symphony
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2
Tchaikovsky: Sympony #6; fourth movement
The Supremes: “Stop in the Name of Love”
My guesses:
01-
02- The Pink Floyd- Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
03-
04-
05-
06-
07- The Pixies- Bone Machine
08-
09-
10-
11- Nirvana- Lithium
12-
13-
14-
15- Reminds me of Sail On Sailor by The Beach Boys
16-
17-
18-
19-
20- Is it the theme to “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”?
21-
22-
Why has no one mentioned the king of recognizable tunes?
the Benny Hill theme
I bet at least 90% of you now have that zany anthem running through your head, and are picturing people running back and forth across a hallway of doors.
All Along the Watchtower- Hendrix
Don’t Stop Believin’- Journey
Rock and Roll- Led Zepplin
Friends in Low Places- Garth Brooks
And my guesses:
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Free Ride
- Smells like Teen Spirit
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s
I think I could get Ozzie’s Mr. Crowley pretty quickly. Most songs by Godspeed You! Black Emperor that I’ve heard had spoken intros, so anyone who knew the band better than I do could probably guess many before the first note, and probably in a few words or so.