# Obsolete Song List **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555 "2001-07-15T06:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/21 "2001-07-15T19:17:18Z")
“In the Year 2525” Not out of date _per se_, but the predictions they make about technology and such seem to be greatly under-estimated by today’s standards, is all. ---
**Author:** ![BigStar303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@BigStar303](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigStar303)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/22 "2001-07-15T19:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sewalk \* > \*\*Actually _Pennsylvania 6-5000_ is a seven digit phone number: PE6-5000, which makes it still valid for much of the rest of the country (area-wise, anyway). \*\* But the idea of exchanges being named (or represented by two letters) is obsolete. When’s the last time phone numbers were listed in a directory this way? Ironic that though exchanges went by the wayside, we’re now spelling entire phone numbers with letters. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/23 "2001-07-15T21:57:14Z")
Um, wouldn’t that be PA, not PE? I wonder if anyone tried to call the number back then. I heard it was Glenn’s phone number when he stayed there! Hope he wasn’t staying there when the song came out! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/24 "2001-07-15T21:59:29Z")
Weird aside: while I was typing that last post, PA65000 was playing. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/25 "2001-07-15T22:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **Um, wouldn’t that be PA, not PE?** Not really. The first to letters of the word was used, not the state abbreviation, since the first word wasn’t always a state. Klondike 5 5500, would be 555-5500. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/26 "2001-07-15T22:20:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Weird aside: while I was typing that last post, PA65000 was playing. Weird. \*\* Wow, what radio station do you listen to that plays songs like that??? With this being the 20th anniversary of MTV this year, I was thinking that that stupid first song and video ever played on the station **Video Killed the Radio Star** is now obsolete. Especially since MTV has a policy against playing videos nowadays (at least it seems that way). ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/27 "2001-07-15T22:49:37Z")
This morning there was some silly oldie on the radio, called “The Game of Love” I think. The chorus goes: _the purpose of a man is to love a woman, the purpose of a woman is to - love a man_ Well not every man and every woman really shares that feeling do they? I suppose that was always true, but I think if a band came out with that lyric today they might get tagged as “intolerant”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/28 "2001-07-16T00:39:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Um, wouldn’t that be PA, not PE? Nope. Phone exchanges were always the first two letters. > [@](#): > > I wonder if anyone tried to call the number back then. I heard it was Glenn’s phone number when he stayed there! Hope he wasn’t staying there when the song came out! It was the hotel switchboard. They probably were happy for the PR. > [@](#): > > “I Love Rock n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. “Put another dollar in the jukebox, baby!” doesn’t quite cut it. When Jett recorded the song, it had been years since jukeboxes cost a dime. ---
**Author:** ![eLunatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@eLunatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eLunatic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/29 "2001-07-16T01:36:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I wonder if anyone tried to call the number back then. I heard it was Glenn’s phone number when he stayed there! Actually, PEnnsylvania 6-5000 still is the phone number to the [Hotel Pennsylvania](http://www.hotelpenn.com). You can still call to make reservations. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/30 "2001-07-16T01:56:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HelloKitty \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > > \*\*Weird aside: while I was typing that last post, PA65000 was playing. Weird. \*\* > > Wow, what radio station do you listen to that plays songs like that??? > > \*\* None. It was on my CD player, and it was playing the Glenn Miller CD I have in there. Just thought it was weird that it was on THAT EXACT song, instead of another one, or hell, Tchaikovsky or _Doctor Zhivago_. Yes, I have strange tastes in music. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/31 "2001-07-16T06:11:28Z")
Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” about smoking banana peels was obsolete about 30 seconds after it was released in what was it? - 1966? “eee-lec-trickle banana bound to be the very next phase.” Nope ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/32 "2001-07-16T06:32:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Um, wouldn’t that be PA, not PE? > > Nope. Phone exchanges were always the first two letters. > > > [@](#): > > > > I wonder if anyone tried to call the number back then. I heard it was Glenn’s phone number when he stayed there! Hope he wasn’t staying there when the song came out! > > It was the hotel switchboard. They probably were happy for the PR. > > > [@](#): > > > > “I Love Rock n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. “Put another dollar in the jukebox, baby!” doesn’t quite cut it. > > When Jett recorded the song, it had been years since jukeboxes cost a dime. > > \*\* You sure about that? I seem to recall jukeboxes that would do a single play on a dime in the early '80s - I also remember well paying a dime for a phone call, and I was born in 1972. There was a jukebox that would do two songs for 25 cents in a pool hall I frequented in the early '90s, as well… ---
**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:** [July 16, 2001, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/33 "2001-07-16T12:02:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*There was a Frank Sinatra song where he referred to his woman being the…sweetest? loveliest? something…“in all the 48”. \*\* **Let’s Get Away** : _We’ll travel 'round from town to town, And visit every state. I’ll repeat “I love you, sweet” In all the forty-eight…_ I love that tune. **Rockapella** (the group that does the theme to _Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?_) did an updated version in which the back-up singers added a “plus two, hey” to that lyric. The second time around, they changed it to _Alaska, and Hawaii too, Then all the forty-eight…_ So there ya go. Now I’m going to be humming that all day… [sub]Let’s go again to Niagara/ This time we’ll look at the Fall/ Let’s leave our hut, dear/ Get out of our rut, dear/ Let’s get away from it all…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/34 "2001-07-16T12:09:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BigStar303 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by sewalk \* > > \*\*Actually _Pennsylvania 6-5000_ is a seven digit phone number: PE6-5000, which makes it still valid for much of the rest of the country (area-wise, anyway). \*\* > > But the idea of exchanges being named (or represented by two letters) is obsolete. When’s the last time phone numbers were listed in a directory this way?\*\* The only one I can think of offhand should be familiar to you as well – GArfield 1-2323. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/35 "2001-07-16T12:20:25Z")
There was a Liz Taylor film, “Butterfield 8”, which I think was a telephone exchange reference. ---
**Author:** ![SteveinSpain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@SteveinSpain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveinSpain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/36 "2001-07-16T12:45:32Z")
Dirty Water by the Standells - The Charles is a lot cleaner than it was 35 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/37 "2001-07-16T12:55:21Z")
‘Free Nelson Mandela’ by Specials AKA but I think I’ve heard Jimmy Cliff do it too. Also wasn’t ‘Fool on the Hill’ written about LBJ, the US president at the time? He was the fool on the hill because of the Vietnam involvement??? That’s obsolete because now we don’t have a fool on…oh wait… 🙂 Just kidding!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/38 "2001-07-16T13:49:04Z")
Travis Tritt’s “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” Billy Joel’s “Modern Woman” > [@](#): > > Rock and roll just used to be for kicks > Nowadays it’s politics > And after 1986 > What else could be new? ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/39 "2001-07-16T14:03:51Z")
“Big Ten Inch (Record)” by Bull Moose Jackson You just can’t work up the same sort of innuendo over a 3-inch CD. ---
**Author:** ![Kingpin53](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d26b3c/32.png) [@Kingpin53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingpin53)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/40 "2001-07-16T17:24:25Z")
This thread got me thinking about a now obsolete song that I really wish would have a “sequel” made for it. The song is “Nikita” by Elton John. “…and if there comes a time guns and gates no longer hold you in and if you’re free to make a choice just look towards the west and find a friend…” Well the time that “guns and gates no longer hold you in” has come and passed. I would like to hear a follow-up song and it’s story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555.md?page=3)