# rock songs with oddball instruments **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983 "2001-08-19T04:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/41 "2001-08-19T23:50:17Z")
Mercury Rev used a musical saw on a couple of songs from their Deserter’s Songs CD. On Welcome Back Joe by Big Black, an M-16 being test fired is part of the percussion track. Tom Waits has used numerous unusual instruments on various songs. REM has used banjo and mandolin on a few different tracks. Both Joe Jackson and Gang Of Four have used a melodica in songs. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/42 "2001-08-20T00:01:10Z")
Tom Waits used a brake drum for percussion on “16 Shells From a Thirty Ought Six” REM used a chair leg for percussion on several songs. Two people who used melodica on their records are the Hooters (most famously on Cyndi Lauper’s “Money Changes Everything”), and Jamican reggae pioneer Augustus Pablo. Keith ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/43 "2001-08-20T01:06:02Z")
On the album “Crime of the Century” Supertramp used - Recorded street sounds on “Rudy” Recorded schoolyard sounds on “School” Water gong on “Crime of the Century” Musical Saw on “Hide in your Shell” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/44 "2001-08-20T01:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rock-n-Rolga \* > Which band was it that used all kids’ toy instruments to record an album? I believe it was somewhere in the early 1990’s but it may have been a little earlier than that. You might be thinking of Pianosaurus. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/45 "2001-08-20T01:16:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rock-n-Rolga \* > \*\*Which band was it that used all kids’ toy instruments to record an album? I believe it was somewhere in the early 1990’s but it may have been a little earlier than that. > > \*\* That would be **Pianosaurus**. Funny you should bring them up, I was watching an old “Mystery Science Theater 3000” yesterday (“Robot Monster”) and they were referenced (SERVO: “Music by Pianosaurus”). ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/46 "2001-08-20T01:20:02Z")
Curse you, **Robot Arm**! I oughta type faster. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/47 "2001-08-20T01:27:36Z")
And we can’t forget the first B-52’s album. _Dance This Mess Around_ used a toy piano, and _Rock Lobster_ used a smoke alarm. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/48 "2001-08-20T03:51:33Z")
Seems to me the **Beach Boys** open 1962’s “409” with the sound of what I suspect to be a AA fuel dragster revving and then taking off. No doubt car/rock buffs out there will recall others. Oh, Yeah. “Leader of the Pack” features some motorcycle sounds as well And I suppose **Mike Oldfield** wasn’t _really_ playing a set of “Tubular Bells” on “The Exorcist” theme. Sigh ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Sasquatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/49 "2001-08-20T04:04:00Z")
Equipment used by the band Kraftwerk include a Dubreq Stylophone, Casio Pocket Calculator, and a Speak & Spell. ---
**Author:** ![audient](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@audient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audient)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/50 "2001-08-20T07:02:09Z")
re: Beatles’ harpsichords slight hijack for some recording trivia - The harpsichord part in In My Life was supposedly dreamed up at the recording sesson over lunch. George Martin played it at half tempo, an octave down, the slacker. They then ran the tape at double speed for the mixdown. I sometimes pointed this out when I played it full speed in my beatles band. Not that I’d seriously claim to be able to show up Sir George or anything… .audient. ---
**Author:** ![audient](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@audient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audient)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/51 "2001-08-20T07:09:23Z")
…following up my own post with some more ontopic items I love Joni Mitchell’s “Empty, Try Another”, on (I think) the album “Dog Eat Dog”. She digitized the sounds of a cigarette machine taking her money & sadly refunding it for lack of inventory. It repeated thru the tune and was very rhythmic & musical. NRBQ’s ‘I Love Her’ has a toy piano solo. The song is so sweet, the ‘oddball’ instrument is perfectly in place. I hardly gave it a 2nd thought. HTB - while we’re on motorcycles, we can’t leave out Billy Joel. .audient. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/52 "2001-08-20T07:37:23Z")
The Velvet Underground didn’t just have an **electric viola** , but it was one of their primary instruments. Pink Floyd used a Salvation Army band on **Jugband Blues** , as well as (naturally) a bike in the song **Bike**. They also reasonably reproduced the sound of several species of furry animals gathered together in a cave grooving with a Pict, although I can’t for the life of me remember what the name of the song was. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/53 "2001-08-20T08:01:51Z")
The “hairdryer” sound in “Panama” is actually Ed’s Lamborghini, backed into the 5150 studio with Ed racing the engine. That has to be the most expensive instrument ever used in a studio. While the instrument in “Intruder” is a guitar, the effect from rubbing a beer can up and down the strings was pretty bizarre and was a lot more original (IMHO) than Jimmy Page’s use of a bow on his guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/54 "2001-08-20T08:14:35Z")
Thunder and raindrops in _Riders on the Storm_, by the Doors. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/55 "2001-08-20T13:54:31Z")
Also at the beginning of **Rhythm of the Rain** by **The Cascades** And if **Lou Christie’s “Rhapsody in the Rain”** _didn’t_ include windshield wiper sound effects, it certainly _should_ have. Also there’s the the crowd chanting and banging various noisemakers that fades into **Soul Sacrifice** on the Woodstock album. And to amplify **Sewalk’s** remark about the beer can on the guitar strings, there’s the razor blade on the strings featured in the video of **Billy Idol’s** remake of \*\*Mony, Mony \*\* Which leads to the pioneering use of feedback as a song element on **Ticket to Ride** [slight hijack]and the question who was the first to use snippets of music played backwards (not backwards masking, but deliberately reversing music for an effect) **In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita** comes to mind, but I’m sure there were earlier examples [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/56 "2001-08-20T14:08:21Z")
Judas Priest’s Metal Gods uses pots and pans through out the song to get the soud of marching. At least I’m pretty sure they used pots and pans or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/57 "2001-08-20T14:29:56Z")
Brian May of Queen used an air raid siren on “Stormtrooper in Stilletos,” a harp on “Love of My Life,” and a kyoto on “Prophet’s Song.” Seems he can play damn near anything. The Grateful Dead taped a box of crickets and used them throughout “Blues of Allah,” and Jerry Garcia is credited with playing the fire exstinguisher on “They Love Each Other,” on his album “Reflections.” ---
**Author:** ![audient](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@audient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audient)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/58 "2001-08-20T14:47:01Z")
Hometownboy - feedback on Ticket to Ride? are you maybe thinking of the intro to I Feel Fine? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/59 "2001-08-20T14:50:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hometownboy \* > **Which leads to the pioneering use of feedback as a song element on Ticket to Ride** Otherwise known as **I Feel Fine**. 😃 The following things have been used as musical instruments on Beatles songs (I’m not counting tape loops and other prerecorded source material, like the plane landing on _Back In The USSR_). A comb and paper (_Lovely Rita_) A packing case (_Words of Love_) A tub of gravel and a shovel (_You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)_) Bubbles being blown in water (_Yellow Submarine_). Hal Blaine used an empty plastic water bottle as percussion on the Beach Boys’ _Caroline, No_. Re: Slade’s _Run Runaway_, there are definitely real bagpipes on that song. Bagpipes also appear on Paul McCartney’s _Mull of Kintyre_. ---
**Author:** ![Venkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ec9cab/32.png) [@Venkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venkman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983/60 "2001-08-20T16:24:13Z")
A couple more Beatles things: - an alarm clock on “Day in the Life” - John, Paul, and George faking a trumpet sound on “Lady Madonna” - that cool piccolo trumpet part on “Penny Lane” - John (and maybe Paul & George, can’t recall) making pig noises on “Piggies” - there’s a variety of stuff on “Yellow Submarine” but no idea how much they did live and what was from pre-recorded effects [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-oddball-instruments/76983.md?page=4)