Songs in the past 30 years mentioning obsolete technology

Cafe Society
1

I was listening to my usual catologue of tunes last night when I came across some lyrics in music that might need a definition nowadays to anyone younger than 15. (Some lyrics may be slightly incorrect syntax-wise.)

“Just because a record has a groove doesn’t mean it’s in the groove.”
-Stevie Wonder, Sir Duke

“…by Radio City with a transistor and a large sum of money to spend.”
-Donald Fagen(Steely Dan), Bad Sneakers

“When it’s all over, we’ll make some calls from my car; we’re a star.” 1
-Again, Donald Fagen, Glamour Profession

So you get the idea. Are there any other such songs you might know of?

  1. This quote is in the context of “Calls from a car are an unforseen luxury.” However, this may still be true to an extent; maybe it’s not as good as the other two.
2

Kodachrome?

3

Elvis Costello’s “Radio Radio”: “…inches on the reel-to-reel…”

Elton John’s “Step Into Christmas”: “…hop aboard your turntable…”
Granted, neither of these two are actually obsolete, but it follows the OP’s examples.

4

The Boomtown Rats - “I Don’t Like Mondays”

The telex machine is kept so clean
And it types to a waiting world

A telex was something like a primitive fax machine.

5

“Stay” by Jackson Browne

“We got disco, on 8 tracks and cassette in stereo” - or something to that effect.

6

The song is actually entitled “The Load-out,” but it’s often directly followed by “Stay,” a cover of the Four Seasons song.

The exact lyric is:
“We got disco in eight tracks and cassettes in stereo”

Great song. Thanks for reminding me to dig that one up and listen to it, Lyllyan. :slight_smile:

7

“Driving Sister” by Mott the Hoople: “Eight-Track machine playing ‘Half Moon Bay’”

8

Not exactly obsolete, but in need of explanation…

From Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album

And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

9

Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here” dedicated to Syd Barrett who cracked up, loony bin, after making the first 2 PF albums. “Walk on part” i.e. bit part, minor role “in the war” i.e. the 60s revolution scene. Syd Barrett would have been remembered as not one of the major figures of 60s culture, but certainly worthy of a footnote. “Lead role in a cage”: the central figure in his very own padded room. Sort of like Milton’s Satan. Ruler of Hell instead of a servant in Heaven.

10

See also, for an even newer reference to that machine, Radiohead’s “Planet Telex.”

Hmmm…was the telex a solely British phenomenon?

11

Posting in the wrong thread?

12

In the Smiths’ “Big Mouth”, he mentions
“my walkman started to melt…”
and “my hearing aid started to melt…”
The interesting thing is that these are necessarily obsolete but
in the Placebo cover of the song the words are
updated to
“my discman started to melt…”
and most hilariously of all
“my megadrive started to melt…”
They thought they’d be cool and update it but the newer version seems more dated. Well there’s a sad little piece of pop trivia.
Mogiaw

13

Jon Waite - “Missing you”

And there’s a message that I’m sending out
Like a telegraph to your soul

14

Dead or Alive - “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”

you spin me right round, baby
right round like a record, baby
right round round round

15

“Just a song before I go, to whom it may concern,
Travelling twice the speed of sound, it’s easy to get burned.”

The only way a civilian could travel at twice the speed of sound was to fly on a Concorde. And thanks to that accident a couple of years back, as far as I know, the entire Concorde fleet is still grounded. :frowning:

16

Not exactly technology, but I think it fits the OP:

I’ve got a brand new pair of rollerskates
You’ve got a brand new key. - Melanie

17

I knew about the other thread, but I was answering ethilrist’s hijack question in this thread.

18

I heard Jimmy Buffet singing about stepping on a pop top earlier today. These kids today have no idea what we went through…

19

I think Buckner and Garcia’s Pac Man Fever says it all. :stuck_out_tongue: