# Sound in "Rock the Casbah" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608 "2003-10-15T18:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![voxnihili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@voxnihili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voxnihili)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/1 "2003-10-15T18:11:12Z")
Around the middle (1 minute 55 seconds in) of the song “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash, there’s this odd noise that sounds like a cell phone or a watch beeping; what is this? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/2 "2003-10-15T22:56:57Z")
Do you mean the noise near the phrase, “The king called out his jetfighters”? I assume that it’s just supposed to be some non-descript jetfighter electronic noise. On the other hand, it could be an electric camel drum. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/3 "2003-10-15T23:07:47Z")
If it’s the noise I’m thinking of, it’s a distinct noise from a Mattel Electronic Football game. There is a different noise with the jet fighters. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/4 "2003-10-16T02:22:12Z")
I’m going with **AmbushBug** on this one. I always thought it sounded just like the old ecltronic football game. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/5 "2003-10-16T02:52:12Z")
What lyric is at the point where the electronic noise is heard? ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/6 "2003-10-16T03:21:42Z")
I think **AmbushBug** is right. I remember having that game and playing it all the time as a kid. Everytime I hear that (which has not been for a while) it reminds me of that old game. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/7 "2003-10-16T03:50:56Z")
It may not be exactly it, but it’s pretty close to the melody to “Dixie”. Almost (or exactly?) like the horn on the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/8 "2003-10-16T05:57:33Z")
Another vote for **AmbushBug** ’s football game. I had one of those…we discovered you don’t want to leave it in the back window of a car. It melted. Still played, though. **mouthbreather** , I don’t think the Dukes of Hazzard sound is the one I’m thinking of…it has two zaps of sound. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/9 "2003-10-16T06:05:27Z")
Around that time, I had a Casio watch that could play “Dixie” instead of it’s regular “Beep-Beep” sound when the alarm went off. I thought it was really cool my watch was in a Clash song. It also knew “Greensleeves” and “Clementine”… ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/10 "2003-10-16T12:48:18Z")
Yes, I could place the sound the first time I heard the song…I think it was a tackle after a first down. [Handheld Football](http://users2.ev1.net/~rik1138/Mattel/FB.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/11 "2003-10-16T13:21:49Z")
As I stated in the duplicate of this thread, if we are talking of the noise during the “The local guitar picker…” lyric, it sounds to me like a middle-eastern string instrument, perhaps a sitar. Also, this fits better with the lyric than an electronic game noise. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/12 "2003-10-16T14:18:47Z")
I still can’t find the sound. On my mp3, 1:55 is the end of the line “The in crowd say it’s cool”. Is this the right place? ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-in-rock-the-casbah/207608/13 "2003-10-16T14:49:02Z")
Sorry, I was wrong…it is actually [Coleco’s version](http://users2.ev1.net/~rik1138/Coleco/EQB.htm). Oddly enough I can’t find a sample of the sounds… This is assuming you are referring to the part that goes beep-beep beep bididy beep…I don’t have my copy or an MP3 of it handy.