# What was the first instance of using a record scratch as comic punctuation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708 "2009-02-27T19:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jefusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jefusan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jefusan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/1 "2009-02-27T19:55:12Z")
You know the deal… someone in a movie says something at a party, or enters the wrong bar, and everyone stops talking as the music stops and the needle scratches across the record. In what movie or TV show did that first happen? Extra credit for finding the first instance of it being used as comic punctuation outside of that context (i.e.: as a way of setting up a punchline or plot twist in a trailer.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/2 "2009-02-27T20:07:20Z")
Probably nothing to do with your question but Victor Borge had an entire bit involving sound effects for punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![jefusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jefusan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jefusan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/3 "2009-03-02T21:46:33Z")
Heh… not exactly what I was thinking about, but I always loved the weirdness of Borge. Really? No takers? ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/4 "2009-03-02T22:25:13Z")
I’m not sure, but these Hollywood hacks have run this shit into the fucking ground, and they need to stop using it, like, yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/5 "2009-03-03T00:01:14Z")
Doesn’t really answer the question, but NPR had a [segment](http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2005/01/21/08) devoted to the useage of the record scratch effect ---
**Author:** ![jefusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jefusan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jefusan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/6 "2009-03-03T15:02:49Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > Doesn’t really answer the question, but NPR had a [segment](http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2005/01/21/08) devoted to the useage of the record scratch effect That is hilarious and sad. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/7 "2009-03-03T19:40:26Z")
> [@jefusan](#): > > Really? No takers? I would suggest that one way to arrive at an answer is for you to say “I saw it in Movie XXX that came out in 1982” and wait for someone to come up with an earlier example. For example, wasn’t there such a sound gag in Animal House (1978) when the college students walk into the bar where Otis Day is playing? Though maybe not since the scratching sound wouldn’t make much sense for a live band. ---
**Author:** ![jefusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jefusan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jefusan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/8 "2009-03-04T14:34:20Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I would suggest that one way to arrive at an answer is for you to say “I saw it in Movie XXX that came out in 1982” and wait for someone to come up with an earlier example. For example, wasn’t there such a sound gag in Animal House (1978) when the college students walk into the bar where Otis Day is playing? Though maybe not since the scratching sound wouldn’t make much sense for a live band. It’s funny, because I was going to use that exact same example, but was unable to verify it… I doubted my memory for the same exact reason. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/9 "2009-03-04T18:22:19Z")
It’s used in movie previews far too much nowadays, usually either when a teenager does or says something stupid that gets everyone’s attention, or when a hapless guy in love does or says something stupid that has a real chance of losing his sweetheart’s affection. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/10 "2009-03-04T19:05:33Z")
And it’s doubly weird because it’s so ubiquitous yet nobody has heard the actual sound of an actual record scratching in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/11 "2009-03-04T19:50:54Z")
Moved from General Questions to Cafe Society. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/12 "2009-03-04T20:04:23Z")
It was used last night on an ep of “The Girls Next Door,” after Kendra tells her mom and g-mom that she’s planning to move out. Find one earlier than that. Yeah, I know they’re out there ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/13 "2009-03-04T20:08:15Z")
As far as television goes, was it first used in an episode of “Ally McBeal”? Todd Rundgren used it on his “Something/Anything” album in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/14 "2009-03-04T21:06:21Z")
I could almost picture it being used in a John Hughes film. Something with Anthony Michael Hall in it like Sixteen Candles or Weird Science. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/15 "2009-03-04T21:14:12Z")
Another vote for what randwill said: I first remember noticing it on **Ally McBeal**. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/16 "2009-03-04T22:11:42Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > As far as television goes, was it first used in an episode of “Ally McBeal”? > > Todd Rundgren used it on his “Something/Anything” album in 1972. A tie for 1972, used on “Monty Python’s Previous Record”. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/17 "2009-03-04T23:17:25Z")
Since, as someone mentions above, the sound of the needle skating across a vinyl record is largely unknown to younger people, I wonder if many even know what it is? I reckon some may not make the association to a physical thing happening, but believe it to be an abstract sound (like the ‘chung chung’ on “Law and Order”) that indicates everything coming to a halt. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/18 "2009-03-04T23:27:55Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Since, as someone mentions above, the sound of the needle skating across a vinyl record is largely unknown to younger people, I wonder if many even know what it is? I reckon some may not make the association to a physical thing happening, but believe it to be an abstract sound (like the ‘chung chung’ on “Law and Order”) that indicates everything coming to a halt. There isn’t really a modern-day equivalent either. CDs and MP3s can skip, but that’s about it. I can’t even remember what a cassette sounded like when it went haywire (although I do recall having to deal with the fallout \>\< Fun times) and I’m (barely) old enough to have grown up with them. I’m curious what younger generations who’re used to iPods and the like will think of the old vinyl. “You could only fit 10 songs on there? And it actually had to spin?” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/19 "2009-03-04T23:57:15Z")
I want to say Spike Jones used the effect, but I can’t prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/20 "2009-03-05T00:46:10Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > A tie for 1972, used on “Monty Python’s Previous Record”. Mothers of Invention, _We’re Only In It For The Money_, 1968. As for young people are being unaware of what needle scratching sounds like, don’t forget the DJ “scratching” in modern R&B/hip hop bands. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708.md?page=2)