# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/21 "2009-03-05T00:53:08Z")
The Goon Show. [Here’s an example](http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=s08e22_world_war_one) from 1958. [QUOTE=Goon Show] Grams: [Tea dance music followed by needle scratch across record followed by small applause/cheers] [/QUOTE] Admittedly this is radio, rather than TV or movies, but undoubtedly radio is where it originated from. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/22 "2009-03-05T01:07:51Z")
Why wouldn’t kids today be aware of this sound? Needle scratch sounds are a very common feature of hip-hop music. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/23 "2009-03-05T01:18:04Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Why wouldn’t kids today be aware of this sound? Needle scratch sounds are a very common feature of hip-hop music. I think what we are talking about here is the sound of the needle skating across the record. I would differentiate that from the sounds DJs make by moving the record back and forth while the needle remains in the groove. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/24 "2009-03-05T01:29:00Z")
Johnny Fever used it intentionally on the first episode of _WKRP in Cincinnati_, when the station format changed from elevator music to rock. Not sure if it’s exactly what the OP was looking for, but it aired in 1978. ---
**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, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/25 "2009-03-05T02:16:05Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > I think what we are talking about here is the sound of the needle skating across the record. I would differentiate that from the sounds DJs make by moving the record back and forth while the needle remains in the groove. But don’t DJs also sometimes rake the needle across the grooves? I’m sure I’ve seen/heard that done. ---
**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 5, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/26 "2009-03-05T15:11:29Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > But don’t DJs also sometimes rake the needle across the grooves? I’m sure I’ve seen/heard that done. I wouldn’t think so. It does a lot of damage to both the vinyl and the stylus tip to do that. DJs “scratching” actaully keeps the needle in the groove. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/27 "2009-03-05T15:13:38Z")
Monkees–um…I think “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”–the song is “Magnolia Simms” which was intended to sound like a 1920’s record, complete with tinny sound, pops, skips and scratches. Circa 1967 ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/28 "2009-03-05T16:24:55Z")
Earlier ones have been mentioned, but I thought I’d add _Earache My Eye_ by Cheech & Chong, from 1974. Chong, as a teenager, is listening to an Alice Bowie record when his father (Cheech) comes in and drags the needle off the record, making a severe scratching sound, followed by the line “Heeey! You scratched my record, man!” and the rest of the routine. It was released as a single and got a lot of airplay. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/29 "2009-03-05T17:38:40Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Monkees–um..I think “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”–the song is “Magnolia Simms” which was intended to sound like a 1920’s record, complete with tinny sound, pops, skips and scratches. Circa 1967 I don’t think that quite counts (at least per your description). The OP is looking for the dramatic “record scratch” sound usually used as a comedic, transitional effect. Minor pops and scratches to make something sound “old-timey” doesn’t really fit the criteria, as it’s neither comedic, dramatic, or transitional. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/30 "2009-03-05T18:06:50Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > I don’t think that quite counts (at least per your description). The OP is looking for the dramatic “record scratch” sound usually used as a comedic, transitional effect. Minor pops and scratches to make something sound “old-timey” doesn’t really fit the criteria, as it’s neither comedic, dramatic, or transitional. No–there’s a skip-back where the song repeats (the needle is bumped back along the track). Then there’s a dramatic scratch, as the needle is “picked up”, and finally, the needle’s placed down after the scratch/skip and the song concludes. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/31 "2009-03-05T18:46:51Z")
US version: _Fink Along with Mad_, on the song “Mad Extra” in 1963. The song goes into the song “I Want a Nose Job,” which is interrupted and ended by a loud scratch. ---
**Author:** ![TooSchoolforCool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tooschoolforcool/32/19621_2.png) [@TooSchoolforCool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TooSchoolforCool)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/32 "2009-03-05T19:13:55Z")
From the NPR article: > [@](#): > > It wasn’t uncommon at the turn of the century for a, a, a, pair of lovers to be dancing to a phonograph in their parlor, when the jilted suitor would burst into the room and, you know, rip the needle off the phonograph, and the lovers’ reverie would be interrupted by this, you know, brutish thug, and that was a classic symbol that carried on into many of our cartoons, many of our commercials. It’s part of our collective unconscious. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/33 "2009-03-05T19:25:31Z")
Everyone seems to be going to music for examples, but I’m not sure that’s what the OP is looking for. I’m going to beat Ally McBeal by a few years and offer _The Fresh Prince_ . Can’t give a cite, but I’m confident it was used many times. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/34 "2009-03-05T20:30:06Z")
> [@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. Funny you should say that, because when I first read this thread I actually almost posted about that exact scene in Animal House, but then realized “it couldn’t have been a record scratch – Otis Day and the Nights were playing!” (However, IIRC there is a slight pause in the music and everyone turns to look when Boone yells “Otis! My man!”, so maybe that’s what I’m thinking of.) ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/35 "2009-03-05T20:35:49Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Johnny Fever used it intentionally on the first episode of _WKRP in Cincinnati_, when the station format changed from elevator music to rock. Not sure if it’s exactly what the OP was looking for, but it aired in 1978. That’s DOCTOR Johnny Fever:D:D:D ‘All right, Cincinnati, it’s time for this town to get down! You’ve got Johnny - Doctor Johnny Fever, and I am burnin’ up in here - Whoah! We all in critical condition, babies, but you can tell me where it hurts, cuz I got the healing prescription here from the big KRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I am talking about your 50,000 watts intensive care unit, babies! So just sit right back now, relax! Open your ears real wide and say, ‘Give it to me straight, Doctor, I can take it!’ Oh, I almost forgot, fellow babies… BOOGER!!!" ---
**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:** [May 11, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/36 "2011-05-11T01:04:00Z")
OK, I have a possible TV citation from 1999 of the record scratch being used in the sense of “Hold on, there!” It’s the documentary “Sideshow” which occasionaly airs on cable, and Jason Alexander narrates. I’ll have to relisten to it to find the exact spot and context though. ETA: Criminy! This was two years ago! I thought maybe six months! ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/37 "2011-05-12T07:35:22Z")
I can bring it back to 1987 and the season finale of Blackadder series three. The record scratch is definitely used for the moment when the title character, giving his dramatic dying speech, realises that the miniature cannon ball ‘killing’ him has actually been absorbed by a cigarillo case. The sad soundtrack music, Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor, is roughly scratched away at the realisation. Rare bonus, when it transpires something sad _has_ really happened to another character later on, the track is dropped back into the soundtrack, as if the needle has been dropped carelessly onto the disc. [YouTube Clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg4qLQeq808). The scratch is at 06.19. Warning, spoilers for the ending if that is a concern. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/38 "2011-05-12T13:53:39Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > I can bring it back to 1987 and the season finale of Blackadder series three. > > The record scratch is definitely used for the moment when the title character, giving his dramatic dying speech, realises that the miniature cannon ball ‘killing’ him has actually been absorbed by a cigarillo case. The sad soundtrack music, Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor, is roughly scratched away at the realisation. Rare bonus, when it transpires something sad _has_ really happened to another character later on, the track is dropped back into the soundtrack, as if the needle has been dropped carelessly onto the disc. > > [YouTube Clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg4qLQeq808). The scratch is at 06.19. Warning, spoilers for the ending if that is a concern. Pengvin. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/39 "2011-05-12T15:09:07Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I want to say Spike Jones used the effect, but I can’t prove it. That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll try to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708/40 "2011-05-12T15:20:52Z")
So two questions here, looking for distinct first instances of comedic use. One is the sound understood as the sound of a needle scratching a record that was _playing in the scene_. > [@jefusan](#): > > 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. The “turn of the century” bit in the NPR piece suggests that the sound was known as _dramatic_ punctuation in very early films–it probably didn’t take too many years before this was satirized for comedic effect. The other is the same sound, but unconnected to a record. It’s _just_ the scratch, abstractly. > [@jefusan](#): > > 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.) Right? I _want_ to say that the latter was first done by Treg Brown in a Looney Tunes short sometime in the '40s or '50s. It seems like exactly the kind of innovation that would be his. But I have no example to point to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-instance-of-using-a-record-scratch-as-comic-punctuation/487708.md?page=3)