phonecalls

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kinda related to the spoken intro thread, what tracks do you think are the best use of phonecalls in music.

― vitasoy, Monday, 9 August 2004 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Public Enemy 'Incident At 66.6FM'

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a very weird phonecall-based skit on The Mothers' "We're Only In It For the Money".

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Sonic Youth - Providence
Unwound - The Light at the End of the Tunnel is a Train

― Red Panda Sanskrit (ex machina), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Pulp - "Ansafone"

There's a really good Common one as well but I've forgotten what it's called. Oh no, it's Felix da Housecat.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"We're so sorry, Uncle Albert, but we haven't heard a bloody thing all day . . . "

― phil d., Monday, 9 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Is Mr. George home?
Hello, Mr. George?
This is your conscience, motherfucker!
Why don't U leave motherfuckers alone?
What's wrong with U?
Well, why can't we just dance? Why can't we just dance?
No, fuck that, fuck that!
I don't talk about U, I don't talk about U
U little almond-shaped head ass
Who the fuck do U think this is?
I'll kick your ass… twice!"

― briania (briania), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Bad Brains: Sacred Love

― ddb (ddb), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"Lack of Reason" by Samiam.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Vic there?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

"Enfilade" by At The Drive-In -

"Mother leopard? I have your cub..."

Fucking weird and quite scary in equal measure.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:10 (twenty-one years ago)

de la soul - dave has a problem, seriously

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Master master
This is recorded thru uh flies ear
`n you have t` have uh flies eye t` see it
It`s the thing that`s gonna make Captain Beefheart
And his Magic Band fat
Frank it`s the big hit
It`s the blimp
It`s the blimp Frank
It`s the blimp

When I see you floatin` down the gutter
I`ll give you uh bottle uh wine
Put me on the white hook
Back in the fat rack
Shad rack ee shack
The sumptin` hoop the sumptin` hoop
The blimp the blimp
The drazy hoops the drazy hoops
They`re camp they`re camp
Tits tits the blimp the blimp
The mother ship the mother ship
The brothers hid under their hood
From the blimp the blimp
Children stop yer nursin` unless yer renderin` fun
The mother ship
The mother ship`s the one
The blimp the blimp
The tapes uh trip it`s uh trailin` tail
It`s traipse`n along behind the blimp the blimp
The nose has uh crimp
The nose is the blimp the blimp
It blows the air the snoot isn`t fair
Look up in the sky there`s uh dirigible there
The drazy hoops whirl
You can see them just as they were
All the people stir
`n the girls knees trembles
`n run `n wave their hands
`n run their hands over the blimp the blimp
Daughter don`t yuh dare
Oh momma who cares
It`s the blimp it`s the blimp

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

The one on Turbonegro's 'Ass Cobra' where someone pretends (with the worst cockney accent ever) to be Steve Ignorant demanding some money back so he can "support his habit". I always mention this on here. I guess I always will

― DJ Mencap0))), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

The Orb 'Towers Of Dub'

Coldcut 'Cloned Again'

Christopher Just 'Vienna Calling'

that Slim Shady cut-up/crank call thing off Radio Soulwax vol 4 (or 5)

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Clouds Across the Moon - Rah Band

― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm gonna call him right now. Gee, I hope he's home...

Hello?

Baby, I'm home. I've got something to tell you.

What?

I love you.

Oh, I love you too. Did you get caught in the rain?

Oh, yes. It was so beautiful. Let me tell you how it started...

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

coldcut 'my telephone' has all the phone-related samples u could want. which is that track on the pharcyde 'bizarre ride...' where he calls up spme girl and frightens the sh-t out of her? well that one.

― piscesboy, Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Also... Yazoo: Bad Connection".

"There's someone playing with the phone..."

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name." When this came on the radio I would perpetrate like the call was for me.

― briania (briania), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

ciccone youth: 2 cool rock chicks listening to la neu

― ddb (ddb), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

junior vasquez, "if madonna calls"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Captain Beefheart - The Blimp

― Red Panda Sanskrit (ex machina), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Piscesboy - '4 Betta or 4 Worse'

Mekon feat Evil B - 'Welcome To Tackletown'

Cornelius - 'Brand New Season'

The Beastie Boys - 'The Maestro'

The phone-in skit on Enter The Wu-Tang

― R.I.M.A. (Barima), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Bran Van 3000 - 'Drinkin' In LA'

Cut Copy - 'Saturdays'

All Saints - 'Bootie Call' (in theory)

― R.I.M.A. (Barima), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

that song on the minutemen's three way tie for last for featured a lead vocal sung over the phone. was it "ack ack ack"? i can't quite remember.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

"Hello, Dad, I'm in jail!"

― Huck, Monday, 9 August 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The Streets - Such a Twat

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

FCC, I think you're thinking of Bermuda

― ddb (ddb), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

thanks, ddb!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 9 August 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

From The Wall, between "Young Lust" and "One of My Turns" with the American phone operator trying in real life to place a transatlantic telephone call to a "Mr. Pink".

And also from the same era, Billy Joel's "Sometimes A Fantasy".

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 9 August 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Throbbing Gristle - "Death Threats"

― zebedee (zebedee), Monday, 9 August 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

jurassic 5 - that thing about fuddruckers and ham sandwich, fatty fatty

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 9 August 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Revolting Cocks - "Beer, Steers, and Queers"

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)

can't believe i almost forgot:

ELO, "telephone line"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

michel'le - no more lies

― annie aboleth, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

This hasn't been done before?

Coil - Who'll Fall? : Features a friend of a fan who committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. His boyfriend rang Peter Christopherson and COil made a song around it. Great pulse dialing and disconnected number sounds in it.

Frenzal Rhomb had a track at the end of 'Coughing Up A Storm' of the bands' answering machine message. Apart from more than one person saying "A Message" on the tape, the highlight is the band's ex-drummer ringing up demanding money and abusing the band.

― Sasha (sgh), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 00:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Esther Williams - "Last Night Changed it All"

― Monetizing Eyeballs (diamond), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 01:00 (twenty-one years ago)

CopShoot Cop--Disconnected 666

― Stephen Boyle (SBoyle), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Roughly related, I always thought the modem handshake tone intro to Information Society "Hard Currency" worked amazingly well.

― mikef (mfleming), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

mikef, are you aware of their modem noise hidden messages?

http://insoc.binaryeyes.com/data.htm

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

The Minutemen one was Watt singing "Bermuda," the Roky Erickson song.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

the one on the vanity 6 record

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello, this is Vanity
Is Jimmy home?
Yes, but he's taking a shower
Oh, I see
Did he just take out the trash?
No, that's somethin' he use 2 do
Now he's taking out me
Oh, I see
Well, tell 'em he left his pants over here last night
That's OK, U keep 'em
He won't be needin' 'em 2 night
Oh, what's the matter
Is he going swimming?
Why no, we was gonna go
But he said he did that last night
Well sugar, I know about a great party
Why don't U bring us your car?
So sorry baby, but I never go 2 singles' bars
Singles? Is that what U think?
Tramp, I'm datin' your dad
Oh, he died about 7 years back
Now ain't that just 2 bad?
Well, that's how we like 'em - tall, stiff and ready
That's positively more than I can say 4 dead Jimmy
That's because he was swallowin' vitamin E
Now he's swallowin' me
Oh, U mean U were swallowin' him
Why don't U just tie a mattress 2 your back?
I'm gonna need it cuz if I ever see your face
I'm gonna fall and have a heart attack
All that's gonna fall is the wig off your head
Now what U think about that?
I think I'd rather wear a wig
Than run a motel 4 roaches, ants and lice
Dogs and cats in my hat

Hey, that's goin' 2 far
Here, give me the phone
Hey tramp, take a bath in puke
What's more, U can kiss where the sun don't shine
If that don't work, we can duke
U see, the only kinda man that would play with U
Is one that plays with himself
None of my friends could stand the sight of U
Much less the smell
And if I weren't a lady, I'd take my money
And buy U a brand new face
Then I'd take my underwear and stick it in your mouth
And U'd love it cuz U got no taste
And if that don't work, call back your dead daddy
And show him what U look like now
Honey, I'd bet he never come back
Cuz U one ugly cow (Ooh-wee)
Girl, U tell your boyfriend Jimmy he can go and get hit by a car
Cuz as far as I see it, he can't afford 2 bite the beat of this star
There's 2 things we can't stand
One's a jive talk man
The other's a jive talk man with no money
Can U dig it?
Click

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

made even funnier by the fact the "girl" answering sounds like a man (prince, i guess)

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"Doctor's Orders"!!

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Scanner!

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 09:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Pick yrself Up

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 09:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Sylvia's Mother-Doctor Hook

22, Going on 23 - Butthole Surfers

Track at the end of Arab Strap's 'Red Thread' Album, where Aidan leaves a message about a horrible party he's at.

The Aphex Twin one where his parents sing him Happy Birthday

The version of Yo La Tengo's Speeding Motorcycle where a fan sings it down the phone to a radio show while Yo La Tengo play along.

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't Thom Yorke's vocals on Sparklehorse's version of "Wish You Were Here" recorded over a phone line?

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Butthole Surfers again, "Waiting For Jimmy To Kick"
Sugarloaf, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" (No conversation - just the phone number of CBS' New York headquarters spelled out touch-tone style)

Kinda intriguing how these telephone-bits are more prevalent on hip-hop recordings than anywhere else...

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

James White and the Blacks - Stained Sheets
Beastie Boys - Cookie Puss
Green Velvet - Answering Machine
The Fall - Symbol of Mordgan

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 11 August 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

There's this Paperchase song from their first album that gets all quiet and has this answering machine message of this girl breaking up with somebody, talking for a minute or so, and then her call waiting beeps and she says "Oh hang on" and flips to the other line and then the music FREAKS OUT ALL LOUD for a while and then she flips back and the music gets quiet and creepy again. It's kind of disturbing.

― na (Nick A.), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"Long Gone" by Super Furry Animals, which fades out on an answerphone message from, I think, Rhys Ifans, clearly tripping out of his mind and not making a lot of sense.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

The version of Yo La Tengo's Speeding Motorcycle where a fan sings it down the phone to a radio show while Yo La Tengo play along.
That was Daniel Johnston, the songwriter!
There's a version of the Ramones "I Don't Wanna Rock Around With You" (also from a WMFU benefit show) that features Georgia's niece on (really really bad) vocals, but she was just a little kid so I guess it's forgivable.

The BEST and funniest phonecall song ever is, as sexyDancer mentioned, Green Velvet's "Answering Machine".

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

The Beastie Boys' 'Sure Shot' chorus by whatsisname (DJ Hurricane?) was sung down the phone line.

― Sasha (sgh), Thursday, 12 August 2004 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

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