Most "ahead of its time" song?

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My vote has to go for Raze's "Break 4 Love", or maybe Marrs' "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)"

What do you think?

― JTS, Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:13 (twenty years ago)

From your examples, I assume "ahead of its time" = "set the template for lots of future songs".

Therefore, something like "To Here Knows When" won't count, because nobody has really copied it (although this point is likely arguable)

Rhythm Is Rhythm -- It Is What It Is. The template for Detroit techno ever since.

Armando -- 100 % of Dissin You, Real Jazz. You could probably add another ten Armando tracks

Donna Summer -- I Feel Love.

Kraftwerk -- Trans Europe Express. This has to be the winner. They probably invented about three new genres with this one song.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago)

"Telstar" I think "Telstar" even invented Kraftwerk.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:40 (twenty years ago)

The Beatles - "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Big Star - "Kanga-Roo"
Joy Division - "She's Lost Control (12" Version)"

Kraftwerk and Donna Summer were good answers.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:41 (twenty years ago)

john cage - 4'33

― you will be shot (you will be shot), Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:46 (twenty years ago)

"john cage - 4'33"

Oh yes of course! Timeless!!!

― JTS, Saturday, 4 September 2004 20:53 (twenty years ago)

pretty things 'mr evasion' from 1968
................
my bloody valentine circa 1988.

the 1st song has MBV-like lyrics, melody, fuzzy guitar sound and drumming. check out the bit near the end of the song where it stops, and then slowly fades back in again, effects pedals blazing - it's pure valentines.

― rockstar, Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:09 (twenty years ago)

the whole of Histoire Du Melody Nelson!

― Gear! (Gear!), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:11 (twenty years ago)

Scott-OTM. Joe Meek owns this thread. Being ahead of their time doesn't make his records any less annoying, though.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:12 (twenty years ago)

joe meek and the blue men's i hear a new world.

although augustus alguero's gran premio does cram a heck of a lot in to a short space of time.

not sure wether to include laurence welk's zero zero although it does break all the cardinal rules of popular music. those being, kazoos, whistling, accordions and doo-doo-doo vocals all at the same time.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:17 (twenty years ago)

Any James Brown from the 60s.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:28 (twenty years ago)

'70s Miles to thread. Who said "Miles *is* the future?"

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:39 (twenty years ago)

It has to be Serge Gainsbourg's 'rap' Requiem Pour Un Con ... recordred in 1967, but sounds like Massive Attack.

― Jez (Jez), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:49 (twenty years ago)

"john cage - 4'33"

Oh yes of course! Timeless!!!

Yeah, this song hasn't aged a bit.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 4 September 2004 21:49 (twenty years ago)

"recordred in 1967, but sounds like Massive Attack"

Lots of stuff sounded like massive attack in 1967. have you ever heard any jamaican music?

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 4 September 2004 22:10 (twenty years ago)

I second James Brown ... that guy changed pop music at least twice.

― Chris O'Connor (Chris O'Connor), Saturday, 4 September 2004 22:13 (twenty years ago)

January by Pilot

― llenny, Saturday, 4 September 2004 22:55 (twenty years ago)

renegade soundwave - kray twins (predicted the banger, "grindin", specifically). well okay, maybe not "the most" then. we should have to include the time between the song and first generally accepted 'proper' incarnation of the thing it predicted. in my case 13 years: 1988 - 2001.

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:02 (twenty years ago)

kray twins prob sounds now even more like rephlex grime, so i can make the case for 16 years.

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:07 (twenty years ago)

Kraftwerk -- Trans Europe Express. This has to be the winner. They probably invented about three new genres with this one song.

don't let's forget the normal's "warm leatherette" -- which not only invented (at least) three new genres, but also gave birth to a number of different groups both literally (groups like depeche mode, on the mute records label established w/ the song's royalties) and figuratively.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:24 (twenty years ago)

the dub of Little Roy's "Hard Fighter"

― oops (Oops), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:35 (twenty years ago)

Does being "ahead of its time" make a record any "good"?

― Venga, Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:49 (twenty years ago)

"no."

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:51 (twenty years ago)

i never really thought of "break 4 love" as ahead of its time, though it DID stand out on the radio when it first came out (in 1988, i think?), what w/ those orgasmic moans and heavy breathing. i'm feeling pretty reminiscent for that song now ... maybe it's time to hie me hence to soulseek.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:56 (twenty years ago)

"Dub Be Good to Me"
"TVOD" (Hello electroclash.)
"Agitated" (by Cyclotron)
"30 Seconds Over Tokyo"/"Heart of Darness" (post-punk before even punk was invented)

― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, 5 September 2004 00:12 (twenty years ago)

Holger Czukay - Blessed Easter

― MATH BLASTER MYSTERY! (ex machina), Sunday, 5 September 2004 01:16 (twenty years ago)

the Monks invented banjocore

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 5 September 2004 01:17 (twenty years ago)

Question asks for single song..."Tomorrow Never Knows" is not a bad choice.

― Mark (MarkR), Sunday, 5 September 2004 02:58 (twenty years ago)

Black Sabbath - War Pigs.
No, really.

― Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 5 September 2004 03:13 (twenty years ago)

Silver Apples "Oscillations"

― EEL ECK TRAW NICK EVE OAK AY SHUNS, Sunday, 5 September 2004 04:23 (twenty years ago)

"Reflections" by The Supremes

― reo, Sunday, 5 September 2004 05:26 (twenty years ago)

I Feel Love

― Siegbran (eofor), Sunday, 5 September 2004 09:06 (twenty years ago)

"i never really thought of "break 4 love" as ahead of its time, though it DID stand out on the radio when it first came out (in 1988)"

No, it's older than that. It was released in 1987 on an underground label called "Grove Street Records". For me it's completely phenomenal for a song made in 1987.

Also, don't forget The Beat Club's "Security". Sounds typically late 90s, even though it was made in 1989.

― JTS, Sunday, 5 September 2004 11:05 (twenty years ago)

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (1990) -->
Schaffel-pop (2004)
= 14 years

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 5 September 2004 12:06 (twenty years ago)

If you want to make that comparison, Tim, then you could also say
Timelords -- Doctorin the Tardis (1988) -> Shaffel-pop (2004)
(and of course take it back further, to Gary Glitter)

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 5 September 2004 13:59 (twenty years ago)

Herbie Hancock: Rain Dance. Unlike some other artists playing with synthesizers around that time (1971/1972), Herbie and the band experiment with repetition and subtle variations; the lack of melody, the minimalism of the song and the particular sounds chosen make this song sound a lot like the experimental electronic music of today. You could put this track on a ~scape compilation and claim it's a new one, and not many eyebrows would rise.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 5 September 2004 14:15 (twenty years ago)

the crunch by the rah band. shaffel pop with moogs. and you can sing strict machine by goldfrapp along to it.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Sunday, 5 September 2004 14:41 (twenty years ago)

""Agitated" (by Cyclotron)"

You mean Electric Eels, right? Good choice.

I'd add Neu!'s "Hallogallo."

― Dave Segal (Da ve Segal), Sunday, 5 September 2004 16:41 (twenty years ago)

Raymond Scott did it all -- and he did it in the 1950s -- and it still sounds less dated than Kraftwerk or Herbie Hancock, fer gosh sakes.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Sunday, 5 September 2004 16:44 (twenty years ago)

The Doctor Who theme tune.

― Wooden (Wooden), Sunday, 5 September 2004 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Music that is spookily ahead of its time
Ahead of their time?

As I said there, Ananda Shankar's 'Jumpin Jack Flash'

Also, Space - 'Magic Fly'

Lots of old things sound very now to me, though it's as much to do with currently retro fashions as being 'ahead of their time' as such. Like Fox, or lots of the Ze Records stuff.

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 5 September 2004 17:19 (twenty years ago)

I'm saying "Personal Jesus" cos it literally could be made and released today. Gary Glitter is shuffle, sure, but it doesn't sound as totally *now* as PJ does ("Doctoring the Tardis" is a good suggestion though).

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:45 (twenty years ago)

Mission of Burma fucking owns this thread.

― Mike Copeland, Monday, 6 September 2004 05:31 (twenty years ago)

whys that

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 6 September 2004 05:33 (twenty years ago)

"in the year 2525" duh

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 05:34 (twenty years ago)

Because all of their songs sound new even today, despite being recorded over 22 years ago.

x post.

― Mike Copeland, Monday, 6 September 2004 05:39 (twenty years ago)

David Essex - "Rock On"

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 6 September 2004 05:47 (twenty years ago)

"Gary Glitter is shuffle, sure, but it doesn't sound as totally *now* as PJ does ("Doctoring the Tardis" is a good suggestion though)."

Maybe Gary Glitter's "Rock & Roll Part II" doesn't sound 100% *now*. Try the Human League's cover instead -in a medley where they also play "Nightclubbing", the other missing link between Glitter and Kompakt.

― Diego Valladolid (dvalladt), Monday, 6 September 2004 05:58 (twenty years ago)

Because all of their songs sound new even today, despite being recorded over 22 years ago.

x post.

considering the title of the thread thats a bit of a tautology, but ok. i'm not trying to rag on Mission of Burma, I like them. i'd just like to know why anyone thinks they'd be ahead of their time especially given how Pere Ubu was already mentioned. what qualities (that Pere Ubu didn't have) make them ahead of their time? Maybe the earlier janglier stuff was a few years ahead of it's time, but there were other us post punk acts doing similar stuff. There is a difference between something you might think is done really well and something thats ahead of its time and I think MoB falls into the former camp for the most part. but someone please prove me wrong.

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 6 September 2004 06:09 (twenty years ago)

'born under punches' /'the great curve' / 'once in a lifetime' =
recorded twenty five *years* ago.

twenty..five...YEARS!!!

apologies but my current fixation means that every reply to every thread will tend 2 involve talking heads at the moment.

― piscesboy, Monday, 6 September 2004 11:04 (twenty years ago)

"At Home He's A Tourist," Gang of Four

― milaca, Monday, 6 September 2004 11:06 (twenty years ago)

Metal Boys, "Suspenders in the Park"
not nec. the vox themselves, maybe, but the overall sound fer real. very proto-techy or something.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Monday, 6 September 2004 14:45 (twenty years ago)

has anyone mentioned "Aumgn" by Can? Or fuck it, how about "Bel Air" or something off of Future Days -- swirling ambient synths and propulsive drumming.

― MATH BLASTER MYSTERY! (ex machina), Monday, 6 September 2004 15:07 (twenty years ago)

that theremin shit

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 6 September 2004 15:33 (twenty years ago)

Skip James' "I'm So Glad" from 1931--Beefheart, Byrds,all sortsa avant-guitar moves here.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 6 September 2004 17:59 (twenty years ago)

all the old blues players are way ahead of clapton and page and jack white and the like. none of them stuck so strictly to the "blues form" as most modern guitar players do. charley patton and son house are way out there.

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Monday, 6 September 2004 18:08 (twenty years ago)

right.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 6 September 2004 18:12 (twenty years ago)

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