Whisper? Whistle? Yodel? Hum?

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So this summer we've got the Ying Yang Twins whispering and Juelz Santana doing it with a whistle. My question (and it's kind of a convoluted one) is what pop precedents there are for this use of novelty human-produced sounds as production elements. Obviously there's the whole legacy of yodelling, and the Slim Whitman sort of whistling, but I'm particularly interested in cases where these sounds are used not so much as part of the lead singer's performance but as embedded texture on which the song is built, almost like an instrument. (Wait [The Whisper Song] is both, I would argue.) There are a few cases such as Bjork's last album where this is the whole point, but that's not really in a pop way (though experimental examples are good for context). The only standout example I can think of before now is beatboxing. Others?

(Also - hi everybody - I semi-lurk semi-regularly, and occasionally pop my head up in discussion. Carl, in Toronto, music crit, proprieter of blog zoilus.com.)

― carl w (carl w), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

If I remember right, 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" is built entirely out of vocal samples.

― Anti-Pope Consortium (noodle vague), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)

One avenue to think about that someone suggested to me is doo-wop - cooing, trilling, groaning as rhythm-texture in the background vocals there. But he didn't have a specific example.

― carl w (carl w), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

Or you could go the opposite route of monosyllabic samples - from the fake-soul "Unnh!" that used to come with every Casio keyboard to, I don't know, the odd exclamation of "Tuna!" or "Tulip!" (to my ears, at least) that occurs on the fifth beat of every measure in Smashing Pumpkins' "1979."

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and - hi Carl!

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

the odd exclamation of "Tuna!" or "Tulip!" (to my ears, at least) that occurs on the fifth beat of every measure in Smashing Pumpkins' "1979."

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

i always thought it was "tuna fish!"

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Go listen to it right now. Tell me I'm wrong.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

I'm just not sure what you mean! is it that weird ethereal voice-sounding noise in the background of the song? it just never occurred to me that it was saying anything, and certainly not "tuna".

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

yeah, it's that noise.
and btw, welcome to ilx carl! post more!

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

That is just a noise, it is not saying "tuna" or "tomb raider" or "turtle power" or any such thing, I PROMISE.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 3 August 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

I think it's cruel of you to disillusion people who think random exclamations of "Tuna fish!" are happening in a song. I don't care whether it is true or untrue. I choose to believe.

Thanks for the suggestions, those of you who've spoken up. A few others that have occurred/been suggested to me:

"Toot toot, ah beep beep" background vocal/hook in Bad Girls.
Heavy-breathing textures in Erykah Badu's "I Want You."
Amy Rigby track where the high-hat part is actually a vocal sample.
"Huh-ho" - that's the sound of the gang working on the Chain Gang.
various Spike Jones tracks
Laurie Anderson huh-huh-huh-huh on O Superman
George Benson singing along with his own guitar solos...

These aren't all OTM but they make nice curlicues around the not-quite-defined subject...

(PS - Thanks, Fetchboy!)

― carl w (carl w), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

Yello - Oh Yeah

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:23 (twenty years ago)

What's that one Yaz song on Upstairs With Eric?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:24 (twenty years ago)

What about stuff like "Papa Oom Mow Mow"? I guess the lead vocal doesn't sing over the top of the vocal hook-part, but if I remember, it had a lot to do with the "fabric" of the song.

― Pangolino 2, Friday, 5 August 2005 01:33 (twenty years ago)

The overlaid vocal tracks on Amerie's "1 Thing" almost achieve this definition. But not quite.

(Carl - Met you at the EMP Pop Conf, it was great talking with you there!)

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:39 (twenty years ago)

Sorry I can't think of a title offhand, but I'm sure something by Danielle Dax will fit very well here.

― Pangolino 2, Friday, 5 August 2005 01:42 (twenty years ago)

xpost

Oh yeah. Trashmen - Surfer Bird! Totally.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:42 (twenty years ago)

"drop it like it's hot" tongue clicks

― plain ol' jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 5 August 2005 01:45 (twenty years ago)

Lali Puna's "Faking the Books" is built around a stuttering vocal sample.

― Jeremy (Jeremy), Friday, 5 August 2005 02:23 (twenty years ago)

la la love you by the pixies?

― gem (trisk), Friday, 5 August 2005 02:26 (twenty years ago)

five years pass...

as good a thread as any fr this. gorgeous, cosmic shit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH64weKPF60

― bear, bear, bear, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 14:29 (fourteen years ago)

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