View Full Version : Tracks That Reference Hi-Fi
Been a while since we've had one of my random/pointless playlist threads... :eyebrows:
I was listening to this track the other day - Hooverphonic - 50 Watt - which references an Amplifier in the lyrics:
"Emotional amplifier
50 watts of pure desire
Electrified intense luck
Exploded fuse sets the heart on fire
As if we cut the wrong black wire
Intensified adrenaline bluff"
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(Sorry - a long introduction - kicks in at around 1m 20s)
Got me thinking if there are any other tracks that reference hi-fi - the only one I've thought of so far is Billy Joel - It's Still Rock and Roll To Me ("Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers, You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers.")
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So - over to you - are there any more hi-fi references in music??? :)
Of course there's Cliff's wonderful 'Wired for sound' :D
Stretching it a bit - Billy Bremner's 'Loud music in cars'
Speakers on the ceiling
Speakers in the door
Speakers in the dashboard
Speakers on the floor
Loud music in cars, loud music in cars
Every day, every place I go, loud music in cars
Everywhere the four winds blow, loud music in cars
Of course there's Cliff's wonderful 'Wired for sound' :D
:doh: Why did I not think of that one! :lol:
Floyd - Money
"I'm in the hi-fi-delity first class traveling set
and I think I need a Lear Jet"
Two tracks from the Presidents of the USA leap immediately to mind.
Volcano (lyrics here (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/presidents_of_the_united_states_of_america/volcano.html))
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And 'Toob Amplifier (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/presidentsoftheunitedstatesofamerica/toobamplifier.html)'
Excellent stuff, thanks chaps! :thumbsup:
Two off the top of my head:
Alan Jackson "Right on the Money":
"Like my favorite song on a new set of speakers"
Neil Young "Driftin' Back":
"Don't want my MP3...
When you hear my song now
you only get 5 percent
you used to get it all..."
The Grand Wazoo
08-03-2013, 19:21
Hey, hey, welcome back, mad Alex the thread starter!!
ZZ Top - 'HiFi Mama' (on Deguello)
I want your hi fi mama, won't you let me play it tonight?
I want your hi fi mama, won't you let me play it tonight?
I put the needle in the groove, baby while you douse the lights
I play it on your dresser, play it upside your wall
I play it in your kitchen, even play it in your hall
I play it anywhere you want it, any old time at all
Hi fi, lo fi, no fi's just fine with me, hi fi, lo fi, no fi's just fine with me
And if you want to give me stereo, first give me vitamin E
I got your name and your number
Good night, my darling, where ever you are
Steely Dan - 'FM'
The girls don't seem to care tonight
As long as the mood is right.
No static at all,
No static at all,
No static at all.
FM, no static at all
Still on FM:
Rush - 'Spirit of the Radio' on Permanent Waves
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antenna bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty.
Colorblind James Experience - 'Hi-Fi Alphabet (from 'Why Should I Stand Up?')
He said, "I finally wrote my book
It's called "The HiFi Alphabet""
I asked him what it was about
He hasn't figured that out yet
Beck - 'Where It's At' from 'Odelay'
Where it's at!
I got two turntables and a microphone
Where it's at!
Feeder - 'Buck Rogers'
He's got a brand new car
Looks like a Jaguar
It's got leather seats
It's got a CD player (player, player, player...)
Suede - 'HiFi' (on 'Head Music')
Hi-fi in the white city, yeah yeah
Hi-fi in the white city, yeah yeah
Hi-fi in the white city, yeah yeah
Hi-fi in the white city, yeah yeah
Crackin' stuff, eh?!
Top job there Chris - knew I could rely on you! :)
Can't get all of them on Spotify but here's a start...
http://open.spotify.com/user/alex_steel1969/playlist/0y98NWVrbAUL4SrjFDzCmL
The Grand Wazoo
08-03-2013, 19:57
Ooh-Ooh there's more!
The Clash - 'What's My Name'
Dad got pissed so I got clocked
Couldn't hear the Tannoy so he lost the lot
Offers Mum a bribe through the letter box
Del Amitri - 'Nothing Ever Happens'
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
Robert Johnson had it cracked though, way back in 1936
'Phonograph Blues'
Beatrice got a phonograph, and it won't say a lonesome word
Beatrice got a phonograph, and it won't say a lonesome word
What evil have I done, what evil has the poor girl heard
Beatrice, I love my phonograph, but you broke my windin' chain
Beatrice, I love my phonograph, but you have broke my windin' chain
And you taken my lovin', and you give it to your other man
And we played it on the sofa, and we played it side the wall
And we played it on the sofa, and we played it side the wall
But boys, my needles have got rusty, and it will not play at all
Beatrice, I love my phonograph mmm, babe and I'm bound to lose my mind
Beatrice, I love my phonograph, and I'm 'bout to lose my mind
Why'n't you bring your clothes back home, baby, and try me one more time
Now my phonograph, mmm, babe, it won't say a lonesome word
My little phonograph, and it won't say a lonesome word
What evil I have done, what evil have the poor girl heard
Now Beatrice, won't you bring your clothes back home
Now Beatrice, won't you bring your clothes back home
I wanna wind your little phonograph, just to hear your little motor moan
Ali Tait
08-03-2013, 20:21
"Mechanical Means" by Tantra Remixed.
Opening line -
" This sound is not brought to you via mechanical means, instead, it originates as a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube"
Quite apt if you're using a glass amp.
The Grand Wazoo
08-03-2013, 20:31
Have we made a complete system yet?
Not quite - we need some cabling:
Athlete - 'Wires'
You got wires, going in
You got wires, coming out....
I see what you did there! :lol:
electric beach
09-03-2013, 09:24
Georgie Fame - Vinyl
The lyrics are too good, hear for yourself. It's a tribute to Georgie's local record shop, Ray's, when it closed despite his public support.
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Blue Nile -
The wires are down
The wires are down
Nothing works here any more...
10CC - "The Worst band In The World"
Here we are together on your HiFi
A little piece of plastic with a hole - Woah!
FADE ME
Fade me
Fade me
'Turn that jungle music down/ just until we're out of town'
Steely Dan - 'Babylon Sisters'
And jungle music hadn't even been invented in 1979 showing just how far ahead of the curve the Dan were.:eyebrows:
'Put another dime in the jukebox, baby'
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
What was that Flanders & Swann song about the HiFi enthusiast ("Push-pull input output........ What are you left with? FLUTTER ON YOUR BOTTOM!). Can't remember the rest of it.
Got it -
Flanders: This is a song of reproduction.
Both: I had a little gramophone,
I'd wind it round and round.
And with a sharpish needle,
It made a cheerful sound.
And then they amplified it,
It was much louder then.
And used sharpened fibre needles,
To make it soft again.
Today for reproduction,
I'm as eager as can be.
Count me among the faithful fans,
Of high fidelity.
High fidelity,
Hi-Fi's the thing for me.
With an LP disk and an FM set,
And a corner reflex cabinet.
High frequency range,
Complete with auto-change.
Flanders: All the highest notes neither sharp nor flat,
Swann: The ear can't hear as high as that.
Flanders: Still, I ought to please any passing bat,
Swann: With my high fidelity.
Flanders: Who made this circuit up for you, anyway? Bought it in a shop? Oooh, what a horrible shoddy job they fobbed you off with with.
Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway, the acoustics are all wrong. If you raise the ceiling four feet... put the fireplace from that wall to that wall... you'll still only get the stereophonic effect if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard.
I see... I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with your push-pull-input-output. Take that across through your redded pickup to your tweeter, if you're modding more than eight, you're going to get wow on your top. Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom!
Both: High fidelity,
Flanders: FFRR for me.
Both: I've an opera here that you shan't escape,
On miles and miles of recording tape.
High decimal gain,
Is easy to obtain.
Flanders: With the tone control at a single touch,
Swann: Bel canto sounds like double Dutch.
Both: But I never did care for music much,
It's the high fidelity!
Flanders: This is perhaps a good moment to explain that we don't normally have these things standing around here, but tonight they are recording this - stereophonically, in fact - for posterity. So wherever you're sitting now, that's where you'll be on the record.
Sit up nice and straight. Any of you feel like rolling in the aisles or being carried out helpless with mirth, this is a jolly good night to do it! Do you want to say hello to posterity?
Swann: Hello!
Flanders: Hello, Posterity! If we sort of move around a bit, they'll use it for demonstration purposes.
The Grand Wazoo
09-03-2013, 10:32
It was called 'A Song of Reproduction'
'Hi -Fidelity'
The Kids from Fame. I don't recall the lyrics except that they said 'Hi Fidelity' a lot.
The Grand Wazoo
09-03-2013, 10:35
I had a little gramophone,
I'd wind it round and round.
And with a sharpish needle,
It made a cheerful sound.
And then they amplified it,
It was much louder then.
And used sharpened fibre needles,
To make it soft again.
Today for reproduction,
I'm as eager as can be.
Count me among the faithful fans,
Of high fidelity.
High fidelity,
Hi-Fi's the thing for me.
With an LP disk and an FM set,
And a corner reflex cabinet.
High frequency range,
Complete with auto-change.
All the highest notes neither sharp nor flat,
The ear can't hear as high as that.
Still, I ought to please any passing bat,
With my high fidelity.
Who made this circuit up for you, anyway? Bought it in a shop? Oooh, what a horrible shoddy job they fobbed you off with with.
Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway, the acoustics are all wrong. If you raise the ceiling four feet... put the fireplace from that wall to that wall... you'll still only get the stereophonic effect if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard.
I see... I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with your push-pull-input-output. Take that across through your reeded pickup to your tweeter, if you're modding more than eight, you're going to get wow on your top. Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom!
High fidelity,
FFRR for me.
I've an opera here that you shan't escape,
On miles and miles of recording tape.
High decimal gain,
Is easy to obtain.
With the tone control at a single touch,
Bel canto sounds like double Dutch.
But I never did care for music much,
It's the high fidelity!
This is perhaps a good moment to explain that we don't normally have these things standing around here, but tonight they are recording this - stereophonically, in fact - for posterity. So wherever you're sitting now, that's where you'll be on the record.
Sit up nice and straight. Any of you feel like rolling in the aisles or being carried out helpless with mirth, this is a jolly good night to do it! Do you want to say hello to posterity?
Hello!
Hello, Posterity! If we sort of move around a bit, they'll use it for demonstration purposes.
Well worth repeating for all the youngsters here :lol:
The Grand Wazoo
09-03-2013, 10:45
Yes & this bit is still worryingly true with some folks:
But I never did care for music much,
It's the high fidelity!
Top work everyone - almost as successful as "Great Tracks Featuring... Ping-Pong Balls! (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12534)" and we haven't yet degenerated into smut - although I expect there's still time! :lol:
Yes & this bit is still worryingly true with some folks:
Beat me to it Chris. Well done!
I'll think I'll play that Flanders & Swan track now. :lol:
These things just pop in your head sometimes...
How about Bush - Letting the Cables Sleep ?:)
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Great song, the N.O.W. Remix is superb too, from Café Del Mar 7
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Peter Hammill 'Two or Three Spectres'
"Sod the music," said the man in the suit,
"I understand profit and without that, it's no use.
Why don't you go away and write commercial songs;
come back in three years, that shouldn't be too long..."
He's a joker and an acrobat,
a record exec. in a Mayfair flat
with Altec speakers wall to wall,
a Radford and a Revox and through it all he plays
strictly nowhere Muzak.
Springsteen - Your favourite record's on the turntable, I drop the needle and pray (Mary's Place)
Beck. - I've got two turntables and a microphone (Where it's At)
Adam & the Ants - Turn off the jukebox, and do us all a favour (Ant Music)
....... spring to mind.
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