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OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - Printable Version

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OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - SUBuddha - 09-09-2015

Ok so I was 8 songs in and lost my data a few minutes ago, I am starting over.

Today I had to take the petrol guzzling truck instead of the MC due to weather (or whether if you are one of my students and do not know the difference) and a need buy some things from the store that my backpack could not hold. When I drive a vehicle with a radio I listen to what is now called "sportstalk radio". Dan Patrick had a segment today on the most recognizable songs of all time. Mrs. Buddha and I talked about it and I decided that this would be a nice exercise to distract the board from the hand wringing and lamenting of the last few days.

All of that said, here are the 10 most recognizable songs to the two of us. These are songs that in the first few seconds get us amped up and primed to sing along. I admit these songs tell a lot about us, our age, and out musical interest.

#1: A song from a band I have seen live 4 times an one that always makes me want to do the snake dance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w7OgIMMRc4

#2: My ring tone and the song that my kids instantly "throw the horns up" to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM

#3: Another song my kids know by the opening riff, and if you listen to it, you have to admire Bonham at about:32 in just being angry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mln0RciE2o0

#4: A song my brother used to play over and over again, from perhaps the ugliest band ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auLBLk4ibAk

#5: A song that reminds me of all things freshman year in Lag:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOFTTMhf4Ys

#6: I love this band and the Kinks, I truly dislike the "Stones", I have other songs from them I like better but I agree with DP that whether it is the Beatles or Motley Crue the opening riff here/lyrics let you know it is time to lip-sync in your car for all you are worth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWuXmfgXVxY

#7: Most of you will not know this version of this song, if you know the song at all, but it was my anthem in HS and my "pump up" song for football and the downhill all through high school:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u-HCHCuHMg

#8: I said I have seen this band a few time, and to me, when I hear that scream I am ready to sing along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg

#9: Despite only being in my 40's this song is still one that makes me smile. I mean if you and a your father ever had a tough time, this is the song for you. Besides, if you here the first riff you know the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c

#10: Mrs. Buddha hates this song, but it is one of my all time favorites. Keep in mind, when I hear the fist riff I know I am about to have fun or get angry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkFqg5wAuFk




Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - BostonCard - 09-09-2015

When you said "most recognizable opening to a song", my immediate thought was "I want my MTV", the opening to Dire Straights' Money for Nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD6Obi7Cag

By the way, a little bit of trivia on that song and its opening.  Sting collects a royalty every time the song is played, because it is his voice uttering "I want my MTV".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_for_Nothing_(song)

BC

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - SUBuddha - 09-09-2015

That was one that the "Danettes" mentioned. It is one I recognize but does little for me, hence the exercise.

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - BostonCard - 09-09-2015

Haha, what was Dan's list?

I hadn't read the "get us amped up and primed to sing along", and I agree the opening, while super recognizable, doesn't exactly get one pumped immediately.  I've always liked the drum buildup, but the true opening starts with the guitar riff at 30 seconds, which is probably a better "get us amped and primed to sing along" than the longish buildup to it.

Other super recognizable openings that I thought of:

Eye of the Tiger (technically you have to wait 10 seconds for the recognizable riff)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4

Definitely meets the "amped up" criteria.


Start me Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGyOaCXr8Lw

Dancing Queen (might fail on the amped up, but eminently recognizable)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s

Smells Like Teen Spirit (and I don't even love Nirvana, but you can't mistake the opening)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg

Back in Black (I figure you would appreciate this one)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

Seven Nation Army

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY

But the single most recognizable set of notes to open a song belongs to Ludwig van Bethoven... Symphony Number 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2WJMVPQi8

The BBC had a nice recording during their Beethoven week describing the opening (it was a free to download MP3, but was only available for a limited time).  While romantics want to say that the notes refer to "fate knocking at the door", apparently Bethoven modeled the opening after the cry of the Yellowhammer bird.

BC

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - Spiny_Norman - 09-09-2015

(09-09-2015, 10:33 PM)Boston Card link Wrote:But the single most recognizable set of notes to open a song belongs to Ludwig van Bethoven... Symphony Number 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2WJMVPQi8

The BBC had a nice recording during their Beethoven week describing the opening (it was a free to download MP3, but was only available for a limited time).  While romantics want to say that the notes refer to "fate knocking at the door", apparently Beethoven modeled the opening after the cry of the Yellowhammer bird.

BC

Apropos of nothing other than my trivial nature, one of my favorite factoids involves the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th.  The form of those notes - short short short long - is also the Morse code for the letter V which coincidentally in Roman numerals is 5. 

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - Papa John - 09-09-2015

Sometimes folks need less than a half-second to name-that-tune:

http://music.psych.cornell.edu/articles/popmusic/Thin_slices_of_music.pdf

NB: This is empirical research, so some folks may wish to stop at the abstract.

Some adds - BostonCard - 09-09-2015

Pride (in the name of love)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY

(A number of U2 songs would make the list, including Mysterious Ways, One, Even Better than the Real Thing, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...)


Let's get it on (might get you amped up for something else with Mrs. Buddah)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QZn9xiuOE


Van Halen's Jump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM


Stairway to Heaven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcL---4xQYA

Hotel California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyy4yaVwsv0

I would say Under Pressure by Queen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWdLt3Afjrg

But you might confuse it with Vanilla Ice's epic "Ice Ice Baby"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE

NOT!

Dream On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU44W5W9lqg

Also could have picked Walk this Way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UFFa1HbFfA

Do I Wanna Know (perhaps helped by the fact that it was appropriated by a Bacardi commercial)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM

Dammit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT0g16_LQaQ

Personal Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xrNaTO1bI

When I Come Around

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8dh9gDzmz8

Ready Steady Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGMwmY_RaRI

Roxanne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ

(could also have gone with Every Breath You Take)

Losing My Religeon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw

How Soon Is Now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEq8DBxm0J4

And of course, the number one amp it up immediately recognizable song of all times (at least for Stanford fans):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gatKjUgcOhA&list=RDgatKjUgcOhA

BC

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - ThePassionOfTheChryst - 09-10-2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siMFORx8uO8


Oops, BC beat me to it


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9tKwSboJeg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9j6DE6RnSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFyc5K2u3eU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQ8N1KacJc

I could have gone an entirely different direction but I decided to keep the lyrics G-rated

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - BostonCard - 09-10-2015

(09-10-2015, 12:30 AM)ThePassionOfTheChryst link Wrote:I could have gone an entirely different direction but I decided to keep the lyrics G-rated

Reminded me...

Closer, by Nine Inch Nails [Definitely not G-rate lyrics]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFwQP86BRs

Very recognizable first few seconds.  I used to hate that song, but it has since grown on me in a major way.

BC

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - OutsiderFan - 09-10-2015

I'm probably the only one here other than Buddha who knows that version of Am I Evil, and probably the only one here for whom Metallica is their favorite band of all time, slightly ahead of Rush and Zeppelin.

That said, here's my most recognizable song.  I know this in less than a second...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx86CxKYtg0

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - CTcard - 09-10-2015

(09-09-2015, 11:08 PM)Spiny_Norman link Wrote:Apropos of nothing other than my trivial nature, one of my favorite factoids involves the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th.  The form of those notes - short short short long - is also the Morse code for the letter V which coincidentally in Roman numerals is 5.

While not exactly as karmicly fitting as musically announcing itself as the Fifth Symphony, I understand that the opening notes as morse code V is not something anybody who lived through WWII could forget (at least in an allied country). As in V for Victory. While that demographic does not include me, it is something my mother stressed to me many times. 


Of course Beethoven didn't plan it, as morse code was developed a few years after Beethoven wrote the music. Perhaps Messrs. Morse and Vail were music lovers.


Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - FarmBoy - 09-10-2015

How can you this not have already been included:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-E-LDc384

As cocky teenagers, my brother and I challenged my dad to a music recognition dual. We pulled CDs from each of our separate collections (ours mostly indy rock, pop, classic rock and his classical) and we would randomly select a track. We then timed how quickly the listener could guess the artist, album and song. True, we beat him from a quantitative standpoint, but we were stunned at how quickly he could identify what sounded to us like fairly nondescript notes in some instances. And his collection was several hundred CDs in size while ours was probably ~100. And for added difficult he would recollect who was the conductor and what orchestra, especially hard when he would have multiple recordings of the same symphony. If I recall correctly, we averaged ~5 seconds to name the tune and he took ~10 seconds.

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - SUBuddha - 09-10-2015

Farmboy-

Here is a fun cover of that one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EB5a_08fpc

I am with Outsider on this, I have worked stage security for Metallica 6 times in the last 25 years, they are by far my favorite heavy metal band.  Good call on unchained as well.

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - Mick - 09-10-2015

Most recognizable opening of all time and literally my first memory.  Satisfaction, by the Stones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a7cHPy04s8

Train in Vain, the Clash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Yl4ehzX-o

HOW could you miss Derek and the Dominoes' and Eric Clapton?  LAYLA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUdlaLWSVM

Barracuda, by Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4nWy8pmIM4

The Romantics, What I Like About You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqnw5IfbZOU

These are the songs that pop into my head.  I can name any of them after I hear the first 2-3 notes.

BTW, I walked into our family room five years ago and saw young Mick listening to Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle."  I must have had a horrified look on my face, because he started laughing and said "Don't worry Dad, I just like the song, it's not a statement."

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - CTcard - 09-10-2015

(09-10-2015, 09:52 AM)Mick link Wrote:BTW, I walked into our family room five years ago and saw young Mick listening to Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle."  I must have had a horrified look on my face, because he started laughing and said "Don't worry Dad, I just like the song, it's not a statement."

Yeah, my seven year old seems to have decided he likes that song.

It's a touch scary to me in that it seems too close to describing my father and I over the years - and something I am swearing not to continue to the next generation. Fortunately, at the age of seven it appears to just be a catchy tune to junior.

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - Hulk01 - 09-10-2015

For God's sakes people, forget all this nonsense: What do your ears tell you?

My votes for the most recognizable single opening note:  The famous riddle opening to Hard Day's Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWbiVqlSMgc

The most recognizable opening two notes:  Satisfaction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a7cHPy04s8

A finalist on in the three note competition: Time. by The Chambers Brothers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHfB63ln1Ig&list=RDuHfB63ln1Ig#t=8

I've written about that Beatles' opening, excerpted here from Psychology Today:

"And then there's Hard Day's Night's opening note. For over 40 years, it was one of music's great mysteries.

"How did the Beatles do that?

"For almost 46 years, musicians tried to duplicate that opening note by combining George Harrison's Rickenbacker 12-string guitar with John Lennon's six-string and Paul McCartney's bass. They failed.

"But in 2010 a mathematician, of all odd people, took a shot.

"Rather than grab three guitars, he picked up a yellow pad and felt pen and performed a calculation called a Fourier transform. From it, he deduced a fourth instrument was involved, likely played by George Martin, the Beatles's producer: a piano striking an F note on a piano.

"But that opening note was so surprising, and without precedent, that it took over 45 years, and a formula that includes the sequence f(x)e-2∏ix∑, to explain it."



Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - winflop - 09-10-2015

Star Wars theme...

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - fullmetal - 09-10-2015

The Star Trek, Knight Rider, Halo (game), and Mario Bros. (game) themes as well.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy
Beethoven - Fur Elise
Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Mendelssohn - Wedding March
Wagner - Bridal Chorus
Schubert - Ave Maria

Are we talking recognizable as in people would know the names to these songs?  Because if we mean recognizable as in very unique, then I could throw in a few more blues songs :)

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - thunder_chik - 09-11-2015

I nominate "Come Join the Band", which sadly is no longer played by the LSJUMB.

Re: OT: Most recognizable opening 3 seconds to a song. - thunder_chik - 09-11-2015

(09-11-2015, 06:44 AM)garvin link Wrote:The Red Vest Band plays it sometimes at basketball games.

Glad to hear that.  At the 2014 Rose Bowl, the Michigan State Band played it during pregame.  Classy.