do do doodoo, do do doodo.... WHAT influenced this SONG?!

April 2, 2015 9:03 PM

"No More Shoes" by Steve Malkmus clearly has a strong 70's influence. Husband and I have been trying to figure this out for an hour. Can any Mefites save the day?

It's definitely not the Police, or Fleetwood Mac, or Lou Reed. The song I'm thinking of starts exactly as the one by Steve Malkmus, with a male vocalist and an airy, minimalist, moody quality to it. It's similar to Fleetwood Mac's, but sounds more progressiv-rock-y. Toto? America? Doobie Brothers? Allman Brothers? Other-brothers-I-don't-know-about?

posted by onecircleaday to Media & Arts (30 answers total)

Todd Rundgren?
posted by calgirl at 9:10 PM on April 2, 2015

Rhiannon
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:12 PM on April 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

I can only hear the MASH theme song.
posted by peep at 9:16 PM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Nope, Rhiannon isn't it. It's a male vocalist.
posted by onecircleaday at 9:18 PM on April 2, 2015

What tempo would you say it is? About the same as Malkmus? Faster? Slower?
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:23 PM on April 2, 2015

Response by poster: Same tempo as Malkmus' - he stripped it down to vocals and guitar only, but the one in my head is more dense in terms of the sound, if that makes any sense. It's really close to Rhiannon, but has more of a progressive rock sound.
posted by onecircleaday at 9:28 PM on April 2, 2015

Alan Parsons Project?
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:40 PM on April 2, 2015

Response by poster: Iris - Nope, not Alan Parsons (I don't think). Too poppy.
posted by onecircleaday at 9:46 PM on April 2, 2015

Emerson Lake & Palmer?
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 9:52 PM on April 2, 2015

I hear a CCR rhythm during the solo break.
I hear CSN (and Radiohead) in some of the vocals.
posted by artdrectr at 9:57 PM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Possibly Emersn, Lake & Palmer, but not that song.
posted by onecircleaday at 9:58 PM on April 2, 2015

Sounds like Steely Dan to me. A bit of Hey Nineteen and maybe some Deacon Blues. orShow Biz Kids
posted by Zedcaster at 9:59 PM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

The guitar sounds like Steely Dan of Hey Nineteen or Deacon Blues. The singing is Supertramp from Breakfast in America. But you could also claim The Beatles.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:25 PM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I second artdrectr - it reminds me of Crosby stills & Nash
posted by gt2 at 10:43 PM on April 2, 2015

I kind of thing it sounds like a stoned-out "Don't Fear the Reaper," actually. (And Pavement, haha.)
posted by cannibalrobot at 11:01 PM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Imagine the doo doo's as flute and it could be Jethro Tull (maybe not that particular song).
posted by h00py at 11:09 PM on April 2, 2015

Going off Calgirl's answer, it's not I Saw The Light?
posted by solarion at 11:59 PM on April 2, 2015

I thought of Cat Stevens right off the bat but towards the end I was reminded of Marc Bolan from T. Rex.
posted by Beti at 12:44 AM on April 3, 2015

it reminds me of Trafffic
posted by thelonius at 12:53 AM on April 3, 2015

It sounds a lot like Midlake's Roscoe to me, down to the 'ooooh, oooohooooh' around :54. Which also sounds like a lot of the other influences mentioned.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:27 AM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Doo Doo Dooooo reminds me of a slower and less campy version of the theme to the banana splits. Which I think was ripped from the bridge of Bob Marleys' Buffalo Soldier.

From the ridiculous to the sublime.

Oh and almost anything Todd Rundgren, especially the vocals.

Don't judge me man. I am one of the stoopid posters.
posted by moonlily at 2:23 AM on April 3, 2015

Man, there's a lotta 70s going on here. Off the top of my head, I hear Steely Dan, CCR, and Peter Frampton and... lots more. I'm going to have to listen to it again...
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 3:05 AM on April 3, 2015

I love this record. I couldn't stop listening to it when it was first released. Thank you for bringing it back into my hectic life. I think it's equal to the very best of Pavement. Anyway, the guitars and structure remind me a lot of "Marquee Moon" era Television (but not the vocals), Can, and "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" era Neil Young. It's wonderful; sounds a little like maybe you heard it before; but it's completely new at the same time--like almost all of the very best music.
posted by dashDashDot at 3:45 AM on April 3, 2015

Your description (70s male higher pitched voiced, prog rocky, airy, dense sound) and the first biy of the sample remind me very much of Yes. But I can't come up with a song...
posted by chasles at 4:09 AM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think it's like a lot of Pavement songs where the first time you hear it it's like you've known it forever. It reminds you of itself.
posted by whuppy at 6:42 AM on April 3, 2015

I definitely think it is the opening of Don't Fear the Reaper plus another song I can't put my finger on. Guess I'll have to listen to it twenty more times until I figure it out.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 6:49 AM on April 3, 2015

It isn't any exact, specific song that you can point to as influence (or theft of). The song is more of a mish-mash of bits and pieces off almost everything others have mentioned, as well as others, and re-formed into something that sounds familiar but isn't.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:07 AM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think it sounds like Yes, as well.
posted by feste at 7:25 AM on April 3, 2015

Gonna go with Traffic, Rainmaker. From Low Spark...
posted by Bron at 7:48 AM on April 4, 2015

For some reason I can't explain, listening to this song has gotten "Sarah" by Fleetwood Mac stuck in my head.

(Sorry for suggesting FM, but I thought it may lead somewhere).
posted by 4ster at 7:16 PM on April 5, 2015