Comments on: Ba-duh-ba-duh-duh, ba-da-ba, ba-duh-ba-duh-duh, ba-da-ba...

Question: Ba-duh-ba-duh-duh, ba-da-ba, ba-duh-ba-duh-duh, ba-da-ba...

chrominance — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:03:05 -0800

Name that song! Half-remembered music sample and...

As mentioned earlier in the Song Tapper thread on the blue, I'm looking for a very elusive song. Details: it sounds like Motown/60s to me, but I can't find it on any of the Motown collections I've listened to via Amazon. Big, bright song with a loud trumpet/brass sound to it, with a main female vocalist and a backing group of singers.

This is the melody I remember from the chorus (53kb MP3). That part's actually played by the mass of trumpets, not a piano. You may have to transpose to a different key in your head; I think I've heard it in two different keys myself.

Solve this and you will have solved a mystery that has lasted for many years.

By: mdeatherage

mdeatherage — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:18:44 -0800

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Am I The Same Girl?, linked here to iTunes and the Swing Out Sister recording, but done first by Dusty Springfield.

It's the theme to Martha Stewart's daily show, Martha, so you may have heard it on commercials lately without even realizing it.

By: aberrant

aberrant — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:21:38 -0800

mdeatherage, that's it in the background there, but man - I'm going crazy myself because I swear it's in another song as well.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:43:27 -0800

Gee, didn't Chuck Magione (or Herp Albet) do something like this? Ba da, ba da dat, ba da da daDat, ba da Dat, ba da da DaDat!...

I definitly know the tune. I will roll it in my head awhile.

By: mdeatherage

mdeatherage — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:49:55 -0800

Maybe you need more than an iTunes snippet, but the trumpet part you're thinking of is very prominent just before the chorus of Am I The Same Girl?, with no lyrics sung while it plays.

I stand by my guess. :-)

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:01:59 -0800

mdeatherage got it. Good one!

By: Iamtherealme

Iamtherealme — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:07:11 -0800

I've never heard the one with lyrics - pretty cool........the tune I"m familiar with, and I wonder if the poster is thinking, is "Soulful Strut" by Young Holt Unlimited.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:07:40 -0800

This might be what you're looking for: done as an instrumental, and several vocal versions.

By: Iamtherealme

Iamtherealme — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:10:02 -0800

Jinx - Davidmsc, I just realized I didn't add in that link - it says that there was a Barbara Acklin that sang with that, among others. I missed the "female vocalist" mention in the question.....the earworm distracted me.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:14:13 -0800

Soulful Strut is the one I'm hearing in my head. Magione must have done it at some point, as it is definitly flugel horn in my head.

By: chrominance

chrominance — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:15:32 -0800

That Swing Out Sister version is some wonderful kind of cheese, ain't it?

"Am I The Same Girl" is totally it. I can't figure out if Springfield was indeed the first person to do it or if it was Barbara Acklin, though. Seems they both recorded the song around the same time but Acklin's AMG bio is the only one to mention it. The instrumental version is indeed called "Soulful Strut," and it turns out it used the same backing tracks as the Acklin song but was released first—and eventually was the more successful chart single of the two.

I'm a bit ashamed that the song I've been trying to track down is now the theme song to Martha Stewart's talk show, but whatever. AskMe comes through again!