Whoop whoops?

May 15, 2006 12:01 AM

Is there a name for the type of vocal 'whoop'ing that sometimes happens at some dance parties or raves or somesuch, where the audience will all yell out 'whoop' or 'whoop whoop' in time with the music? Bonus cool points for recommending songs that actually have samples of said whooping in them.
posted by geekhorde to media & arts (10 comments total)

Not real people whoop-whooping, but Diskow Moskow, a late-seventies Telex track has a killer train whistle whoo. It was a big record in the early Chicago house days and that particular train sample crops up in dozens of later tunes. Get any live mix by Frankie Bones or anything recorded live in the Paradise Garage era and you're bound to get some decent crowd whoos. Whoo-whoo!
posted by 12XU at 12:39 AM on May 15, 2006

Do you mean the 'ewek ewek' noise as in 'the sound of the police?'
posted by lunkfish at 2:21 AM on May 15, 2006

There's a "whoo-whoo" cameo appearance in Shake Your Rump by the Beastie Boys.
posted by ciaron at 2:40 AM on May 15, 2006

Well, I first heard it in an Ibiza remix of Let's All Chant by the Michael Zager band back in the mid nineties, which is definitely the reason behind it in the UK. There's also the Whoop Whoop in the je regrete rien/baisser la police remix from La Haine from
posted by Happy Dave at 4:07 AM on May 15, 2006

Ha ha, too quick. Ciaron got in with my answer, which immediately got stuck in my head looking at the question.

FWIW, the line directly after "whoo whoo": "is the disco call". There's a late 80s point of reference for you.
posted by chronic sublime at 4:07 AM on May 15, 2006

Whoop there it is?
posted by michaelkuznet at 6:47 AM on May 15, 2006

Get Off by Foxy. I remember hearing this on the radio constantly in the late 70s...
posted by Robert Angelo at 8:02 AM on May 15, 2006

Jay-Z, "Can I Get A..."
posted by kittyprecious at 11:40 AM on May 15, 2006

I believe you're referring to the "woot-woot! (chicka chicka) woot-woot!" you hear, high-pitched. I goes well in clubs. It does indeed have a name, it's a "Disco Call". It's actually a type of call and response, a Marco Polo-type fun thing that you could have back in the day. One group would shout "woot-woot!" in time to the music (say, on the upbeat). Another group (usually across the dancefloor) would respond with "woot-woot!" on the downbeat. The DJs of the era would play to this, it was fun.Now-a-days it's likely to get a drink thrown on your face, I'm sorry to say. But once in awhile, if the mood of the party people is tops, you can pull a Disco Call without looking like a tool.
posted by mattoly at 12:10 PM on May 15, 2006

Here's the name: annoying.
posted by bradn at 1:17 PM on May 15, 2006