The things that keep me awake at night.

May 30, 2006 1:03 PM

[NoveltySongFilter] I am compiling lists of the following: 1. Bad hiphop tracks from the soundtracks of films from the late 80s and early 90s that summarized the plot during the end credits. You remember...Organized Krime's joint from the end of TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze or Tag Team's reprise of their hit "Whoomp, There it is" for Addam's Family Values. 2. Hidden, unlisted and secret joke tracks from the end of albums. Off the top of my head I can only think of more dreck from the mid-90s like Korn's track with Cheech Marin from Follow the Leader or the Green Day track "All by Myself" from Dookie 3. Backwards masking. Kiss and the Beatles were accused of doing it so bands like Ministry thought it would be a good idea. Who else? 4. Funk or soul songs with theremin. Please add to my list.

I have no idea how this will ever be of use to me.

posted by elr to media & arts (35 comments total)

Ahh!!! The formatting, why doesn't it look like this???


[NoveltySongFilter] I am compiling lists of the following:

1. Bad hiphop tracks from the soundtracks of films from the late 80s and early 90s that summarized the plot during the end credits. You remember...Organized Krime's joint from the end of TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze or Tag Team's reprise of their hit "Whoomp, There it is" for Addam's Family Values.

2. Hidden, unlisted and secret joke tracks from the end of albums. Off the top of my head I can only think of more dreck from the mid-90s like Korn's track with Cheech Marin from Follow the Leader or the Green Day track "All by Myself" from Dookie

3. Backwards masking. Kiss and the Beatles were accused of doing it so bands like Ministry thought it would be a good idea. Who else?

4. Funk or soul songs with theremin.

Please add to my list.
posted by elr at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2006

For #1 you've got Bobby Brown's "on their own" or whatever it was called from the end of Ghostbusters II ("you called the ghostbusters and they're in control...") and maybe the Fat Boys song from "The Disorderlies."

#2 you've got Tool's secret track #69 on the end of the Undertow album.
posted by mattbucher at 1:10 PM on May 30, 2006

Bobby Brown's "On Our Own" does have a rap verse that summarizes the plot of Ghostbusters 2:

"...Found about Vigo, the master of evil
Try to battle my boys? That's not legal!"
posted by anthom at 1:10 PM on May 30, 2006

While this doesn't fit the plot-summarizing part of your wish, I think you would love Joey Lawrence's stunning bad-80s-rap called "The Smoove Groove." It came at the end of track six on his debut album, "Joey Lawrence." The track, I think, is called "I Like the Way You Love Me." It's truly Hasselhoffian in its glory.

"Ah like the way ya love me so ah made up a DANCE! A PRANCE! So you would GIMME a CHANCE!"

I don't think there's any more perfect manifestation of that whole trend than a white boy rapping, horribly, about his new "PRANCE."
posted by allterrainbrain at 1:11 PM on May 30, 2006

1. Surely the rap break in Bobby Brown's song from Ghostbusters II is the progenitor of the form.

2. and 3. OMG too many to even bother trying to list.

4. Whoa.
posted by jjg at 1:11 PM on May 30, 2006

List of albums containing a hidden track from wikipedia might list some that you like!
posted by ArcAm at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2006

Mindless Self Indulgence - Backmask.
Played forwards, the lyrics are along the lines of:

"Hate all the people you love
in a river of blood
and don't forget the guns
you're gonna need 'em to go kill yourself."

Played backwards, you hear: "Clean your room, do your homework, don't be late for church," and so on.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2006

4: I think there might be theremin in the Ohio Player's Funky Worm. Can anyone confirm? Good track, anyway.
posted by godawful at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2006

Likewise, here's a list of backmasked messages.
posted by ArcAm at 1:17 PM on May 30, 2006

At the end of the Old 97s' album Hitchhike to Rhome, there is an unlisted cover of Webb Pierce's song, Tupelo County Jail. Actually, it's tacked onto the last song of the album. When the last song is done, there's silence for about 14 minutes, then the cover song kicks in.
posted by NoMich at 1:20 PM on May 30, 2006

A correction: Partners in Kryme's seminal hit "Turtle Power" was featured prominently on the soundtrack of the groundbreaking independent film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film's sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, by contrast, featured Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle's unforgettable "Ninja Rap."
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:28 PM on May 30, 2006

Don't know if it's what you're after, but the Prince song from "Batman" that plays while the Joker destroys the museum seems to me to poke at, if not hit, that vein.
posted by hermitosis at 1:30 PM on May 30, 2006

A not-quite-3 would be Full Fathom Five by the Stone Roses, where they do an entire song backwards.
posted by nomisxid at 1:30 PM on May 30, 2006

1. At the end of several episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, instead of the regular end music, Schooly D does a brief rap about what happened. Not an 80's/90's movie, but similar idea.

A particular episode with this is the first episode featuring the Mooninites ("I got a quad laser / It will amaze ya")
posted by rxrfrx at 1:32 PM on May 30, 2006

also not-quite-3 is the Backwards episode of Red Dwarf, which isn't a song at all, but has a backmasked speech....
posted by jozxyqk at 1:33 PM on May 30, 2006

MC Hammer did a song, "Addam's Groove," for the Addams Family soundtrack.

Also, I don't know if it counts as hiphop, but Prince did "Batdance" for one of the Batman soundtracks (the one with Kim Basinger).

Also, didn't Vanilla Ice have a song on the TMNT soundtrack? I seem to remember a "go ninja, go ninja, go!"

I think all three were pretty narrative of the basic movie plot.
posted by penchant at 1:34 PM on May 30, 2006

Not what you asked for, but if you speed up the Eraser (polite) track on Further Down the Spiral, you can hear Trent singing the chorus to the same song. I found out back when I had an actual CD player that would allow you to hold the button down and listen to it as it skipped.

I'd add links, but my copy/paste in firefox isn't working (again).
posted by hoborg at 1:34 PM on May 30, 2006

goofy hip hop summaries:

1) any will smith vehicle
2) "city of crime" from dragnet, featuring, you guessed it, dan akroyd and tom hanks rapping.
3) "vice" off the miami vice soundtrack by grandmaster melle mel.
posted by Hat Maui at 1:56 PM on May 30, 2006

On the Strong Bad Sings CD from the guys at homestarrunner.com, H*R sings "Secret Song" after about 5 minutes of silence at the end of the last track.

Lyrics include:
"Secret So- Sooooooooooooong
You’re the secretest song on the album
Secret Song
Songs are made of myst'ries
And clouds are made of moonbeams
Secret Song"

Not exactly a major label blockbuster, but it's so literal I thought it deserved a mention.

Tenacious D also have a "wait through the silence" easter egg on their CD, IIRC.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:30 PM on May 30, 2006

After a little time with Google, I found all this about funk, soul, and theremins:
The Politicians apparently use one on one song off this album. I'm not sure which song (reference here.
Galactic has used them in the past. They don't specify which song.
This band seems like they could be cool, and work for your purposes.
Lastly, here's a list of bands known to use a theremin.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 2:39 PM on May 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

On Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever CD, there was a hidden track with a bunch of farm yard sounds and Tom telling you this was the pause when cassette listeners would be turning the tape over. Seems kind of dated now, but it was funny back in the 80s.
posted by tommasz at 3:16 PM on May 30, 2006

4: I think there might be theremin in the Ohio Player's Funky Worm. Can anyone confirm? Good track, anyway.

Just had a listen, and there is a 20 sec. theremin-y sounding synth (Moog?) bit at 0.48 into the track, and another, about twice as long, at 1.33. (The lyrics over top: "Oh, that's funky, that's funky! Like nine cans of shaving powder, that's funky!")
posted by soiled cowboy at 3:55 PM on May 30, 2006

1. In 1991's Nothing But Trouble, part of the sheer pain of watching is broken by the arrival of Digital Underground. With an as yet undiscovered Tupac Shakur in tow, DU drops two songs: "Same Song" and "Tie The Knot." While the latter is performed during a shotgun wedding, I wouldn't exactly call it a plot summary. But we're not done, because the true answer to your query comes later when Chevy Chase and friends are sentenced to a death. How? Via a device called a Boneshredder. This device gets its very own theme song, an eponymous tune sung by none other than Damn Yankees.
posted by grabbingsand at 4:10 PM on May 30, 2006

4. Brighton-based ska/funk/hip hoppers Black Grass use a Theremin in their skanking disco track "Nice Up" (Real Audio track here, lo-quality mp3 here). It comes in at about 1.16 and sounds like a sample rather than a live performance. The track is available on a Krafty Kuts compilation.
posted by soiled cowboy at 4:12 PM on May 30, 2006

First time I ever ran into a hidden track (well, except for Train In Vain on London Calling, but you can't hide tracks on an LP) was on Nirvana's Nevermind CD-- about 5 or 10 minutes after the last song ends it erupts into screeching guitars and feedback. I was cleaning the apartment at the time, waiting for the CD player to load the next disc, wondering why it was taking so long-- damn near had a heart attack.

Now that's funny.
posted by InfidelZombie at 4:14 PM on May 30, 2006

Chumbawumba's Mary Mary (from the movie Stigmata) has the Hail Mary prayer backmasked at the end of the song.

The effect is creepy.
posted by quin at 5:18 PM on May 30, 2006

1. Dragnet has such a song over the end credits.

2. Doesn't Alannis Morrisette's "Jagged Little Pill" have one of these, and like the Green Day song, it's about going to your house while you're not there?
"Her Majesty" at the end of The Beatles' Abbey Road is the earliest I know of. (And pace the poster who claimed you can't hide them on LPs, it's very short and easily overlooked.)
The Stone Roses have an album with a couple dozen empty 5-second tracks, followed by one with stupid jangly discordant playing that goes on for nearly ten minutes. It's kind of amazing how stupid it is.
At the end of the Offspring's album with "Come out and play", there's a secret surf music version (that's very good).

3,4 I got nothin'.
posted by Aknaton at 5:22 PM on May 30, 2006

I was going to geekily correct the TMNT2/TMNT reference (I bought the soundtrack just for that song, which I saw at the theatre during the credits which I stayed all the way thru for, I must admit), but Faint of Butt beat me to it. I am very interested in this list, also, though! *faves*

There is a very funny track (#9) on DC Talk's "Jesus Freak" album of a Jesus Freak reprise done in one of those exagerratedly charismatic old-time-gospel-hour style that is just too funny. I'd recommend listening to the regular track first (track 3) to get the melody down, because it makes fun of it. The Amazon sample clip is good enough for the regular track but only gets part of the chorus, and the Reprise track is just coming off the end of the funny part, tragically. Good stuff, though. Shouldn't be hard to find on Christian mp3 distros.
posted by vanoakenfold at 5:45 PM on May 30, 2006

On 1. -- did BDP's "Jack of Spades" play over the end credits of "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"? If so, I believe it qualifies -- if not as a complete plot summary, then certainly as a summary of the chief qualities displayed by Keenan Ivory Wayans as Jack Spade. (And while BDP is not a "bad" hiphop act, "Jack of Spades" does stand out rather awkwardly on the otherwise strong Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip-Hop.
posted by BT at 7:33 PM on May 30, 2006

My favorite hip-hop song off a soundtrack has got to be "No Shelter" by Rage Against the Machine from the Godzilla soundtrack. The lyrics actually diss the movie:

"Godzilla pure motherfuckin' filler"

I'm not sure which is worse: including a song that mocks your movie or writing a song that rails against hollywood for hollywood.
posted by hendrixson at 7:45 PM on May 30, 2006

2. cub, on the end of "Betti Cola", have a short version of 'Wipeout' that's not in the cover listing. On the end of "Come Out, Come Out" there's an unlisted 20-odd minute track which consists of a 7 minute techno-ish version of their earlier song 'Go Fish', lots of silence, then a 30 second odd glockenspiel bit. And on "Box of Hair", the last song 'Not What You Think' breaks off with some studio noises before fading in the sound of a squeaky bed. Tracks 13-68 are the same squeaky bed, before track 69 contiues the same sound for 16 minutes then finishes off the original song.

Bu¢k's first album has all the songs repeated as one long unlisted track at the end.

3. ELO were famously targetted by Christian fundamentalists for supposed backwards masking when they released "Eldorado" in the early 70's. The album contained no backwards masking. To make up for it, the next album "Face The Music" did. And their much later album, "Secret Messages", is full of it.

They also less famously had a track on an early album which managed to sneak the line "They just don't mean a fucking thing" past the BBC censors and get considerable airplay.

(sobbing into my beer as I realise just how much trivia I know about ELO & obscure Canadian girlie-punk-pop bands...)
posted by Pinback at 8:14 PM on May 30, 2006

Other movies where the song has been directly relevant (though not necessarily over the end credits) include Orgazmo, Basketballs, and Team America (fuck yeah!).

Trey Parker and Matt Stone perform all the songs under the band name DVDA (don't ask).

The scene in Basketballs is particularly appropriate in that it nods to every movie who ever had a scene where the song on the radio was a little too relevant to the situation.
posted by quin at 8:26 PM on May 30, 2006

2. There's a hidden track at the end of the Whitlam's Eternal Nightcap album which is a sort of mockumentary about the band, with one guy with a Scottish accent talking about the real reason the band split up, being that Tim would keep putting a bullhorn effect on everything he sang. It has that running through it, but is also clips of music, recordings of Tim talking to his mum on the phone, stuff going on in the recording studio, etc etc. Quite entertaining..
posted by AnnaRat at 11:05 PM on May 30, 2006

4. The Politicians, a P-Funk offshoot, apparently used theremin, but I haven't heard any tracks to confirm.
posted by sluggo at 6:27 AM on May 31, 2006

1. Over the credits of Tapeheads, one of the minor characters in the movie raps about what happened in the movie and some other story bits we didn't see. The soundtrack is out of print and the song is called Roscoe's Rap by King Cotton. I just saw it on Showtime and the movie will be on The Movie Channel several times in June.
posted by sciatica at 2:34 PM on May 31, 2006