What is this song with gunfire in it?

December 14, 2004 5:03 AM

I've been trying to identify a song (from the late 1970's-early 1980's) that I heard on the radio as a small child. I was under 4 at the time, so the memory's fuzzy, but I would appreciate any ideas out there as to what it is. This has been quite the musical mystery for me. (MI)
posted by Radio7 to Media & Arts (23 answers total)

Snails go boo?
posted by damnitkage at 5:04 AM on December 14, 2004

Response by poster: Okay, so the song was sung in that sort of 'unison' form that was popular in supergroups at the time. It was rock. The singers (male) sounded british, and they had high, sort of nasal voices.
The unique thing is that there was an audio clip in the song that seemed to have come from a classic gangster/noir film.
In the clip, I remember a woman's voice saying "johnny!" and generally acting melodramatic. There were sounds of gunfire and.....well the rest is faded.
I would so very much appreciate someone helping me solve this once and for all.
Thanks.
posted by Radio7 at 5:08 AM on December 14, 2004

I'm not sure about the specific song, but maybe something by Adam Ant?
posted by ascullion at 5:21 AM on December 14, 2004

Drugs in My Pocket?
posted by dobbs at 5:44 AM on December 14, 2004

"Johnny Come Home" by the Fine Young Cannibals?

It checks the "nasal" and "Johnny" boxes, but its from the mid 80s and isn't rock.....
posted by davehat at 5:45 AM on December 14, 2004

I remember a woman's voice saying "johnny!"

Okay ... don't laugh ... justa guess ... Maybe that novelty song by Julie Brown?

The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun

Has "guns" and a girl saying "johnny".
posted by RavinDave at 5:46 AM on December 14, 2004

Completely the wrong era, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the post. Ya never know.
posted by qwerty155 at 5:56 AM on December 14, 2004

there's a New Order song, 1963, that has "Johnny, don't point that gun at me"
posted by amberglow at 6:00 AM on December 14, 2004

Friends of Mr. Cairo by Jon (Anderson) and Vangelis and it rocks.
posted by OneOliveShort at 6:21 AM on December 14, 2004

Its got the nasally voice and the film clip, though its not sung in unison and I wouldn't call it rock: Jon & Vangelis, "The Friends of Mr. Cairo"?
posted by googly at 6:26 AM on December 14, 2004

Dang. Beaten to the punch while searching for that Amazon link...
posted by googly at 6:28 AM on December 14, 2004

I think RavinDave has got it--it's certainly got the hysterical woman's voice screaming "Johnny!" during a kind of dramatic voice-over scene.
posted by LairBob at 6:32 AM on December 14, 2004

Radio7 said the singers were male, though.
posted by iconomy at 7:23 AM on December 14, 2004

Oh, yeah...plus, having listened to the J&V clip folks linked to, it sounds much closer to the overall description. Ah, well--I guess the whole theme of "Johnny's got a gun" is a lot more prevalent in music than you'd expect. (Isn't that even like an Aerosmith song?)
posted by LairBob at 7:51 AM on December 14, 2004

yeah, but the Aerosmith is "Janie's got a gun".
posted by raedyn at 8:50 AM on December 14, 2004

This is a huge long shot and it is from the mid 80's, but you might want to try something from Big Audio Dynamite. The best band EVAR !! just kidding...
posted by repoman at 10:21 AM on December 14, 2004

So, what's the verdict Radio7? Any of these?
posted by googly at 12:45 PM on December 14, 2004

Paper Lace - Billy don't be a hero. Doesn't have the name Johnny in it, but otherwise fits.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:58 PM on December 14, 2004

Response by poster: Oh dear...
well thanks for the ideas guys, but none of those work, except possibly the vangelis thing. (Anyone have a link to a clip of it?) I've been afk, so haven't checked the board til now. Thanks all for your valiant efforts.
The mystery lives on! (bangs head on keyboard)
:S
posted by Radio7 at 8:59 PM on December 14, 2004

Radio7, check the link in googly's response - Amazon has a sample of the song, just scroll down the page. It's exactly what you described, so if it's not right, that's just Weird.
posted by donnagirl at 9:55 PM on December 14, 2004

Radio7, I'd bet my life that googly and I are right.

Ob mebbe not-so-interesting: When I was but a wee tyke (in 1981-1982) away at skool at Indiana University, my upstairs dorm neighbor was 7'2" basketball player, Uwe Blab. (I think he went on to play for the NBA Dallas team-I know eff-all about sports). Uwe had this kick-ass stereo system from Germany, natch, and one of the albums he had was Jon and Vangelis' The Friends of Mr. Cairo. I was captivated by the title track. Especially the wistful slower part about unrequited love. It spoke to me about my girlfriend back home. I used to bug him silly to play it when I'd visit.

If what you (aptly) describe is a different song, I'd eat my [non-edible thing here].
posted by OneOliveShort at 10:13 PM on December 14, 2004

Response by poster: lol. I truly hope you don't have to eat your non-edible thing OOS!
I'm going to have to find it @ a music store and test it out though, as you have to give a credit card # to sign up for a trial session to listen to clips on googly's link.

I will test this out in the next 2 days. Will post back here with results. Hopefully awash in the ecstasy of a lifelong puzzle solved.

:D
posted by Radio7 at 1:30 PM on December 15, 2004

Huh? You should be able to just click on the links next to each of the songs.

Just to be sure: you did scroll down to the "Listen to Samples" section, where you have a choice between listening to Windows Media and Realaudio clips, right?
posted by googly at 8:07 PM on December 15, 2004