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'Obsolete' songs?

Started by mgk920, July 07, 2016, 11:06:20 AM

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hbelkins

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 21, 2016, 05:58:46 PM
Aren't fit bits usually equipped with a clock?

Fitbits are for those who enjoy exercise.

If my dead body is found next to a jogging track or walking trail, rest assured that I was killed elsewhere and my corpse was dumped there.  :-D


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


Max Rockatansky

Quote from: hbelkins on July 22, 2016, 11:49:46 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 21, 2016, 05:58:46 PM
Aren't fit bits usually equipped with a clock?

Fitbits are for those who enjoy exercise.

If my dead body is found next to a jogging track or walking trail, rest assured that I was killed elsewhere and my corpse was dumped there.  :-D

Funny...I usually try to avoid the clock on mine when I'm not timing a run.  I've been doing distance running for 20 plus years I used to plot out my routes with Google maps and did things the old fashioned way....check the microwave clock when I left and when I got back.  I get some mild amusement out of when people brag about walking 10,000 steps when they don't know that I've run marathon distance six times already.

The Nature Boy

Quote from: hbelkins on July 22, 2016, 11:49:46 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 21, 2016, 05:58:46 PM
Aren't fit bits usually equipped with a clock?

Fitbits are for those who enjoy exercise.

If my dead body is found next to a jogging track or walking trail, rest assured that I was killed elsewhere and my corpse was dumped there.  :-D

I always tell people that if you see me running, you better join me because something is chasing me.

But seriously, I thought that "Play It Again" by Luke Bryan was obsolete when it was released. The whole song relies on the protagonist hoping that a song comes on the radio again in order to make the girl that he's trying to impress happy. In 2010s America, he could've pulled out his smartphone, found the song on the music app of his choice and just played it for his love interest.

bing101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUi926ses94.   

UHF song is obsolete because most people don't care what a UHF signal looks like although TV geeks will know this as Channels 14-83 in the Analog era of TV.

bing101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF_u9R245EQ

Yes Al Yankovic- EBay song its interesting that he threw in lots of references that are now obsolete and dated such as Pet Rock, Shatner toupee?? :spin:  And yes the band he parodied is no longer relevant 20 years later.

vdeane

UHF is where most digital TV stations are.  Unfortunately my UHF reception in my apartment is terrible; NBC and CBS are VHF in my area, and they come in loud and clear, but everything else is choppy if it comes it at all.  I don't even live that far from the transmitters, either.  Definitely not as good as analog.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

OracleUsr

"Ballad of Curtis Loew"--referring to searching for soda bottles to get some money.
Anti-center-tabbing, anti-sequential-numbering, anti-Clearview BGS FAN

bing101

Quote from: bing101 on July 23, 2016, 04:25:01 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUi926ses94.   

UHF song is obsolete because most people don't care what a UHF signal looks like although TV geeks will know this as Channels 14-83 in the Analog era of TV.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHF_(film)
Even the Movie UHF would be obsolete by today's standards because back then Cable Access and UHF TV station was considered a good idea to do a startup operation is this was the 1970's and 1980's. However in Today's broadcasting industry its can you produce a Youtube show, and or Netflix, Vimeo, Crackle show and Daily Motion and make those videos top rated or in Youtube world Viral.

jwolfer

Lots of songs about waiting next to the phone for a call.. using quarters for calls ( ie Here's a Quarter Call Someone Who Cares)

KEVIN_224

In Hartford/New Haven, many saw CBS 3 and ABC 8 having the advantage being on VHF. Today, WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 of New Haven, still transmitting from the same Hamden site, uses channel 10 for their digital. I sometimes struggle to pick them up here in southern Hartford County. (Channel 3 uses channel 33, for those who cares.)

As for dated songs, I can think of two:

"Vienna Calling" from Falco (1986)
"Personally" from Karla Bonoff (1982)

mgk920

#85
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on July 24, 2016, 11:48:14 PM
In Hartford/New Haven, many saw CBS 3 and ABC 8 having the advantage being on VHF. Today, WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 of New Haven, still transmitting from the same Hamden site, uses channel 10 for their digital. I sometimes struggle to pick them up here in southern Hartford County. (Channel 3 uses channel 33, for those who cares.)

As for dated songs, I can think of two:

"Vienna Calling" from Falco (1986)
"Personally" from Karla Bonoff (1982)

Also, Electric Light Orchestra - Calling America (1986)
(dibs if you can identify the two cities in the satellite/aerial images at about 1:12 in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_XsOUC9s0
I got the second of the two, but the first escapes me.)

Mike

1995hoo

Quote from: vdeane on July 24, 2016, 06:27:56 PM
UHF is where most digital TV stations are.  Unfortunately my UHF reception in my apartment is terrible; NBC and CBS are VHF in my area, and they come in loud and clear, but everything else is choppy if it comes it at all.  I don't even live that far from the transmitters, either.  Definitely not as good as analog.

Our bedroom TVs have rabbit ears connected because we don't watch them enough to justify paying for DirecTV. We need both UHF and VHF in the DC area. So I don't consider a song about UHF "obsolete" at all.

Main interference issue for us arises if Reagan Airport is using the southern approach. Planes overhead sometimes interfere with the UHF signal.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Brian556

How about newer songs that say "cell phone"? To me that's sort of obsolete cause we just call them phones now. A good example is in "Hotline Bling" by Drake, it says " you used to call me on my cell phone".

noelbotevera

Quote from: Brian556 on July 25, 2016, 02:00:21 PM
How about newer songs that say "cell phone"? To me that's sort of obsolete cause we just call them phones now. A good example is in "Hotline Bling" by Drake, it says " you used to call me on my cell phone".
I actually say cell phone or telephone. It's because my family used a landline for many years up until 2015. I also never owned a phone.

The "Ripped Pants" song from Spongebob.

rawmustard

Quote from: OracleUsr on July 24, 2016, 09:30:40 PM
"Ballad of Curtis Loew"--referring to searching for soda bottles to get some money.

That's not really obsolete, but I don't think deposit has kept up with inflation. (Of course, you do have a few dopes who try to bring in thousands-of-dollars-worth of bottles from out of state.)

Scott5114

There are a few songs released in the 2000s that refer to iPods. Of course, these days, while the iPod is still an active product line, most people are more likely to have their music on their phone.

Quote from: 7/8 on July 21, 2016, 12:20:11 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on July 21, 2016, 11:04:30 AM
Quote from: 7/8 on July 20, 2016, 01:41:27 PM
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" by Chicago

QuoteAs I was walking down the street one day
A man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was
On my watch

QuoteAnd I was walking down the street one day
A pretty lady looked at me and said her diamond watch had
Stopped cold dead

Nowadays, you would just check your cellphone :)

Nope, I still wear a wristwatch and feel naked without it.

I could've made this more clear. If your wristwatch happens to die, nowadays most people would check their cellphones for the time instead of asking someone else.

I have to wear a watch because my job doesn't allow us to have our phones at our work stations (no pants pockets allowed). But a few times my watch stopped cold dead....and I just had to look at the taskbar on my computer.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

cl94

Quote from: hbelkins on July 12, 2016, 02:23:07 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on July 12, 2016, 11:17:49 AM

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned Sammy Hagar's I Can't Drive 55 yet.
I Can't Drive 55

He actually did a remake of that and upped the number to 65.

Of course, the section of road he got the ticket that inspired the song on is still 55 (I-87, Colonie, just south of the Twin Bridges).

I might only be 21, but I'm seeing some of my favorite songs on here. A few more:

-Miami 2017 (Billy Joel). About how New York City almost went bankrupt in the 70s.
-Ohio (CSNY). About Kent State shootings
-Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2). Bet many people don't know much about Bloody Sunday anymore.
-America (Simon and Garfunkel). References to taking the Greyhound bus and being able to smoke on it.
-Wind of Change (Scorpions). Already mentioned, but it's about the fall of the Soviet Union.
-Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel). Refers to the former European game show of the same name.
-Hip To Be Square (Huey Lewis and the News). Outdated slang.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

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english si

Quote from: cl94 on July 28, 2016, 12:12:58 AM-Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2). Bet many people don't know much about Bloody Sunday anymore.
Outside the British Isles, sure - but not inside. That said, it happened 14 years before my birth, and I found out (or at least took notice) about it via the U2 song.

74/171FAN

Quote from: Scott5114 on July 27, 2016, 11:52:21 PM
There are a few songs released in the 2000s that refer to iPods. Of course, these days, while the iPod is still an active product line, most people are more likely to have their music on their phone.

Probably the biggest hit of those songs was easily "Replay" by Iyaz.  I believe it peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100 in late 2009 or early 2010.
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

cl94

Quote from: 74/171FAN on July 28, 2016, 06:51:07 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on July 27, 2016, 11:52:21 PM
There are a few songs released in the 2000s that refer to iPods. Of course, these days, while the iPod is still an active product line, most people are more likely to have their music on their phone.

Probably the biggest hit of those songs was easily "Replay" by Iyaz.  I believe it peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100 in late 2009 or early 2010.

I haven't had an iPod of any form since I got a smartphone in 2012 (later than most my age) and neither have my siblings. Both the iPhone and Android have the capability to play music and, nowadays, a lot of people just use streaming services for everything.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

ethanhopkin14

Quote from: english si on July 12, 2016, 01:25:08 PM
Quote from: 1 on July 07, 2016, 11:16:38 AMParty like it's 1999? 1999 was the future when the song was written. Now it's the past.
Didn't stop Easyjet using Disco 2000 in their 20th anniversary ads (admittedly the song was released not long after Easyjet started up).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYyGhVllGfU

And also, Dec 31st 1999 was a big party - while it's the past, it's hard to top. If we'd had a bigger blow out/reason to blow out that was common to most of us, then sure, 1999 would be an obsolete reference, rather than one that goes over the heads of today's teenagers. It's more obscure than obsolete, though I'll grant it does sort of fit the OP's criteria.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 08, 2016, 05:59:49 AM
Quote from: 7/8 on July 07, 2016, 06:06:01 PMYou're probably thinking of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles
Thanks. And this one also goes on Misheard song lyrics, as I swear I heard 'media' instead of 'video'.
Not sure how it's obsolete - if anything, it's being written in '78 was ahead of its time - MTV aired it three years after that as its very first video and that channel is what ushered in the age where image was more important than musical talent - an age which is still with us (hence Beiber, 1D, Miley, etc) - and given their choice of first video, I'd imagine that was deliberate.

The song wasn't about music videos taking over.  It was about TV replacing radio (given the fact that it came out before music videos).  If everyone really thinks looooong in the past, people used to gather around the radio (you know the old pictures of the enormous radios) in the '40s and listen to "Guiding Light" or "As the World Turns" or "The Lone Ranger" or "Flash Gordon".  There was no TV, so that's what the family did.  By the late '70s, families were now routinely (routinely because, even though television had been around for a long time, just like anything else, it took decades for it to be really popular because it had to reach a time when it was affordable for everyone to have one) watching "All in the Family" or whatever in the evenings, and not turning the radio on like they used to. 

I always find it interesting when people try to find the meanings in things when they only look back as far as that (in this case) song was produced.

I agree, "Party like it's 1999" still has relevance because that was the celebrating of a new millennium (from December 31, 1999-January 1, 2000).   Since that time, none of the New Years parties have been any where close to that.

And mentioning past events in a song doesn't make it obsolete.  It makes it obsolete when the narrator of a song says "I am going to do ________" (present tense) and that blank is something we don't do anymore or haven't done in a very long time.

ethanhopkin14

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
I might only be 21, but I'm seeing some of my favorite songs on here. A few more:

-Miami 2017 (Billy Joel). About how New York City almost went bankrupt in the 70s.
Because it happened in the past, doesn't make it obsolete.

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-Ohio (CSNY). About Kent State shootings

Again, it was a historical event.  Last I checked, the shooting of the 4 people at Kent State still happened.  I could write a song today about the American Civil War, but that doesn't make it obsolete, just historically accurate.  I think you are getting "something that happened in the past" confused with "obsolete".  Now if Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young said "four dead in Ohio, and now I am going to call someone on a payphone right now and tell someone about it, and if they don't answer I will leave them a message on their answering machine (which didn't exist in 1970, but that's not the point)" that that would classify as obsolete.

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2). Bet many people don't know much about Bloody Sunday anymore.
Again, a historical event.  See above.  The fact it happened in the past, doesn't make it not happen.

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-America (Simon and Garfunkel). References to taking the Greyhound bus and being able to smoke on it.
Now that's more like it, since you can't smoke....anywhere anymore.

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-Wind of Change (Scorpions). Already mentioned, but it's about the fall of the Soviet Union.

More along the lines, but the fall of the USSR still happened, but it is written while it is actually happening so it works.

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel). Refers to the former European game show of the same name.
Works

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 12:09:24 PM
-Hip To Be Square (Huey Lewis and the News). Outdated slang.
That works because like you said, the slang doesn't make any sense anymore, but the point of the song is actually more true now than then, because with today's hipsters, they think they are so cool by smoking a pipe, writing a book on a typewriter while wearing their horned rimed glasses. 

ethanhopkin14

I got four from Jackson Browne:

"Lawyers in Love" has the line "and I hear the USSR will be open soon, as vacation land for lawyers in love."  Written about something that happened, but from a point of view of pre- Fall of the Soviet Union, so it makes no sense when sung now.

"Lives in the Balance" is about US foreign relations during "Reganomics", but spoken first person as it is going on, so it is obsolete.  But, it really is vague enough for it to be about our current foreign relations in the US.

"The Load-Out" has the line "we have, Country and Western on the bus, R&B.  We've got disco, and 8-tracks and cassettes and stereo."  Where 8-tracks and cassettes are all officially obsolete, stereo, which is splitting sound into 2 channels, is still every much alive, but the 1977 definition was more of the speaker setup, and not the actually technical definition of stereo (which today is digital surround sound).  You can even argue that the musical types are obsolete.  Country and Western is really old country, where today's country is a mixture of bad pop and bad rock and sounds nothing like country, except a 2 second recording of a fiddle mixed in and an occasional reference to Georgia, or drinking beer.  What people call R&B is more hip-hop, and not true R&B, and of course disco definitely died in 1979 at Comiskey Park

"Daddy's Tune" has the line, "make room for my 45s along beside your 78s." making it seam like his dad was so out of touch he was still (in 1977) listening to 78s, but despite that he wanted his "updated technology" to go beside his father's ancient technology.  So it's a reference about something being obsolete, and something being current when now they are both obsolete.  Funny thing is, now when the song is sung, it's take my ancient technology and put it with your even more ancient technology, and neither one makes sense to you people now.


Honorary mention, I love Warren Zevon's "Mohammed's Radio"  with the line, "work all day, still can't pay the price of gasoline.."  Althing the song was written about inflation and the oil embargo in the 1970s, and that line really doesn't mean anything anymore for what it was written about, now the line is actually more true.

cl94

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 11:32:51 AM
Quote from: english si on July 12, 2016, 01:25:08 PM
Quote from: 1 on July 07, 2016, 11:16:38 AMParty like it's 1999? 1999 was the future when the song was written. Now it's the past.
Didn't stop Easyjet using Disco 2000 in their 20th anniversary ads (admittedly the song was released not long after Easyjet started up).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYyGhVllGfU

And also, Dec 31st 1999 was a big party - while it's the past, it's hard to top. If we'd had a bigger blow out/reason to blow out that was common to most of us, then sure, 1999 would be an obsolete reference, rather than one that goes over the heads of today's teenagers. It's more obscure than obsolete, though I'll grant it does sort of fit the OP's criteria.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 08, 2016, 05:59:49 AM
Quote from: 7/8 on July 07, 2016, 06:06:01 PMYou're probably thinking of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles
Thanks. And this one also goes on Misheard song lyrics, as I swear I heard 'media' instead of 'video'.
Not sure how it's obsolete - if anything, it's being written in '78 was ahead of its time - MTV aired it three years after that as its very first video and that channel is what ushered in the age where image was more important than musical talent - an age which is still with us (hence Beiber, 1D, Miley, etc) - and given their choice of first video, I'd imagine that was deliberate.

The song wasn't about music videos taking over.  It was about TV replacing radio (given the fact that it came out before music videos).  If everyone really thinks looooong in the past, people used to gather around the radio (you know the old pictures of the enormous radios) in the '40s and listen to "Guiding Light" or "As the World Turns" or "The Lone Ranger" or "Flash Gordon".  There was no TV, so that's what the family did.  By the late '70s, families were now routinely (routinely because, even though television had been around for a long time, just like anything else, it took decades for it to be really popular because it had to reach a time when it was affordable for everyone to have one) watching "All in the Family" or whatever in the evenings, and not turning the radio on like they used to. 

I always find it interesting when people try to find the meanings in things when they only look back as far as that (in this case) song was produced.

I agree, "Party like it's 1999" still has relevance because that was the celebrating of a new millennium (from December 31, 1999-January 1, 2000).   Since that time, none of the New Years parties have been any where close to that.

And mentioning past events in a song doesn't make it obsolete.  It makes it obsolete when the narrator of a song says "I am going to do ________" (present tense) and that blank is something we don't do anymore or haven't done in a very long time.

No, Party Like It's 1999 is an anti-war song criticizing the Reagan administration. Basically, he's saying everyone has a bomb and we should party now because we could be killed at any time.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

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ethanhopkin14

Quote from: cl94 on July 28, 2016, 12:38:34 PM
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on July 28, 2016, 11:32:51 AM
Quote from: english si on July 12, 2016, 01:25:08 PM
Quote from: 1 on July 07, 2016, 11:16:38 AMParty like it's 1999? 1999 was the future when the song was written. Now it's the past.
Didn't stop Easyjet using Disco 2000 in their 20th anniversary ads (admittedly the song was released not long after Easyjet started up).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYyGhVllGfU

And also, Dec 31st 1999 was a big party - while it's the past, it's hard to top. If we'd had a bigger blow out/reason to blow out that was common to most of us, then sure, 1999 would be an obsolete reference, rather than one that goes over the heads of today's teenagers. It's more obscure than obsolete, though I'll grant it does sort of fit the OP's criteria.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 08, 2016, 05:59:49 AM
Quote from: 7/8 on July 07, 2016, 06:06:01 PMYou're probably thinking of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles
Thanks. And this one also goes on Misheard song lyrics, as I swear I heard 'media' instead of 'video'.
Not sure how it's obsolete - if anything, it's being written in '78 was ahead of its time - MTV aired it three years after that as its very first video and that channel is what ushered in the age where image was more important than musical talent - an age which is still with us (hence Beiber, 1D, Miley, etc) - and given their choice of first video, I'd imagine that was deliberate.

The song wasn't about music videos taking over.  It was about TV replacing radio (given the fact that it came out before music videos).  If everyone really thinks looooong in the past, people used to gather around the radio (you know the old pictures of the enormous radios) in the '40s and listen to "Guiding Light" or "As the World Turns" or "The Lone Ranger" or "Flash Gordon".  There was no TV, so that's what the family did.  By the late '70s, families were now routinely (routinely because, even though television had been around for a long time, just like anything else, it took decades for it to be really popular because it had to reach a time when it was affordable for everyone to have one) watching "All in the Family" or whatever in the evenings, and not turning the radio on like they used to. 

I always find it interesting when people try to find the meanings in things when they only look back as far as that (in this case) song was produced.

I agree, "Party like it's 1999" still has relevance because that was the celebrating of a new millennium (from December 31, 1999-January 1, 2000).   Since that time, none of the New Years parties have been any where close to that.

And mentioning past events in a song doesn't make it obsolete.  It makes it obsolete when the narrator of a song says "I am going to do ________" (present tense) and that blank is something we don't do anymore or haven't done in a very long time.

No, Party Like It's 1999 is an anti-war song criticizing the Reagan administration. Basically, he's saying everyone has a bomb and we should party now because we could be killed at any time.

I wasn't saying it wasn't like that, I just said it still has relevance. 



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