'Obsolete' songs?

[kphoger]

I didn't know what songs he was parodying when I was 10-11 years old, so it goes full circle...I had no idea there was an actual hit song called Jeopardy but knew of "I Lost on Jeopardy". Likewise for Lola and "Yoda".

With a few other songs, I only found out about the genuine hit because of Weird Al.

[bing101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ8KbpEelKo

Al Yankovic's reference to Oprah at 3 on Syndicated Inc song refers to When Oprah Winfrey show aired on KABC-TV Los Angeles back in the 1980's-1990's.

See 3:59 of the clip.

[OracleUsr]

Al Yankovic

He also had a song called 'UHF'.  I bet half the users on this forum have no idea what that even is.

I hate that anytime he payrodies something now I have no idea what the hell he is parodying. Makes me feel old.

It's all good: I didn't know what songs he was parodying when I was 10-11 years old, so it goes full circle...I had no idea there was an actual hit song called Jeopardy but knew of "I Lost on Jeopardy". Likewise for Lola and "Yoda".

Trivia note:  In the music video to "I Lost on Jeopardy" when Al is thrown into a vehicle, it's being driven by Greg Kihn, who sang the original hit.

[Verlanka]

When was the last time a cable TV subscription in Beverly Hills had only 57 channels?

And at the time, it was an exaggeration!

What about the scene in Back to the Future Part II where the cable/satellite package had channels numbered in the hundreds?  Hundreds of channels!  How absurd!

They didn't know that there'd be much more variety today.

Variety?!?  More like needless repetition.  Trust me, entertainment is going to be the next big bubble to burst.

So does that mean entertainment will collapse or just disappear?

[abefroman329]

Trivia note:  In the music video to "I Lost on Jeopardy" when Al is thrown into a vehicle, it's being driven by Greg Kihn, who sang the original hit.

And don't call him a one-hit wonder; he also had The Breakup Song.

[kphoger]

And if you are a consenting adult, we want you to call today.
In Los Angeles the number is Richmond 9-6935, in Downey it's 347-8932.
Call it direct, call it collect, but call it today!

During the transition from alphanumeric exchanges to all-numeric exchanges.

Return to sender, address unknown,
No such number, no such zone.

Before ZIP Codes.

[Big John]

John Stewart "Gold" has this lyric:
Ah, my buddy Jim Bass, he's a-working pumping gas
And he makes two-fifty for an hour

It is set in California so both parts (pumping gas as a job and the wage) are obsolete.  If it were set in OR or NJ then the first part are still relevant.

[kphoger]

John Stewart "Gold" has this lyric:
Ah, my buddy Jim Bass, he's a-working pumping gas
And he makes two-fifty for an hour

It is set in California so both parts (pumping gas as a job and the wage) are obsolete.  If it were set in OR or NJ then the first part are still relevant.

Are you saying there's no such thing as a full-service gas station in all of California?   

[abefroman329]

John Stewart "Gold" has this lyric:
Ah, my buddy Jim Bass, he's a-working pumping gas
And he makes two-fifty for an hour

It is set in California so both parts (pumping gas as a job and the wage) are obsolete.  If it were set in OR or NJ then the first part are still relevant.

Are you saying there's no such thing as a full-service gas station in all of California?   

I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw a gas station outside of OR or NJ where full serve was an option. Maybe in college.

And the OR law mandating gas pump attendants was repealed a few years ago.

[bing101]

John Stewart "Gold" has this lyric:
Ah, my buddy Jim Bass, he's a-working pumping gas
And he makes two-fifty for an hour

It is set in California so both parts (pumping gas as a job and the wage) are obsolete.  If it were set in OR or NJ then the first part are still relevant.

Are you saying there's no such thing as a full-service gas station in all of California?   

Gas Attendants don't exist in California though. Yes there are clerks at gas stations though but they are inside the stores selling lotto tickets and cash sales of gas though.

[hotdogPi]

I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw a gas station outside of OR or NJ where full serve was an option. Maybe in college.

About 1/3 of stations in MA have full serve, either required or as an option.

[bing101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZjn7iMmsZI

"Send Yourself through a Telephone Line"

That part of Train's 2003 song Get to Me sounds obsolete though given that more people tend to text on phones though than call. But the rest of the song is still true 16 years later and its about Rush Hour in the San Francisco though.

[bugo]

There are a lot of hip hop songs that mention the year, which causes them to be obsolete in less than a year. "You Can Do It" by Ice Cube comes to mind.

"Pariah" by Steven Wilson mentions Facebook which means it will (hopefully) be obsolete in a few years.

[kphoger]

John Stewart "Gold" has this lyric:
Ah, my buddy Jim Bass, he's a-working pumping gas
And he makes two-fifty for an hour

It is set in California so both parts (pumping gas as a job and the wage) are obsolete.  If it were set in OR or NJ then the first part are still relevant.

Are you saying there's no such thing as a full-service gas station in all of California?   

Gas Attendants don't exist in California though.

Do a quick Google search next time you make such a bold claim.

[bing101]

Jason Mraz and Wordplay there is a line where Jason Mraz says "Music for the Television".  That song was out back when MTV and VH1 were airing Music videos. This part of the lyric is obsolete but the song was out in 2005 though.

[ErmineNotyours]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xG3yGdQYwqg

Julie Brown's "Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun," 1984.  35 years ago, a comedy song about a shooting at a school event seemed fantastic, but it seems all to real now.  Plus, there's the line, "She hit the ground and did a flip It was real acrobatic/But I was crying so hard, I couldn't work my Instamatic".

[kevinb1994]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xG3yGdQYwqg

Julie Brown's "Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun," 1984.  35 years ago, a comedy song about a shooting at a school event seemed fantastic, but it seems all to real now.  Plus, there's the line, "She hit the ground and did a flip It was real acrobatic/But I was crying so hard, I couldn't work my Instamatic".

Just five years later Aerosmith came out with "Janie's Got a Gun"  off of their classic 1989 "Pump"  album, and ended up being parodied with "Elmo's Got a Gun"  and "Cheney's Got a Gun" .

[OracleUsr]

Billy Joel's 1984 hit Keeping the Faith.

Gonna listen to my 45's

[kphoger]

Plus, there's the line, "She hit the ground and did a flip It was real acrobatic/But I was crying so hard, I couldn't work my Instamatic".

And the term "E ticket" didn't mean then what we think of now.

[roadman65]

Jackson Browne song The Load Out mentions truckers on cb.  Are CB radios still in use anymore?

Plus Richard Pryor on the video has both the actor who died some time ago and video tapes which got replaced by the DVD which now are even obsolete due to DVR's and the use of shows and movies downloaded on line.

[PHLBOS]

One song from the J. Geils Band's Love Stinks album titled No Anchovies Please makes reference to watching Johnny Carson.

[sparker]

Jackson Browne song The Load Out mentions truckers on cb.  Are CB radios still in use anymore?

Plus Richard Pryor on the video has both the actor who died some time ago and video tapes which got replaced by the DVD which now are even obsolete due to DVR's and the use of shows and movies downloaded on line.

It seems some truckers still use CB for "internal" communications between themselves, since most LEO vehicles aren't monitoring that band on a regular basis (analog rules!). 

Even so, the song "The Load Out" was released only a couple of years after the C.W. McCall (via Chip Davis) hit "Convoy" hit the air -- so after 41 years or so, there's still a bit of nostalgia attached to the whole CB concept.

[jon daly]

Jackson Browne song The Load Out mentions truckers on cb.  Are CB radios still in use anymore?

Plus Richard Pryor on the video has both the actor who died some time ago and video tapes which got replaced by the DVD which now are even obsolete due to DVR's and the use of shows and movies downloaded on line.

It seems some truckers still use CB for "internal" communications between themselves, since most LEO vehicles aren't monitoring that band on a regular basis (analog rules!). 

Even so, the song "The Load Out" was released only a couple of years after the C.W. McCall (via Chip Davis) hit "Convoy" hit the air -- so after 41 years or so, there's still a bit of nostalgia attached to the whole CB concept.

Jackson Browne song The Load Out mentions truckers on cb.  Are CB radios still in use anymore?

Plus Richard Pryor on the video has both the actor who died some time ago and video tapes which got replaced by the DVD which now are even obsolete due to DVR's and the use of shows and movies downloaded on line.

It seems some truckers still use CB for "internal" communications between themselves, since most LEO vehicles aren't monitoring that band on a regular basis (analog rules!). 

Even so, the song "The Load Out" was released only a couple of years after the C.W. McCall (via Chip Davis) hit "Convoy" hit the air -- so after 41 years or so, there's still a bit of nostalgia attached to the whole CB concept.

Truckers definitely use some sort of headset that appears more complex than a Bluetooth. I see this every once in a while when I stop at one of the truck stops on my commute.

[jon daly]

Al Yankovic

He also had a song called 'UHF'.  I bet half the users on this forum have no idea what that even is.

I hate that anytime he payrodies something now I have no idea what the hell he is parodying. Makes me feel old.

It's all good: I didn't know what songs he was parodying when I was 10-11 years old, so it goes full circle...I had no idea there was an actual hit song called Jeopardy but knew of "I Lost on Jeopardy". Likewise for Lola and "Yoda".

Trivia note:  In the music video to "I Lost on Jeopardy" when Al is thrown into a vehicle, it's being driven by Greg Kihn, who sang the original hit.

Kihn later became an author.

Iirc, Rupert Holmes was aalso mentioned in this thread. He became a playwright. My wife and I once saw the one man play that he wrote about George Burns.

[hbelkins]

Truckers definitely use some sort of headset that appears more complex than a Bluetooth. I see this every once in a while when I stop at one of the truck stops on my commute.

I think that's actually a better earpiece/noise canceling microphone setup that's used because of the level of road noise. For years, I used a small Sennheiser BT earpiece that was said to be top-of-the-line, but I still had difficulty hearing calls, so I ended up getting a Motorola headset that covered both ears. It made hearing the person on the other end of the phone call a whole lot easier.

I'd imagine an 18-wheeler generates a lot of road noise.

I have a small handheld CB unit and while I haven't used it in ages, there's still quite a bit of activity on Channel 19.