TL:DWTR (Too Long; Don’t Want To Read)
I recently created a “name that tune” game in the form of a radio program for a party. What follows is a pretty detailed description of the process, as well as a way for you to play the game. Feel free to use the following table of contents to skip whatever doesn’t interest you. [Note: If you’re receiving this via email as a subscriber — thanks! — the following links will redirect you to the full post on the website.]
- The Setup: Historical context and current motivation
- The Project: Goals and constraints
- The Tools & Building Blocks: Software and the Team
- The Results: How the game was received at the party
- The Countdown: Listen to play the game
- The Answers: Song titles, artists/composers, and related trivia
The Setup
Debbie and I are members of a rather large Sunday School class — almost 90 members — and our quarterly parties are kind of a big deal. Each of our four geographically-organized “small groups” plan them, provide the food and decorations, and come up with some kind of entertainment for the evening.
The Horseshoe Bay small group was responsible for the October soiree, and I had the poor judgment to suggest a “Name That Tune” contest. By doing so, I instantly and certainly unintentionally also became responsible for putting it together. But lest I give the wrong impression, once the die was cast I was happy and motivated to figure out how best to make it work. And I landed on the absolutely brilliant (humility being one of my strong suits) idea of creating a radio broadcast.
Alert Gazette readers will remember that I once worked as a radio DJ back in the days when transistor radios were high tech, breaking news came to us via teletype, and all of our music was on vinyl or reel-to-reel tape. [I wrote about that experience in 2002.] So I sorta kinda had an idea of how things might work.
Some of you might be of the vintage to remember how radio stations used to have contests wherein they would assemble a handful of very short snippets from the week’s Top 40 or whatever, and listeners would call in and attempt to identify them. That approach was the inspiration for my project, but with some significant variations.
The Project
Our goals were threefold. First and foremost, we wanted it to be fun, and that meant choosing songs that were more likely to be recognizable to our group’s mostly Boomer demographic. So, I didn’t choose anything later than the Eighties (and, actually, mostly stayed in the Sixties and Seventies). In addition, I wanted to span multiple genres, including hymns (Sunday School, remember?), “classic” TV and movie theme songs, as well as rock, pop, and country.
Second, we wanted it to be hard enough that no team (the group would be seated at tables of eight, and each table would be a team) would be likely to correctly identify all of them. But we also wanted to make it easy enough that everyone would be likely to correctly identify the majority of the audio clips.
And, finally, I wanted to put the whole thing into the radio-centric format I alluded to above, so that it wouldn’t be simply a series of clips with no context. I decided to attempt to create a “Top 25 countdown” of audio snippets that the teams would attempt to identify.
The Tools and The Building Blocks
With those criteria in mind, I got to work. The primary tool I used was Audacity, which is free, open-source, cross-platform software. Audacity is one of the best tools I know of to create and/or edit audio files. It’s extremely easy to use, but also feature-rich and quite powerful. It was perfect in every way for the NTT project.
I wanted to employ some sound effects, jingles, and stingers throughout the project to evoke the days of 20th century radio. There are tons of websites offering those things, some of which are royalty-free, but I discovered that I had everything I needed on my iMac. If you have a Mac, drill down through the following path (I’m running Mac OS 15 — Sequoia):
Depending on your OS and installation, within the folder labeled Apple, you’ll find a series of folders that contain literally hundreds of royalty-free sounds, neatly categorized by musical genre (e.g. modern R&B, blues, dubstep, etc.) or by subject matter (e.g. sports, jingles, transportation, stingers, etc). Every one of those sounds can be imported to and edited within Audacity to achieve the desired effect.
I also wanted a way to introduce each snippet so that the teams could keep track of where they were in the countdown (they would have answer sheets with blank lines numbered 25 through 1). I enlisted one of our class members who we knew would be unable to attend due to some physical challenges, but who we knew would enjoy being a part of the project, with the added advantage of having a distinctive “radio voice.” He eagerly agreed to join the production team…which brought the total number up to three (we’ll get to the third member in a bit).
I asked him first to record the countdown as “song number 25,” “song number 24,” and so on. He could do that in one continuous recording because I could easily break it into 25 discrete introductions. I then asked him to record an overall introduction to the countdown and I provided a script for him to use as is or adapt to his style. Then, finally, he scripted and recorded a couple of commercials which I inserted into the countdown, again to maintain the feel of an actual radio program.
While he was doing all of that — and, incidentally, we never physically met; he recorded his parts using the Voice Memos app on his iPhone and texted or emailed the resulting MP3 files to me — I recorded things like station identifications, an overall introduction to the countdown, and a formal ending to the program. Oh, and I also created the audio snippets that comprised the countdown (kind of a significant detail, right?).
I have almost 7,000 songs in my Apple Music app (formerly iTunes), including a couple of albums worth of theme songs from movies and classic TV shows (it’s a long story, but if you’re really curious, this link is for you). I assumed that I was well within the spirit of the legal doctrine of Fair Use to extract up to 30 seconds (and sometimes as little as 10 seconds) of audio from the files and arrange them in a random sequence that skipped around the various genres I outlined above.
Now, the original radio contests used shorter snippets and ran them back-to-back-to-back to make it more difficult for the listener. We had mercy on our listeners and I included about five seconds of “dead air” between each snippet.
With all of these aural building blocks in hand — or in computer — I constructed a 15-minute program in Audacity, and exported it in mp3 format. I then imported that file into Apple Music and sync’d it to my iPhone and iPad (for redundancy), from which I could stream it to a robust Bluetooth speaker at the party.
The Results
Throughout the whole process, from concept to final version, my friend and silent partner, Scott, acted as a sounding board and it was with his assurance and support that I was fairly confident that we had a good product for the party group. Nevertheless, I was still relieved at how much folks seemed to enjoy it.
Scott took over at the end of the recording. We had decided beforehand that we would let each table ask for a replay of one snippet that had stumped them (I had also put the individual snippets on my phone for quick access). We gave each table that option, and then Scott declared the contest ended, and he gave out the official answers. He identified each song and also provided one or two bits of trivia about it; the trivia was also well-received.
The team results — one point for each correct ID — seemed to confirm that I’d hit on the right selections for the game: low score was 18 (from a shorthanded team) and high score was 23.
I had a great time creating the Name That Tune “radio program,” and while it took quite a bit of time to build, the response made it completely worthwhile.
But enough of the sausage-making. Perhaps you’d like to try it out for yourself. I’ve embedded a slightly edited version [1] below.
The Countdown (For Your Listening Pleasure)
Following is the Name That Tune Countdown in mp3 format. I thought about suggesting that you post your answers in the comments section below, but that’s not very efficient or helpful. Instead, if there are any songs that stumped you, feel free to post either the song number (or the title after you check the answers). I would be interested to see if there’s a common Thread of Confusion (apologies to The Temptations). 😄
By the way, the reference to the station frequency — 860 — is a nod to my own DJ experience, working at a little A.M. station in West Texas using that frequency. Also, the call letters of the fictional radio station — KLIC — refer to the name of our Sunday School class, Life In Christ.
The Answers
The following links [2] will provide the song title (or TV show/movie, as appropriate) and artist or composer, as well as some trivia about each one. You also have the option of relistening to any individual snippet if you like.
-
Reveal Song #25
🎵 Song #25
Need to hear it again?
Title: Happy Together
Artist: The Turtles
Trivia: This was the Turtles’ only #1 song in the U.S.
Close -
Reveal Song #24
🎵 Song #24
Need to hear it again?
Title: Theme from Hogan’s Heroes
Writer: Jerry Fielding
Trivia: Fielding, who was blacklisted in the mid-20th century as a Communist, also scored The Wild Bunch
Close -
Reveal Song #23
🎵 Song #23
Need to hear it again?
Title: Tijuana Taxi
Artist: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
Trivia: In 1966, the group had five albums in the top 20 of Billboard‘s Top LPs
Close - Reveal Song #22
🎵 Song #22
Listen again:
Title: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing [hymn]Writer: Robert Robinson
Trivia: Words were written in 1757
Close - Reveal Song #21
🎵 Song #21
Listen again:
Title: All My Ex’s Live in Texas
Artist: George Strait
Trivia: Strait received his first Grammy nomination for this song in 1987. He didn’t win.
Close - Reveal Song #20
🎵 Song #20
Listen again:
Title: Suzie Q
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Trivia: This song was actually written in 1957, and is CCR’s only Top 40 hit not written by John Fogerty.
Close - Reveal Song #19
🎵 Song #19
Listen again:
Title: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Artist: Bette Midler
Trivia: The Andrews Sisters were the first to record it, in 1941, where it appeared in an Abbott & Costello movie.
Close - Reveal Song #18
🎵 Song #18
Listen again:
Title: Theme from Peter Gunn
Composer: Henry Mancini
Trivia: Mancini also wrote the well-known music to Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Close - Reveal Song #17
🎵 Song #17
Listen again:
Title: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Artist: Neil Sedaka
Trivia: Neil Sedaka (now 86 years old) was a founding member of The Tokens.
Close - Reveal Song #16
🎵 Song #16
Listen again:
Title: Julie, Do Ya Love Me
Artist: Bobby Sherman
Trivia: After leaving the entertainment business — he was an actor as well as a singer — Sherman became a paramedic and deputy sheriff.
Close - Reveal Song #15
🎵 Song #15
Listen again:
Title: How Great Thou Art [hymn]
Translator: Stuart K. Hine
Trivia: Based on a Swedish hymn written in 1885 entitled O Store Gud
Close - Reveal Song #14
🎵 Song #14
Listen again:
Title: Theme from Shaft
Artist: Isaac Hayes
Trivia: Hayes won an Academy Award & 2 Grammys for the song, recorded in 1971.
Close - Reveal Song #13
🎵 Song #13
Listen again:
Title: Good Vibrations
Artist: The Beach Boys
Trivia: It took the Beach Boys 7 months and 20 recording sessions in 4 different studios to finish this song.
Close - Reveal Song #12
🎵 Song #12
Listen again:
Title: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Artist: Hank Williams
Trivia: Williams was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in June, 1949…and kicked out 3 years later due to his “fondness” for alcohol.
Close - Reveal Song #11
🎵 Song #11
Listen again:
Title: Sunshine of Your Love
Artist: Cream
Trivia: Ella Fitzgerald once covered it; Cream is considered to be the first “supergroup.”
Close - Reveal Song #10
🎵 Song #10
Listen again:
Title: Theme from The Dick Van Dyke Show
Composer: Earl Hagen
Trivia: Hagen was also the whistler on the opening sequences to The Andy Griffith Show
Close - Reveal Song #9
🎵 Song #9
Listen again:
Title: (You’re The) Devil In Disguise
Artist: Elvis
Trivia: When he 1st heard it on the British TV show, Juke Box Jury, a judge termed it “a miss.” That judge was John Lennon. The song hit #1 in the UK shortly thereafter.
Close - Reveal Song #8
🎵 Song #8
Listen again:
Title: She’s Just My Style
Artist: Gary Lewis & The Playboys
Trivia: Gary Lewis is the son of Jerry Lewis; he was drafted into the Army during Viet Nam.
Close - Reveal Song #7
🎵 Song #7
Listen again:
Title: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Artist: Iron Butterfly
Trivia: The basic structure of the drum solo is based on the Missa Luba, a Congolese setting of the Roman Catholic Latin Mass.
Close - Reveal Song #6
🎵 Song #6
Listen again:
Title: Peace In The Valley
Composer: Thomas A. Dorsey
Trivia: LBJ requested that this song be sung at his funeral; it was, by Anita Bryant.
Close - Reveal Song #5
🎵 Song #5
Listen again:
Title: The Entertainer
Artist: Scott Joplin
Trivia: Marvin Hamlisch adapted it for The Sting & it won an Academy Award & a Grammy. Scott Joplin was born in East Texas in 1868.
Close - Reveal Song #4
🎵 Song #4
Listen again:
Title: Another One Bites The Dust
Artist: Queen
Trivia: Some people claimed that the song, when played backwards, encourages smoking marijuana.
Close - Reveal Song #3
🎵 Song #3
Listen again:
Title: California Dreamin’
Artist: The Mamas and The Papas
Trivia: Michelle Phillips wrote the lyrics, “Well, I got down on my knees / And I pretend to pray,” but Cass Elliot sang “began to pray” on the original recording.
Close - Reveal Song #2
🎵 Song #2
Listen again:
Title: Chantilly Lace
Artist: Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. aka The Big Bopper
Trivia: He also wrote White Lightning (George Jones) and Running Bear (Sonny James)
Close - Reveal Song #1
🎵 Song #1
Listen again:
Title: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Artist: The Tokens xxx
Trivia: Written & composed in 1939 by a South African musician named Solomon Linda, a Zulu migrant worker. In the song, “Wimoweh” is a misheard Zulu chant of “uyimbube,” meaning “he is a lion.”
Close
The Fascinating Footnotes (YMMV)
[1] Here are the changes I made for the purposes of embedding the program in this post. I removed the commercials because they weren’t relevant to the actual content. I also obscured the “announcer”‘s name because I don’t have his permission to publish it here. These edits shortened the program by less than 60 seconds. [Return]
[2] The song identification code — HTML, CSS, and a tiny bit of Javascript — that creates the popups was generated by ChatGPT using my prompts. I manually populated the answers and trivia for each snippet. I also manually added the song snippets to each popup, but I’ll give due credit to ChatGPT for suggesting that option. It even offered to do it for me, but, hey…I don’t need to delegate everything. We (ChatGPT and I) went through a couple of iterations to arrive at the final product. [Return]
Discover more from The Fire Ant Gazette
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.