I am curious what songs out there where a majority (if not all) of it is someone talking over the music. 
Any more? --

♦ Up Your Nose - Gabe Kaplan (1977)
♦ King Tut - Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons (1977)
♦ Merry Christmas in the NFL - Willis "The Guard" Vigorish (1980)
♦ Rappin' Rodney - Rodney Dangerfield (1983)
♦ Madame Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren (1984)
♦ You Look Mahvelous - Billy Crystal (1985)
♦ Didn't You Kill My Brother? - Alexei Sayle (1986)
♦ Paranoimia - Art of Noise featuring Max Headroom (1986)
♦ Land of A Thousand Dances - The Wrestlers (1986)
♦ Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson (1987)
♦ This is Ponderous - 2nu (1991)
♦ People Are Still Having Sex - LaTour (1991)
♦ Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) - Baz Luhrmann (1999)

♦ Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) - Baz Luhrmann (1999)

Doesn't he "talk over the music" for the entire five minutes on that one?

Doesn't he "talk over the music" for the entire five minutes on that one?


He does yes, which was the same deal as "This is Ponderous" by 2nu (which hit #45 in the US).  Zero singing at all.  They were kind of neat in a way

Here is the video for 'This is Ponderous'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0xWLahk86I

All it is, is talking.

That's exactly what I thought. It's a full five-minute speech, with a musical backing.

And by the way, it's the only one out of the above list that I know well.




He does yes, which was the same deal as "This is Ponderous" by 2nu (which hit #45 in the US).  Zero singing at all.  They were kind of neat in a way

Agreed. O0

Here's videos from YouTube that I could find of some of them ...

Rappin' Rodney - Rodney Dangerfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSoykHwQBe0

Madame Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqS4s9mM6_Y

Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVAwIJE-_84

People Are Still Having Sex - LaTour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84NkR_fnZQg

"19" - Paul Hardcastle
"Wet Dream" - Kip Adotta
"Hey Rocky!" - Boris Badenough (Frankie Knuckles)
"AEIOU (Sometimes Y)" - EBN-OZN
"Welcome To Paradise" - Front 242
"Okay!" - O.K.
"New York" - Micro Chip League
"American-Soviets" (Cameron Paul Remix) - C.C.C.P.

"Why Is It (Funk Dat)" by Sagat

I'll put more here if I think of any, but this is the only that jumps to mind

Almost every single song made in the past 40-50 years feature voice overs.

Would Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" qualify?

Would Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" qualify?

I was wondering about that too, since the 'verses' are spoken on that one.

Would Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" qualify?


It sure would :)

"Albuquerque"--Weird Al Yankovic
"Martian Boogie"--Brownsville Station
"Justify My Love"--Madonna

19 - Rory Bremner

One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head  (on hearing this for the first time my dad said "Is that all he does - talks?"

Victor Lundberg's 'An Open Letter To My Teenage Son' is an...er, 'interesting' one...

In it, the old feller gets to grips with young people with long hair, judging people by their colour, glue-sniffing, dope addicts, debating whether God is dead and burning draft cards...phew!

On the opposite end of the scale, there's Mike Douglas with 'The Men In My Little Girl's Life'...so cloyingly twee, it could give you toothache just listening to it!

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone....Paula Cole

Black Widow....Alice Cooper

oooH!

How could we forget "Desiderata"--Les Crane (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiv2dgctyIc) ...

& "Deteriorata"--National Lampoon http://zine.nationallampoon.com/index.php?option=com_jambozine&layout=article&view=page&aid=28&Itemid=32    :D ;D

♦ People Are Still Having Sex - LaTour (1991)


Dementia Fun Fact: LaTour is also known as Bud LaTour, and with his friend Mike Elliot, recorded a number of hilarious song parodies that were aired on Dr. Demento throughout the '80s, including (appropos to this thread) a very popular parody of "Rock Me Amadeus" called "Rock Me Jerry Lewis" !!  :o

Now you know...the Rest of the Story!  8)

Not mentioned yet... "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby.

"She blinded me...with science!" (about 4 times altogether)
"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto. You're beautiful!"
"And I don't believe it...there she goes again! She's tidied up, and I can't find anything!"

another one is "The Look of Love" by ABC.  The part where Martin Fry talks to himself ...

And though my friends just might ask me
They say "martin maybe one day you’ll find true love"
I say "maybe, there must be a solution
To the one thing, the one thing, we can’t find"

Black Widow....Alice Cooper


First song that came to my mind. Vincent Price.

"The Pot Smoker's Song" - Neil Diamond. It contains some wonderful interviews with weed dabblers gone wrong.

(Thanks for bumping this thread up, I couldn't find it again!)

It's about time we mention Ray Stevens, the long-time novelty country artist...some of his biggest hits are "story" songs, with Stevens non-rythmically blabbing instead of actually singing verses.

"The Haircut Song"
"The Streak"
"Ahab The Arab"

(Note: I don't count ones where he "raps" the lyrics)

another one is "The Look of Love" by ABC.  The part where Martin Fry talks to himself ...

And though my friends just might ask me
They say "martin maybe one day you'll find true love"
I say "maybe, there must be a solution
To the one thing, the one thing, we can't find"


Oh yes...I forgot about that one. "Poison Arrow", another one of that band's songs, also has one:
I thought you loved me but it seems you don't care.
Lady: I care, I do, I could never love ya

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - Elvis

...Someone once said, "All the world's a stage and each of us must play a part ..."

Primus---> "Tommy The Cat", "Memphisto & Kevin".

Nearly all the songs by King Missile fall into this category...

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones

Entire albums:

Thing Fish, Frank Zappa
Rehearsing My Choir, Fiery Furnaces.

^also by Frank Zappa..."Valley Girl"! His daughter, Moon-Unit, talks all over the place! Like ohmigod...like, totally! :D

Thriller - Michael Jackson (feat. the late Vincent Price)
I would like to add 'O Superman' by Laurie Anderson but I don't think it fits into the Baz Lurhmann mode.

When a Child Is Born---Boney M

"The Rain" - Oran "Juice" Jones  (at the end)
"Meeting In The Ladies Room" - Klymaxx
"One Step Beyond" - Madness
"Girls, Girls, Girls" - Mötley Crüe (towards the end)
"Hot For Teacher" - Van Halen

Convoy- C.W. McCall (A CB Radio)
Starship- We Built This City (That San Francisco radio DJ)

Starship- We Built This City (That San Francisco radio DJ)

Oh yes, I forgot about that one. :) What I don't like, however, is that some stations play a version with that part edited out, so there's just an instrumental break there. :(

Oh yes, I forgot about that one. :) What I don't like, however, is that some stations play a version with that part edited out, so there's just an instrumental break there. :(


Several radio stations across the U.S. were given versions that had a voiceover about their city.

Several radio stations across the U.S. were given versions that had a voiceover about their city.


Argh, that would be annoying!


I remember back in the '90s voice overs were popular when it came to movie soundtracks---they would put clips from the films into the songs.
ie. Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On", they would put in some Titanic moments. Same with Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden" with Jerry Maguire.

Thankfully they don't seem to do that anymore. It was very annoying!

I remember back in the '90s voice overs were popular when it came to movie soundtracks---they would put clips from the films into the songs.
ie. Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On", they would put in some Titanic moments. Same with Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden" with Jerry Maguire.

I remember both of those.



Thankfully they don't seem to do that anymore. It was very annoying!

Yeah, for the most part it can be.

Thriller - Michael Jackson (feat. the late Vincent Price)
I would like to add 'O Superman' by Laurie Anderson but I don't think it fits into the Baz Lurhmann mode.


That is what became the familiar Laurie intonation!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/icon_thumleft.gif

You guys forgot about the King!

Elvis Presley: Are You Lonesome Tonight (Handman/Turk)

I wonder if you're lonesome tonight...
You know someone said that the worlds a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue

Then came act two, you seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I'll never know.
Honey, you lied when you said you loved me
And I had no cause to doubt you.
But I'd rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you.

Now the stage is bare and I'm standing there
With emptiness all around
And if you wont come back to me
Then make them bring the curtain down.