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Song Parodies -> "Eight-Track Tapes and Vinyl"

Original Song Title:

"Undercover Angel"

Original Performer:

Alan O'Day

Parody Song Title:

"Eight-Track Tapes and Vinyl"

Parody Written by:

Andria

The Lyrics

Parody about two of my favorite forms of recorded music. FTR, I don't really hate CDs or MP3s.

Click for original song
Buy 'em at the thrift shops, at the yard sales too
Got the songs like “Doraville”* and “Jackie Blue”*
“Undercover Angel”*, “Stormy”* and ol' Brother Lou*
And as I play it, I hear, static and white noise

They say “What?” I say “Screw MP3”
They say “What now?” I say, “Love the obsolescence”

Eight-track tapes and vinyl, retro music, please
You'll never find a sound that so sweet, songs full of sleaze*
Eight-track tapes and vinyl, cost about a buck
You made me know that retro sound don't suck
(Eight-tracks, so fine)
(Vinyl, oh, yeah)

A&M and Motown, Dunhill, RKO
ABC and K-Tel, Geffen, Ronco
I go to the Goodwill, rifle thru the racks, load up my cart
When I play 'em at my house, they warm up my heart

They say “What?” I say “Toss 'dem CDs”
They say “What now?” I say, “Love my wax and Lear tapes*”

Eight-track tapes and vinyl, disco-era sound
You'll never find a sound so true, make your speakers pound
Eight-track tapes and vinyl, shaped oblong and round
At the Good-will store, you are always found
(LPs, 4-5s)
(8-track, whoa, yeah)

Now you know my story, here on AmIRight
I'm gonna play these old songs and listen tonight
Under gatefold covers, and cardboard sleeves
No CDs or MPs, they're my music pet peeves

CBS? Columbia too!
Atlantic, Reprise and RCA
Epic? Realm, Warner Bros too!
Arista? Mercury, now for Ariola!

Eight-track tapes and vinyl, retro music, please
You'll never find a sound that so sweet, songs full of sleaze*
Eight-track tapes and vinyl, cost about a buck
You made me know that retro sound don't suck

Single, 8-track, LP

Eight-track tapes and vinyl, disco-era sound
You'll never find a sound so true, make your speakers pound
Eight-track tapes and vinyl, shaped oblong and round
On my stereo, you are always found

Singles

LPs

Eight-tracks

I find them

Aaaat...

Goodwills

At yard sales

Pawn shops


*"Doraville": Regional hit by the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
*"Stormy": Late-60s soft-rock song by Classics IV.
*Brother Lou: Controversial song by The Stories, about a then-semitaboo interracial relationship.
*Songs full of sleaze: Listen to a few Cher, Andrea True Connection or Donna Summer albums and see for yourself.
*"Wax and Lear tapes": Wax is a slang term for records much like vinyl, 8-tracks were invented by William Lear of Learjet fame.
© 2010, Andria Kilgore. All rights reserved.

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Voting Results

 
Pacing: 4.0
How Funny: 4.2
Overall Rating: 4.2

Total Votes: 12

Voting Breakdown

The following represent how many people voted for each category.

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 2   0
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 3   0
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 4   0
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 5   9
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User Comments

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Mark Scotti - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Now...that was a hit! Back in my day as well. Enjoyed my vinyl, but i was a cassette person..
Patrick - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Brings back memories of rummaging through thrift stores looking for treasures on 7" vinyl. Still wish I had bought that Carole King "Tapestry" LP with the extra instrumental track. Can't find another, her manager says it never existed. I know I saw one. There are still a few vinyl records being pressed. One company says that with all the downloads CD's may soon become obsolete. When they're gone, there might still be 45's coming out. There is an outfit on the internet that will transfer your music to 78 rpm. Nebraska Furniture Mart still has 78 rpm turntables. You can't buy an antenna that will get decent over the air TV anymore (digital is fragile, almost unwatchable trash), but you can still buy new 78's, imagine that? Somewhere on one of my dusty shelves, I have a copy of "Undercover Angel" on a 45 rpm, paid 10 cents for it at the Salvation Army thrift store.
Michael Pacholek - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
"My name is Sam Tyler. I was in an accident, and I woke up in 1973." (Yes, I know, the OS was 1977.) I actually had my father's old stereo with a turntable and an 8-track attachment until a few years ago, but my mother threw it out -- after I told her that under no circumstances would I do it. Figures, she has no taste in music anyway.
Patrick - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
My brother had an 8-track player in his 1977 Ford pick up truck. My sister had an 8-track recorder. I had a lot of 45 rpm records, so I tried recording some of them onto 8-track. That was a tedious process. According to one web site I stumbled onto, there are still a few garage or punk bands putting out very limited edition 8-track releases. I imagine they have to record over old tapes or find some rare blanks somewhere, and use heirloom recording equipment.
Old Man Ribber - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Welcome back Andria!! This also is a blast from the past, as I have numerous records and a few 8 track tapes. Perhaps cassette knocked 8 track out of the box because people also can easily record on cassettes. We nmow have CDs and MP3s...but NOTHING ever can replace an Andria! ;D
Andria - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Mark Scotti: Thanks for v/c, and I recall that you used to manage record stores. Ever sell any Alan O'Day records?

Patrick: Agreed, I have two of those Carole King LPs you speak of, one has the cover beat to s**t and the other is unopened, neither are for sale. I'm happy with my Dish Network service, thankfully I don't have to worry about crappy rabbit-ear signals.

Michael Pacholek: LOL at the first sentence, and I've got a Curtis Mathes console TV from 1978 with a record player and 8-track deck built in, it still works great. Oddly enough, someone threw it away too and I picked it up off the street. (previous owner had Keeping up with the Joneses Syndrome, possibly?)

Patrick Part II: I had an 8-track player in my 1973 Pontiac Catalina and 1981 Chrysler Cordoba, I have one in the 1977 Dodge Travco van camper I recently acquired as well. Got an 8-track recorder too, I've heard about those garage-band releases. AFAIK, blank 8-tracks are readily available on eBay, the Blues Brothers acolytes make repro tapes of Sam & Dave, among others, to play in their Bluesmobile replicas.
Andria - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
OMR: Thanks, and LOL at your comment. :)
There may be many other people named Andria out there, but there is only one me. Did you figure out how to access the messageboard yet?
Mark Scotti - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
ALAN O'DAY!!!! "Undercover Angel"???
Mark Scotti - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Sorry, didn't finish my comment. Yes, the record was a big hit back then...
Christie Marie M - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Nice to see you writing again! I listened to this song the first time and loved it, especially the intro! Yeah, instead of getting iPods and MP3 players, I'm really happy with my Walkman and CD Player. But I do listen to most of my favorite songs in YouTube. The 8-tracks tapes we used to own are ABBA, The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, and Peter Nero (I never listened to his music even once, but my mom used to listen to him a lot). The LP's that we have are Samantha Sang, Bee Gees, Mamas and the Papas, Beach Boys, Diana Ross, and Elvis Presley. We used to have LP's of Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues and '77. But when I got into Talking Heads again, I just bought the CD's for it. One of my friends owned an antique LP of XTC's Mummer. I really enjoyed your parody and it also brought back memories of how people enjoyed their records, 8-tracks and such. 555.
Tommy Turtle - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
This is too spooky a coincidence. *Just* had a family visit that included my niece. Met her bf, who wants to go into acting, and so was very interested in my old commercial reel. (Copies of spots I'd done.) Originally on 3/4" videocassette (remember that?) but had had it transferred to 1/2".
  Dug out the old VCR; tape wouldn't play well. Had to run the head-cleaner cassette twice, then it played. They loved it, and my niece wanted a copy on CD or DVD.
  So, had to figure out how to burn a 1/2" videocassette to CD. Short version: Did.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Along with Mark, I was more into cassette player for car and home audio, but oh yeah, remember 8-tracks, and I still have some 45-rpm records that may be collector's items, for all I know.

Voting you three Five-tracks.
CD 4 EVAH - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
When I was 9 my aunt gave me my only vinyl record I ever owned. It was some "kiddie ed" compilation by a "Dr. Fun" and it was trash. My neighbor across the street had a few 8-tracks and he demonstrated to me how to use a player. He played an 8-track of "Out Of the Blue" by ELO (a double album, meaning that in 8-track form there are 4 reels or "sides"). My very first car was a 1974 Olds Toronado and it had an 8-track player in it. I had to buy a cassette adapter for it, cassettes were the only format I had at that time - they were the rage. Now the only format I have is CDs. I hope they don't become extinct any time soon. Just like Patrick said there are limited LP editions from certain bands. Believe it or not, last year Cheap Trick released their new album ("The Latest") in an 8-track tape format. In 2009 they also dropped "Sgt. Pepper Live" but I'm not sure if comes in CD only or not. That's Cheap Trick humor for you. Nice parody. Cheers.
AFW - September 16, 2010 - Report this comment
Nice topic and execution...but of course, my 8 trax are still alive and well...in fact, I go back to 4 tracks..and I'm not talkin' railroads, here
Andria - September 17, 2010 - Report this comment
Mark Scotti: Thanks and thanks again. The OS was a big hit that got new exposure in a movie a few years back (Charlie's Angels, IIRC), I first heard it on a K-Tel LP and have it on 8-track, 45, Alan O'Day LP, Ronco LP, cassette, CD and MP3. It's one of my favorites.

CMM: Thanks, great song, isn't it? :-) Great music you listed there.

TT: Thanks, spooky indeed, hope your niece's boyfriend is lucky and does good in his career.

CD 4 EVAH: Great story, I have a couple cassette adapters too. (Andria never throws anything away, at least she only throws out normal trash)

AFW: Thanks, always appreciate your comments, I have a few 4-track tapes, Henry Mancini, Louis Armstrong and Al Jolson, IIRC.
Patrick - September 17, 2010 - Report this comment
Andria, I deliberately refrained from naming the title of the instrumental track on the rare Carole King "Tapestry". Name the track and I will at least be confirmed that I was not hallucinating. This is the last song or track on my old want list.
Andria - September 17, 2010 - Report this comment
Patrick: It's called "A New Hat", there were supposedly 500 or fewer copies pressed with that song on them.
Patrick - September 18, 2010 - Report this comment
I would pay quite well for a copy of that tune. Let me know some way to arrange that. This has been a 30 year quest.
Andria - September 19, 2010 - Report this comment
@Patrick: Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to record music from vinyl to another format. I could do some searches of legal music sites like iTunes and Amazon and point you toward a vinyl record on eBay, if you like.
Patrick - September 20, 2010 - Report this comment
I've all but given up trying to find this. Especially after a letter from Carole King's manager stated that no such record exists. It does not appear in any record collector's guide I know of. One local dealer told me it was rare, but had no further suggestions. The number 500 came from a fellow on the internet who called himself "Vinylman". A posted an article based on his information and my recollections. I was wondering if that was where you got that figure. The tune was used during a dance routine by an Arthur Murray Studio during the Jerry Lewis telethon in 1971. I have since thought I might be confusing what I heard with "Gathering Crowds", the closing theme from "This Week in Baseball". After 30+ years, my memories are fading. At least you have confirmed the existence of what I saw, now I can resume my search.
alvin - November 23, 2010 - Report this comment
i have a zillion albums but only one eight track....two virgins by john and yoko
Andria - November 23, 2010 - Report this comment
Alvin: Thank you for your vote and comment, and I recently went through my vinyl to weed out duplicates and damaged records. 450 LP albums, 210 45s and somewhere around 100 78s after I threw out about 50 damaged discs of all types. I also have about 300 8-track tapes.

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