"One-liner" appearances

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

This list is based on a post that came up on the "name a song" game. Ed, since you asked the question, I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea:



Name some songs in which one person or group sings the whole song, but a different person sings (or says) one line.



Adam's response was "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" by the Beatles, where Yoko has one line. (I've heard the song, but I don't remember that part. Oh well.) It was an interesting question, and I thought of some more:


-"Rock of Ages"-Def Leppard: Producer Mutt Lange says the intro, which is something like "Gunter glieben glauten globen".

-"Playing with the Fire"-Richard Marx: Barry White says "Let's...get busy" at the beginning.

-"Loch Lomond"-Benny Goodman: Most of the song is sung by vocalist Martha Tilton, but the last time thru' the chorus, Benny Goodman himself sings, "You take the high road and I'll take the low road."

-There's a song by Nanci Griffith in which Darius Rucker, of Hootie fame, sings one line. I don't remember the name of the song or any of the words--it was on a CD I checked out of the library (called "Other Voices" or something like that).

Here are some that _almost_ qualify for the list--I know, it's MY list, but I'm not sure if these really fit:

-"Some Come Running"-Jim Capaldi: Steve Winwood sings the title phrase a couple of times near the end. (Since he sings it more than once, I'm not sure it qualifies as a "one-liner" appearance.)

-"Mellow Yellow"-Donovan: Paul McCartney's "Quite rightly!" bit--like the Capaldi/Winwood example above, it's a REPEATED one-liner, and I don't think Paul sings anything else in the song.

-This is not actually a recorded version except for a few bootlegs here and there. "Breakdown/The Raven"-Alan Parsons Live Project: This is a medley in which one person (Steve Murphy, in this case) sings most of "Breakdown," and another (PJ Olsson) sings the second verse of "The Raven", then they go to the chorus--and Alan himself sings the final "nevermore" line (although he might do some background vocals elsewhere in the song--I can't remember for sure). I don't think it's ever been RECORDED this way in a studio, though. (BTW, I'm gonna go see them again in Kansas City on Fri.!!!!)

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

Oh, wait a minute--I have another one:

"All That Jazz"-from the movie "Chicago": The way it's done in the movie, Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Velma) sings most of the song, but there's one part in the middle where Renee Zellweger (as Roxie) sings, "Jaaaa-aaaaaazz!" (Not only a one-liner appearance, but a one-WORD appearance! )

I can't think of any other examples offhand, but ever since Ed asked that question on the "name a song" game, I've been listening for 'em! These games will do that to you...

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

Whoops--I just thought of yet ANOTHER one:

"My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"-En Vogue: A male voice says, "And now it's time for a breakdown," before the 4 ladies sing a capella, "Never gonna get it..." (On the CD, 3 different guys are credited with "dialogue", so I'm not sure who's saying that part.)

[m c dornan]

these may sorta fit:

in Johnny Mathis' "What Will My Mary Say", a female voice says "Don't go" several times after a Mathis line.

The Chordettes' "Mr Sandman" has a male voice say "yes?" at one point.

Pink Floyd's "Keep Talking" opens with several lines by physicist Stephen Hawking in his synthesized voice.

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

MC, I know the first 2 on your list. *slaps self upside the head* I don't know why I didn't think of 'em...

[Ken]

I hope this counts:

#9 Dream - John Lennon
- May Pang whispers "John, John"

I'll try to think of more.

[H2IZCOOL]

I'm surprised no one yet mentioned Stevie Wonder's "You Are The Sunshine of My Life". The first line of the song is sung by Jim Gilstrap and the second line, by Gloria Barley.

And - happily, no one mentioned Harry Chapin's "Taxi" - because the 'woman' singing the bridge (Baby's so high that she's flying) is actually Harry singing falsetto. ;D

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

h2izcool said:

And - happily, no one mentioned Harry Chapin's "Taxi" - because the 'woman' singing the bridge (Baby's so high that she's flying) is actually Harry singing falsetto. ;D

Yeah, I had figured that!

You guys are listing some good examples!

The name May Pang sounds familiar. Didn't she write a book about John?

[Ken]

laura said:

h2izcool said:

And - happily, no one mentioned Harry Chapin's "Taxi" - because the 'woman' singing the bridge (Baby's so high that she's flying) is actually Harry singing falsetto. ;D

Yeah, I had figured that!

You guys are listing some good examples!

The name May Pang sounds familiar. Didn't she write a book about John?

Hi Laura

Yes, she did. You may recall, she had an affair with John, (with Yoko's blessing) when they separated in the early 70's.

Here is a picture of the book. I have a copy of it, it's very good. I read somewhere that she is apparently writing another one.

[jbd]

this is more than one line, it's a whole two person spoken dialogue...but at the start of MEAT LOAF's YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH (HOT SUMMER NIGHT), BAT OUT OF HELL's producer TODD RUNDGREN and ELLEN FOLEY do their tongue-in-cheek "I BET YOU SAY THAT TO ALL THE BOYS" routine. i always liked that intro, even tho for 25 years i assumed it was BAT OUT HELL songwriter JIM STEINMAN, not TODD speaking the male part.