Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re sitting around with a bunch of friends talking about music when someone says “What’s that song with the thing at the beginning and the boom-boom sound effects? It’s got that guitar—or maybe it doesn’t. You know the one!” And then the friend gets frustrated when he gets a bunch of blank stares/
If you’ve ever worked in a record store, you know the stare because you’ve done it with the customer who wants you to identify the artist, song, and album from her little acapella performance right there at the country. And then she gets mad when you come up blank.
Same thing happens with me and with all people who work in radio. A couple of times a week, I’ll get an email like this: “I’m hoping you can help me find a song.”
Uh-oh.
“I think it’s from the 80s but maybe not. There are some beats on a bassline with a melody that goes “Oooooooeeeooo” or something. The video has a bunch of dancers in it. Do you the song?”
Uh, no. I don’t.
Some attach audio files of them plunking out notes on an instrument—and there have been at least a couple of people whistling.
But here’s the weird thing: Sometimes—just enough times—you actually get it right. It’s like a tiny explosion in your head as your personal database throws out the correct answer. When that happens, it feels so good! You solved a mystery and made someone happy in the process. I love that feeling.
Things have changed in this century, of course. Tracking down a mysterious song is easier than ever thanks to listening apps like Shazam and Soundhound. Or you can enter some lyrics into a site like Lyricfind.com.
Even throwing a bunch of random words into the Google search bar can get you started. I’ve found crowdsourcing a song identification problem through certain websites (Reddit, for example) can sometimes be helpful.
But even with all this technology and the ability to tap into the minds of music fans around the planet, some songs just don’t want to be identified. This has become a serious game for music fans.
“Challenge accepted,” as they say.
These mysterious songs that are missing from the musical record are part of a category that’s been dubbed “Lostwave.” This is their story–as best it can be told, anyway. Songs heard on this show:
- Big Wreck, That Song
- D.A., Ready and Steady
- Paula Toledo, How Long (Will It Take)
- Christopher David Booth, Ulterior Motives
- Wavestation, Wavestation
- John Lindell (Stay (The Second Time around)
- Pachinko, DEATHMETAL
- ?, Curly Toes
- Uknown Mystery 60s Group, Birdhouses
- ?, The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet
Eric Wilhite did his best to put together a playlist so you can hear what I’m talking about. The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 11pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sunday at 11pm
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
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