The 15 year mystery... the U2-sound-a-like

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Hey, I have heard this before............. probably the last time the same poster posed this question a few years back! :lol:

Definitely a combination of Bono + Young Lust Gilmour! lol
 
I can't say I've been obsessing about this 24/7 or anything, but for the past few days, I find myself randomly thinking of and discounting early 90's bands, especially Canadian ones. It'll be a huge relief to get this solved. :crazy:

I know it's just a recording made from a radio so it's hard to tell, but it almost seems to me like the production's a little too good and slick to be some unknown band's indie ep. Anyone else?
 
VintagePunk said:
I know it's just a recording made from a radio so it's hard to tell, but it almost seems to me like the production's a little too good and slick to be some unknown band's indie ep. Anyone else?
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree. It definitely sounds like a professional mainstream band! I love the whole instrumentation in the song! and the vocals! :love:

Well, I'm as stumped as I was back then!

U2 Feedback - View Single Post - Can *YOU* ID this song? :lol:

:crazy:
 
Well, I have no clue either. It doesn't sound even remotely familiar.

Can anyone make out enough of the lyrics to try and Google them?
 
...ooh, a mystery!

Could someone please send me the link? I know I won't be able to figure it out, but I'd like to have a listen anyway.

dysprosium2005 [at] hotmail.com
 
corianderstem said:
Sent! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks!

That really is uncanny...the singer sounds a lot like Bono in sections. He also sounds a bit like Ian McCulloch (who released a solo album in 1992.) I can't seem to find any clips from that album online, though. Hmm.
 
GibsonGirl said:
Thanks!

That really is uncanny...the singer sounds a lot like Bono in sections. He also sounds a bit like Ian McCulloch (who released a solo album in 1992.) I can't seem to find any clips from that album online, though. Hmm.
Click to expand...

Founds clips from that album- Mysterio- on allmusic, there's a couple songs with the vibe of the clip but none that match it, it does sound like Ian though- Bonoish but a little deeper in range.
 
Okay, so, I listened to it a few more times tonight, and came up with some lyrics before reading the lyrics in the original thread, so I wouldn't be influenced by them. Here's what I came up with:

Verse:
Soldier march down to the front
... ... ... the war's begun
A ... life is your only crime
When the front page (sends) you every time

Chorus:
When I left you, you said you loved me
While the nation watched, how'd you forget me
When I left you, you said you loved me
While the nation ..., how'd you forget me

... obviously stands for a word or syllable, and brackets is a word I'm unsure of.

The last line of the chorus, the singer seems to fade out after "nation," but I'm pretty sure he says "forget" again.




Here's what the original poster had in the original thread:

Chorus:

When I left you, you said you loved me.
While the nation watched, how'd you forget me?
When I left you, you said you loved me.
While the nation...how'd you (seget) me?

It sounds like a backup singer is saying 'Stay' or something to the effect between the vocal lines...where I put the commas. He says 'Stay' in the 4th line I'm sure.

Verse:

Soldier March (now/how?) to and fro
it's you must turn the walls be (go/gone)
(Insurance/it's your rich?) life is your only crime.
When the (phone) kicks in at ya everytime.

****

Anyone else? I googled some of my lyrics, but all I came up with were stories and blogs about war. :angry:
 
I limited to the "when I left you" and "you said you loved me" lines, and all I got was a query by someone else on another band's site looking for the same answers.
 
Hate to be a raincloud, but surely every avenue has been exhausted now?

The only option that could be plausible would be to browse through the radio station's archives. That is all that can be done, and good luck getting access to that.
 
screw me, i'm stumped...

i'm usually pretty good at this sort of thing, i reckon a lot of us are...
sorry
 
Oh man! How can this song be such a big mystery??? Could it be that the band here is not really famous at all but a local band that got lucky with a one time airplay on the radio? Where are they from again? Maybe somebody could try to contact music fans from that city or town?

:crack:
 
Zootlesque said:
Oh man! How can this song be such a big mystery??? Could it be that the band here is not really famous at all but a local band that got lucky with a one time airplay on the radio? Where are they from again? Maybe somebody could try to contact music fans from that city or town?

:crack:
Click to expand...

It's from Vancouver, BC, Canada - the third largest city in Canada. The radio station at the time was called Z95.3 FM which was a top 40 radio station which featured rock/pop.

At the time that I recorded it, the biggest hits on the radio were Tasmin Archer's "Sleeping Satellite", New Order's "Regret", U2's "Mysterious Ways", Duran Duran's "Ordinary World", Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You". Prince had a song called "Morning Papers" and David Bowie had a song out called "Black Tie White Noise". These were songs you could hear on Z95.3 FM at the time. I'm mentioning this because it may give you a better sense of the musical era I'm speaking of. Although this song was played in 1993, it easily could have been recorded in 92, 91 etc. Who knows.

However, Canadian radio is regulated in the way that they MUST play 30% Canadian content (meaning bands/performers from Canada). As a result, you have a lot of bands on the radio that don't necessarily make it outside of the country. And you also get a lot of regional Canadian bands that aren't necessarily from the city or province of the same radio station.

At the time, Canadian content would have included Snow's "Informer" or this Ontario band called "KonKan" which had a song called "Sinful Wishes". I'm almost afraid that this mystery song will end up being from some half-hit wonder like KonKan which have disolved into obscurity... or some forgotten 80's wonder like Strange Advance or Chalk Circle who may have released their last hurrah in the early 90's after a slight success years before. But even KonKan, Strange Advance, and Chalk Circle have Youtube videos and have a relatively decent web presence when you do the right searches.

And another thing is that I'm very familiar with the local music scene, and I have many connections in the local music scene. I've been in contact with some real hardcore music gurus - local DJ's from local radio stations, friends who are DJ's in the local clubs who are really know their stuff... etc. Anybody I could think of, etc. Heck, most of my friends consider me as their local music guru, so it's not as if I haven't already done my homework.

My recent lead is that I was out at a karaoke joint last week and met somebody that works at the current version of Z, "95 Crave" and he told me that his program director (Curtis Strange) used to be a DJ on Z95 back in 93, so he really should know the song. I recognized Curtis Strange from the early 90's Z days. I tried messaging him on Facebook with no response. I'll send the link to that guy I met at the karaoke joint as he said he'd definitely send it onto Curtis. Let's hope that leads to something substantial.

I've also sent the link to Buzz Bishop, another DJ from that era of Z (who still works there), and he said he had no clue. However, he gave me some other names I should ask. He at least confirmed that the song was recorded on Z, thanks to that last little sound effect you hear on the song - Z's hourly, "this is CKZZ, Z95.3 FM... it's 8 o'clock". So now I can at least narrow down the right people. And if I can access the radio station archives, I could even pinpoint it to a song that was played some time between March-May 1993 right before the hour. :p

Another issue as well is that I sent that song to other DJ's from local rock stations back around 2002 and nobody seemed to have any clue back then. But I think I'll eventually find it if I stick to Vancouver-based radio folk if they were somehow involved with Z. Somebody there is bound to know...
 
Carmanah said:
At the time that I recorded it, the biggest hits on the radio were Tasmin Archer's "Sleeping Satellite", New Order's "Regret", U2's "Mysterious Ways", Duran Duran's "Ordinary World", Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You". Prince had a song called "Morning Papers" and David Bowie had a song out called "Black Tie White Noise". These were songs you could hear on Z95.3 FM at the time. I'm mentioning this because it may give you a better sense of the musical era I'm speaking of.
Click to expand...

:love: :love: :love: :love: :love: That was my time! I love all those songs! Bowie also had Jump They Say from the same album. :drool:
 
Zootlesque said:
:love: :love: :love: :love: :love: That was my time! I love all those songs! Bowie also had Jump They Say from the same album. :drool:
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YES!!! :love: That song was my first exposure to David Bowie, hahaha! You know exactly the era... as well... those were the songs that would have been played on that station then. So it kind of gives us a good idea of what bands could possibly have been aired back then. I mean, this was definitely not TOO obscure of a band, right?

Right? :hmm:
 
Carmanah said:
I mean, this was definitely not TOO obscure of a band, right?

Right? :hmm:
Click to expand...

Well, who knows! They could have played an obscure band amidst all the hits, right?

I'm wondering if this will help at all...

INFINITY CHARTS: MTV's European Top 20

It's the site for the European Top 20, a show which I used to obsessively watch in the early 90s when I was nuts over MTV. If you scroll down that page, there are fully detailed charts for 1991, 92, 93 etc. weekly charts! They contain tons and tons of nostalgic favorites! :combust: I know it's a European chart but maybe this song is in there? off chance? :hmm:
 
Zootlesque said:
Well, who knows! They could have played an obscure band amidst all the hits, right?

I'm wondering if this will help at all...

INFINITY CHARTS: MTV's European Top 20

It's the site for the European Top 20, a show which I used to obsessively watch in the early 90s when I was nuts over MTV. If you scroll down that page, there are fully detailed charts for 1991, 92, 93 etc. weekly charts! They contain tons and tons of nostalgic favorites! :combust: I know it's a European chart but maybe this song is in there? off chance? :hmm:
Click to expand...

Awesome! I was hoping to stumble across something like this... I'll read through this and see what I find!

Edit: Whoa... what a trip down memory lane. Truganini by Midnight Oil? Mr. Wendell by Arrested Development? Sheesh! :D
 
It really is an amazing trip looking at those charts! I mean... stuff like McCartney's Hope of Deliverance or Snap!'s Exterminate!! :drool:

Anyway, I couldn't find any Canadian Top 20 archives. Obviously that would be a good place to look as well!
 
Zootlesque said:
It really is an amazing trip looking at those charts! I mean... stuff like McCartney's Hope of Deliverance or Snap!'s Exterminate!! :drool:

Anyway, I couldn't find any Canadian Top 20 archives. Obviously that would be a good place to look as well!
Click to expand...

Good idea, although since that song/band was nowhere near Top 20... I think we need some real radio playlists from 1993 if we're going to make some headway... blah! :der:
 
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