On July 25, 1956, Bill Buchanan & Dickie Goodman released the wacky novelty single, The Flying Saucer, Pts. 1 & 2 and I would never be the same; I was in my teens! What more can I say?
date & photographer unknown
The Flying Saucer is one of the early attempts at sampling in popular music; it was done with experimental & musique concrète music in the 40's. It featured segments of popular
songs intertwined with a spoken "news" commentary to tell the story of a
visit of a flying saucer.
Bill Buchanan plays the radio announcer, stating that the spacemen are attacking Earth. Dickie Goodman plays reporter John Cameron-Cameron (a play on the broadcaster John Cameron Swayze) (links below).
Buchanan & Goodman ~ The Flying Saucer Pt. 1
45 rpm record, side 1
photo by Styrous®
45 rpm record, side 1
photo by Styrous®
The song uses clips from 17 different songs, each of which was a top 20 hit in 1955 or 1956. In order of occurrence:
- Side One
- "Open Up That Door" by Nappy Brown (saxophone intro only)
- "The Great Pretender" by The Platters (referenced as "Too Real" by The Clatters)
- "I Want You to Be My Girl" by The Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon
- "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard
- "Poor Me" by Fats Domino
- "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
- "Earth Angel" by The Penguins (referenced as "Earth" by The Pelicans)
- "I Hear You Knocking" by Smiley Lewis (referenced as "Knocking" by Laughing Lewis)
- "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
- "(You've Got) The Magic Touch" by The Platters (referenced as "Uh-Oh" by The Clatters)
- "The Great Pretender" by The Platters
Buchanan & Goodman ~ The Flying Saucer Pt. 145 rpm record label, side 1photo by Styrous®
- Side Two
- "Band of Gold" by Don Cherry
- "Ain't That A Shame" by Fats Domino (referenced as "That's A Shame" by Skinny Dynamo)
- "Band of Gold" by Don Cherry (again)
- "Don't Be Angry" by Nappy Brown
- "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins (referenced as "Shoes" by Pa Gherkins)
- "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry (referenced as "The Motor Cooled Down" by Huckle Berry)
- "See You Later Alligator" by Bill Haley & His Comets
- "My Prayer" by The Platters
Buchanan & Goodman ~ The Flying Saucer Pt. 2
45 rpm record, side 2
photo by Styrous®
45 rpm record, side 2
photo by Styrous®
The record also contains an early, deliberate backward secret message in
part two. The alien message in their own language plays as "caution,
secretary of defense" when played backward. There is an excellent breakdown of each sampled tune on Songfacts as well as the lyrics (links below).
The record was controversial from the moment it hit the shelves. Its wide use of "sampling" prompted music publishers to file suit against Buchanan and Goodman in July (1956). The two men were verbally attacked by record companies, too, with an anonymous source telling Billboard, "If we can't stop this nothing is safe in our business." While The Flying Saucer was not the first record to quote from famous songs (see "Cool Whalin'" by Babs Gonzales), it was the first popular record to sample directly from the records themselves.
The record was controversial from the moment it hit the shelves. Its wide use of "sampling" prompted music publishers to file suit against Buchanan and Goodman in July (1956). The two men were verbally attacked by record companies, too, with an anonymous source telling Billboard, "If we can't stop this nothing is safe in our business." While The Flying Saucer was not the first record to quote from famous songs (see "Cool Whalin'" by Babs Gonzales), it was the first popular record to sample directly from the records themselves.
The Flying Saucer reached position 3 in the Billboard rankings for 1956.
Net links:
Blackcat Rockabilly Europe ~
William V. Buchanan
Richard Dorian Goodman
MetaFilter ~ Look to the skies. The flying saucers will always be there
Songfacts ~ The Flying Saucer
Wayback Attack ~ Buchanan & Goodman
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