Jul 202021
I do like a good rock “woo.” You know what I mean by a “woo,” I hope. I mean those moments when somebody in the band just has to let out a cathartic, falsetto “woo” at a critical, “woo”-worthy juncture in a song.
Do you have any favorite rock “woo”s? I’ve posted an audio collage of a few of mine above. For extra credit, identify them. I look forward to your responses.
HVB
I’ve only got a minute so no time for the video just yet, but my favorite “Woo!” band is the Flamin’ Groovies. They have tons of songs where someone in the band just seems so happy with what’s going on that they let out a Woo. Shake Some Action has one, I think Slow Death does. I just always liked that about them.
The woo in Shake Some Action is a good one.
One of my favorite woos is in Cinnamon Girl, right after Neil starts the one note guitar solo. I think it sounds like it’s just the mic on one of the guitar amps picking it up.
I believe the first woo in the youtube compilation is from Brown Sugar.
I really like the subtle woo in I’ll Be Gone by Tom Waits. https://youtu.be/lAVl3PjTwbk?t=133
I’ll try to give the video the attention it deserves tomorrow.
BigSteve is of course CORRECT about Woo #1. But that was the easy one!
The woos are too close to each other to recognize. And #9 seems more like an ow than a woo.
You may be right about #9 — though I left it in because it ought to be one of the more recognizable utterances. As for being too close to each other: balderdash! Show some woo gumption, some woo backbone! Identify those woos! Woo #10 should be dead easy!
Maybe someone else can complete this one but #9 strikes me as a possible Van Halen track containing a David Lee Roth “owww”. I checked “And the Cradle Will Rock” and it’s not that “owww” but it’s got a similar sonic vibe.
This is tough – or I’m dumb. I’ll keep thinking about these, but woos #4 and #10 seem out of key.
10 is Whammer Jammer by J Geils
6 sounds like some 80s R&B based pop
7 sounds like it could be Mitch Ryder or Steen Tyler doing a James brown impersonation.
I think 8 is Iggy, possibly from Loose.
Dang, cdm, you’re good! CORRECT on #10 and #8. I’ll give you #6 as well — that’s Terence Trent D’arby in “Dance Little Sister.”
Trig is also CORRECT on #9, though the song is “I’m the One” — I think.
cdm, I’m kind of surprised you didn’t recognize #7 right away. And I’ll be VERY disappointed if Mod doesn’t get it. One of Paul McCartney’s favorite songs, or so the legend says.
Is 7 the Sonics?
Sorry, cdm — that answer is very, very WRONG. Try turning your world map upside down; that should help you find the band that recorded that woo. Though that particular woo was recorded in the UK.
Marvin Gaye does a perfect woo at 00:23 in Let’s Get It On, right before the first time he sings the title phrase.
I believe #7 is Good Times by the Easybeats. But I can’t believe Rick Flair is not represented in this collection.
Mockcarr is CORRECT!
I’m disappointed in myself for not getting #7!
me too. Now it seems really obvious.
How about some hints?
1. Brown Sugar
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Terence Trent D’arby in “Dance Little Sister
7. Good Times by the Easybeats
8. Iggy, possibly from Loose
9. David Lee Roth – I’m the One
10. Whammer Jammer by J Geils
Thanks for your Dogged persistence, cdm! Your clues follow:
1. Was this band the ultimate late-70s LA group, or just another failed attempt at seizing a lasting beachhead for “power pop” music?
#3: from a touching ode to the joys of sexual intercourse with morbidly obese antipodeans
#4: “Tryna make it REAL, ___________.”
#5: Mod has a love-hate (or is it a hate-hate?) relationship with this Canadian band.
Sorry, the fist clue above is for woo #2.
2. This one is driving me nuts. From the clue, I’ll guess the Knack, but not one of the songs I listen to very much. The one about the monkey on his back?
3. Whole Lotta Rosie
4.I got nothing
5. I don’t know much about the Tragically Hip and this doesn’t sound like the handful of songs I’ve heard, so I go with BTO?
2. — CORRECT! It’s from “She’s So Selfish.”
3. — CORRECT!
4. — You’ve actually seen me perform this song live
5. — INCORRECT! Clue: “And the joke is…”
Good clue on 5, it’s Sloan. Is it The Good In Everyone?
No – Money City Maniacs. That’s where that line is from.
Pretty sure I know 4 from that clue now, but I will use the Mockcarr option.
I assumed an antipodean was a mollusk.
The master of the Woo is I undoubtedly Little Richard. While Long Tall Sally is the most musical Woo, I am partial to the Woo quotient in Keep A Knockin.
There’s a pretty good Woo in Hello Susie by the Move. You could have thrown the Mod that bone.
I like when the music stops and Lee Michaels gets to do a solo Woo in “Do You Know What I Mean”.
I’ve been hiking around New Mexico, but for the record, my relationship with Sloan is simply that I got bored by their reliance on easy-does-it ’70s rock moves. The last album I heard by them, from probably 10 years ago, was a winner.