Help Me Identify This 80's Song Please

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Dear ILM,
After pestering my friends for nearly two decades, I thought I could ask you to solve the mystery of my life, that is, what is this song I heard circa 1983 that have somehow stuck in my mind since then.

The very few clues I have are: femal vocals, some kind of drum-break in the middle, echo/chimes(?not sure) and the lyrics to the chorus went something like ; "Sally had again, oh oh oh not again" (I didn't know English at that time, so this may be way off)

Here is an attempt at recreating the chorus:
"http://www3.sympatico.ca/chomicat/sound.mp3"

I promise priceless surprises to anyone who solve the mystery.

― chomisan, Friday, 16 January 2004 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I think we need a bit more info:
Any other songs you can think of which has a similar production?
Which genre is most likely?
Acoustic or synth drums?
Where did you hear it? more than once?

Also, you could try to arrange the mp3 a bit more, and most importantly, quantise it.

If you dare to you could always try to sing it instead of having the piano playing the vocal melody, this always make identifying a lot easier (try playing "ein-zwei-polizei" on piano and see if anyone recognises it)

― Jim Janse, Friday, 16 January 2004 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, you should definitely try to sing it for us.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 16 January 2004 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks for offering your help Jim..
Sadly, I don't have much more info - this song is buried very far away in my memory.
SImilar production would be - perhaps Hall & Oates, even Nena, a 80's synthy pop sound and most probably american or british. Also, I heard it on a top-40 station at the time, here in Canada (Montreal).

As for the mp3, I played using my computer keyboard (using QuickTime instruments), and encoded using iTunes (Mac) - is there a way I could arrange/quantise it?

I would happily sing it for you, but I have, uh, a terrible cold:)

Again, thanks.

― chomisan, Friday, 16 January 2004 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I might know this one! "Slow Dog", by Belly. The singer was indeed a woman, and the chorus you quoted was actually "He's shot again/He's shot again/He's shot a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a"

One problem: "Slow Dog" (and "Star", the LP featuring it) was released in 1993, not 1983; so either you're confused about the year (or typed '83 by mistake), or this isn't the song. Still, when I read the lyric you quoted, "Slow Dog" immediately came to mind. So let's say I'm 75% sure.

Hope this helps!

― Scott Bloomfield, Saturday, 17 January 2004 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)

That was close! The melody of Slow Dog does resemble quite a bit my mystery song! But the song I try to identify is from the early eighties, this I am sure, and is more synth-pop than rock. Perhaps similar production would be a less electro Book Of Love...?
grrr this drives me mad!

― cho, Saturday, 17 January 2004 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

For some reason I can't play the sample you've linked to but the lyrics sound a little like Carmel's 'Sally' except as far as I recall, I think it was kinda gospel-y.

I think the lyric in the chorus went something like

'Oh Sally's goin' now, oh oh oh yeah' x4

Oh I've just remembered, it starts with
'Goodbye Sally, leavin' oh oh oh'

Sorry, that's as much as I remember.

― Saskia, Saturday, 17 January 2004 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven years pass...

I think this is from the late 90s, BUT it could be 80s...or even early 2000s This is a song heard in a store over their music system in 2000-2002. They used the Westwood One service.

Urban sounding song with a strong beat. Mostly instrumental....except for a few times where a guy speaks a few lines. Sketchy memory, but I remember him saying "North South East West"...although it could have been in a different order. And I think he says "Let's go get Sally"....but that could be totally wrong!

This song is driven by a piano riff (repeating over and over). Strong drums....almost hip-hop-ish drums...BUT NOT REALLY. Kinda funky, but really more urban. When the guy speaks, it is done in that compressed sound....like you're hearing him over the telephone.....know what I mean? And it's spoken in cadence: "North South East West....da da Da da DA da DA...."

I have included a dropbox link to an mp3 of me trying to play the melody on a piano. I am not a musician and do not have perfect pitch. The song could be in a different key or I could be a little off. I am not musical at all. But this is the general melody and the cadence of the riff.

Been looking for this one since 2002. I will be forever indebted to anyone who can help with this! This is my last "holy grail".

LINK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xgxorbxhe71c3dv/Unknown_New.mp3?dl=0

― dwsiddall, Monday, 17 August 2015 19:06 (ten years ago)

The above was posted here by accident....

― dwsiddall, Monday, 17 August 2015 19:09 (ten years ago)

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