View Full Version : Best songs involving robots
Ghost
29 Sep 2005, 10:30 AM
My friend and I have a theory that it's Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" I thought I would put it to a test.
"Mine's broke down/And I have no one to love" indeed.
Motterman
29 Sep 2005, 10:32 AM
Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto
http://www.3toastbrot.de/geschrieben/neu/styxdolph.jpg
bigredfutbol
29 Sep 2005, 10:32 AM
Well, other than "Mr. Roboto" (which sucks) I can't think of any others. Then again, I'm not trying very hard.
Ghost
29 Sep 2005, 10:49 AM
Well, other than "Mr. Roboto" (which sucks) I can't think of any others. Then again, I'm not trying very hard.
Oh,there are more. I've thought of a few others on my own.
BTW, the song doesn't necessarily have to be about a robot. It could robot-related in other ways. It could be sung by a robot. Or written by a robot. Or perhaps more applicably, sung by a person pretending to be a robot. But let's make clear, merely DRUM MACHINES do NOT meet the criteria of robothood.
Domo. Domo.
cosmosRIP
29 Sep 2005, 10:54 AM
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots part 1
Ghost
29 Sep 2005, 11:08 AM
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots part 1
Flaming Lips checking in! And it's definitely a contender for the best robot song of all time.
NORML
29 Sep 2005, 11:08 AM
Kraftwerk The Robots
edit: looking at Ghosts requirements listed in the 4th post you could almost say anything by Kraftwerk.
edit again: I wish I brought some Kraftwerk to work today.
RFK 315
29 Sep 2005, 11:14 AM
I would like to nominate the songs of funk auteurs Zapp, sung thru the vocoder by Robert Troutman. very robotic sounding.
More Bounce to the Ounce !
obie
29 Sep 2005, 11:18 AM
The Bee Gees cover of "She's Leaving Home" on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078239/) soundtrack (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000067L8/104-4660508-5637526?v=glance) from 1978 is the gold standard for singing robots.
rabble-rabble
29 Sep 2005, 11:33 AM
Maybe someone can help with this one. Many years ago, a regular song on the Doctor Demento show was about Marvin who is a manically depressed robot in the Hitchhikers Guide series of books, TV shows, radio series, and movie.
Anyone remember the name of the song and artist? (Been a very long time since I heard the song)
Auriaprottu
29 Sep 2005, 11:55 AM
The Bee Gees cover of "She's Leaving Home" on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078239/) soundtrack (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000067L8/104-4660508-5637526?v=glance) from 1978 is the gold standard for singing robots.
Ouch. Damn... ouch!
It's true, tho. And they sounded even more metallic singing their own "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart". It took Al Green to make that tune human.
Real Ray
29 Sep 2005, 11:57 AM
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002IOF.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Based on Ted Hughes', "Iron Giant." Has its flaws, but I'm still fond of this album.
I suppose an honorable mention has to go to Black Sabbath's, "Iron Man." Not really a robot-a human turned into iron-but pretty close for this exercise.
Rafael Hernandez
29 Sep 2005, 11:58 AM
'Around the World' and 'Digital Love' by Daft Punk are two that come to mind.
And 'Mr Roboto' is one of the worse songs in history.
Coach_McGuirk
29 Sep 2005, 12:22 PM
"Robot Parade" by They Might Be Giants. Not the namby pamby children's version on No!, either.
Ghost
29 Sep 2005, 12:22 PM
[IMG]
I suppose an honorable mention has to go to Black Sabbath's, "Iron Man." Not really a robot-a human turned into iron-but pretty close for this exercise.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure how I would rule on Iron Man. As far as robothood, it's really kind of a gray area. A human being who once turned to steal in that great magnetic field? Perhaps Phillip K. Dick could tell us, but not I.There's a cover of this song by the Cardigans that I would tend to nominate. But it's nice to see some people finally working into 70s and 80s metal. It'sa fairly rich for this category.
OH, and yes, NORML, I would say about 93 percent of Kraftwerk songs could fit in this category. Pocket Calculator, that's a closer call.
And just to clarify, a drum machine in and of itself does not count as robot-related. However if that drum machine is programmed by a robot -- yeah, that counts.
Real Ray
29 Sep 2005, 12:35 PM
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002VC5.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
doppelganger
29 Sep 2005, 12:48 PM
http://turbine.slackworks.com/robots/images/MFRcov.gif
chad
29 Sep 2005, 01:06 PM
"My Girlfriend Is A Robot" by the Hanson Brothers.
doppelganger
29 Sep 2005, 01:09 PM
Radiohead's "Paranoid Android"
Air's "Electronic Performers"
anything from Matmos could be considered music by robots...:D
monster
29 Sep 2005, 01:15 PM
Can the mods please send posts 3-19 to the Recycle Bin and close this thread please?