"Five Minutes" | |
---|---|
Single by Bonzo Goes to Washington | |
Released | October, 1984 |
Recorded | New York City 1984 |
Genre | Hip-hop/sample |
Length | 3:19 |
Label | Sleeping Bag Records |
Songwriter(s) | Jerry Harrison, Bootsy Collins, Daniel Lazerus |
Producer(s) | Jerry Harrison and Daniel Lazerus |
"Five Minutes" is a song by Jerry Harrison, Bootsy Collins and producer Daniel Lazerus, and credited to Bonzo Goes to Washington. It was released on the Sleeping Bag Records label in 1984.
The song begins with the recording made of then-US-President Ronald Reagan's "We begin bombing in five minutes" joke speech, which is then sampled and looped throughout the remainder of the track. [1]
Harrison had considered the joke to be in bad taste; as he later recalled to author Dave Bowman:
Everyone has the right to kid around, but that was too public. I hated Reagan's gutting of people's civil rights. I thought everything he stood for was awful. [1]
Before the record was released, most people had heard about the joke speech but very few had actually heard the speech itself. [1] It was only spoken by Reagan as a microphone test, which was then inadvertently recorded. Harrison was able to locate a copy of the speech from a college radio station and sampled it. Using what would now be considered to be common hip-hop recording methods — despite the term only just being used at the time — Harrison mixed in Reagan's speech with synthesizers and drums, looping the phrases "I'm pleased", "outlaw Russia forever" and "five minutes" multiple times over. [1]
The title of the band references the film Bedtime for Bonzo , which starred Reagan, and which also inspired the Ramones' song "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg". Despite the character of Bonzo being a chimpanzee in the film, in both songs Bonzo is taken to mean Reagan himself.
When the song was completed, no major label could guarantee a release before the 1984 Presidential election so Harrison chose to release it on a micro-label called Sleeping Bag Records. [1]
The Rutles were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a mid-1970s BBC television comedy programme, later became an actual group—while remaining a parody of the Beatles—which toured and recorded, releasing two albums that included two UK chart hits.
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American musician, singer and songwriter.
"California Über Alles" is the debut single by Dead Kennedys. It was the group's first recording and was released in June 1979 on the Optional Music label, with "The Man with the Dogs" appearing as its B-side. The title track was re-recorded in 1980 for the band's first album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, and the original recording as well as the B-side were later included on the 1987 compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.
Bedtime for Bonzo is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova, starring Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and Peggy as Bonzo. It revolves around the attempts of the central character, psychology professor Peter Boyd (Reagan), to teach human morals to a chimpanzee, hoping to solve the "nature versus nurture" question. He hires a woman, Jane Linden (Lynn), to pose as the chimp's mother while he plays father to it, and uses 1950s-era child rearing techniques.
Arthur Russell (born Charles Arthur Russell Jr.; May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992) was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. Trained in contemporary experimental composition and Indian classical music, Russell relocated to New York in the mid-1970s, where he became associated with Lower Manhattan's avant-garde community as well as the city's disco scene.
"Revolution 9" is a sound collage that appeared on the Beatles' 1968 eponymous release. The composition, credited to Lennon–McCartney, was created primarily by John Lennon with assistance from George Harrison and Yoko Ono. Lennon said he was trying to paint a picture of a revolution using sound. The composition was influenced by the avant-garde style of Ono as well as the musique concrète works of composers such as Edgard Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Kurtis el Khaleel, known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. Mantronik was the former leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix. Currently, Mantronik lives in South Africa, where he has produced and remixed house and techno music tracks by artists such as India, Junior Senior, Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Michael Gray, Victoria Beckham, Liberty X, and Mim. Mantronik was influential on the development of hip hop music; notably, he laid the foundations for Southern hip hop genres such as Miami bass and trap music, and helped popularize the Amen break.
"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" is a song by American punk rock band the Ramones. It was issued as a single in the UK by Beggars Banquet Records in mid-1985. The song is an emotionally charged commentary on the Bitburg controversy from earlier that year, in which U.S. president Ronald Reagan had paid a state visit to a German World War II cemetery where numerous Waffen-SS soldiers were buried. Lyrically, the song was a departure from the usual Ramones topics, due to Jean Beauvoir's involvement. While not commercially successful, it was critically well received.
Bonzo may mean:
Animal Boy is the ninth studio album by American punk band the Ramones, released through Sire Records on May 19, 1986. Due to conflicts within the group, the album features less of lead singer Joey Ramone, both in performing and writing, and less performing from guitarist Johnny Ramone. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone wrote and sang more on this album than on previous albums, and Richie Ramone became the first drummer to write songs for the band since Tommy Ramone, the band's original drummer. The album spawned four singles, all of which charted on the UK Singles Chart, as well as other charts. In addition to singles, the band promoted their album using a music video for "Something to Believe In," which parodied the contemporary benefit concert Live Aid and Hands Across America.
"Flying" is an instrumental recorded by the English rock band the Beatles which first appeared on the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour release. It is one of the few songs credited to all four members of the band: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
"We begin bombing in five minutes" is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984, during the "second Cold War".
Let Them Eat Jellybeans!, subtitled "17 Extracts From America's Darker Side", is a compilation album released by Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles in 1981. It was one of the earliest compilations of underground music in the United States and its original release included an insert of all of the punk bands known to be playing in the U.S. and Canada at that time. The first side of the LP features songs by a number of bands that formed the canon of American hardcore punk in the 1980s, while the second side features more of an art rock sound.
Terrence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours."
Larry Smith, often known as "Legs" Larry Smith, is the former drummer of the comedy satirical rock group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
The Best Mixes from the Album Debut for All the People Who Don't Buy White Labels is the first EP and remix compilation by Björk, originally released through Polydor Records in September 1994. The collection contains six remixes of four tracks from Björk's 1993 album Debut. All of the songs were written solely by Björk except "Human Behaviour", which was co-written by Nellee Hooper. Björk and Hooper were also co-producers of the EP. "Human Behavior" was remixed by the English electronic group Underworld; the remaining five tracks are remixes by The Sabres of Paradise and Black Dog. The compilation has been re-issued through the record labels One Little Indian, PolyGram and PO Records.
Klein + M.B.O. were an Italian Italo disco musical group formed by producers, songwriters and arrangers Mario Boncaldo and Tony Carrasco. Rossana Casale, a jazz singer along with American chorus singer Naimy Hacket, provided vocals on their records.
"His Name Is Legs " is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, released in 1975 as the closing track of his album Extra Texture . The song is a tribute to "Legs" Larry Smith, the drummer with the 1960s satirical-comedy group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and one of many comedians with whom Harrison began associating during the 1970s. Smith appears on the recording, delivering a spoken monologue, while Harrison's lyrics similarly reflect the comedian's penchant for zany wordplay. The song serves as a precursor to Harrison's work with Monty Python members Eric Idle and Michael Palin, including his production of the troupe's 1975 single "The Lumberjack Song" and films such as Life of Brian (1979) that he produced under the aegis of his company HandMade Films.
The appearance of Ronald Reagan in music includes mentions and depictions of the actor-turned-politician in songs, albums, music videos, and band names, particularly during his two terms as President of the United States. Reagan first appeared on a few album covers during his time as a Hollywood actor, well before his political career. During the 1960s, folk, rock, and satirical musicians critiqued Reagan in his early years as Governor of California for his red-baiting and attacks on Berkeley's Free Speech Movement. In the 1980s songs critiquing Reagan became more widespread and numerous once he ascended to national office and involved himself in the renewal of the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, social conservatism, right-wing evangelicalism, and his economic policies in relation to low-income people. While references to Reagan during his presidency appear in pop music, his presence in song lyrics and on album covers is often associated with the hardcore punk counter-culture of the 1980s.
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash. The song was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US. It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.