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Thread started 09/01/22 2:44pm

TrivialPursuit

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P.Y.T. Question

It's still a favorite song on Thriller for me.

About 3:15 into the song, it sorta goes into a jam, and MJ eventually starts adlibbing a bit. The background vocals repeat "P.Y.T.... T.L.C." But between that, there's a twangy, high-pitched... voice? Noise? I always thought it was a voice with a vocoder type effect on it. Or is it just a keyboard doing something quirky?

As a kid, I used to sing, "I wanna beep...bop..." or whatever. hahaha

Thoughts?

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #1 posted 09/02/22 1:42am

JorisE73

TrivialPursuit said:

It's still a favorite song on Thriller for me.

About 3:15 into the song, it sorta goes into a jam, and MJ eventually starts adlibbing a bit. The background vocals repeat "P.Y.T.... T.L.C." But between that, there's a twangy, high-pitched... voice? Noise? I always thought it was a voice with a vocoder type effect on it. Or is it just a keyboard doing something quirky?

As a kid, I used to sing, "I wanna beep...bop..." or whatever. hahaha

Thoughts?


I always thought it was just some really high pitched to a chipmunk level voice not a keyboard.
Maybe pitch the song down to see if it is?

[Edited 9/2/22 1:42am]

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Reply #2 posted 09/02/22 4:16am

nextedition

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JorisE73 said:



TrivialPursuit said:


It's still a favorite song on Thriller for me.

About 3:15 into the song, it sorta goes into a jam, and MJ eventually starts adlibbing a bit. The background vocals repeat "P.Y.T.... T.L.C." But between that, there's a twangy, high-pitched... voice? Noise? I always thought it was a voice with a vocoder type effect on it. Or is it just a keyboard doing something quirky?

As a kid, I used to sing, "I wanna beep...bop..." or whatever. hahaha

Thoughts?




I always thought it was just some really high pitched to a chipmunk level voice not a keyboard.
Maybe pitch the song down to see if it is?

[Edited 9/2/22 1:42am]


Yes sounds like a voice to me, but pitched
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Reply #3 posted 09/02/22 6:48am

kevinpnb

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Reply #4 posted 09/02/22 10:48am

TrivialPursuit

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kevinpnb said:

https://www.youtube.com/w...T7doZIjPOg


Well damn, that answers that question, doesn't it?! lol lol

And "PYT" on the regular background vocals sorta masks the "your" part of those statements, so it makes it more difficult to know if it was a whole sentence or phrase. Veeeery clever.

I really was a puzzle to me. Was it vocals, keyboard, both, something else? Now we know.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #5 posted 09/03/22 4:23am

Marrk

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TrivialPursuit said:

kevinpnb said:

https://www.youtube.com/w...T7doZIjPOg


Well damn, that answers that question, doesn't it?! lol lol

And "PYT" on the regular background vocals sorta masks the "your" part of those statements, so it makes it more difficult to know if it was a whole sentence or phrase. Veeeery clever.

I really was a puzzle to me. Was it vocals, keyboard, both, something else? Now we know.

The intricasy of this tiny little detai really is bloody amazing. For 40 years i thought it was just cutesie gibberish but someone thought that out and implemented it. MJ, Quincy and Bruce Swedien really were some team. Bravo. lol

[Edited 9/3/22 4:23am]

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Reply #6 posted 09/03/22 9:48am

TrivialPursuit

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Marrk said:

The intricasy of this tiny little detai really is bloody amazing. For 40 years i thought it was just cutesie gibberish but someone thought that out and implemented it. MJ, Quincy and Bruce Swedien really were some team. Bravo. lol


Yep, totally agree. It's always been my favorite song on that record. The guitar, the bass, the backing vocal arrangements. Reminds me a lot of George Michael in songs like "Fastlove," where there are two or three things going on in the backing vocal sections, but they totally work.

And what a different take on the song compared to the original version. I almost wish they'd used part of the original as an intro or something, then just pushed everyone over the edge and into the album version.

I remember Danny Gokke on American Idol performing this song, and he started out with the demo version like that.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #7 posted 09/05/22 10:09am

WhisperingDand
elions

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Always been all about that demo version included on one of the Thriller re-releases that was later reworked into Blackstreet's "Joy".

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Reply #8 posted 09/05/22 11:33am

89Flowers

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Damn, that question was answered without haste. Someone else was thinking the same thing apparently. cool biggrin

This post has been modified from its original thought. It has been formatted to fit into the space and run in the time allotted.
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Reply #9 posted 09/05/22 1:11pm

TrivialPursuit

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89Flowers said:

Damn, that question was answered without haste. Someone else was thinking the same thing apparently. cool biggrin


And I'm glad for it.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #10 posted 09/08/22 2:43pm

GaryMF

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that's cool.

i used to sing along making up the words

except why is the last syllable cut off both times (the "C" in TLC", and th "T" in PYT"?)

rainbow
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Reply #11 posted 09/08/22 5:15pm

TrcikyChristop
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kevinpnb said:

https://www.youtube.com/w...T7doZIjPOg


[Edited 9/2/22 6:48am]


The multitrack shows that those vocals were recorded "Camille"/Sly/Stevie style, but at a much slower speed so that the chipmunk effect was very noticeable. Same way Ross and Janice Bagdasarian recorded Chipmunk vocals.
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Reply #12 posted 09/09/22 4:43pm

Marrk

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WhisperingDandelions said:

Always been all about that demo version included on one of the Thriller re-releases that was later reworked into Blackstreet's "Joy".

The demo would have been a great B-side on the P.Y.T. single. If it was released a decade later would have been on the Maxi single. I love P.Y.T. was just listening to the accapella from the stems. MJ's vocal is just worship

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Reply #13 posted 09/10/22 6:11pm

thesexofit

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Always liked this song. Seems to be one of his more endearing hits these days. As a big James Ingram fan, I can hear his voice in my head on the verses LOL (he co-wrote it)

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Reply #14 posted 09/19/22 10:14am

TrivialPursuit

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From the MJ instagram:

“P.Y.T.” was released on this date in 1983 as the sixth single from “Thriller” and was recently recertified at 4x platinum by the RIAA. Slant Magazine calls the tune a “lush disco paradise” while music website Albumism proclaims it “the designated infectious party jam”. Hit the link in stories to listen now.


Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #15 posted 09/19/22 4:34pm

heartpeaceshea
rt

You are posting too quickly.

You cannot post more than once every 20 seconds. Please go 'back', wait a few moments, and try again.
How come Trivial Pursuit doesn't get that message

Welcome to "the org", heartpeacesheart…
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