Whistle a Happy Tune

Here's a special message to Stevie T. Check out the Sound Opinions podcast for this weekend's show. In honor of having Peter Bjorn and John in the studio to play their hit "Young Folks," Kot and DeRogatis off their top rock whistling songs. Although they talk a lot about "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," neither one of them picked it on their lists. They did talk about different types of whistling and different moods it can convey. DeRogatis's top choice was Roxy Music's cover of "Jealous Guy," which featured Bryan Ferry's wistful tones. Kot took the more foreboding "Generals and Majors" by XTC, pointing out that the whistle was reminiscent of "Col. Bogey March" from The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Way back when we lived in another technological regime, I made a tape for someone entitled, "Whistlin' Tunes." This was a couple of decades ago, so my memory may not be completely accurate, but I recall thinking about including "Generals and Majors" but deciding against it because I wasn't sure that the part was actually whistled. If it is a whistle, it's one that's heavily processed. I thought it sounded too much like a keyboard of some kind. I believe I felt the same way about a Heaven 17 song, "The Height of the Fighting," I think. So instead of "Generals and Majors," XTC was represented by "All You Pretty Girls" from The Big Express. The tape also included what was probably then and is definitely now my favorite whistling rock song: the Jam doing "Set the House Ablaze" from Sound Affects. It's insistent and threatening, which is appropriate in a song about fascism. I was disappointed that this song wasn't mentioned on Sound Opinions, especially since I recall they once made "That's Entertainment" (which immediately follows "Set the House Ablaze" on the album) a Desert Island Disc. Oh well, it's their loss.