RUSH: Now in the midst of all of this, we came across a new… it’s actually an old way of mixing music for clubbers and occasionally for radio mixes called “chop and screw.” We talked about it all day yesterday. We had some callers tell us what it was. And, come to find out, folks — because I am on the cutting edge of societal evolution — I was doing chop and screw mixes on this program before I even knew what it was.
Now, the first thing we’re going to do — and we’ve got sound bites on all this stuff. Just sit tight. But I want to do the chop and screw business because we talked about it all day yesterday and I’m sure people were asking, “What the hell is chop and screw music mix?” For those of you who weren’t here, we had a bunch of experts call and say it got started during the Robo-tripping days in clubs and elsewhere. Robo-trip?
Yeah. People would get high on Robitussin.
Young people would start guzzling Robitussin and go to the clubs, so they started mixing music to fit the mood these people were in as they were OD’ing on Robitussin. It’s called Robo-tripping. Now, one thing that happens to you when you OD on Robitussin is that your heart slows down. You sort of zone out. So they mixed the music to match that, and what we have is something to illustrate this for you, so that you know what chop and screw is in terms of mixing music.
We went out and we got a Sinatra song. What Sinatra song, Mike? (interruption) That’s right, Love and Marriage. You’ve all heard the song. (singing) “Love and marriage. Love and marriage.” We have the chop and screw mix of Frank Sinatra. Here it is. We’ll start out with this. It’s slower, it’s slowed down, and you’ll hear the chop and screw. You’ll not miss it, as the song unfolds here before your very eyes and ears.
(playing Love and Marriage)
RUSH: Now, if you’re zoned out on Robitussin, it sounds perfectly fine to you.
(song continues)
RUSH: Okay. That’s enough. That gives you an idea of what chopped and screwed is. (interruption) It’s got a what? You’re liking it even with that? Well, it is unique. I mean, it depends on your taste. But you don’t need to be on Robitussin to like it. I’m just telling you that if you’re Robo-tripping, the way they mixed the music for you is so that it all made sense to you. Now Love and Marriage, just so you know, the Sinatra song is actually the theme song of Married With Children, which is becoming a phenomenon that’s not going to be possible for very much longer.
But back in the days where marriage equaled children, that inspired songs like this. Now, little did I know… I was reminded yesterday by our crack broadcast engineer Mike… (I snuck that one in there, didn’t I, Snerdley?) I was reminded yesterday by the broadcast engineer that, as always, I was before my time. We were doing chop and screw long before we even knew what it was. Let’s take you back. I forget the exact year, but you football fans will recall this.
In the early nineties the Houston Oilers — not the Tennessee Titans, the old Houston Oilers — were in a playoff game in Buffalo. The Oilers were up 35-3 at halftime and ended up losing the game. Now, at the time I was a big Houston Oilers fan. I loved the old Steelers and Oilers rivalries. I had a good friend that was working for the Oilers. Lewis Mangum was his name. He was a traveling secretary. He was a great guy, did a number of things, and I had a chance to take a couple of road trips with the Oilers.
I just loved it, but that was before this program started. This was back in ’79 through ’83 in that era, during the big rivalry days with the Steelers. Anyway, we were playing the Oilers’ fight song which was popular back then, and we have the regular version of that, right, Maimone? But after this game, after they blew the 35-3 halftime lead, we came back and we made a mockery of their defeat by altering the song. We’ll play it — Houston Oilers Number One — as it normally sounds. It’s a little hokey, but it’s nostalgic.
(Houston Oilers Number One)
RUSH: It’s actually one of my all-time favorite songs. I still listen to this late at night after some adult beverages.
(song continues)
RUSH: They’ve never won anything, but…
(song continues)
RUSH: Hello, low-information outreach! (laughing)
(song continues)
RUSH: Stick with me, folks. Hang in there. Open Line Friday. This is what it’s all for: low-information outreach. I’m defending my honor as I’m being defamed by the mainstream media with this silly Beyonce crap. Here’s the rest now…
(music playing)
RUSH: They never had either.
(music playing)
RUSH: They never won anything.
(music playing)
RUSH: Okay, the big chorus once more!
(music playing)
RUSH: Now listen to this. Listen to the count.
(music playing)
RUSH: Anyway, folks… There you go: “One! Five! Seven! Eight!” That’s how they counted in Houston. Now, folks, I’ve got to tell you: Just from a nostalgic point, the Astrodome was one of the greatest places to be when the Oilers would play well and that song was blaring. Back then, there were a lot of people who thought it was hokey, and it is, but it just was during the Luv Ya Blue days. It was just great. Just super. But they went to Buffalo and they blew a 35-3 halftime lead and so we, in order to join the chorus and ask, “How in the hell do you do that?” engaged our own version of chop and screw. But we didn’t know it at the time.
(chop and screwed mix of Houston Oilers Number One)
RUSH: Where’s the Robitussin? Give me a bottle.
(music playing)
RUSH: So you see, ladies and gentlemen, even before I knew what it was, we were doing crop and screw music mixing here on the EIB Network.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: You know, folks, I could very well be the father of chop and screw, because chop and screw started in Houston! Chop and screw started in Houston, at least according to the Channel 11 TV clowns. I don’t know, but I’m thinking that what we did with the Houston Oilers Number One song might predate what that Robert “DJ Screw” Davis was doing.