Talk:Electric Avenue (song)

Untitled

Do we really need to know that the song is used as a plate intro by an unknown baseball player? Or, for that matter, that it was covered by a band called Anal Cunt? 98.92.96.129 (talk) 03:30, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Why leave out one cover version? Are you offended by their name or something? Meve Stills (talk) 19:51, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Actually, that section needs some cleaning. Per WP:SONGCOVER, a cover version should be included if the cover meets WP:NSONG or the cover is "discussed by a reliable source on the subject of the song". Most of the covers included fail. Comments before I clean them out? - SummerPhD^v2.0 22:28, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

What does it even mean "discussed by a reliable source"? Each of the covers listed are linked to something, and they show a great diversity of styles, which is surprising and interesting to anyone who comes here to read about this song. Meve Stills (talk) 03:59, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Yes, they all link to "something". Most do not link to 1) a reliable source that 2) is on the subject of the song and 3) discusses the cover.

A reliable source is one that is independent of the subject and has a reputation for fact checking and accuracy. Wikipedia articles, forum postings, blogs and such are not reliable.

We need sources that are discussing the song, not sources that discuss, for instance, the band Anal Cunt and discuss that they covered it. We're looking for an indication that the particular version is a meaningful part of the song's history.

Discussing the cover means saying something substantial about it. Mentioning that Anal Cunt used the song is not discussing it.

I haven't gotten into the specific cases yet, but I'm expecting most/all of them fail. - SummerPhD^v2.0 04:15, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Well then, here's a really informative page that talks about the band Anal Cunt at length and mentions the cover. I couldn't say how "fact checky" they are, but I doubt you'll find a more knowledgeable reference for a band of their ilk.

http://www.markprindle.com/analcunt.htm

Meve Stills (talk) 13:46, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

We are looking for a reliable source about the song, not the band.

We are looking for substantive discussion of the cover, not a mention.

That the source doesn't seem to be "fact checky" is a reason to exclude it.

If independent reliable sources do not discuss the song in detail, we don't include it If reliable sources don't cover various aspects of "bands of their ilk", Wikipedia shouldn't either. - SummerPhD^v2.0 14:13, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Jeez, whatever. Go ahead and make it less informative. As a longtime user of Wikipedia, I'd rather see more information about a subject—things I never knew before—than less. By removing these little–known covers, you're making the article less useful. Meve Stills (talk) 14:20, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Listing the thousands of versions of "Yesterday" or all of the TV shows and movies that include "Happy Birthday to You" or all of the albums, movies, novels, operas and cartoons about Richard Nixon (or his disembodied head in the 31st century) would make those articles more informative. It would also turn the articles into chaotic messes. So, the Wikipedia community came up with guidelines to limit what is or is not included. The inclusion of part of this song in another song by a fairly obscure band falls on one side of that line. If you feel that line should be moved, you'll need to raise the issue on the talk page for WP:SONGCOVER. Be forewarned; issues like the 4,000 recorded versions of "Yesterday" will come up. - SummerPhD^v2.0 02:25, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

There's a huge difference between thousands of versions of Yesterday that are all basically the same and one extremely strange version of a one-hit wonder. This is why Anal Cunt's version is important here. Meve Stills (talk) 03:38, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

At least 250 of the artists who covered "Yesterday" are much better known than Anal Cunt. It's been performed in numerous languages, from Japanese to Klingon; as a polka to heavy metal song on everything from glass harmonica to pedal steel. If "strange version" were a criterion, we'd have an awful lot of articles discussing Klingon versions performed in someone's basement and Esperanto versions performed at rundown Holiday Inns near airports.

The basic conflict here seems to be that you feel it should be included because otherwise people won't know it exists. Wikipedia, OTOH, generally covers material proportionately to how notable it is: We have a lot to say about Richard Nixon, less to say about the obscure third party senatorial candidate who accidentally turned himself permanently blue and nothing at all to say about my high school French teacher. Nixon's opinions on various issues show up in various articles. Blue dude's opinions are only in the article about him. Ms J______'s opinions are consigned to oblivion. As much as I'd like to know about my former teacher, this is as it should be. Nixon is highly relevant to numerous topics and impacted perceptions of those issues. Blue guy? Not so much, unless we're talking about the blue skin thing, which is how many people heard such a thing could happen. His plan to abolish the Social Security system is certainly unusual, but it isn't notable and it isn't something someone reading about Social Security would likely be looking for. - SummerPhD^v2.0 04:42, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

This is also on the subject of other versions. If you search for this song on Spotify, the version that will come up is by one Eddie Grant. Not Eddy, Eddie, a DJ from the Netherlands. The fact that most people don't know the correct spelling for Eddy Grant makes this version be played very often. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:7F3:8988:EE69:F037:F36F:3919:34C6 (talk) 01:55, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

References

Song Meaning

Can we post the lyrics, is that allowed, and if not, why does the article fail to discuss the meaning or origination of the song?'''Aryeonos''' (talk) 06:19, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

The meaning, origin or inspiration of the song may be allowed but it is doubtful that printing the song lyrics would not violate copywrite laws. An example is that in the past, objections were raised by The Beatles' song publishing company when they printed the lyrics to their own songs on one of their album covers. 22yearswothanks (talk) 14:31, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Wikia has the lyrics.--88.73.30.245 (talk) 15:58, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Commemorative Playing

Cleveland Wheeler, a DJ on WRBQ-FM in Tampa, played this song while serial murderer Ted Bundy was being executed by electrocution. I don't know if this fact is Wiki-worthy, but I always think about it whenever I hear the song. It's the only song I know for certain that was played in celebration during an execution. Seems noteworthy to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.163.227.30 (talk) 09:29, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Song Revelation

I was amazed to learn that "Electric Avenue" is a protest song, due to it's uptempo beat. I don't think that most of my fellow Americans knew that it was a protest song, or what the song was about. Shemp99 (talk) 23:54, 10 August 2011 (UTC) Shemp99

RIAA certification

As of January 1, 1989, the threshold for platinum singles was lowered to one million units for all certifications after that date. "Electric Avenue" was certified platinum December 20, 1989, representing one million units shipped. Piriczki (talk) 00:33, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Trump

Eddie Grant sued Trump for unauthorized use of the song in campaign advertising.[1][2] Might be woth adding to the article. -- 109.76.215.76 (talk) 08:21, 3 September 2020 (UTC)

Here’s a follow up: https://www.businessinsider.com/eddy-grant-electric-avenue-lyrics-explanation-donald-trump-lawyers-2023-9?international=true&r=US&IR=T 2A02:A46B:262:1:910A:2356:B6C2:D5D0 (talk) 04:47, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Removal from streaming media

Years ago Grant had it removed from streaming internet radio such as Spotify. Wolf O'Donnel (talk) 06:16, 21 June 2023 (UTC)