A Brief History of Whistling in Music [Video]

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Packing 26 songs and 98 years of history into a few short minutes, this video by cdza investigates the role of whistling in popular music. There’ll be some familiar riffs, like those from the Black Keys and Beck, but a few surprising tunes pop up as well. Can you name all those famous whistle-breaks?

Here’s the full setlist, from YouTube user FiveCardArmy:

F.J. Ricketts (1914) “Colonel Bogey March”

Ben Bernie (1925) “Sweet Georgia Brown”

Frank Churchill (1937) “Whistle While You Work”

Raoul Kraushaar (1954) “Lassie Main & End Title”

Earle Hagen (1960) “The Fishin’ Hole”

Ennio Morricone (1964) “A Fistful of Dollars”

Ennio Morricone (1966) “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

The Lovin’ Spoonful (1966) “Daydream”

Bernard Hermann (1968) “Twisted Nerve”

Otis Redding (1968) “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”

The Beatles (1970) “Two of Us”

Paul Simon (1972) “Down by the Schoolyard”

Billy Joel (1977) “The Stranger”

Supertramp (1979) “Goodbye Stranger”

J. Geils Band (1981) “Centerfold”

The Bangles (1986) “Walk Like An Egyptian”

Bobby McFerrin (1988) “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

Guns N’ Roses (1989) “Patience”

Warren G. ft. Nate Dogg (1994) “Regulate”

Beck (1997) “Sissyneck”

Bob Sinclair (2005) “Love Generation”

Peter Bjorn and John (2006) “Young Folks”

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (2009) “Home”

The Black Keys (2010) “Tighten Up”

Foster The People (2010) “Pumped Up Kicks”

Maroon 5 (2011) “Moves Like Jagger” ft. Christina Aguilera

(via Bits & Pieces)

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