The library of congress has just released a very interesting collection of culturally and historically important sounds in America. You can check it out at the National Recording Registry

I'm just curious to know what everyone would add to this list.

I love 'Scott Joplin'.






A beatifull quotation from a beautiful book.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup
Kahlil Gibran

Abbot & Costello's Who's on First

Alan Lomax folk music recordings

Trini Lopez's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner"

Joni Mitchell's "Star-Making Machinery"

A recording of a high school band in practice

One of a big symphony

Open stage music

Somebody whistling "Dixie"

A peace rally

John Phillips Sousa

And way too many more to list

It might be fun if a foriegner tries it?

Sounds (and sights & smells) that make me smile (in a good way - ) in relation to America:
- the sound of an American telephone ringing
- the opening theme music to 'Blazing Saddles'
- Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech
- the Warner Bros cartoon intro & outro music
- the HBO channel ident at the start of, well, almost anything, really
- Neil Armstrong's 'one small step for man...' speil. Who cares if he got his lines wrong?
- steam coming from a grating in the pavement. (Sorry, sidewalk.)
- Universal themeparks
- JP Sousa music
- Elmer Bernstein's score for The Magnificent Seven. Expecially when hummed by a old lady wearing a stetson at an Arizona gas station. (Okay, you had to be there.)

Ones that make me
- 'Have a nice day'
- The singing of the Star Spangled Banner at every public gathering and the downright earnestness of everyone when doing it
- The opening chords of the Friends theme music
- Disney themeparks
- Being called 'Buddy'. Stangely, 'pal' or other variants are okay. It's just that the kind of man that uses 'buddy' seems to be uniformly - er, how to put this in a way that doens't get me barred - maybe a British euphemism will do it - applied by Berks. (Using the rhyming slang.)

Ones that make me
- Dubya's "You're either with us or against us" speech.
- Anyone saying "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands". It was cleverly phrased the first time, but now it's just a redneck cliche. And it's still *** NOTICE: THIS WORD IS AGAINST THE RULES. FAILURE TO REMOVE IT WILL RESULT IN A STRIKE. ***
- Anything at all to do with Scooby Doo. (Hasn't anyone ever noticed quite how badly animated all those 60s, 70s and 80s Hanna-Barbera cartoons are?)
- The sound of an American telephone ringing when I'm ringing it. No matter how many times I visit, I can't understand what all the different tones mean. (Note for those that have never been outside the US - the tones are different in different countries.)
- Country & Western Music
- the unique tonal quality of a Southern Preacher

Something by Chuck Berry and George Carlin.

yeah

ZZ Top's Album Deguello

It's Incredible!

I would add:

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's version of Dream a Little Dream.

Some Thelonious Monk

Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album

The Sesame Street theme song

Marilyn Monroe's recording of Happy Birthday as it was directed at JFK

The Stooges

The sound of a baseball game, particularly the crack of the ball against a bat as the crowd roars

I'm sure I will think of many more...

I would also add:


Some soundbytes of the varied American accents. Especially the heavy ones, such as the southern drawl, or the New York style. (To me they help portray the identity and many faces of our diverse nation.)

Western ballads are a must too. Some Elvis, or (insert most popular artists), these reflected eras and American mindsets.

Lets not forget a good Toby Keith or Aaron Tippen song like "Where the Stars & Stripes & Eagle Fly".

I like the summer sounds best. I seldom run the AC because I like to hear

Screen doors banging.

Sing-song voices of children reciting jump rope songs.

Roller skates on cement.

Fast running feet slapping on cement.

The click, click of the sprinkler.

Bird song.

Summer rain.

The ice cream truck's hokey music.

Kids laughing and bouncing basket balls.

Squeak of the porch swing on a summer night.

Soft laughter.

Tinkle of ice in glasses.

Pulsing sound of Katydids and Crickets.

Train whistles.

Wind chimes.

John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever on the 4th of July.

Sounds of bands performing under the stars at the Memorial Union Terrace on the shores of Lake Mendota. No better place to be on a hot summer night

Splash of water on a rock.

Jaunty organ music of a merry-go-round.

And much more!

Madtown