How long does it usually take you to Shazam a song? Ten seconds? A minute? Well it took 40 years to find ONE piece. Internet users from all over the world were on the spot, and it was Reddit which finally solved the riddle this Monday.
The most mysterious song ofinternet was found. The enigma was 40 years old : a kind of mega treasure hunt. You've probably asked yourself many times while listening to Nova ” Damn, what's the name of the song? I didn't remember when they told me » (before asking your friends the famous “ but yes, it’s the song that goes na, na, naaaaa“). Fortunately, nowadays there is also a Shazam which allows you to recognize the song you are humming into the microphone.
Darius S. et les « Unknown Pleasures »
But all this technology didn't exist in 1984and it is at that moment that commence our gigantic treasure hunt. We are at Wilhelmshavena port and industrial city in northernGermany. This is where he lives Darius S.a teenager who has just purchased a new radio cassette player and who spends hours listening to his favorite music on the radio and recording the ones he likes the most. He note scrupulously the titles and artists he sees passing by. Sometimes he or she doesn't have time to write their name, or the DJ doesn't name them. He puts away these anonymous in a compilation that he calls “Unknown Pleasures”, the name of the disc Joy Division. Nova returned last June to this absolute masterpiece, which left a lasting mark on history.
All except one
Years later, Darius S. managed, thanks to the Internet, to put names to all these mysterious nameless pieces… except one. The title is taken from a mix of NDRGerman public radio. Three minutes of an exercise post-punk unpretentious. Nothing crazy, except that this mysterious track will launch a huge hunt for the song…
The investigation reaches the farthest reaches of the Internet
Twenty years pass, and sister by Darius S. launches the research through a message published on a forum. THE Internet users find all the songs, but nothing happens, no one can recognize this particular song. And nothing in the NDR archives… The investigation becomes viral in 2019 when the extract is posted on YouTube by a student from Sao Paulo. It was he who contacted the recurring DJs of the time on the radio in question. One died in 2016, the other is still alive, he is English and his name is Paul Baskerville. The latter finds the complete list of all the songs that he broadcast in 1984, but still no traces of unknown title.
Thanks again Reddit
It was necessary to wait for November 4, 2024the day before yesterday, for someone to come forward on Reddit. He came across an old archive newspaper article, which mentions FEXa group that had won a talent competition in Bream in September 1984 and whose music was described as “ rock with New Wave and Pop influences“. The Internet user managed to find one of membersand asks him if he has any recordings left… Among which a track called « Subways Of Your Mind« . Questioned on the subject, FEX itself confirmed that this title was indeed theirs.
