A Brief History of Auto-Tune: The Good, The Great, and the Unbelievably Incredible
Guest Submission by Tim Myers
As someone with a bad singing voice, this whole auto-tune craze is very exciting. After watching any episode of American Idol, it becomes instantly apparent that the possession of a good singing voice is inversely related to the amount of personality any given person possesses. This is why it is extremely disheartening for me to hear Jay-Z bash the rising auto-tune trend on his latest single "D.O.A (Death of Autotune)". But Jay-Z, isn't it true that studio tricks have been instrumental in creating some of the most groundbreaking works in the past (e.g. any drug-addled Beatles album)? Why cut down this phenomenon well before it has reached its full potential? And are we really supposed to take pop-culture advice from a guy who tried to bring rap rock back through his collaboration with angst-ridden suburban tween favorites, Linkin Park? Jay, why not take a look at the treasures Auto-Tune has blessed the world with thus far:
Zapp & Roger: "Computer Love", 1985
Zapp and Roger revolutionize R&B music by utilizing Auto-Tune on their single "Computer Love", a song that would sound more at home as the theme of Nick Arcade than as the soundtrack of any foray into love making. Still the song seemed prophetic, predicting the coming ubiquity of internet pornography.
Cher: "Do You Believe?", 1998
Cher returns to public consciousness singing a "Night at the Roxbury" banger. The world breathes a heavy sigh of relief as the music video does not feature an even older Cher once again in fishnet stockings on a battle ship.
Kid Rock "Only God Knows Why", 1999.
Kid Rock shows a sensitive side with this Auto-Tune inflected country ballad. Well... at least an attempt at sensitivity.
T-Pain "Buy You a Drank (Shawty Snappin')", 2007
T-Pain forecasts his Saturday Night sexual adventures. First he's going to buy you a drink, then he will take you home with him, and then he is going to make sweet love to you, and you will be all like "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh". And how could the ladies possibly resist a man with such a syruppy robotic voice who, when walking around night clubs, leaves a trail of money behind him like some sort of financially incompetent pied piper?
Snoop Dogg "Sensual Seduction", 2007
Snoop Dogg brings back the 70's with autotune, a keytar and a sexual magic carpet ride in a turban. The song takes its rightful place in the Snoop Dogg canon next to classics like "Murder was the Case" and "Down for my N****z"
Lil Wayne: "Lollipop", 2008
Lil Wayne jumps on the autotune bandwagon using the most obvious sexual metaphor ever. The world feels a little nauseous at the thought of having sex with Lil Wayne.
Kanye West 808's and Heartbreaks, 2008
Kanye West sets aside his usual grandiloquent, narcissistic rapper persona in order to release an album of spacy, slightly-less narcissisic jams sung through Auto-Tune. This new R&B singer side of Kanye is highlighted by a jeri curl mullet. Zapp and Roger lameness returns full circle.
Why stop here?
-Tim Myers
Tim is a guest writer for PopSense and clearly an insta-legend. You can have a chance at becoming a guest writer by submitting an article today!
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mm, finally, the history of autotune all in one place! haha, great article new guy!
that's so interesting to see auto-tune's use, it's actually funny the way we forget that it has been used in things like Cher just cause we think of it so much as a product of modern fuck up haha
"financially incompetent pied piper" incredible haha
eww yeah, lil wayne having sex is a disgusting image haha.
good satire here
this article gives a good perspective on the fact that auto-tune won't necessarily die-- it's been around longer than just what jay-z is talking about, so it may still exist in that once-in-a-while format, but it may fade from the mainstream in every-other song
lol snoop's sexual magic carpet ride
Even the guy who invented auto (who thought it would only be used subtly to correct bum notes) thinks the over use of it sounds hideous. I'm with Jay Z on this one.
Um... I just love "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap
Computer Love released in 1985. Auto-Tune was created in 1997. Please do a little research before destroying music milestones.
Yeah, I'm not gonna get into debating when auto tune was first used (I've got many friends in the music business that swear it's been around since the late 70's, yet most sources say 97).
BUT I cannot stand idly by while someone trashes Zapp and Roger. Roger used a talkbox, and several different Moog synths with vocoders and the like, not autotune. Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBJv534SWKQ and notice the fucking tube hanging out of his mouth, retard. And also, notice how the crowd is thoroughly moved by the "Zapp and Roger lameness" you have the nerve to equate to Kanye's pathetic attempt at "singing". Roger Troutman was amazingly talented and taken too early. The rest of the clowns in this list can eat a bag of dicks. Except maybe Snoop, but he doesn't exactly tout himself as a singer.
But seriously, if you're gonna post semi-witty blogs and throw out "facts" please try and get them right, or else you'll spread misinformation to your readers. But I guess I shouldn't expect good taste or fact checking from someone that likes Girl Talk (ugh, just awful).