Songs Featuring a Count-Off at the Beginning
When performing with a band, a count-off is used to help set the tempo and make sure everyone in the group starts at the same time. Most of the time in the studio, the count-off is edited from the final version in the record. However, the count-off is sometimes kept on the final product or added to it in order to give an impression of a live performance or for some other reason. Most of the time, a standard count-off is "one-two-three-four", but it is not always this way. As always, feel free to add some other interesting examples.
"One, two, three, FOUR! ". George Martin wanted the song to sound like a live performance, so he took Paul McCartney's count-off from Take 9 and edited it to Take 1. The result is one of the most famous count-offs in music history.
Great list idea. I actually made this list long ago but my list title was Top 10 Songs that Start with a Count-In. You can see it on the "Related Lists".
This song lifts me up just thinking of it. So Fun.
During the intro, Bono shouts "Uno, dos, tres, catorce! ". This is Spanish for "One, two, three, fourteen! ".
The count-off for the song is "Ein, zwei, drei, alle! ", which is German for "One, two, three, everybody! ". The reason they added this on there is because this song is during the phase of the album where Pink, the main character, visualizes himself as a fascist dictator whose concertgoers are his subjects.
Wooly Bully uses two languages in its count-off, English and Spanish. The count-off is "Uno, dos. One, two, tres, cuatro! ".
During the intro, Noel Gallagher and another bandmate (I presume it's his brother Liam) do the count-off together, very slowly.
Another Beatles song. The song features a slow count-off with a lot of coughing, and the real count-off (the one which sets the actual tempo) can be heard in the background.
The song opens with a quick "One, two- Aw, freak out! ". Nile Rodgers, the band's guitarist, said they did this to attract the listener's attention.
Was going to add this great song. As it's already here, I'll vote for it instead.
The song starts off with a short famous dialogue between James and his band. At the end, he says "Can I count it off? One, two three, four! ".
The song starts off with John Bonham saying, "We've done four already, but now we're steady, and then they went- one, two, three, four". It was a reference to the fact that they had already tried four takes of the song before getting it together.
Dee Dee Ramone, the group's bass player, was famous for starting out nearly every Ramones song in concert with a loud and fast "One Two Three Four! ". Rockaway Beach is one of the more notable examples where the count-off is kept on the studio version.
You can hear someone very faintly counting off the song. I didn't notice it until listening to it a few times.
You can hear Marc Bolan say "One, two, buckle my shoe! " before the whole band comes in.
Ed King (the guitarist who wrote the main riff) does the count off. Al Kooper (who produced the album) would always leave the count off on the first track of each album he produced. That was his "trademark", if you will.
The song begins with a false start, and someone counts off the tempo to guide them back in line.
The bassist comes in at the wrong time, and Johnny says, "Don't hit it now, hit it on four! " Then he counts them off and they start for real.
It sounds to me like the drummer (Simon Kirke) is doing the count off.
You can hear Phil Collins (I presume) doing a count off in the middle of the intro to mark where the keyboards come in.
It sounds like Mick Jagger is doing the count off.
You can hear someone count off the tempo while the drums are playing.
You can hear the count off faintly amidst the feedback in the intro. They also threw in a count off in "White Man (in Hammersmith Palais)".