Tarzan says has good beat, you can dance

In this week’s musical classics, Cecil hears talking drums and investigates the secret life of sax pl [The Straight Dope] Tarzan says has good beat, you can dance By [The Straight Dope]( • Issue #17 • [View online]( In this week’s musical classics, Cecil hears talking drums and investigates the secret life of sax player Billy Tipton, while SDStaff DavidB goes down the Yellow Brick Road with Pink Floyd. Threadspotting The best of the Straight Dope Message Board  April 4, 2020: [We will sell no vaccine before its time](. [Illustration by Slug Signorino] Illustration by Slug Signorino Straight Dope Classic: November 18, 1994 [Are there really such things as “talking drums”]( Dear Cecil: Whenever I watch an old Tarzan movie on TV, right when Tarzan and a few of the intruding white guys are worried sick and looking high and low we suddenly hear the drums. Tarzan stiffens, puts a hand to one ear, and announces, “They have the girl. She is well, but they will not give her back unless you shut down your mines. They are 200 men strong and have guns. They will be here before dark tonight.” Huh? How did he get that from a few drumbeats? Is there really a way to communicate any message besides “I’m beating a drum” across the jungle like this? And while you’re at it, what’s the story with those smoke signals the Indians were always sending? — Lying Awake in Wonder, Anna Banana, Olney, Illinois  Cecil replies: You don’t believe everything you see in the movies? In the age of Oliver Stone this is comforting news. But there really are such things as talking drums. First let’s kiss off Indian smoke signals. [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Staff Report: May 5, 2000 [Does the music in Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon coincide with the action of The Wizard of Oz]( Dear Straight Dope:  Is it true that when Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon is played along with The Wizard of Oz, music changes coincide with plot changes in the movie? — Colin SDStaff DavidB replies: We get this question all the time at the Straight Dope, and we’re starting to realize “sheesh” isn’t an adequate answer. So here’s a better one: Almost certainly not. But let’s take a look.  [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Classic: June 5, 1998 [What’s the story on the female jazz musician who lived as a man]( Dear Straight Dope: There was a news story a few years back about a jazz musician who died and was found to be a woman after living her life as a man. She was married and had three grown children who refused to believe their father was a woman. No one I ask remembers this. Do you?  — SMENGI, via AOL  Cecil replies:  You think I could forget the story of Billy Tipton? Yes, she lived as a man from age 21 till the day she died at age 74. Yes, her three sons (all adopted) never suspected a thing. But that’s not the bizarre part. [Click here to keep reading](. Did you enjoy this issue? [The Straight Dope]( By [The Straight Dope]( Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It's taking longer than we thought.) [Tweet](    [Share]( If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Powered by [Revue](