If Marty McFly went back in time thirty years ago today, what song does he play at the dance to blow everyone's mind?

"I just need the drums from the Ronettes' Be My Baby. That's great. Can you just repeat that for the next four minutes or so? Beautiful."

that or, say, slayer, or maybe "screaming at a wall" or early sonic youth.

(I don't actually know what key it's in)

Not many of the rock answers on here would sound unprecedented in '76, if you had any knowledge of Krautrock, the VU, contemporary Classical, avant-garde etc. So the real answer pretty much has to be Hip Hop.

That one is from 1977 though.

Not many of the rock answers on here would sound unprecedented in '76, if you had any knowledge of Krautrock, the VU, contemporary Classical, avant-garde etc. So the real answer pretty much has to be Hip Hop.

What kind of hip-hop was being made in 1976?

(Maybe U-Roy if you are stretching it)

I'm not sure about the history, but by '76 turntablism would exist I think? And as you say, MCing at least in its Jamaican form.

"If you're from the future, tell me who's President of the United States in 2006."
"George W. Bush??? The alcoholic??!!??"

I could see that working!

wuthering heights, bitches

Now More Than Ever, Humanity Needs My Back To The Future Fan Fiction

It's entirely possible Fab Five Freddie was emceeing high school proms in 1976, too.

Maybe if you wanted to turn people away from music altogether. Could you imagine 30 years of silence?

So he should start off with a lite-funk proto disco thing and start doing some light MC-ing over it. Everyone would be all "hey, this is pretty cool" until he ran out of "hip-hop don't stop" stuff and started doing lines from "Like A Pimp" or "Freek-A-Leek"

You don't think they would have cast Nick Cannon if they were making this today?

"one, two, three, four...............ma baby don't mess around because she loves me so, and this I know for shuuuuure.........."

play till minds are blown.

beastie boys - fight for your right

"Then tell me futureboy - who's the President of the United States in 2017?"

well, looking at the biggest hits from 1987 et 1988, I don't see anything that he could play to them shortly before it hits that would be a shock...
but "Pump up the volume" seems a good answer. Or maybe some new jack swing ?

or "Straight outta compton" released in 88.

Voodoo Ray? A bit late maybe, having been released in 89.

Though recorded June 88.

actually, in the movie, he plays jonnhy b good 3 years before it's released.
so we're looking for something from 1990 !

snap : the powa !

Killer - Adamski

91, but whatevs.

I'm not sure some of these would be especially out-there to people who were used to some of the more epic synthpop of the mid-80s. Like at this stage he'd be playing some house music and people would be into it but they really wouldn't be expecting a veer into, say, 'Original Nuttah' by Shy FX. Or any jungle really.

Actually that's probably the metal guitar solo bit rather than the Chuck Berry bit.

oh I've got one : "Smells like teen spirit" ! "91, the year punk broke" !
for mainstream kids from 87, that would be a big wtf, I guess.
and exactly like in the movie, I could see the actor smashing everything at the end of the performance in front of the audience in awe and struck by feedback.
on the other hand, that wouldn't sound much like the future in a "this will change everything" way...

I was thinking about this thread recently and reckon it misses an important point - Chuck Berry was not the unpredicted future of pop music in 1955, music along the lines of rock & roll had been around for a decade by that point. Rock & roll as a cultural phenomenon was just taking off, but the music itself was around already - it just hadn't made its way to Hill Valley yet. So the contemporary example for 1996(!) now would have to be something already existing and gaining popularity but which hadn't penetrated small town America yet.

something already existing and gaining popularity but which hadn't penetrated small town America yet.

1996? Got to be something from Vision Creation Newsun, then.

Roni Size/Reprazent

Well, bear in mind that, as poster xgurggleglgllg observed early on, the scene has two parts: Johnny B. Goode, which the crowd is feeling... and then the Van Halen shredding, which blows everybody's minds (in a bad way). Chuck Berry's first singles dropped in 1955, and "Johnny B. Goode" is just two years away, so this fits for something "already existing and gaining popularity but which hadn't penetrated small town America yet." Whereas the second part is something that was officially mainstream (but still annoying parents) in Marty's home time of 1985, and which had its fresh-and-new moment about 5-6 years before that.

So for 1996, the first part would be a trend that was bubbling up circa 1995-1996 and breaking through majorly to define the late 90s. The second part would be something that was a hot, mind-blowing new sound circa 2020-2021, and had peaked by 2026, ideally in the same family tree as the previous genre. This makes me think he's doing a Backstreet Boys number that turns into a K-Pop showstopper.

but isn't part of the point also that Johnny B. Goode wasn't released until 1958? so the answer is "Believe" followed by Marty going way too hard on the autotune and alienating everyone

xp

Okay, yeah, rob's idea fits all of the criteria and I'm into it.

lol rob

Ms. Jackson > Suddenly dropping into a dissonant modern rap verse.

sub Q: what song does he play when he puts headphones on his dad to scare the hell out of him?

instead of walkman it'll be iphone, and he carefully places bluetooth earbuds in george's ears.

instead of vader mask, he does full darth maul makeup, keeping with the star wars theme.

but what does he play instead of (uncredited) eddie van halen shredding?

Three 6 Mafia

but what does he play instead of (uncredited) eddie van halen shredding?

sings like the Geese guy

*terrifying*

https://i.imgur.com/ICeaoWP.png

The second part would be something that was a hot, mind-blowing new sound circa 2020-2021, and had peaked by 2026, ideally in the same family tree as the previous genre.

"I Gotta Feeling" falls apart as Marty McFly starts doing ASMR whispering and close-mic-ed crinkling of bubble wrap.