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Before I start on the list, I feel that I should advise that a couple of the items here are quite horrific and I would recommend that those who are weak of heart or who have a nervous disposition avoid them. The items I am referring to are marked in the text. The items are not in any particular order as it is very hard to rate the historical importance versus the just plain weird value.
NOTE: If you click the “download the MP3″ link, it should (for most modern browsers) open in your browser and stream.
1. Alessandro Moreschi The only recorded true castrato Wikipedia
The Castrati were men who were forcibly castrated at an early age in order to ensure that they would not experience the hormonal changes of puberty that lead to the lowering of the male voice. This meant that as adult men they sang like a modern soprano (they retained their boy soprano voices). After the Catholic Church ensured that all nations banned the practise, Pope Leo XIII took the remaining Castrati into the care of the Sistine Chapel Choir to guarantee them a quiet life (at the time they had become the subject of ridicule). Moreschi is the only castrato to be recorded solo. In this recording he is over 50 years old and had lost much of the quality of his voice – nevertheless the resulting recording is incredibly eerie. You can read more about Moreschi and Castrati in general at the Cogitz article Castrati: Castrated for the Love of Music.
Play / Download the mp3 (1.5mb)
2. Mado Robin Stratospheric Coloratura Wikipedia
This amazing French singer has one of the highest recorded notes in classical music. You must listen to the whole song – the last note is unbelievable! Put your crystal in a safe place! I have done some research and various sources give her highest note as either a B above Top C, or a D above top C, which, if I recall my theory classes correctly, would be B7 and D7 respectively. This is the last octave on a classical piano and is only three octaves lower than G10 (dog whistle pitch), the point at which humans can no longer hear the note. The highest recorded singer is Georgia Brown who is reported (by the Guiness Book of Records) to have reached G10.
Play / Download the mp3 (2.5mb)
3. Florence Foster Jenkins Worst singer Wikipedia
Believe it or not, Florence managed, despite being famously awful, to sell out an entire concert at Carnegie Hall. She had many admirers (among them Enrico Caruso). This has to be heard to be believed. As a particular point of interest, after she recorded this song, she told the sound engineer that no second try was needed as it was perfect. See for yourself. (She is singing Queen of the Night by Mozart, incidentally).
Play / Download the mp3 (3.4mb)
4. Pope Leo XIII First recorded Pope – 1903 Wikipedia
Pope Leo XIII (patron of Moreschi) was the first Pope in history to be recorded. He was the 256th Pope and reigned from 1878 – 1903 and is probably most famous as the Pope who declared Anglican religious orders invalid (ie, he said Anglican priests and Bishops are laymen). He also strongly promoted the study of the Bible in the home and was known as the Pope of the People. In this recording he chants the Ave Maria (Hail Mary).
Play / Download the mp3 (712kb)
5. Lord Hawhaw (William Joyce) Executed for treason Wikipedia
William Joyce (or Lord Hawhaw has he more well known) was a fascist politician who worked for the Nazi’s during the war as a propagandist. His distinctly “posh” English accent is the cause of him receiving his mocking nickname. Joyce broadcast propaganda from radio stations in Berlin, Hamburg, and Luxembourg. Whilst it was not illegal to listen to his broadcasts in England, it was frowned upon. Nevertheless his recordings were very popular with the public as a source of amusement. He became a hated and ridiculed figure. He escaped after the war but an English soldier overheard him talking at a cafe and recognised his voice. He was arrested and executed for treason. This recording is a snippet of one of his propaganda broadcasts and it begins with his signature “Germany calling, Germany calling”.
Play / Download the mp3 (400kb)
6. Number Stations Wikipedia
Number Stations (shortwave radio stations of unknown origin) have been reported since World War I and continue to this day. No one knows what their reason is though many people suspect they are coded messages used for espionage (though no country has admitted this). The broadcasts are usually a female voice (though male voices have been heard) and they generally broadcast streams of numbers, words, or letters. They are sometimes apparently random, and other times organised. In the 90’s, amateur radio enthusiasts tracked the source of one number station to a US military base. The FCC refused to comment. You can read a much more indepth article on number stations here.
Play / Download the mp3 (1.6mb)
7. Florence Nightingale Inventor of modern nursing Wikipedia
Florence Nightingale was the first person to recognise that hygiene and food were important in the care of patients (up until her time, hospitals did not worry about hygienic conditions). She is considered to be the mother of modern nursing. She lived from 1820 – 1910. She is also sometimes referred to as the Lady of the Lamp. This recording is one of three she made in 1890 to people she had known during her work in the war effort.
Play / Download the mp3 (1mb)
8. Russian Exorcism WARNING! Cogitz
Exorcism is the ritual used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church to cast devils out of a possessed person. Throughout this Russian exorcism you can hear the voice of the priest reciting the prayers of the ritual while the afflicted (I can not tell if it is a male or female) person screams in a variety of voices. It is quite horrifying to listen to and I would not advise it for people who have a nervous disposition. You can find more audio, videos, and images of exorcisms here.
Play / Download the mp3 (2.5mb)
9. Jonestown WARNING! The last 30 minutes Wikipedia
Jim Jones was the American founder of the People’s Temple group. The group became infamous after the November 18 1978 mass suicide/murder in Guyana where the group had moved after rising tensions in the USA. Nine-hundred-and-nine people drank cyanide after Jim Jones ordered his men to kill visiting Congressman Leo Ryan and numerous members of his entourage. In this horrifying recording you hear the last 30-45 minutes of Jones directing his followers to poison their children and then themselves. At one point one of the female voices on the tape is heard to say “It’s okay – they aren’t crying because of pain – it is just because of the bitter taste). Some of the bodies found had died of forced cyanide injection or gunshots. Jones was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Discretion is advised in listening to this recording. If the recording piques your interest, I would recommend buying the excellent recent documentary on the tragedy called Jonestown – The Life & Death of Peoples Temple
Play / Download the mp3 (20.4mb)
10. First recording On a Phonograph Frank Lambert Wikipedia
Frank Lambert was a French – American inventor. Lambert was born in Lyon, France and then moved to the United States in 1876 and became a citizen in 1893. Lambert is currently in the Guinness World Book of Records for the oldest playable recording on a machine called the Phonograph. Lambert was also famous for inventing the modern typewriter. This is the first recording of a human voice in history from 1878.
Play / Download the mp3 (296kb)
11. The Sounds of Hell Siberia Wikipedia
Okay, I know this is a top ten list, but there has been so much demand from reddit to add the Sounds of Hell recording that I have added it. The background is that a group of Russian scientists were digging in Siberia when their drill started spinning wildly (usually indicative of hitting a pocket of air). They lowered microphones into the hole (apparently this is normal as the sounds can help to determine what the physiological makeup is of the area they have drilled to). When they listened to the resulting recording, it appeared to be sounds coming straight from Hell. This is, in fact, a hoax. It has gained great popularity on the internet and does have some basis in fact – but the bit about hell is, well, not true. Read the Wikipedia article for more information.
Play / Download the mp3 (296kb)
July 15th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
The exorcism is quite interesting. It’s unlike anything I’ve heard, but not that creepy. The video would be better, but worse.
July 15th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I am not sure that video would improve the experience – sometimes listening makes you really pay attention – without distraction. However, if you go to youtube and look up exorcism, there are quite a lot of videos if that is more your cup of tea
To be honest, the exorcism and the Jim Jones audio really made me uncomfortable – I listened to the exorcism all the way through, but I had to stop listening to the Jim Jones audio when you could tell they were starting to take the cyanide because I felt sick.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Florence Foster Jenkins – I found this recording to be the most insane thing I’ve heard in a long time. And as an opera fan -I find it simply amazing that Carnegie Hall would ever allow such a voice within its confines. Simply AMAZING! And very funny = Thanx for the sharing!
Jacquii.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Jacquii: you’re welcome. I believe her Carnegie Hall concert was so popular that people were scalping tickets! She was actually a very kind lady who gave huge amounts of her money to charities throughout her life.
July 19th, 2007 at 6:45 am
wow, this was some good stuff, although i was too scared to listen to the exorcism. lol
July 19th, 2007 at 7:01 am
WOW…
the jones town… wow… i think i am actually going to throw up… you could hear children crying for god sakes…
that man was a sicko… i cant believe his followers actually listened to him…
i have very thick skin… but those children crying and him telling the parents to calm there children and remind them of the rewards they will be getting… its freaking sick…
*chills*
but great list… its just freaky…
July 19th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
For new fans of Florence Foster Jenkins who want MORE: Naxos put out a relatively cheap and high-quality CD of her entire output…definitely worth the investment.
I would also add to this list the Ghost Orchid EVP recordings. Debatable to their authenticity, but definitely bizarre and interesting.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I know I’m a terrible pedant but this caught me.
“The background is that a group of Russian scientists were digging in Siberia when their drill started spinning wildly (usually indicative of hitting a pocket of air)”
Contrary to popular belief, the drill in this sort of drilling does not spin. Only the bit right at the bottom moves and that’s because of the heavy mud that’s being pumped down there.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Thorn: thanks for pointing that out – the whole story does seem a little too good to be true I think
July 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Lee R. I am not sure my ears could stand it!
July 19th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
The castrati audio was pretty disturbing to me, i mean a 50 yo man with a voice of a child …
The exorcism wasnt THAT creepy but for some strange reason i felt kinda sick…
July 19th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
What piece is the Mado Robin soundclip from? Lakmé?
I would like to know thanks. Please Email me if you happen to know.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Innervisions: to be honest I am not sure which opera it is from. I will do some research tomorrow to see if I can track it down.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:58 am
I started playing number 3, the Florence Jenkins recording, and my parrots started screaming louder than the music. And the Castrati was unbelievably creepy.
July 20th, 2007 at 3:58 am
Yeah, the Castrati recording was a lot creepier than the exorcism or the recording of hell. Then again, maybe that’s just because I’m 50 and still attached to my ‘boys’…
July 21st, 2007 at 1:15 am
Mado Robin’s is not the highest recorded note. A girl I was at music college with could sing a fifth above that.
July 21st, 2007 at 1:29 am
Highest recorded note is not the same as highest note ever sang.
July 21st, 2007 at 5:37 am
is it just me…or was anyone creeped out by the castrato thing?
July 21st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Stu – unless you can prove it – Mado is the world’s highest singer
July 21st, 2007 at 7:29 pm
the jonestown recording… disturbing as it is, it should be required listening for any society that truly cherishes freedom: This is what happens when you don’t think for yourselves, when you trust “leaders”.
July 21st, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I also recommend that Naxos CD of FFJ. It includes not just her but good singers singing out-of-character or funny songs.
If you want to hear more awful singing, look up Leona Anderson and Darlene Edwards. The latter was a deliberate spoof done by Jo Stafford.
Mado had a great voice. However, her article on Wiki doesn’t say hers was the highest note. Wikipedia article says Guinness gave that place to pop singer Georgia Brown. Example: http://youtube.com/watch?v=P6wSyIdwCFM
There are a number of coloraturas who can do very high notes, but I don’t know how their ranges stack up against Mado’s or Brown’s.
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:24 am
Jim C: Thanks for those links – I have not heard of Georgia Brown so thanks for bringing her to my attention.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:41 am
the sounds of hell was such a joke.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:47 am
Nice list. I listened to all but the Jonestown one, can’t bring myself to.
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:53 am
haha, the sounds from hell was probably just the basement of some Siberian market.
jonestown is messed up. i don’t know what sadder, someone who would want to take advantage of stupid people or the people who don’t know any better.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:35 am
Windowpane: I think the saddest part is probably the children who had no say in the matter and were simply murdered in cold blood. Horrifying.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:27 am
Well. I’m not going to lie to you. Early in the morning, all alone in a dark room, hardly any of these are suitable. Though I am completely intrigued by the “Numbers”.
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
i couldnt make out anything on the jonestown audio
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
mm: did you listen for long? The start is very quiet for a few seconds then you hear Jim Jones start to speak.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:44 am
To Stu,
If it is “recorded”, post it here. If you heard it but it wasn’t recorded, it doesn’t count here because it’s the highest note ever “recorded” that counts on this web site.
Bill
July 24th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Most of the people at Jonestown were murdered by deathsquads–when it came down to it most refused to commit suicide. It was shut down because of Congressman Leo Ryan’s investigation–it was a CIA front for mind control operations; the People’s Temple was a mass mind control experiment. There is also video of Congressman Ryan being murdered trying to rescue some of his constituents and escape from Jonestown.
July 27th, 2007 at 5:43 am
why does everything have to be a CIA plot? are we that starved for sensationalist entertainment that something as horrifying as jonestown has to be puffed up into a government plot against the people? things happen. facts exist. logic, i believe, usually points the way to truth. is it healthy or productive to always resist accepting what makes most sense, or seems most likely to have happened, based on the evidence at hand? where is YOUR evidence? what has you so convinced, raul? you offer ideas, but you present them as fact. it’s just not good enough.
July 29th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
The exorcism thing was freakin creepy. It was very cool though. I’d like to see the video if there is one.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Mini – I have managed to get a copy of another exorcism but I need to format it for the site. Once I do that I will post it here as item 12. In the meantime, check out Another 10 Bizarre Videos as it has a video of a Russian Exorcism on it.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Jim C.
While I don’t doubt that Georgia Brown is producing higher notes, I personally would rather pierce my eardrums with a sharpened no. 2 pencil than listen to her screaming (since that’s practically what she’s doing). Mado actually has a pleasant song voice, and if I were part of the Guinness team, I would not have given Brown that honor of highest sung note.
But that’s my personal opinion, and others are certainly free to choose otherwise.
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
S. A. Thanks for your comment; you obviously have some knowledge of music and it is nice to see someone like that posting on the topic.
August 5th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
the aria Mado Robin is singing is “sopra il sen la man mi posa” from Bellini’s opera, “La Sonnambula.”
The text says she could hit a D4, but here she only hits the Ab one tritone beneath. Most sopranos end the aria on the (extremely high) Eb a fourth below, but Miss Robin only touches the Eb to prepare for her dazzling, unheard of Ab.
August 5th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Marc: thanks so much for that! I am glad to finally know what it is.
August 6th, 2007 at 6:11 am
WOW that exorcism with the Russians completely terrified me. those low notes were just so… loud… i can’t even imagine having to be in the presence of one of those. scary.
the eunuch was very interesting! i’ve always wondered as to what one sounds like.
i can’t listen to the one with the cyanide however. would prolly haunt my dreams for some time to come.
very good page!
August 6th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Lyyli – I couldn’t finish listening to the Jonestown one either – it was too awful.
August 9th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I read that FFJ later fretted about her final high D — D- “flatural,” actually — and contacted the sound engineer (or someone in a similar position), who reassured her, telling her the note was perfect. In a way, it is.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:55 am
perhaps you might want to add this to your list, the only recording of hitler in private
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Recording_of_Hitler_in_private_conversation
August 10th, 2007 at 6:59 am
oktavian: really? How funny – perhaps she was being bravado for the public but honest in the background?
Phil: Thanks for that – it sounds like it would be very interesting. Unfortunately I speak not a word of Finnish – would someone here who does be able to go to this page and find the URL of the sound file for me?
August 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am
i tried listening to the exorcism. Frankly, it gave me chills and i had this sneaking suspicion someone was watching me other than my cat and dog. i fast forwarded thru it, heard those insane screams, and had to stop. maybe i’m being paranoid but does anyone feel like listening to something like that can conjure up some things you don’t want around you? on that note, listening to jonestown is probably out of the question. i’ve already heard florence. she was a big hit while i was in music school.
August 13th, 2007 at 2:24 am
i have to agree with you on that AGrey…its especially disturbing at 3:00 am…
August 13th, 2007 at 8:24 am
AGrey: I had the same feeling you did when I was listening to the exorcism. I think we can safely say that we aren’t unleashing anything by doing so though
August 13th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
You guys should be very careful about this. Exorcisms are real as are demons and angels. Talk to your church leader or priest about it.
I would strongly recommend NOT listening to these exorcism tapes (or even watching any of those exorcism/horror movies — fictional or not). You DO NOT want to invite this stuff into your life. Trust me.
August 14th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I listened to the hell recording some time ago, I think I heard about it from the Art Bell program, although a hoax, those sounds wheile in a quite room all alone, very eerie. I refusw to listen to listen to those innocent children be murdered all the while their parents being coaxed and coached, it makes me sick to think of it. Exorcisms scare the bejesus outta me!! Always have, must be my Catholic upbringing. Thanks for the interesting postings jfrater!
August 14th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I think what makes the Exorcism so creepy is that there is no video to this. It forces a visual.
August 15th, 2007 at 5:52 am
I wanted to say that I found this page very interesting – however, I must make a few comments regarding the musical excerpts.
Mado Robin definitely had one of the most extreme ranges of any singer – however, I am not sure of the validity that she has sung the recorded highest note. In the sound clip you provided of her (Bellini’s “Care compagne” from La sonnambula) is pitched in A-flat and so the last note is a High A-flat, not a D.
Also, Florence Foster Jenkins is very famous for her awful renditions of operatic arias…but another singer who is far more interesting, musical and completely lacking in vocal talent or technique is the Portugese singer Natalia DeAndrade. There is a full recording that she did of various operatic pieces – and some clips of her and Florence and other horrible singers are included on a CD entitled “The Muse Surpassed.”
Thanks for the great clips – full of very interesting information!
August 15th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Tigerlily: You are most welcome; thanks for the comment.
KendalJaye: I think you are right about that – we tend to become blase about images of horror as we see them all the time in movies, but to hear one forces us to use our imaginations which can be far more bizarre.
Anon E. Muss: Thanks for that comment – I will have to check DeAndrade out.
August 15th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Is there anyway to actually save these so they show up on iTunes?
August 15th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Taranis: if you can download and hear them, then save the finished mp3 to your desktop and drag it over to your itunes logo. Thats how I do it. I’m sure there are other ways, but it works for me.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:11 am
Christian: when I click on it to play my AOL media player comes up and it’s played through that, but there’s nothing about saving it and right clicking does nothing.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Taranis: try right clicking on the links on this page instead, hopefully you should get an option like “Download target file as…” You should then be able to choose a folder to put the files in and drag them in to iTunes. If that doesn’t work let me know by email (you can find that at the bottom of the page) and I will see if there is another solution.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
MrRobby – if you wish to email me about advertising we can discuss it
My address is jamie@frater.com
August 21st, 2007 at 2:27 am
The ones that got at me were the exorcism, jones and the castrati. I had to turn the exorcism off, I had to turn the castrati off it made me feel sick and Jonestown is horrific. Thanks jfrater
August 21st, 2007 at 7:51 am
SarahJ: Thanks
I quite like the castrati – in a similar way to liking Lightning Strikes by Klaus Nomi – it is awful but you have to listen. The other two were very eerie.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:55 am
I only read the list to see if my candidate for the best recording of all time was on the list. It was not and I am severly disappointed.
Kiri Te Kanawa in a performance in 1979 sang Richard Strauss ( Four Last Songs) Beim Schlafengehen. I consider it to be the most moving , beautiful and stunning manmade sounds ever achieved.
William Jonas Corpus Christi Tx
August 24th, 2007 at 8:04 am
william: The list is really more for incredulous or weird recordings. I am planning, at some point, to do a list that relates to classical music. Perhaps Dame Kiri will make it to that one. Have you heard the incredible performance at the Met of the quartet from Der Rosenkavalier? It was performed at a gala event and one of the singers was Kathleen Battle – I don’t recalled the names of the other three but they were equally famous. It is outstanding.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Jfrater Yes, I have and it is an outstanding vocalization. I used to listen to the satuday live performances from the Met (when we lived in Dallas and WRR carried the broadcasts). They actually played that recording and elicited comments from their panel of experts. I have no idea how one would obtain a copy. W Jonas
August 24th, 2007 at 11:43 am
william: I think you would have to take it from the audio of a DVD as I have not seen any CDs around with it. Brilliant performance.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
A couple corrections:
The CD with Natalia DeAndrade is actually called The Muse Surmounted. Also, the famous ensemble from Der Rosenkavalier (from which I took my handle, btw) is a trio–not a quartet, though sometimes it can sound like there are more than three voices!
A couple suggestions for the classical list:
Callas in Aïda in 1951 in Mexico City–the high E-flat at the end of the triumphal scene. It’s all over the internet.
Caballé’s unbelievably long high B-flat at the end of a 1972 broadcast of Don Carlo.
There are better Vier letzte Lieder, in my opinion–like Jessye Norman’s.
For some simply great recordings/performances–Birgit Nilsson’s Liebestod, Leontyne Price’s “D’amor sull’ ali rosee,” and Joan Sutherland’s, say, “Sempre libera.”
August 24th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
jfrater, Your website is quite unique and I read your list of top 10 items with some relish. A few months ago I tried to goad Mark Steyn into printing a list of top 10 all time best lyric lines. He did not respond but I appreciated his occasional discussions on lyrics, songwriters and his favorite lyric compositions.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
oktavian: you have definitely inspired a top 10 classical recordings list. Thanks for the correction on the trio. The version I have is a Von Karajan one. It is lovely. It has Agnes Baltsa and Anna Tomowa-Sintow. Nice, but not as nice as the Met version.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Jfrater, Consider two lists, (1) all Puccini (2) no Puccini.
btw: best lyric line , candidate one …yet there’s that slam bang, tang reminiscent of gin and vermouth… ( I Believe in You) Lyric by Frank Loesser from How To Succeed in Business.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:05 am
william jonas: that is not a bad idea – thanks for the suggestion
August 29th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
The castrati audio was incredibly sad & distubing to me. I started the 1st exorcisim audio but had to quickly turn it off as I was feeling suddenly ill and fearful. i normally can handle things of that nature but the idea of it possibly being real frightens me terribly.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:22 am
nona: that is definitely a common reaction. I actually have a few more songs by Moreschi (the Castrato) – I am just waiting to stumble across some more unusual sounds and I will do a follow up list.
September 1st, 2007 at 5:18 am
the prettiest and sweetest piece of music, one that always makes me cry is monserat cabballe singing “o mio babbino caro” from gianni schicchi
September 1st, 2007 at 6:53 am
Rick: I love that song. I haven’t heard Caballe singing it but it is definitely a favourite.
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:15 am
I want to thank you for this unusual and fascinating list!
I don’t dare listening to the Jonestown file though… especially not after reading the comments. I didn’t finish the esxorcism file either – part of the reason being my little children not far away and I didn’t want to scare them (and myself any further
I never heard of these number stations, that’s a really weird thing… must be creepy if you stumble upon it on the radio without knowing about it.
I’m very looking forward to a follow up and to the classic list!
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:04 am
I had heard or heard of a number of these. Thank you for posting the Moreschi and Robin; the first is not only an interesting voice but a lost bit of artistic history captured on record; the other was simply sweet and refreshing to hear. And good ol’ FFJ is always fun! I listened to the exorcism and found it spooky indeed, but not for the same reasons some posters did. It has that “sewer-tunnel” echo that gives sounds an eerie quality. Very effective for horror-movie, haunted house sound effects!
One technical correction, I think, regarding the Lambert recording (what’s he saying?): Unless I’m mistaken, the phonograph specifically refers to recordings made on discs, which were preceded by recordings made on tinfoil-covered cylinders. The advantage of phonographs (with the exception of some that were recorded on wax, of all things) was that they could be duplicated, whereas cylinders could not. I believe the first recording ever made (not counting accidental recordings made by potters scribing grooves on the sides of pots on a noisy street corner – one archaeologist seems to have recovered the sound of a dog barking in ancient Rome) was of Thomas Edison reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb” into his prototype cylinder recording machine. It’s still playable, to my knowledge, and intelligible. Lambert’s might be the first human voice recorded on a disc-shaped recording medium.
There were also recordings made on wire impregnated with iron dust — precursor to audiotape. Supposedly these recording machines were used because they were somewhat portable, but the sound quality was considered poor even at the time. Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly used these recording devices to catalogue Gypsy music in Hungary prior to notating it and arranging select pieces for other instruments.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 am
I just checked the Wikipedia entry on Lambert. While Edison’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is still the first known recording of a human voice, Lambert’s “Talking Clock” is the first known recording of a voice on a phonograph, as opposed to a cylinder. Because he recorded it on a solid disc (probably clay coated in lacquer), it could be pressed and duplicated (which was his aim, as it was to be the “voice” in a “talking clock.” It probably is a list of clock times). Edison’s is still one-of-a-kind, although I’m sure a clean digital recording could be made if someone really felt like investing that much time & energy into doing so (with permission of the Edison Museum & Estate, of course).
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
Anne: Good move (what with the kids around). I am finding it a huge struggle to find items for a follow incredible list. Did you listen to the Top 10 Historic Radio Broadcasts? Some of those are quite cool.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 am
Nicholas: thanks for doing that research. I think I recently read that the supposed recording on clay tablets was a hoax. I would love to be wrong however.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
6. Number Stations
So that’s the legend “Lost” referring to… You know, wining cursed numbers of Hurley.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Özhan – I don’t watch lost but it is interesting to know that they mentioned it there. They are very weird.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
These were all incredibly interesting – thanks for compiling them. The Russian exorcism was truly macabre.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:10 am
here’s the only recording of hitler in private. you need to use IE:
go to http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=3&t=22&a=376
then select
Alkuperäisen salaisen äänitteen kopio (saks)
September 16th, 2007 at 4:14 am
Phil: great! Thanks for that.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Hey, I love your site, simply amazing. Are you or how can you be sure its the original Anneliese Michel exorcism recording, its in German, right?
September 20th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Simon Templar: thanks
I can’t verify it for certain, but the site I found it on said it was definitely real. The male voice at the beginning is speaking German.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
No, jfrater, Thank you.. really, its really great the way you collect these little oddities along with the relevant audio/visual files, and give us a chance to share and comment. Actually I enjoy and spend more time reading the comments, how people react to these finds. Thanks for spending your precious time in making life a bit more interesting.
September 21st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
wow the sounds from hell thing was looped and it sounded very much like those cheap haunted houses amusement park rides! as for the jonestown thing I had to stop half way through i saw a documentary on it and i had nightmares for a week. as for the excorsisms i was too scared to listen to them. are they really that bad?
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 am
WOW: some people don’t mind the exorcisms, but others do – the only way to find out is to try!
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Jim Jones had a horrible speach impetiment. Nasty creep. Glad he’s dead.
September 30th, 2007 at 9:52 am
John Murray: “You guys should be very careful about this. Exorcisms are real as are demons and angels.”
Yes, as are fairies and trolls who live under bridges…..and hobbits……and that Shrek fellow. Talk to your priest before watching any Disney cartoons!
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
There are no angels or devils, just the good and evil that is inside us all. Religion is but a ruse to control weak willed ppl who are looking for answers. Jim Jones was a perfect example of this. I recomend anyone who is “trying to find god” listen to his recording and think of those ppl who not only took their own lives, but those of their children. when you here the childrens crys fade into an earie silence. You might think before blindly following someone who claims to be the word of god. By all means be as spiritual as u like. Just for the sake of yourself and your children, use your head and think. If god exists than he gave you a brain for a reason and I think he wants you to use it.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:31 am
in regard to #2 – american singer, minnie riperton had a five octave range, was able to enunciate in the whistle register and could hit notes in the sixth and seventh octave.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:48 am
2overpar: if my studies at the Royal College of Music in London are anything to go by, there is still some dispute over whether or not the whistle register is real. I would love to hear a recording of Minnie Riperton if you can find one though.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I felt compelled to put the first vocal recording onto my ipod, it just seems right. The castrati I feel very sorry for, he could’ve been a great tenor, who knows? The Jim Jones recording makes me hope that there is a hell, reason prohibits me otherwise. Florence Foster Jenkins is a fascinating story, “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” (wiki). Truely inspirational. The exorcisim is freaky, mental illness coupled with psychotropic drugs is resposible for whatever that noise is coming from that poor girl’s mouth, I guess. I love this website!
October 9th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Barrett: I have more recordings from Moreschi that I would like to put in to another list at some point. What a fantastic quote from Florence – thanks for sharing.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I have a recording of Harry Houdini’s voice, and, being a magician myself, find this to be one of the most incredible recordings. I was hoping it would make this list.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:41 am
JFStan: I would really appreciate it if you were able to forward that to me by email (jamie@frater.com) as I would like to put together a second list in the future.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
E-mail sent..
October 12th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
JFStan: thanks – it has arrived
October 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am
A good mix of video’s. I heard the Jim Jones tape last year so I didn’t listen to it now. It was a sad situation overall. There was a woman on the tape who tried to talk Jim out of the suicide. A lot of people don’t know that Jim didnt dye by cyanide and was actually still alive the next day. Some people believe he planned on leaving with the money and was shot by another member.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
For your note on Mado Robin don’t you mean D4 above a High C
October 15th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Greg Villaescusa: I have just done a little research and corrected the article – it appears that her top note was around D7 – my terminology was confusing. Thanks for pointing out my error.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Who’s voice is on the Frank Lambert recording?
October 25th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Barrett: I seem to recall that it was his own voice.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
that castrati thing is creepy…..he’s singing Ave Maria which is normally an absolutely beautiful song……but that was just creepy….and the Jonestown thing……..wow…..I couldn’t stand listening all the way…….from going to children screaming in terror to silence…..
October 26th, 2007 at 12:33 am
lando: both of those clips are my favorite – though not for pleasure but for interesting value.
October 28th, 2007 at 12:11 am
I must admit I was intrigued by the exorcism recordings, and the singers were erie, but beautuful. Florence Nightingale got my attention, I was suprised by her voice, but I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the Jonestown. It makes me want to cry just to think about it.
October 28th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Fallenangel: the Jones Town recording is extremely awful – you are better off for having not listened.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:33 am
Regarding Frank Lambert and his recording:
1) It is his voice.
2) It is on a cylinder
3) The device was built for a talking clock of his design (the voice speaks out the hours on the recording), with the permission of Edison for use of his phonograph. The prototype was discovered in a storage facility some years ago in New York.
4) Lambert did not invent the modern typewriter. He invented a very unusual typewriter with a circular keyboard. Many examples survive today, but they have little to do with what we now call the “modern typewriter.”
October 30th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Wow! The Castrato got very sad sounding, towards the end…but what an interesting recording! I was also very intrigued by the numbers station, wonder what’s going on?? But…sigh, being a gluton for punishment, I did go the stretch with the Jonestown recording. I’ll echo many others, I felt ill hearing the cries and screams of the children. I’d seen documentaries on that, but never such an intimate recording, and it’ll take some time for me to get over it.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:52 am
Darryl Rehr: Thanks for clarifying that – very informative.
Davies: It is a pretty horrific recording, I agree. In a way I guess it is good that we have it – to remind us how dangerous and evil cults can be.
October 31st, 2007 at 12:51 pm
great list, sounds from hell aint that scary. most of them gave me the creeps though, especially jonestown although i havent even listened to it! reading the comments made my hairs stand on end, i tried to download it twice and ended up cancelling. i guess its a sign then, i dont want it ringing in my ears in the middle of my sleep.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:43 pm
YUCK! that Jim JOnes guy had some serious issuses! I feel so bad for those children!
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
thnx this really helpeed:)
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I am completely freaked out by the number stations. Its so weird and ethereal. I saw the Jonestown documentary, that’s really something you can only listen to once, at least IMO.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
yuck! where did u find these?
November 6th, 2007 at 4:10 am
gosh… i’m thinking twice whether to hear jonestown… probably wait for my other siblings to come home and huddle together and scream together! i’m such a girlish girl but i have to listen!
November 6th, 2007 at 6:15 am
kirin: The Jonestown recording isn’t so much scary as it is horrible and nauseatingly upsetting. But still a good idea to have people around you to cry with.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I remember when Art Bell played that ‘recording from hell’. I was in High school at the time, and recorded it off his show. I took it to school playing it for one of my classes, most of the people were eeked out by it. Others didn’t believe it. It’s nice to know, Im not as scared of it now, as I was then.
November 16th, 2007 at 12:12 am
man.. i really don’t feel to good after that jonestown recording. All the crying of the children, and the cyanide..that was just too much. I feel physically sick, almost like i just drank cyanide too
The ending is just so..eerie when it is completely silent except for the music in the background..ah
November 20th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Here you can heard and verify seeing what note is it besides.
This is a RARE collection taken from all Georgia Brown’s songs.
georgia brown high notes videos :
November 24th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
unfortunately, i listened to the whole jim jones recording…what a vile druggie deviant monster. you could tell he was completely altered the whole time. and what was with his followers…even the lady who was against it was talking nonsense about an air lift to Russia. the worst by far though is the really calm woman (his wife?) directing people and reassuring people, the whole “it just tastes bitter thing.” you could actually hear them choking…UGH…i’m honestly soooo sick to my stomach from that.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:39 am
The Jonestown-recording really was quite awful to listen to. The children crying and the woman saying that it just tastes bitter.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:26 am
The Anneliese Michel recording was one of the most clear I have ever heard. I did a study on her 18 years ago. I would like to know what was said in the end. If you notice there is a point where she is talking to the priest and no longer under possession.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Scott: we would need a German to listen to that part for us – I don’t speak it unfortunately.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:39 am
if you want i can translate it for you. unfortunately i am at work right now, so it will take me another 5-6 hours until i can post the translation
December 5th, 2007 at 4:48 am
Badde: thanks – that is very generous of you.
December 5th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
I thought that some of you David Bowie fans might be interested to know that Bowie considers himself a big fan of Florence Foster Jenkins. He listens to a clip of her singing and talks about her on the Australian talk show, “Rove Live”, as you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqVUtaZZlUQ&feature=related (starting at 5:40).
“Florence Foster Jenkins is one of my all-time favorite albums. She was kind of a socialite in the thirties in New York and was so famous that she could pay people or bribe them to come and see her sing. And she was probably the worst singer ever in America, but she thought she could do opera and she would do these little recitals or soirées in her pad on the East Side or somewhere. And all the local doyens would go around and watch her and laugh secretly. Well, she thought she was getting a bigger and bigger fan base, so she booked herself at Carnegie Hall and it sold out in a matter of minutes! And everybody, when she started singing, just fell into the aisles. Nobody could believe that this woman could be so awful. And she died about a month later of, presumably, a broken heart. But she’s one of my all-time greats. [...] I’m going to cover one of her things one day. [...] She’s fabulous.”
December 7th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Florence Foster Jenkins: started listening to her, couldn’t help but laugh. The cat was sitting next to me, but then climbed up on the keyboard and started sniffing one of the speakers. She took great offence when I turned up the volume, in fact she couldn’t get away fast enough–poor kitty, sorry! I can’t stop laughing!! Oh, poor kitty, I really am sorry…
December 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
sounds of hell really sounded like a cafeteria, what a let down… and to think people are guillible enough to buy that… lol.
December 11th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
that ’sounds of hell’ bit – that sounds exactly like grand central station in new york city – everyday. am i supposed to be freaked out?
December 11th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Badde: Thanks for the offer. I would love to know, however please only do it if it’s convenient for you. Also, not to sound preachy, but I have quite a bit of hands on in the paranormal world. Please be careful.
Sorry it took so long to get back
December 12th, 2007 at 12:01 am
The link to the recording of Anneliese Michel isn’t landing anywhere. Is there another place to find the clip?
December 12th, 2007 at 1:04 am
The last link leading to the German exorcism yields a “forbidden” XML error message. Any way this could be fixed? That would be great! If it’s not too long, I might even translate the clip, as I’m a native German speaker.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:11 am
Here’s the mp3 from Anneliese Michel’s exorcism: http://www.mediafire.com/?2nmtk1tmwyt
December 12th, 2007 at 3:45 am
My apologies for the missing file – the bandwidth of the site was being sucked up majorly from this list so I transferred everything to Amazon S3 but for some reason the German exorcism didn’t copy – I am doing that now.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:54 am
John Murray: ‘You guys should be very careful about this. Exorcisms are real as are demons and angels.’
Oh, good, nothing to worry about then!
Very interesting list. Can’t bring myself to listen to the Jonestown recording, though. I can handle reading about these things, and movies about them…but actual audio and footage really gets to me.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:57 am
nicci: the jonestown one is pretty awful – don’t listen to it unless you are willing to feel very very bad afterwards!
December 15th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I heard there’s an audio recording out there of Johannes Brahms speaking, which would be pretty rare since he died in 1897. A music professor told me that all it is about seven seconds of mostly static then you hear a squeaky voice say “This is Dr.Brahms,” in German, obviously. Anyone else ever heard of this/might have it?
December 16th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
The numbers recording creeped me out a bit, yet I found the wiki article fascinating.
Along with some of the other commenters, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the Jonestown recording and ended up hitting “cancel” during the download.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:07 am
yo im some random person who was looking for a picture on google. haha, it also means that if anyone replies i wont actually see it. hahahahaahahahaha you idiots!!!
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Sorry this is late. I’ve been sick.
Thank you for the list. The first two I loved. However, next time could you be a little better with the documentation, like when it was recorded. Sometime in the singer’s career is a little vague for me. I skipped Jonestown and Hell on the recommendation of everyone else, and I’m afraid Nightingale sounded terrible. And as a music lover I just couldn’t stand FFJ. But my Mother, who lived through the Blitz and everything else is going to be floored when I tell her I dug up Lord Hawhaw on the Internet! THANK YOU!
December 27th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
John Murray said:
‘You guys should be very careful about this. Exorcisms are real as are demons and angels. Talk to your church leader or priest about it.’
And he went on to say:
‘I would strongly recommend NOT listening to these exorcism tapes (or even watching any of those exorcism/horror movies — fictional or not). You DO NOT want to invite this stuff into your life. Trust me.’
Hang on matey, if I’m host to a demon or two (and me being an Atheist, you’d probably argue so), won’t it actually HELP to listen to an exorcism? Might at least make the freeloading little buggers a bit uncomfortable… Useless pack of goldbricks. Where’s my super-strength and bed-levitating ability? That does it; I’m gonna listen to an exorcism REAL LOUD and give you dirtbags a hurry-up! Seriously, one does wonder at the logic of demonic possession. How is making a person yell and growl and foam at the mouth meant to further the kingdom of Satan? Are we all supposed to go ‘yeah, that’s cool, do that to me’?
Oh, BTW for another weird recording try the CD ‘Sings’ by Charles Manson. On the ‘proper’ studio stuff he actually sounds a lot like Jose Feliciano, but prepare to be creeped out by the clattering jams recorded on a 4-track with various members of The Family down on the ‘ol Spahn Ranch.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Slammerworm – I wish John Murry would qualify that statement with fallen angels. Without going into too much detail, I more than qualified in the field of demonology. From both study, and hands on. I don’t think listening to an exorcism for the purpose of entertainment is something to be done, however if you need knowledge in that field, other than hand on, it is the only way to get a real idea of what goes on. If you knotice my question was spcific to what the priest and she were saying while she was no longer under possession. I believe that Anneliese Michel was possessed, more than that I believe the exorcisms failed because the priest that performed them were not qualified to. There was something on line at one point where you could read the transcripst from court, and it had some dialogue between her and the priest. I think every single question asked was trivial at best. I believe their hears were in the right place, and they did their best, however after so much time, and so many recordings, why wasn’t there any contact with anyone other than the Bishop? Why wasn’t rome contacted, and asked for help? Why were sessions only done in short time frames, such as 1 to 1.5 hrs? For something like this persistance is paramount. Why wasn’t she force fed, or given any medication other than Tegritol? She did also have pnumonia.
To me, faith is the most powerful weapon in the world, however god gave us brains as well. I’m not so sure that anyone involved in that case used theirs.
December 28th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
The whole Anneliese Michel affair illustrates my point. Faith gone feral. Yes, I was being a bit whimsical about exorcisms but the argument still stands. Why possession? With the whole of the human race to pick from, why do demons overwhelmingly choose to possess young, troubled people with a history of mental illness? One would think that perhaps powerful world leaders would make a more productive target, especially if they worked subtly to destroy humanity instead of turning the possessee into a gibbering incoherent mess. The Anneliese exorcisms failed because there was nothing to exorcise but faith itself, and that’s harder to eradicate than any demon.
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:08 am
God Almighty – if you can listen to that exorcism and come away from it denouncing God or the existance of Jesus Christ then you have far more cynical views of life than I do. I’m sorry, but there is only one Person who can take on that type of evil and be victorious, and for good or bad, we crucified Him. I want Him on my side and if all I have to do is have faith in him, consider it done.
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 am
Slammerworm – I am not a priest or a preacher. Believe it or not, I do respect how you feel. I was not there to investigate the case, so all I can go on is the information I have gathered. I did speak to the writer of the book at length several times in the early 90’s, but truth be told that does not qualify me to make an exact prudent judgement on that particular case. I also believe that today, possession has become a crutch for people that have problems with mental illness, and that are just looking for answers to questions where they just don’t want to hear the truth. What the television, and random preachers have done is take all forms of credibility from the subject of possession and exorcism. I believe in the reality of it, however I don’t think it happens even nearly as much as some would like you to believe.
In her case, I do believe it was authentic. I also believe that the people that were supposed to know about it, and help her were very wrong in the way they handeled it. Do keep this in mind. She was on medication for years without any improvement. Thought the movie would lead you to believe something else, she was on medacine ( Tegratol) for mental illness till the last week of her life, and there was a doctor involved till close to the end. I believe every single one of them should have gone to jail for life. I don’t have a medical degree, or a college education, but I can tell you that someone would not have died with ruptured knees, pnumonia, and malnutrition on my watch. Like I said, faith is everything to me, but we were given brains as well.
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
The sounds of hell, real or not, freaked me out.
These lists are amazing, they have kept me busy for days. Keep up the great work!
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I Found Alessandro Moreschi, And Mado Robin Both Very Extraordinary, Their Voices Were Very Beautiful. Next I Listened To The Whole 46 And Some Odd Seconds Of Jim Jones I Can Honestly Say That It Scared The Crap Out Of Me, And When The Last Three Minutes Hit And You Didn’t Hear Jim Jones Or Any Of The Kids Screaming And You Know That The Are All Dead, I Swear The Silence Made Me Want To Go Mad. Next I Found Frank Lambert’s Recording Amazing, It Was Very Interesting To Listen To The First Voice recording. Well Another Job Well Done On Another Great List, Keep The Coming Please ;o)
January 12th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Great clips. I listened to them all. Thanks for the warning on the scarier clips.
Jamestown. Reading about it on Wikipedia sure has a lot to say including the other side of the story!
—– WARNING Graphical comments below. Skip to End of comments if you wish —–
The tapes sound like everyone was willing participants The people that wanted to leave were waiting for the plane to return (since many wanted to go but the one plane was too small). While they were waiting, the poor kids were dragged up and some forced to take the poison (oral syringes). Even some adults were forced to take the poison against their wishes.
— END of graphical comment —
Sad to hear that there was little escape. Few hid, another (hard of hearing) missed the call to line up but played ‘dead’ in the ditch to survive.
Excorcist was scary. You could sense the evilness eh?
I winder what those number sequences represented. It’d be interesting to crack the meanings.
And the last one I will comment on is the highest hit note recorded. WoW!! That was something else!
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 am
Am I the only coward here? lol…I don’t dare listening those clips, but I did some research on the Jonestown incident, and well I can say I learned a new thing, it was awful! How can be there people like that? I mean that was just sick, and evil, and…well evil! About the exorcism… I personally have listened those kinds of things, back in my homeland there is a city where there is a priest that I think is one of the few that have permission from the pope to do that kind of exorcism in my home country…and I remember that before I immigrated, some family friends, my family and I went to that church to a “healing ceremony”, and after that comes the exorcisms, you choose either to go or to stay, you can stay if you wish to help too, because that is very very intense and incredible things happen, my parents stayed,they are friends with that priest, and I stayed outside with my younger sister, but I could still hear screams and that kinda stuff, very scary, I heard my parents and other people say that some of the people that was being exorcised were floating in the air, I was around 16 or 17 back then, and I always thought that was all fake, even though I had seen with my own eyes those kinds of things, I saw that happened to my friends, even though I haven’t told my parents what REALLY happened there,it was kinda unbelivable, that sometimes I doubt myself or try to block my memories, but I can tell the people here that this is real, that exists, or at least I believed in what I saw, and heard…hmmm it would be fun if there was a site were I could tell my experience, I wish I could recorded it, or well may be not, I was going crazy, I was only 13 or 14 …
January 27th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
jonestown is outrageous.
i just finished helter skelter, and i think it is sooooo sad, but interesting how a man can fashion himself as the messiah nd have ppl actually believe him.
i’m proud of christine in this recording.
she stood up.
(and we have the same name)
January 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
This stuff is truly incredible. It makes me want to get to sampling… Throw down some beats, make the Sarah come alive, you know?
January 29th, 2008 at 4:31 am
The Jones tape-was sick sick sick…his rational is unbelievably disturbing-the woman named “Christine” was so brave and so right. I wonder what happened to her. I only hope that she survived. Bless her though for trying to get these people to think reasonably and logically. Who is he referring to when he says “They will kill and torture our children if we don’t give them peace” Peace, give me a frickin’ break you sick f**k! And calling poison “medication”…this tape pissed me off so much! The creepiest part is the music, and the background noise…it’s almost like being transported there. Chills…chills. Listening to them “organizing” the taking of the poison in such a calm everyday matter of fact manner is just naseating. Creepier still-is that 911 people died…
January 30th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
sounds of hell just sounds like a poor recording of a rap concert. not scary at all…
February 4th, 2008 at 10:42 am
That exorcism scared me to death! After listening to it I had to turn on the TV and watch something happy lol. It creeped me out. But I do love the list!
February 10th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I don’t know if anyone else has realized this, but I came across a website with this exact list. I don’t know a lot about copyright laws, but it seems to me that the site (diamondbuilders.net) is breaking a few. Might wanna check it out, jfrater!
February 10th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
wow, that florence girl, the worst singer, i was laughing so hard throughout that.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:50 am
diamondbuilders stole it from here prob. hes had this list for a long time
February 12th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Thanks for pointing that out guys – it was actually my original site and that was a temporary page I put up to cope with the digg when that article hit the front page. It just hasn’t been removed – the ads are still all pointing here so they are not benefiting from the copy
February 12th, 2008 at 7:59 am
jfrater: I believe Mado Robin’s note is actually a G#, or in other words an Ab. Many people have already said this, and any one with a piano, and marginally good tone would know that. Maybe your sources were violinists or some other bizarre type of musician, but I’ve listened to it multiple times, hummed her pitch (many octaves below of course) then ran to my piano to find the pitch multiple times. Each time it was an Ab 7. Just wanted to tell ya.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I’m listenin to the jonestown one as I type this. i feel dirty and awful for feeling the urge to listen. i haven’t even got to the worst part yet but even just his speech an his conversation with christine is making me feel sick. I’ll let you know if I get to the end
February 18th, 2008 at 8:24 am
‘please get some medication… it’s simple, there’s no convulsions with it. Just get moving get moving get moving’
Ugh.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:51 am
it’s all gone quiet now. This music… I want to cry but I can’t. I’m just so shocked, and numb. There are no words for this.
Thank you for this list, I have now listened to all of them. I kinda wish I hadn’t.
March 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Where in the Jonestown recording do they take the Cyanide? I tried to pick it out i guess i was looking for the obvious. I do find it most desterbing that people were saying they didn’t want it to happen in the crowd and Jones was able to convince them it was OK
March 1st, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Dan: Roughly when the kids start crying and he gets Really hyped up and aggressive.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I’m a journalist, and I did this for research purposes, but listening to the jonestown tape disturbed me greatly.
It scares me that there are people like that in the world.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
that jonestown recording has to be one of the most evil things i have ever heard.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Dave: Try meeting them! The scary thing is when They know that You know what they are doing. I’ve met my share of Certified Psycos in my life. If I had my choice I’d be around just the General Crazies, Much more fun to party with.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
what is that weird slowed down “music” in the background of the jonestown audio? its almost satanic in nature. its weird.
March 8th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
when I listened to #3 Florence Foster Jenkins, it sounded like someones 8 year old sister fooling around on a tape recorder
Unbelievable that she could sell out Carnegie Hall
March 8th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
in regards to #1, you mention that the boys were forcibly castrated. Who were the ones that forced them? Was it their parents, their church? who? just curious
I read the article u had a link to, thats one harsh medical tool. As if it wasn’t bad enough castrating them and using that tool on them, let’s feed them some opium to top things off.
March 13th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I really wish i could un-hear jonestown, that was very disturbing.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
jfrater, Thanks for the disturbing and fascinating recordings. lol Jonestown, Castrati, and the Exorcism were the craziest ones!
Honestly, I listened to the Jonestown one atleast 6 times, went to the rememberence site and compared names in the recording, to pictures and stories… and read up on almost anything I could find reguarding the subject, and it truly was a horrific event in time. I believe it to be one of the worst. It caught my interest, because as scarey as it may seem, politicians, and “leaders” still hold similar beliefs and try to manipulate just as Jim Jones did.. to this day.
The Castrati was an emotional freak out! lol He was forced to do away with his !!!!!!!!!! and that made the recording “something else”, in so many weird ways. Very sad.
Last and but never least.. the Exorcism. I’m sitting in my dark living room, with my headset on. I had to remove my headset three times and look over my shoulder for this one…. and I don’t scare easily!!
Thanks again for the finds! This page is a definate bookmark for me. I say make a second site!
March 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I found this in the news today:
Oldest recorded voices sing again
Ancient audio
An “ethereal” 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song has been played for the first time in 150 years.
The recording of “Au Clair de la Lune”, recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice.
A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children’s song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record.
The new “phonautograph”, created by etching soot-covered paper, has now been played by US scientists using a “virtual stylus” to read the lines.
“When I first heard the recording as you hear it … it was magical, so ethereal,” audio historian David Giovannoni, who found the recording, told AP…
Read the rest of the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7318180.stm
I, for one, would like to hear this recording!
March 31st, 2008 at 2:46 am
I wish I hadn’t listened to that Jonestown recording. How sick and awful. I wish I could make Jim Jones come back to life, and kill him over and over again in the worst ways possible. Just an example of how easily people can be manipulated by their leaders. Those fucking kids had no choice…you can hear how painful it was. Evil bastards.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:50 am
Also…it becomes apparent how he got them all to do it. Sociopath dick. “You have to hurry; kill yourself to avoid pain and torture that is inevitable; you will be sorry if you don’t kill yourself today…that’s what death is, sleep…”
They think they are giving their life for something! Fucking liar.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:53 am
tgra: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.html?_r=1&oref=slogin … looking for this?
April 9th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Jonestown was just scary.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
the exorcism is creepy, but if you get creeped out & just pretend it’s some kids goofing around, it’s actually a bit funny.
April 12th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Yma Sumac should be on this list, too. Her birdsongs and extreme range are unbelievable.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Florence Foster Jenkins actually had a HUGE following in her day. She was marvelously oblivious to how horrible she was and people came from far and wide to see her be awful. And though she sold out Carnegie Hall, she actually rented it herself, as well. So she was not exactly invited to sing there. Her story is loosely told in the broadway show “Souvenir.” And I agree with Annabelle, Yma’s voice was also incredible. In her homeland they actually thought she was a goddess.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I am in floods of tears after listening to the Jones Town recording, you don’t need to listen to the exorcism recording- Jim Jones was a living embodiment of evil. The recording is truly terrifying- as he asks parents to stay calm and not cry when they murder their children. I think its very important to remember that real true evil is a human trait and has nothing to do with demons etc.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I also wish i hadnt listened to it, those poor children.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:17 am
The first true recording is really really crappy. Edison may have had the first clear recording, but the first one is right here. You can listen to it at the bottom of the article
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/29/MNOSVSB9J.DTL
April 29th, 2008 at 7:46 am
the exorcism recording made me scared at first. but i decided to face it, so found the video and watched. after watching it, i was not scared about the concept anymore, because there is no real violence at all. if you are scared from the audio, i suggest you to watch the video. (spoiler: the exorcist only touches people with a cross and prays, no violence)
May 7th, 2008 at 3:55 am
the scariest of all! downloading time is a drag
May 7th, 2008 at 6:22 am
soslow: at least at the end you get to keep a reasonable quality copy
May 7th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I am surprised you did not include the first ever recorded song, which was discovered to have come before the invention of the phonograph. Here is the link of article of what happened.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.php
The following link contains the actual recording
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Clair_de_la_Lune
May 7th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Chris: that “recording” has only just come to light – I wrote this list last July and haven’t had time to update it yet. I will probably add it as a bonus 12th item rather than removing the first phonograph recording
May 7th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I like how the author stated that the recording of hell was, in fact, a hoax. That’s like stating the same about a recording of Santa Claus.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:19 am
As for French coloraturas, my choice is Mady Mesplé over Mado Robin.
oktavian, I’m with you: I think Jessye Norman’s recording of Vier Letzte Lieder surpasses all others; although I feel that no one can touch Dame Te Kanawa’s interpretation of the Chants D’Auvergne.
Yay to Annabelle for bringing up Yma Sumac! She certainly belongs on a top 10 list of incredible vocalists, that’s for sure.
And finally to jfrater, thanks for such an interesting list. I have not heard that particular recording of the quartet from Der Rosenkavalier that you mentioned, so I’ll have to check that out. For me, a memorable performance of Der Rosenkavalier was in the late seventies with Kiri Te Kanawa and Tatiana Troyanos, but I can’t recall the other singers. (Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that memorable after all? LOL)
May 10th, 2008 at 9:07 am
why is it than in the jonestown one they all have a lisp? weird
May 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Why didn’t Jim Jones drink the cyanide?
and what was happening in the last 7-10 minutes of the recording, because all i hear is prelude music.
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Some of these are creeeeepy!
June 1st, 2008 at 1:49 am
having just their reaction from stretching came a young a bit of sweet, for a while,
June 1st, 2008 at 6:18 pm
The castrato sounds like a girl. But that’s the point DUH!
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:41 pm
does anyone know if the plane in the jonestown one actually went down??
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
O.M.Gee: It never took off. If you get what I’m saying.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
jim jones was a coward. he wasnt even man enough to drink the poison. i wish those screams were real and that they were jim jones’s
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
After watching a few vids with guys shooting themselves in the head, I think it’s a little more ballzy. I guess he hadn’t seen them though. Brutal Shite! The last thing I’d want to be doing is twitching uncontrolably.
Side note: That’s the most typos Ever while I was sober!
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
instant painless death…ballsy….bullshit!
he couldnt even shoot himself and his own son agrees
if i could choose how i would die other than dying in my sleep i would prefer a shot to the head
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
You haven’t seen it either then…
WARNINGWARNINGWARNING… Do Not Watch This If You Are Sensitive To Death!!!!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/312665/
You shouldn’t watch it anyway really, it’s good sometimes to be innocent.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
O.M.Gee:
In response to your question on the plane, I did some research after listening to the Jones town clip (then went back and listened to the clip again).
So, from that research I can tell you, he flew his people to some other country and family was talking to the congressman who went to ‘investigate’. He discovered that MANY wanted to leave (Jimmy Jones was holding all of their passports, etc FROM them). Anyways, there were MANY more that wanted to leave (than the plane that left). So the plan was to take a first batch out, Return and collect the second batch of people that wanted to leave. So after the plane left (first batch) he talks about the terrible thing happened that they can’t separate from, that the plane is a ploy to be crashed in the jungle and that USA will send military to ‘get revenge’, kids ripped away, etc.
From my research, not all died. there was one or two that hid in the jungle, one made an excuse to go get a stethoscope and then hid (under a bed?) and there was a partially deaf woman (older lady) that ‘missed’ the alter call to come for the poisonous ‘medicine’ and ended up just ‘playing dead’ when she seen all that was going on.
There is a lot more on Wikipedia, etc on this whole tragedy. But that was the basics!
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Thanks James!!!
I was going to do a school assignment on mass suicide once, and read something brief about it, but then I changed my mind on the subject of the essay.
But it’s really quite an interesting topic.
In a morbid kind of way, I guess.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Of all the freaky things on this list,
THE PICTURE OF THE CASTRATI scared the hell out of me. So unexpected.
The Jones Town one…i really wish they brought him to justice
June 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I just got finished listening to the Jonestown recording.
As a mother of two small children 2&4 I cannot stop crying. The pschyo kept talking about shutting the children up and that they are protrsting an inhumane world..what is humane about what he did. You start off hearing all kinds of children wailin out in what sounds like horrific pain but as the tape goes on those screams and cries start to fade in numbers. What kind of parent could do this to their child? If the adult wanted to do this so be it they are grown and make their own descions but a helpless infant or toddler? Come on
I find it hard to write this comment beacuse my eyesight is so blurred from tears. I hear the voices of the children and to me it sounds like my own child. How could a person be so cruel as to watch their baby go lifeless yet not feel anything. In the recording he also keeps tellin people to stop weeping for their kids WHAT? Weeping would be a sure sign that they don’t want to die.I would gladly take one day in this screwed up world than spend an eternity without the feel of my daughters hug,the beauty of my sons smiles.
Thank you to the person who posted this recording you have opened my eyes and made me appreciate my life and my family more than you know.
June 11th, 2008 at 6:19 am
The siberia thing scared the shit out of me… it maid me paranoid… it even chaged my life… but i believe it is a hoax.. but it test our faith in our lord…
June 14th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
If you want to listen to something really spooky, try this one:
Santa Claus Hides in your Phonograph
(Downloadable files on this page: http://www.archive.org/details/santahide1922 )
This was Thomas Edison’s “Christmas Gift to little children, everywhere.” (God only knows how many tots ran from the parlor screaming in terror when this was played this for them on Christmas Eve!)
This, by the way, was an acoustically recorded Edison Diamond Disc record. When played on an Edison Diamond Disc phonograph, the sound literally jumps out of the horn, and you get the impression that the performer is standing directly in front of you. I listened to a copy of this record played on a restored Edison phonograph a few years ago, and it sent shivers down my spine. One could almost feel the sinister laughter.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
you should hear my dad in the bathroom, now those are the true sounds of hell
June 17th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
i think the sounds of hell are real, myths are based on some facts. the first human voice recorded was wild, the numbers station is weird, and lord haw haw is history man, listening to what your parents and grand parents experienced is awesome.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:53 am
Jim Jones is a sick, ill pig and I listened to his recording with utter contempt and almost become physically sick. He is a sick, sick man and I hope he rots in hell.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
i do sound just like florence foster jenkins when i try to sing higher notes, to the amusement of my friends… but i have not been able to make any money off it yet
July 5th, 2008 at 11:12 am
What I thought was strange was at the very end of the jones town recording (last two minutes) there is a strange voice, sounds like its either backwards or the tape is slipping. I bet it would be very spooky to have it analyzed and filtered to hear what the voice is saying.
July 6th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Jones Town. See what an all for one and one for all Socialist society will get you?
July 8th, 2008 at 1:45 am
wow… the jonestown recording was horrifying, i regret hearing that now. i wasn’t as much concerned for the adults, because they have their own mind but they forced those little children to kill themselves when they had so much more to experience in life. jim jones was a…. well words can’t describe how disgusting this man is, misleading these people into death.
Jones was right in one thing though… if we caught him then he had better hope for death or federal protection in a prison because that man would have suffered greatly at the hands of american citizens for that atrocious crime he committed. He deserved worse than the easy death he took.
Were i ever to somehow find this man on the streets i would personally make him feel the pain that all those innocent children felt ten fold. he was a lucky coward
July 8th, 2008 at 1:58 am
great, cant sleep now….. might as well look up some more lists =)
July 19th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Posted before about frequency.
I’m on another List. But…
When i scroll down, or click on a comment, I can hear the sound/frequency change. True.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I am listening to the Jonestown recording right now. I am most of the way through. I feel an extreme hate towards this man. But anyway, I am very interested in old recordings of any kind. please send me links to any old recordings you may have.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
At the end of the exorcist the person says, “I’ll get you for this.” in english. When we were kids it was a popular thing to do exorcism impressions to sound like the movie, and other kind of movie impressions, and I believe this is a direct line from one of “The Exorcist” movies, as I remember it. The reverberations in the recording really add to the effect, however.
Hell can be achieved with digital and analog electronic synthesis and processing techniques. I was, and am, into electronic music, including synthesizers. With analog modular synthesizer systems, and digital synthesizers and computer synthesis systems, like the great Synclavier system, and software synthesis and processing available, hell can be done, and even better than it’s done here.
I will always remember when I was a kid I went to a recital for the Moog analog modular synthesizer. We sat in an auditorium and recorded music was played to us. One of the pieces was called “Airport” that was entirely generated on the Moog synthesizer, that gave the impression of the listener walking through a very busy airport terminal, with crowd voices, ambient and background effects, including planes flying overhead, and everything. The works! It was amazingly realistic, and all synthesizer generated. With some slight alterations, you’ve got your hell.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
i find the hell thing hilarious. if hell is just below the earth’s crust, is heaven in space? too funny. people are so gullible. i do not feel sympathy for the followers of jim jones. i do believe he was a prophet and i’m sure his followers are reaping the benefits of his teachings. now, if only the pope and billy graham could convince their followers to drink the punch…
- jesus p. godchild
July 29th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
This comment is not for skeptics.
Demonic possession is relatively rare, and it does not happen to any certain demographic group more than another. Physical or mental health, intelligence, or even faith do not make it more or less likely for any given person. There is no discrimination. All are fair game for your enemy. It does not depend on ignorance in the way some think and it is not a psychological phenomenon. It is not a trick or a ploy.
It is exactly what you wish it was not.
Except for one thing – It cannot happen without the person being possessed agreeing to it in some way. It requires that a person submit by their will to a foreign, demonic intelligence, and that entity then subverts the person’s will and mind in an attempt to weaken them until they give in entirely and utterly. The purpose is the ruin of a life and a soul.
The person may only be very dimly aware of what is happening, but they will be aware in some way. They will be aware, but they may not quite realize what is happening. Before the demon attempts possession, it is likely that there is demonic obsession, which is a sort of disturbance and harassment of the person which can take on many forms. Demonic obsession is far, far more common than possession, and to be clear, it does not mean a person is obsessed with demons, but BY demons. It can be extremely vague and subtle, as well.
Those who know someone who is possessed will notice the disturbance in the person, and the outward signs may vary. They are symptoms of the person rebelling and resisting the evil presence. Speaking in unnatural voices and sounds and screams, inexplicable changes of appearance and personality, the feeling of an inexplicable but noticeably inhuman and alien presence which causes fear – especially when looking the person in the eyes – terrible vulgarity, speaking in foreign languages, seclusion, violence, hate, perversions – for instance, the priests who molest children (the media will not acknowledge a certain evil elephant in the room regarding that issue), criminal acts, and various other things can all be signs of possession. Some possessed people display an ability to know things they should not know, as in psychic phenomena, which makes sense considering that during the Rite of Exorcism the entity inhabiting the person often screams out the sins of those present.
As much as it is against the politically correct idealism many do not question, priests of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are the only people who may perform the Rite of Exorcism. Others may try to exorcise a demon, and they may succeed, but it is just as likely that the attempt at interaction with sound spiritual standing and authority may result in the amateur exorcist being possessed or at least harmed, as well. It should never attempted. Priests take vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience (humility), and if they are in sound spiritual condition, they have what is called jurisdiction by the power of Jesus Christ to perform the Rite of Exorcism. Even then, they do so at great risk to themselves, for no gain of their own, and sometimes priests have lost their lives or been possessed themselves by failed exorcisms.
The demon does everything possible to interfere, sometimes. Sometimes it is quick and easy, and over within hours. Sometimes it is terribly difficult, distressing, and violent to all involved, and it may take days or weeks or even years, and at the worst of times, the priest loses something inside because of the conflict. They something in them dies, never to be found again. They make an unspeakable sacrifice sometimes to save a soul who has no hope other than them.
Oddly enough, some demons are stupid and have little power. Some are so devious and so far beyond human intelligence that the priest must not ever be led to interact with the demon, or become too distracted. Such demons often try to lure the priest to respond to them and thereby lose focus on the Rite, and if the priest engages the demon in argument, especially tricks of logic, the demon can cause the priest to doubt, or open a vulnerability we cannot clearly discern.
Ultimately, if a sound priest does not falter, exorcism will succeed. The priest does not ever even think of exorcising by his own power. Again, unfortunately for the politically correct, the power behind exorcism is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
If the exorcists in this recording had no jurisdiction granted by God to rightfully perform the Rite of Exorcism, they were putting everyone involved in terrible danger. They risk possession themselves, and they risk the woman being weakened, and the demons strengthened. At times multiple demons already inhabit the person, but failed exorcisms can result in many more, or, in the worst case, it can result in death of the priest or the possessed person.
When the tables turn during the exorcism, even the worst of demons are terrified of the mention of His Name, for He has absolute authority over them and they are beyond hope as their destiny will eternally be Hell as the consequence of following Lucifer in rebellion against God. They simply wish to drag souls down with them as they hate us all with a hatred we cannot fathom. Grace and love are forever removed from the demons. Still, they have power, though limited and twisted, corresponding to their former and unique angelic nature and function. However, the priest merely represents Christ, doing His will, and by His aid, angels and the spirits of saints are called to intercede in the exorcism. This is known by the demons crying out and protesting, saying their names at times, in wild hysteria. They do not want to leave the body they want more than anything you ever wanted in your life, and they fear the eternal suffering of damnation in Hell. It is easy to wonder, if Christ has authority over them, why does demonic possession ever happen at all? It is a mystery we are not given to know intimately or fully, but it does have to do with mankind being fallen, and given to evil tendencies and vulnerabilities. We live short lives and we suffer the inescapable limitations of time and of our bodies and minds.
Those who fear to listen to this recording should avoid it and forget about it. It is disturbing because your soul knows what your mind does not. And, it cannot be said to be impossible that hearing or seeing or even reading the details of an exorcism may lead to demonic obsession. It is not wise to have too much interest in the matter without taking valid measures for protection.
Anyone who worries they are affected by this, whether simply afraid, or if you feel something you can’t explain upon listening to this, especially if you feel threatened, say “Jesus Christ, help me.” No matter what you think, try it if you feel threatened.
There is a good side to all of this that few ever consider.
It is exactly what you wish it was, and it is also rare.
There is such a thing as angelic possession. Some people in times of need find themselves doing things that should be impossible.
However, it is also a mystery, and it is also not as great a thing as what we are supposed to seek – the Holy Spirit which will live in our hearts. The Consoler. The angels are meant to serve us, but the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, will change the hearts of the faithful who live in a state of God’s grace. God wants to give His grace and love to those who seek Him, and everyone who hears the suffering of the woman in this exorcism deserve to know what the demon sought to ruin – the removal of her soul from God’s grace.
All make their own choices, but ultimately, if you heard that recording, it was a warning.
So who am I to explain this as though what is assumed to be scientifically impossible is real?
Being a person who really isn’t very good, no better than anyone else, but who is curious about everything, avidly fascinated and informed by the sciences and philosophy in general, tested by a neuropsychologist to have in i.q. within the 99.9th percentile of the population, and a Christian as well, I am not interested or impressed by any skeptical or atheistic rebuttals said for the purpose of mockery. I do not mock you. No human can define the truth of reality fully and completely. Language itself has limitations, which has inevitable implications. I guess I am glad you have not seen the terrible things I have seen and known, but I wish you could have seen the greatest things I have seen and known. Both made me have faith.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Penitent,
I read your post even though it wasn’t for me. But still, I have some questions. The intent of these questions is not to mock, honestly, but because I find what you say interesting. Please indulge me.
How can one have the Holy Spirit and a demon in them at the same time?
Does this mean that a possessed would no longer have free will?
Are they responsible for their actions while under possession?
Where inside you would a demon reside?
Thanks!
August 16th, 2008 at 8:56 am
that russian exorcism was intense
August 27th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
After all the Jonestown comments, I wasn’t going to add my similar experience of being sick to my stomach over that recording. My two year old daughter is napping on the couch as I type, tears streaming down my face. That kind of horror is just too much for me, but shutting it off seems like a disservice to the victims.
However, I have been fascinated by the Jonestown massacre for a long time, and have done some fairly detailed research on the subject. I was surprised at the lack of information or the misinformation being tossed around in the comments area, and would like to answer a couple questions asked.
1. The creepy background noise, which at times sounds like someone speaking backwards, is in fact exactly that. The Jonestown recording was taped over a musical mix tape. I do not know what the original music was supposed to be (aside from it being contemporary popular music), but that’s what happens when you tape over something.
2. The plane(s) mentioned where ones congressman Leo Ryan had chartered to take out Jonestown ex-pats. More wanted to leave than were anticipated, and he was going to return for more, but was assassinated on the airstrip as he was attempting to leave. He was a congressman from California, and the reason he was there in the first place was his representing the families of a lot of the Jonestown members, who believed their loved ones in the compound to be in a cult and in real danger (which, of course, was true). Jim Jones chose to poison the congregation out of paranoia they would be broken up in the aftermath of the assassination.
3. There were four survivors who were not meant to survive. The recording is the sound of nine hundred nine men, women, and most horrifically, children dying. Four more deaths occurred in nearby Georgetown at the request of Jim Jones: A mother and her three children (whom she killed before killing herself). Also surviving were the Jonestown basketball team, which included Jim Jones’ only biological son, who were in Georgetown for a game. Stephan Jones says his father had ordered them back to the camp prior to the mass poisoning, but that he disobeyed his father and remained in Georgetown, saving his own and the lives of his team mates.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Ah i am scared to listen to a few of these… give me nightmares!! and might open doors in my mind i dont want being opened….
September 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I skipped the exorsims one as of what other people have said, and am 20 minutes into the Jim Jonas hearing and think it is fascinateing, those people are arguing for their lives, and whilst thins is a very sad and sick thing, it is fascinating.
The castrato recording fascinated me, and didn’t scare me at all, I’d love to hear more.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I think I saw #3 on an American Idol audition show.
#6 WTF is up with my government?
Jim Jones was pure evil.
October 19th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Just to clarify: Moreschi was 46 when he recorded the Ave Maria. Incredible voice- though it was past its prime and the singing style of the day was to put in lots of scoops, and flipps up- and would’ve been unknown w/o the improvent in recording by 1904. I wonder what he would’ve sounded like with modern recording equipment, as you had to get very close to the recording horn in those days.
Let this be a lesson of at least one thing: How much testosterone does to someone’s body! Whether or not you think its a good thing, is up to you.
November 14th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I would like to Cosign on Minnie Ripperton. She is Maya Rudolph’s (SNL) mother. She passed away in 1977 of breast cancer. Here is a compilation of her high notes.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I listened to the Russian Exorcism one and for some reason I started to feel sick but remained listening to the whole thing. Still feel sick now… It’s kinda strange.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I couldn’t even listen to the 11th recording – I listened for a while to the man talking, then skipped to the real sound and IMMEDIATELY stopped listening! I couldn’t stand it!
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Can you please learn how to spell?? Organise is Organize and Recognise is Recognize!! It is so freaking annoying!!
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
how freaking rude
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Melissa,
Some people might be from England, you know? And we spell things differently to the way America does.
If I were you, I would think before you time.
That was extremely rude!
December 5th, 2008 at 3:25 am
Really werid , ive been using this site for about 2 months, and as busy as this list has been , and how it is a top list on the site… Its never looked intresting to me , im at work at the moment but when i get home i’ll have a listen to them
December 8th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I found this site researching castrati, but I have to say the entire list is masterfully compiled, and listeverse goes right to my favourites, thank you!
What´s weird to me is that after listening to Moreschi´s voice, I *still* can´t say what was supposed to be so “unique” about the castrato voice. I hear no difference to a woman with a deep-ish voice singing soprano, or a normal male falsetto voice. But maybe it really is his age, or the quality of the recording. Nevertheless it was really interesting to listen to, I didn´t find it disturbing, albeit a little melancholic.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The castrato sounded like a woman. The old recordings were full of “needle scratch” which has appeared on all the records I have: 78,45,33…vinyl, shellac,and even metal ! The “worst singer” had more ambition than melody and I found myself wondering when she’d finish ! The “sounds of hell” allegedly recorded in Siberia (hoax, thank God !)sounded quite unintelligible. I’m NOT a believer and will not be…over half the recording was of a spoken intro.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I bought Alessandro Moreschi´s CD after discovering him here! I found I simply couldn´t forget his voice, it left a huge impression on me. I agree that it´s not “pretty” in a usual way, but it´s unique and impacting. Sad practice aside, I don´t find it disturbing at all, even though I would probably not put this on during a dinner party.
Listening to Florence Foster Jenkins, on the other hand, is incredibly uplifting to me!
Not only because it makes me feel better about my Karaoke performance, but also because there´s something positive about a total amateur singing so badly with so much fervour. I love it.
I think Mado Robin gave me a migraine.
Not touching the Jim Jones recording with a ten foot pole. It´s an important historical account to have, but I´m devastated even thinking about it.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
The castrato sounds like Prince.
January 10th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I think the build up to the sounds from hell spooked me more than the actual sounds. For some reason the numbers one freaked me out most… it’s something about old monotone recordings that just give me the willies.
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:32 am
i believe mado robin should be given more appreciation because she can sing a supreme note not just hitting it and proved to the world that she can do it even some directors told her not to sing those. D7 well i think it is a Ab7 as most pianist and musicians found the note on piano.
mado robin must not be compared to the latest highest singers because she has a record for the highest notes in records and in live records wherein she hit Bb6 above high C !
she is a stratospheric coloratura soprano !
Dont compare the 1950’s recording to the 2000’s recording because the sounds are very different!
Thanks for posting this vid. because it is trully hard to find. thanks list verse !
this is the best website ever!
January 28th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Very creepy things all this recordings but good. Some I don´t believe there are real, but it sounds like antiques, so I guess some of them are real. The Sounds of Hell sounds if downthere were in an assembly, the male voice maybe is the Devil. My favorite was the Moreschi one, simply perfect.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
What’s sad is I actually know a guy whos a worst singer than Florence…i should have recorded him. He sounded like Skuttle from the Little Mermaid.
and Jim Jones——why would anyone listen to him? He’s a psycho!
March 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
SICK!! i hated that list!!!
March 10th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
the sounds of hell is such a joke xD, u can hear them like roaring like demons in the background it is funny tho nice 1 JF…
March 27th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I found the castrato really disturbing. Not because it was creepy or scary, but I can’t stop thinking about the ethical side of this. People made eunuchs while being children of age when they’re really not prepared or allowed to choose for themselves.
Sure, you’ll always have hopes about your kid becoming the next professional athlete or something else you failed to achieve. Castration is still quite the extreme way of doing this fantasizing.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:39 am
The JOnestown recording is quite bad, would it be classed as snuff? Even though snuff does not exist.
The only other recording that has given me the spooks.
The other is The Suicide Song.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Like many boys growing up in the 1970s my friends and I all had and played with walkie-talkies. We would often hear over our sets someone rattling off strings of numbers. We had no idea what they were, but our fathers speculated it could be coming from the nearby Bell Labs facility (where communication links to the TelStar satellite was run, as well as where the microwave radio “echo” of the Big Bang was first detected)
I totally forgot about it till I read about the Number Stations here. Tracing the signals back to a military base makes even more sense; we lived not that far from Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, a military base that has a long history with radio and communication work.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I found the numbers to be the creepiest of them all! I turned it off before even halfway through.
I won’t listen to the Jonestown one, not after seeing a documentary about it. Seeing a man sobbing over the memory of his wife forcing cyanide into their baby son’s mouth was enough for me.
April 15th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
#11 (Recordings of hell) was actually a ficticious paranormal story which was accidently aired on a news show as ‘true’ (they didn’t check to see if it was a joke/story).
The more you know!
April 17th, 2009 at 8:13 am
http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume7/remem-Bellefountaine5.html ……………..poor Chhristine
April 24th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
sounds of hell aint real. this is real. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLvE700ALew&feature=related
April 30th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Wow. I listened to that Jonestown death tape… that was possibly the most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I’m playing the Florence Foster Jenkins mp3 right now and my dog ran out of the room!!!
May 4th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I just started the Jonestown one. I’ll let you know if I make it to the end.
May 4th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
What a sick bastard. How could someone possibly do something like that. I feel bad for those kids.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:40 am
You should have included Emperor Hirohito’s recorded announcement of Japan’s surrender. It was the first time that most Japanese had heard his voice.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
The Sounds of Hell is pretty fake-sounding; just lots of warbling and screaming. But the exorcism was quite frightening
May 17th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Miss Jenkins was just kind of funny.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:25 am
The Sounds of Hell is real, while drilling they just accidently drilled through the ceiling of an underground Goth club.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Maybe it’s just because I’ve been an audiophile since I was a child, but that exorcism sounded about as fake as they come. One would expect a person possessed of supernatural, malevolent forces would make equally supernatural sounds. But this person’s vocal registers does nothing that anyone’s voice through straining or hissing could not do with pretty much no practice. Add the reverb from the room they were in and voila! – instant 1960’s quality ‘ghost’ noises heard in cinemas all over the world.
If anything, this was probably one hell of a piece of propaganda, surely capable of scaring the faithful into observing a pious way of life! Does anyone have any verifiable details about the recording and who’s hands it passed through?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I can’t listen to the exorcism or Jonestown.
Mainly because I have emetophobia and I’m afraid I’ll be so creeped out or disturbed that I’ll throw up. Heh.
June 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Couldn’t listen to the exorcism. I hate that deep voice. I’ve heard the Jim Jones before. He sounds drunk. So nuts.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:16 pm
why is everyone so shocked by jonestown recording. yeah what happened is sick but the recording is just talking and didnt really bother me (i did listen to it all btw)
the castrato was weird to me as he is 50 but has a childs voice. the exorsism bored me as i dont have any faith and a crazed russian peasant being abused by a priest isnt scary but is just wrong.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
With the last one when u say some facts are true. Whats true about it?
July 10th, 2009 at 2:40 am
The silence at the end of the jonestown tape is fucked it’s like your heart sinks when jim practically yawns and walks away from the recording and no other sound except music is heard. Probably shouldnt have listened to it but im dumb like that.
July 13th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Florence Foster Jenkins – Jesus F**king Christ!!!!!!!!
July 14th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
the hell sounds like the opening of a sale in any big department store lol
July 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Florence, I think there is something in that for everyone really. I didnt realize Caruso was deaf.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:00 am
omg the jonestown recording was disturbing. just hearing him try and rush everyone and telling them to quiet their children as they were screaming. terrible shit.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:43 am
The castrato didn’t impress me as much as I thought it would… Matt Bellamy can do better – and, as far as we know, while keeping his nuts. Just listen to ‘Microcuts’ by Muse and judge for yourself.
The French lyric singer is really cool, and so is Florence Jenkins, albeit in the opposite spectrum ;P
I love the one with the numbers, sounds like something from the Twilight Zone.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:51 am
I listened to the exorcism; it’s disturbing because the person needed serious mental/medical attention and obviously was not getting it. I heard the Jonestown recording in a documentary; it’s disturbing as well, but fascinating because you are rarely able to see (hear) inside cults and what actually happens. But the number stations? I will not sleep tonight because of those recordings. Weird radio transmissions…electronic voices…I’m at work and I’m scared.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT!
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 am
jfrater, first thanks a lot for making me vomit and having nightmares whenever i read this lists of yours (no, just kidding, i love your site)
just reading the cogitz article on exorcism made me shiver (esp with the pictures)i can’t stand to hear the audio. but the jonestown one seems interesting (but i still don’t want to hear it)
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:39 pm
The Music Project (Or is it more appropriate to call it the Non-music project) Vagina Dentata Organ was the first to release the Jonestown recordings. They called it the single greatest rock album of all time and they printed 909 copies, one for each victim. Some truly fascinating stuff there.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
You gotta love Florence Foster Jenkins. She was awful singer, but she loved music and sicked with it and for that she deserves all praise.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
^… and she sticked with it. God, automatic spelling check sucks.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
OMG Number Stations are broadcasted by the Nazis inside the earth (http://listverse.com/2008/07/24/10-bizarre-theories-and-the-facts-surrounding-them/) to communicate with their allies in our part of the earth!
lol amazing list, as usual.
Great Job, and thanks for sharing!
September 16th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
A note on the castrato- does anyone remember voice actor Walter Tetley? He played numerous young boy characters on radio, such as Leroy on The Great Gildersleeve and Julius on The Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show, but he’s probably best remembered today as Sherman from the “Peabody’s Improbable History” on The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. For years his boyish voice was attributed to a hormonal disorder, but it was later discovered that his mother had him castrated as a young child to preserve his voice. Fortunately, he turned out to be a reasonably well adjusted person and a highly regarded character actor.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:41 am
“I think its very important to remember that real true evil is a human trait and has nothing to do with demons etc.” – Leepsy
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I only listened to part of the Jonestown recording but it made me feel sick. And to think it wasn’t that long ago.
A tragedy.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Litening to Florence REALLY made me laugh. She was amazing.
Lord Haw-Haw was fascinating. I had always heard of him but never heard his voice. Thank you.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
On the “Sounds of Hell”, this is a very interesting read. http://spi.com.sg/spi_files/soh/main.htm
October 27th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Can’t believe that Jonestown is categorized as “Incredible Recording” where in fact it should be “Horrific”.. That was worse than a backmasked tape.. The children cried in anguish as theier innocence fought the insanity of their elders..
“Incredible recording” is not the right term for an psycho’s audio taped..
October 27th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Can’t believe that Jonestown is categorized as “Incredible Recording” where in fact it should be “Demonic”.. That was worse than a backmasked tape.. The children cried in anguish as theier innocence fought the insanity of their elders and for their lives..
“Incredible” is not the right term for a psycho’s audio captured on tape..
Surely, if we talk about recording as incredible in nature, the Jonestone case is a rotten tomato..
October 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
@balazubaz69 (283): Incredible is not necessarily a compliment. Simply, it stands out, which you and I will both agree, it does.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
@ianz09 (284), I couldn’t agree more, but in the case of the Jonestown recording, I would rather say, it was a “hard-to-believe recording” than “incredible”.. They are synonymous anyway, but I think that’s the right choice of word..
October 29th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
@balazubaz69 (285): Understandable. It’s simply horrific, so I understand why ‘incredible’ is not your (or my) first choice of words for describing it.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
jonestown is one of the most messed up things I have ever heard/seen. there are somethings I wish we were taught about. even though they are disturbing.
November 27th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I’m not sure why, but the picture of number #3 looks so much like Drew Barrymore.
December 17th, 2009 at 7:29 am
I think this one is incredible too: It’s a russian choir featuring a “basso profondo” display.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
The final recording -of souls screaming in agony in hellfire- is obviously a fake. But baptist crackpots will promote and other alleged proofs of their 3-headed bully God’s “love” for mankind. I would revere a cross no more than I would worship the gun that was used to kill my father !
January 11th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
the Russian Exorcism was fascinating
January 11th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
also the sounds from hell
January 13th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
fuck Florence Foster Jenkins has a gawd aweful voice
lmao o well the rest is quite interesting
January 15th, 2010 at 5:48 am
You never fail to keep my attention
February 1st, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Dangrabat uses Moreschi on their video bomb, Its on youtube, check it, better audio quality too.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:07 am
The Sounds of Hell is definitely a hoax. According to religion, Hell is in the spiritual sense… Can never be seen or heard for real, while we’re alive…
February 4th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Wow..the Numbers Stations, just show you what goes on that we have no clue about. Great list. I’ve never heard of that one.