(scroll to near the end for links to two videos of the original cassette tape playing on a cassette player as well as a separate audio track. In both cases, I let a few songs play so people could match them to the cassette label I shared online.)
I am the person who imitated the public search for this track in circa 2020.
I recorded a song from a music video I found through Comcast On Demand to a blank audio cassette around late-2004 and wrote "Popcorn" on the label. Years later, when I tried finding more info on the song, I hit a brick wall. I eventually uploaded the song to YouTube in 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efBYGTZ1NY4
In 2021, another YouTuber cleaned it up and uploaded it to their channel as a "restored" version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3NdK52indI
A few months ago, I uploaded a new recording from the original cassette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugoyWLOEH1I
The song was identified in November, but I was unaware until last week. I quickly realized that the lost wave community has labelled the search a hoax.
I have address some questions that have been raised:
1) Why do "drop outs" in the audio from my cassette match the band's music video that was uploaded to YT seven years ago?
Answer: My only guess is that the same audio flaws were present in the music video I recorded back then.
2) Why did I block people who tried giving song information?
Answer: I never blocked anyone. The video with the most discussion is one that I have no control over, the restored version on the YT channel of Antonio's Remastered Works. There were more comments there than on my own uploads or on my Reddit sub for the song.
3) Why was I unresponsive after the song was ID'd?
Answer: I never got any notices about the song on YT because the Johnny Doe account is not one I am usually signed into. There was a post about it on the song's subreddit, but I never got a notification.
On the FMM Discord server, it was said that people had asked a band member online, and he denied the song was ever licensed out to any music or cable service. There were mixed messages here, because it was said the guy kept answering questions only with emojis, i.e. thumbs down when asked if the song was licensed out. If the responses from the artist are genuine, I have no clue how to respond to them. I do know that I am positive the source was a music video found on Comcast On Demand.
I have entered multiple forms of proof of authenticity for my cassette.
Here is an Internet Archive page I made in 2023, with a scan of the cassette label and the audio from the restored version of the song:
https://archive.org/details/popcorn-unknown-song-restored-version
People questioned why the label was censored (there was no real reason other than I wanted to focus on the mystery song), so I uploaded more pictures of the uncensored cassette label, as well as of the stereo and VCR I used when recording the song (I still have both in my possession), as well as the new portable cassette player I used to record the newer version a few months ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong2/comments/1pe4e9n/addressing_the_hoax_accusations/
Last night, on the FMM Discord server, a couple of people requested that I make a recording of the cassette and allow several songs to play, and I agreed to do so today. However, I was kicked from the server today just as I was uploading the videos to YouTube, so I have no way to share with those who asked. (I had to split the video into two parts. Both are unlisted, but you can watch them by following the links.)
Video part 1:
Video part 2:
Audio-only (separate recording, not audio pulled from the video):
For this to be a hoax, I would have had to spend years searching publicly for this song, giving out the title ("Popcorn") of the song the whole time (though I wasn't sure if it was the title or band name), held onto all the technology I've always said I used to record it (i.e. period-appropriate VCR and stereo), somehow blocked people not only on a channel I control but also on one that I don't, filled out a fake cassette label and then within about nine or ten hours of being asked to make a recording (I saw the request around midnight) I managed to dub a tape that matches the cassette label, then record it and post it. Meanwhile, the greatest evidence against me is that, when asked online about it, a band member responded with emojis.
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