Stately, the UK ringback tone plays a whole tone chord. So soft and yet so dissonant.
The North American ringback tone also features the chord with a G and A, but the rhythm is different; it holds for a half note and then rests. In the UK version above, the double tap is reminiscent of our busy signal. It’s arguably more musical than the North American version and is therefore featured in many classic tunes.
You can hear the UK ringback at the end of Pink Floyd’s “Young Lust.” Such a dank, rank tune! The G and the A of the UK ringback tone work well over the E minor pentatonic key.
Another musical use of the UK tone can be heard in the keyboard part to Space Hog’s “In the Meantime.” It’s not the same notes, but I think it was probably inspired by it. Check it out in the intro.
I like the piano coda in that song. Piano codas were really popular for a hot minute in the 90s, because of Faith No More’s Epic—one of the finest piano codas next to the Rach Two. Not sure why they had to kill Björk’s fish for the video though. Oh well, ooppa dobba deeba dobba, I guess.
