"Ulterior Motives" is a song recorded by British-Canadian musicians and filmmakers Christopher and Philip Booth, first appearing in the 1986 pornographic film Angels of Passion. It gained popularity since 2021 after a seventeen-second snippet of the song, at the time unidentified, was posted online. The song was colloquially dubbed "Everyone Knows That" (commonly abbreviated EKT) or "Ulterior Motives", both derived from the then-debated lyrics of the snippet.[a]

The snippet was uploaded to song identification website WatZatSong in 2021 by Spanish user carl92 who claimed to have discovered the recording in an old DVD backup. He speculated that the file was leftover from when he was learning to record audio. It was shared across various social media sites and internet communities, initiating a widespread search for the full song and information about its origin. In February 2024, The Guardian named it "one of the biggest and most enduring musical mysteries on the internet".

On 28 April 2024, Reddit users identified the snippet's origin as being from Angels of Passion. At the time, the vocals, guitar and synth tracks for the original recording were deemed lost, so the Booth brothers re-recorded the song and included it on their album Ulterior Motives (The Lost Album), released on 23 June 2024. The album was credited to Who's Who?, a name the Booth brothers had performed under at various points in the 1980s.

In October 2024, the Booth brothers announced that they were investigating a 'new lead' in the search for the original master of "Ulterior Motives." They suggested that a tape recording of the original version is in the possession of a copyright registration office whom they contacted to request its release. Christopher stated that if the office can return the tape to them, they will release it "as soon as [they] find it". On 28 April 2026, the Booth brothers announced that the original studio master of Ulterior Motives had been found. The following month, the song was included in a scene in the horror film Backrooms (2026).

Background and composition

"Ulterior Motives" was recorded in August 1985 by Christopher and Philip Booth at their home studio in Encino, Los Angeles.[4] Because they were "doing anything to make money", they worked as production assistants on films. One of their friends, who made pornographic films, needed music for one of their works and, according to Christopher, "they gave us quite a bit of money just to give them some music to use behind the scenes". As such, "Ulterior Motives", which was originally recorded as a pop song, was used in the soundtrack of the 1986 pornographic film Angels of Passion.[5]

Christopher stated that the lyrics of "Ulterior Motives" were inspired by "a girl that cheated", saying "she was saying one thing and you found out that she did another thing".[5] Described as a new wave[6] and synth-pop[7] song, "Ulterior Motives" was written by the Booth brothers, with Christopher serving as the song's producer and lead vocalist, and Philip providing background vocals and an electric guitar track. The song additionally features production from Gary Goetzman and a keyboard track from Mike Piccirillo.[8] Its 2024 re-recording would involve Philip providing the electric guitar and keyboards, as well as bass guitar from Ira Ward.[9]

Original snippet
The original 17-second snippet of the song that was uploaded to WatZatSong by carl92 in 2021
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On 7 October 2021, user carl92 uploaded a 17-second snippet of the song to WatZatSong and asked for help identifying it. He wrote that he "rediscover[ed] this sample between a bunch of very old files in a DVD backup. Probably I was simply learning how to capture audio and this was a left over."[10][11][5] The song was thought to have been recorded in the 1980s due to its stylistic similarities to pop music of that time, specifically after 1983, since the LinnDrum drum machine and the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer were thought by the sleuths to have been used in the song.[12][13] Some users created reconstructions from the original snippet to have an idea of what the full song could be like, while others theorised that the song was a hoax "planted by a troll".[11] It became WatZatSong's "most infamous and enduring submission", receiving the most comments since the site's launch in 2006.[11] The song gained popularity online in late 2022 and 2023, and a subreddit dedicated to finding the song and its artist was launched in June 2023.[6] On 7 January 2024, two members of the subreddit were interviewed by French commercial television network TF1.[14]

The search for the song was initially slow to gain traction, but gained a dedicated following over time.[6] Search participants theorised that the source for the song might be a 1990s MTV broadcast, a piece of production music, or a commercial jingle.[6] Carrie O'Grady of The Guardian named it "one of the biggest and most enduring musical mysteries on the internet".[12] In August 2023, user u/HeyScarlett found a registered song by the name "Ulterior Motives" in Canadian music database SOCAN under the shareholders' names "Booth Christopher David" and "Booth Philip".[3][15]

Discovery and legacy

On 28 April 2024, following a lead from Reddit user u/One-Truth-5867 who had found a similar sounding song by the same artist, user u/south_pole_ball identified the song, including its name and artists.[16] The snippet was discovered to be from the 1986 pornographic film Angels of Passion.[3] On 29 April, Christopher publicly made an Instagram post regarding the discovery of the song's source and the artists.[‡ 1] He later uploaded a reel showcasing the original lyrics for the song within his recording studio, revealing that the original lyrics were "everyone knows it" instead of "everyone knows that".[‡ 2] In a CBC News podcast, Booth claimed that the song was not written exclusively for the film.[17][18] On 1 May, in a Rolling Stone interview, the duo revealed plans to release a new album with songs similar to "Ulterior Motives"; he had already found the song's original "rhythm track" but not the vocal track.[5] Several days later, Christopher gave an interview with a Redditor, in which he clarified that he located the guitar, bass, and drum tracks, but not the original vocal or synth tracks.[‡ 3] In another interview the Booth brothers conducted on 15 May, Christopher stated that he believed the rest of the masters for "Ulterior Motives" to be in the possession of his recently deceased friend, whose niece had planned to send the Booths a box of masters once in the possession of her relative.[19]

On 7 June, when responding to a Redditor asking if the vocal track was indeed in that box of masters, Christopher confirmed that the masters had arrived and that he had located other songs from them, but not the vocal track, which he would re-record along with the guitar track.[‡ 4] On 19 June, the Booth brothers released a trailer for Ulterior Motives – The Lost Album, showcasing their new version of "Ulterior Motives".[‡ 5] The album was finally released on all streaming platforms on 22 June, under the name Ulterior Motives (The Lost Album).[9] In an Instagram Q&A conducted on 29 June, Christopher confirmed the rhythm track of the original "Ulterior Motives" was used in the remake.[‡ 6]

In October 2024, the Booth brothers announced that they had begun investigating a "new lead" in the search for the original master of "Ulterior Motives". They suggested that a tape recording of the original version is in the possession of a copyright registration office whom they had contacted to request its release. Christopher stated that if the office can return the tape to them, they will release it "as soon as [they] find it".[‡ 7]

On 28 April 2026, the Booth brothers announced on YouTube that a cassette containing the original 1985 master recording of "Ulterior Motives" had been found. At the end of the video, it was also announced that the song would be released on a bonus CD to be bundled with a DVD containing a documentary about the search.[20] On 29 May, the full version of the master recording was released.[8] It was also included in a scene in the horror film Backrooms (2026) that same month.[21]

Ulterior Motives (The Lost Album)

Ulterior Motives (The Lost Album) is the debut album by the British-Canadian music duo Who's Who?. Released on 22 June 2024 through Spooked Music Releasing,[9] it contains both the Booth brothers' remake of its title track as well as twelve other 1980s-era recordings found while searching for the masters to said song. The album was credited to Who's Who?, a name the Booth brothers had performed under at various points in the 1980s.[5]

Tracklist

All tracks are written by Christopher Saint Booth and Philip Adrian Booth.[9]

No.TitleLength
1."Chemistry"3:18
2."Your Guy"4:12
3."Ulterior Motives (2024 re-recording)"3:48
4."Man Needs Love"2:48
5."So in Love"5:04
6."You Turn Me On"5:00
7."Rock Me to Sleep"6:43
8."Think I'm Gonna Cry"2:17
9."Potion of Emotion"4:18
10."One Last Look"3:37
11."Nothing Lasts Forever"4:20
12."Language of Love"3:50
13."Lie School"4:04
Total length:53:19

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Tidal.[8][9]

Original recording (2026 release)
2024 re-recording

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ulterior Motives" was correctly implied to be the song's name, and the lyric turned out to be "Everyone knows it".

References

  1. ↑ "Lostwave: how the internet became obsessed with lost songs". Dazed. 27 February 2024. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Breihan, Tom (29 April 2024). "Mysterious Viral '80s Song "Everybody Knows That" Finally Identified After Three-Year Hunt". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Robinson, Ellie (29 April 2024). "Viral Lost Song 'Ulterior Motives' Found In Obscure '80s Porn Flick". The Music (Australia). Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  4. ↑ Helman, Peter (2 May 2024). "'Over 40,000 Sleuths Worked Hard to Get This Song Tracked Down': Christopher and Philip Booth on the Strange Saga of Their Viral Mystery Song 'Ulterior Motives'". Q Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Klee, Miles (1 May 2024). "Their Song Spawned an Internet Mystery. Now They're Ready to Tell Their Story". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Klee, Miles (12 November 2023). "Internet Sleuths Want to Track Down This Mystery Pop Song. They Only Have 17 Seconds of It". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Partridge, Ken (29 April 2024). "Why An Obscure Synth-Pop Song from a 1986 Adult Film Is Trending on Genius". Genius News. Genius. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Who's Who? & Christopher Saint - Ulterior Motives (1985 AOP Mix), Tidal, 29 May 2026, retrieved 8 July 2026{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Who's Who? & Christopher Saint - Ulterior Motives (The Lost Album), Tidal, 22 June 2024, retrieved 8 July 2026{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ Castro, Bárbara (24 February 2024). "Mistério! Conheça a música "perdida" dos anos 1980 que intriga a internet" [Mystery! Meet the "lost" music of the 1980s that intrigues the internet]. IGN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 Carey, Gina (25 November 2023). "Can You Help Solve the Origin of This Mystery '80s Pop Song?". Newser. Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  12. 1 2 O'Grady, Carrie (28 February 2024). "Everyone Knows That: can you identify the lost 80s hit baffling the internet?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Brown, Emily (28 February 2024). "Mystery of lost 80s hit that no one can remember song name or artist for despite everyone recognizing tune". UNILAD. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  14. ↑ de Araujo, David; Mignard, Frédéric (7 January 2024). "Musique cherche compositeur : ce morceau dont même Internet ne parvient pas à identifier l'auteur" [Music seeks composer: this piece of which even the Internet cannot identify the author]. TF1 (in French). Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  15. ↑ "Ulterior Motives". SOCAN's Public Repertoire Archived 30 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine. SOCAN Work Number 13022623, ISWC T0705632310.
  16. ↑ Bilderbeck, Poppy (29 April 2024). "Mystery song that everybody recognized but no one knew song name or artist has finally been identified". UNILAD. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  17. ↑ Köksal, Nil; Howden, Chris (29 April 2024). "Setting up camp". As It Happens with Nil Köksal, Chris Howden (Podcast). CBC News. "Mystery song" section started at 1:09:57. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  18. ↑ Köksal, Nil; Howden, Chris (1 May 2024). Everyone Knows That – Christopher S. Booth Interview On CBC (Podcast). YouTube. Event occurs at 2:51. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via YouTube. No, no, no. I mean, [...] when you write for a porno movie or whatever, that would not be the kind of music I would think you would write.
  19. ↑ Caffrey, Jack Lucas (14 May 2024). "2024 Interview with "Ulterior Motives" Songwriters Christopher Saint Booth & Philip Adrian Booth!" (a video interview). 19:03, "How much of the master for "Ulterior Motives" has been found so far?". Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024 – via YouTube.
  20. ↑ Christopher Saint (Who's Who) (27 April 2026). The Holy Grail of Lost Media Found: Original 1985 Studio Master of "Ulterior Motives" Recovered. Archived from the original on 29 April 2026. Retrieved 28 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  21. ↑ Denis, Kyle (3 June 2026). "How Much Did 'Backrooms' Boost Obscure Songs from The Caretaker and Christopher Saint On Streaming?". Billboard. Archived from the original on 6 June 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ↑ Saint Booth, Christopher [@christophersaintbooth]; (29 April 2024). "Well today, my mind has officially been blown:) WOW! #ulteriormotives #ekt #christophersaint" – via Instagram.
  2. ↑ Saint Booth, Christopher [@christophersaintbooth]; (30 April 2024). "We hear you and we love you…thank you from the bottom of our hearts. #ulteriormotives #ekt #christophersaintbooth #philipadrianbooth #theboothbrothers #christophersaint" – via Instagram.
  3. ↑ u/lilhudak (3 May 2024). "20MIN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS!" (a post on the subreddit r/everyoneknowsthat). Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024 – via Reddit.
  4. ↑ Christophersaintb (7 June 2024). "The masters did arri…". r/everyoneknowsthat. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  5. ↑ Christopher Saint Booth [@christophersaintbooth]; (20 June 2024). "BOOM! If you would like an Ulterior Motives signed CD, here's your chance to preorder one" – via Instagram.
  6. ↑ Christopher Saint Booth and Philip Adrian Booth (30 June 2024). Ulterior Motives Instagram Q&A Live replay (Video). Christopher Saint Booth. Event occurs at 43:56. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ Christopher Saint Booth (28 October 2024). "Special announcement. #ulteriormotives #ekt #ChristopherSaintBooth #philipadrianbooth #80s #animalinme". Instagram. Archived from the original on 5 November 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulterior_Motives_(song)