Transmitting Live from Mars

I've just contributed some information to Wikipedia. I've edited grammar and spelling before while surfing, but this is different. I've filled in a gap in the entry for De la Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising". The track "Transmitting Live from Mars" samples a seven inch, 33rpm record of French lessons. I own it. It's part of a box set, and my copy is in mint condition.

I forget when or where I picked it up, but I've had this set for years in a shoebox with the rest of my old seven inch book 'n' records. I remember listening to the whole thing while I was working or cooking or something, and the phrases that start the third lesson hit my ears like a prank caller suggesting I play a game of solitaire. It's really bizarre to stumble upon a sample like this in its original context.

I wore out my "3 Feet High" tape back in ’89. I listened to that thing every day on the bus to and from school. It was a loooong ride. I've probably listened to that particular track thousands of times. The backing music is a sample from "You Showed Me" by the Turtles. It's a dreamy song to begin with, but this De La track takes it to another place. Mars?

This has happened before. I've picked up other oddball dusties and have recognized samples. I had a Kojak Book and Record Set that was sampled on "Let Me In" from "De la Soul is Dead."

Woman: "What's this? In your pocket, that bulge. Harry, let me see it."
Woman: "Let me see the gun, Harry. I wanna see if it's been fired!"
Harry: "Why are you complaining? I've always given you a piece of the action."

You can find that one on eBay for as much as $20 sealed, but never a note in the listings to say that it was sampled by one of the most influential hip-hip acts of all time.