Da na, na – [pause] – Da na, na, na.

Da na, na – [pause] – Da na, na, na.

No words!

Just drums banging away, interspersed with the throbbing of a deep base guitar, and the occasional ‘woo-woo’ of what might be chorus girls in the background.

What’s that song? I know it from somewhere, but I just can’t remember the name! Normally, this sort of thing would drive me nuts.

OK, once the lyrics begin, most of us who survived the 1980s will instantly recognize this power-pop classic called “Get It On” (Bang a Gong) from Mr. Robert Palmer and the two Taylors from Duran Duran who formed the band known as The Power Station! Remember the coiffed hair? The shiny clothes? The eye makeup? How could we forget, right? It all comes rushing back to you …

But what if you just have that driving base line thumping in your head as it pours out of the speakers of your car’s radio? And you need the name of the tune – and you need it now?

Find your Nokia S60 mobile device, and fire up Midomi Music Identifier from California-based Melodis Corp., and then (for you touch-screen users out there) tap the big orange music note in the middle of the screen to start capturing an audio clip of the song. Within seconds – roughly 5 to 10 – Midomi will return the results, and name that tune! The results are remarkably accurate – and fast.

A number of quick tests of the app were correct every time. With the lyrics playing, you might think this would be pretty easy to pull off, but in the case of The Power Station track (and for the record, it was playing in my car on the radio, so it was purely random … and not a track I have in my personal collection at this time) all you could hear was the intro to the song – no lyrics at all – and the app still nailed it!

Once the track has been identified, it will be stored in Midomi’s search results, and you can also bookmark it for later reference – and that is only the beginning!

If you want to hear a sample of the song later on, just click the little play icon next to the song title in your list of Bookmarks – it starts to play right away.

Or suppose you want to see a video of the song, find the lyrics, view the album it was on, share this musical discovery with a friend via the e-mail client on your mobile device – or perhaps even buy the song! – you can do that, too! All within the app itself or via a single click to a web-based source you can view through your mobile browser. In the case of buying the music, Midomi links you directly to the Nokia Music Store (so, for those readers in the U.S., that feature is a great idea waiting to happen!).

Another feature in the app is a section for Artist Information, that includes the band’s discography (CDs for those too young to remember “Albums”); top songs; a bio about the band; pictures of the band in a gallery mode (although somewhat low-quality for online/mobile viewing, it appears); and listings of similar artists, so you can dig deep with a particular style of music.

This section also features a link to “Fans” from Midomi.com of that particular artist – sadly, there is only one official fan of The Power Station on Midomi right now. (Anyone care to join me and help start a revival?) Popular bands will have plenty of fans, and you can see what those fans are interested in based on their use of Midomi, too.

Need more? Here’s a video demo of the app:

I have been testing Midomi on my Nokia N97, and the touch-based interface is really smooth. The application works on a wide range of (at least 38 different) Nokia S60 3 edition and 5 edition devices (from Nseries to Eseries to XpressMusic devices), as noted on the Midomi website. Interestingly, it is only available for 3 other devices not made by Nokia …

One more thing about Midomi that is worth mentioning, if the music isn’t playing, but you can sing it yourself – or hum a few lines – the app should still work its magic. Now, I will admit, I have not done this yet – I am not much of a vocalist – but I have been assured by good friends who have tried it that it does work! Give it a whirl, and let us know how it goes.

The Midomi Music Identifier app is free to download in Ovi Store.

App Compatibility:

• Devices: S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition devices
• Languages: English
• Countries: Global

Small postscript: I had the chance to go see U2 play at Giants Stadium earlier this evening – my ears are still ringing, but it was all worth it. (Big Thanks to Jennifer and Russell for the ticket, and the driving to Jersey and back – you guys rock!) The open act was Muse a Brit-pop trio from the U.K., who – kind of like Nokia – are super hot worldwide, and flying under the radar here in the U.S. My point is, as Muse was playing, someone nearby whipped out his mobile phone, and pushed the Orange button on the Midomi app to find the name of the song that was being played! I thought that was nifty to see the app out there in the wild, doing its job!

Have you tried Midomi? Give us your impressions in the comments section below.