Yes it is a holiday rerun. But we have more people around the OLD SCHOOL table than we did at this time last year. So let’s feast on some fascinating tunes, all written by hungry people from different eras and angles. Some became hits, some were forgotten, but each was delicious upon first listen, no matter in what millennia the needle dropped.
Chances are you will be spending the holiday around people with whom you don’t usually sample music. You know Uncle Harry’s politics, and what he thinks of little Suzy’s tat, but what does he listen to?
This show works great during the dinner prep, but could also serve as background chomping music. Elvis, Dee Dee Sharp, Hank Williams, Jimmy Buffett, the Kinks, Cab Calloway, Talking Heads, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Beach Boys, Doris Day and many, many more. Professor Mikey goes for the eclectic salad around the holiday. No holiday makes you rounder than Thanksgiving.
If you’ve never seen the newsletter, take out a free subscription at professormikey.substack.com. If you don’t do podcasts go over to Professor Mikey’s Old School on YouTube and flip through the stacks. Theme shows, singles, odd takes, rarities, skips, pops. Think of it as radio unplugged.
Anyway, this is not a show for quiet eating, although if you turn it down low I suppose it will work. This is an episode about getting in that kitchen and making some noise with the pots and pans, like Big Joe Turner says in “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”
Food prep is a joyous time. You’ve got to keep a lot of plates in the air, then fill them up with goodies. Yes we have songs about turkeys and mashed potatoes, but there’s also some lively tunes about hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza, thanks to Dean Martin.
So here is what you hear when you are In the Mood for Food. Check that ham, baste that turkey, shake that salt, and get her done. I’m on holiday so I’m going to put down the microphone and pick up the fork. The playlist is on the newsletter at Professormikey.Substack.Com. Pretty sure you also have a phone that can tell you what is playing. I have to check my pecan pie. I burnt the hell out of the one last year.
Have a bountiful holiday that puts a yummy in your tummy.
Let’s rock that kitchen…1
LET’S TURKEY TROT Little Eva
FOOD The Turtles
JAMBALAYA Hank Williams
CRAWFISH Elvis Presley
TURKEY IN THE STRAW Burl Ives
SWITCHEN IN THE KITCHEN Don Covay
EGGS AND SAUSAGE (IN A CADILLAC WITH SUSAN MICHELSON) Tom Waits
BEANS AND CORNBREAD Louis Jordan
HAM ‘N’ EGGS A Tribe Called Quest
MASHED POTATO TIME Dee Dee Sharp
EVERYBODY EATS WHEN THEY COME TO MY HOUSE Cab Calloway
CALL ANY VEGETABLE Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
VEGETABLES The Beach Boys
HE’S A CHEF Rocket from the Crypt
THAT’S AMORE Dean Martin
SUPPER TIME Barbra Streisand
SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL Big Joe Turner
HUNGRY Paul Revere and the Raiders
STAY HUNGRY Talking Heads
TACOS, ENCHILADAS AND BEANS Doris Day
MOMMAS IN THE KITCHEN BUT WE’VE GOT POP ON ICE Slim Gailard
CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE Jimmy Buffett
HOT DOGS AND HAMBURGERS John Mellencamp
CHEESECAKE Louis Armstrong
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD Oliver! Original Broadway Soundtrack
YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS Louis Prima
MAXIMUM CONSUMPTION The Kinks
DcYUM, YUM, YUM Joe Tex
SUPPERTIME Levi Stubbs, Little Shop of Horrors Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
GROCERIES, SIR The Dukes
BREAKFAST FOR TWO Country Joe McDonald
CHRISTMAS DINNER Tennessee Ernie Ford
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