2003 OCTOBER 3 #276
A song written by Meredith Wilson of "Music Man" fame. It was commissioned by John Kennedy for his new Youth Fitness Program. A copy of this record was sent to every school in the U.S. with the idea that it would be played over the P.A. every morning while students did calisthenics. Imagine Harold Hill leading a Jazzercise class. There is a 6:30 School Version, and a 2:30 DJ version.
- J.D. Mack
TT-6:29 / 6MB / 128kbps 44.1khz
(Image courtesy of J.D. Mack)
Eric Williams writes:
Here's an amusing little footnote to yesterday's song.
As revealed in an interview on NPR's "Fresh Air",
recorded in 1999 and replayed this June, "Chicken
Fat" was the first record ever purchased by Adam
Schlesinger of the band Fountains of Wayne (and Oscar
nominee for writing the title song of "That Thing
You Do!"). Thought you might like to post a link
to the interview. The pertinent discussion falls at 18
minutes into the interview:
http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?displayValue=day&todayDate=06/20/2003
Host: TERRY GROSS with ADAM SCHLESINGER and CHRIS COLLINGWOOD
who are co-founders of the band "Fountains of Wayne"
Palomino Royale writes:
Thanks, sort-of, to J.D. Mack for contributing "Chicken
Fat" to 365 Days. I find it nostalgic in a queasy
way. When I was in Jr. High gym class, they would play
this every day during calisthenics. Every damned day!
God, but I got sick of it. So when I got older and moved
away from my little home town, I was surprised to find
that most of my new friends had never even heard Chicken
Fat. Now, finally, I can help them understand how bad
I had it as a kid.
Suzanne Baumann writes:
It wasn't just from town to town: it varied from teacher
to teacher! My sister tried to describe Chicken Fat for
me when we were in junior high. We both went to the same
school in the mid-late 1980s. Her phys ed teacher always
played it; mine never did (although he had us jump rope
to Ready For the World's "Oh Sheila" a few times).
I remember sneaking into the gym once (I had a thing for
sneaking into unoccupied classrooms back then) and seeing
the Chicken Fat tape. I had to play it to figure out what
the hell my sister was talking about. Got about as far
as the first "nuts to the flabby guys" and then
taking off when I heard someone coming up the hall. At
long last I can now hear the entire thing.
Bob Purse writes:
At our school (grades 4-? Our calistentics theme (used
primarily in a phys ed show held every two years), was,
believe it or not "Washington Square" by the
Village Stompers. By the time I got to be (had to be?)
part of this routine, that record was about ten years
old, but they were still playing. Dr. Demento's played ""Chicken Fat", a bunch of times, but usually
just the short version. Nice to have this copy of it.
A recording made at that same grade school is coming up
in the project in a few days, by the way......
mcknigs writes:
Wow. I've been talking about "Chicken Fat"
to people for years. I think I heard it everyday in gym
in 4th grade (c. '67?) -- at least during the winter when
we couldn't go outside. I probably heard it a fair amount
in 2nd and 3rd grade too. IIRC, Bob McAllister used to
play it regularly on his kids show in Baltimore, and or
Wonderama. It always surprises me that something I heard
so many times would be so unknown to so many people. I
have to echo the "thanks-sort of" sentiment.
Stormy Hunter writes:
I remember actually hearing a different version of ""Chicken Fat" at my school. It was on the Kimbo
records label and now that I hear the original, I remember
how cheesy the Kimbo version was by comparison.