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Speaker 1: Pudsonriverradio dot com.

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Speaker 2: Have you ever put butter on a pup?

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Speaker 3: Don?

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Speaker 2: You're so freakin good? Have you ever put butter on.

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Speaker 4: A pop time?

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Speaker 2: If you haven't bet, I thank you?

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Speaker 5: Should everybody come along with us?

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Speaker 2: Have you ever put butter on a hot It's so

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freakin good? Have you ever butt butterer? If you haven't

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bet a bank.

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Speaker 6: You should?

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Speaker 7: How does sassa?

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Speaker 8: Jonathan Disberry Jukes?

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Speaker 9: Hey, this is Tom Chapin.

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Speaker 10: Hello, just preaching in rock and Roll History Show.

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Speaker 7: You're listening right now.

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Speaker 10: Hello, everybody, Welcome back to the Rock and Roll History

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Show on Hudson River Radio. I'm Brian Horowitz. Tonight we're

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going super super super intellectual with the hokey pokey. But

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before we hop in, allow me to introduce all the

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cranbones who were joining us here tonight. First and foremost

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from the Richter Observatory. He said everything can be a

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pinata if you hit it hard enough. Neil Richter is here.

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Speaker 11: That's absolutely true.

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Speaker 2: I'm just trying to figure out.

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Speaker 8: I hope.

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Speaker 10: We'll get to that, and we may have to do

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some editing depending on how that plays out. And the

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host of Paranormally Yours she wants to know why toilet

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paper needs commercials because who's not buying it?

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Speaker 12: Well, you know what, though, I think you can tell

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who's not sham Probably.

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Speaker 10: They probably aren't watching TV either.

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Speaker 4: Right, Yeah?

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Speaker 13: You know you know how so many people get these

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scam emails from Nigerian princes who want to give you money,

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but you have to give them your bank.

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Speaker 4: Account from versus they can send it YadA YadA.

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Speaker 8: Hi there scams.

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Speaker 4: Well, I got one from an Egyptian pharaoh.

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Speaker 1: Coo a real barrel? Oh boy, yeah, but it turns

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out it was just a pyramid scheme.

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Speaker 10: Such a long walk. Sorry, well, welcome back anyway. Gail

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and the host of silver Screen. She saw a five

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dollar bill walk into a bar and the bartender says, sorry,

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this is the singles bar. Mercedes Kent is here.

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Speaker 9: That four five dollar bill.

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Speaker 10: Everybody, and last but not least, the host of Shaving Cream.

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She thinks it's amazing that somebody came up with a

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cereal so bad that adding two scoops of raisins made

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it better. Barb Reveal is here.

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Speaker 4: Everyone.

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Speaker 10: Sorry if you likes, but what can I say?

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Speaker 9: Okay, yeah like golden raisins.

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Speaker 14: Yes you don't like golden raisins. Oh my gosh, I

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actually like those better. Okay, Yeah, And in Britain they

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call those sultanas.

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Speaker 4: I don't know why.

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Speaker 10: It's a better name for an inferior product. All right.

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So the assignment for the Crambones this week was to

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find a tune about a body part that you can

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stick in, stick out, and shake all about while still

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keeping this a family friendly show. So hokey pokey it

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is the song itself. Let's talk about the origins of

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the song itself. Like a lot of folks songs, the

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origins are a bit ambiguous, but we're gonna go way back.

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We start with a line from an old Catholic mass

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hak corpus mayem this is my body that more morphed

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into hocus pocus that we hear more recently. That's where

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that phrase came from, and hocus pocus supposedly turned into

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hokey pokey, so supposedly. Maybe the earliest documented evidence of

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a song similar to the one that we know goes

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back to eighteen fifty seven. Two sisters who were visiting Bridgewater,

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New Hampshire from Canterbury, England, taught the locals a song

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that they brought with them from England called right Elbow

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In that had several verses along with accompanying movements. It said,

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I put my right hand in, I put my right

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hand out. I give them a hand to shake, shake, shake,

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and turn myself about. Sounds familiar, right, a little bit similar,

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So that's another. Maybe similar songs have been found around

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Scotland from even earlier, again, who knows. In nineteen forty two,

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during World War Two, an Irish songwriter and publisher named

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Jimmy Kennedy wrote a song and dance called the Hokey

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Kochie cook e Y to entertain Canadian troops. Also in

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nineteen forty two, also in England, and also to entertain

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Canadian troops who apparently needed a lot of entertaining, songwriter

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named Al Tabor wrote a song and dance called the

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Hokey Pokey, which wound up being similar to Kennedy's. Tabor

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said he named it after ice cream vendors known as

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the Hokey Pokey men that were apparently in England. I

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had never heard of them me neither, I don't know.

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In nineteen forty six, two musicians in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Robert

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Degan and Joe Brier wrote and recorded the Hokey Pokey Dance,

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which was written for guests at Pocono Mountain Resorts. But

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it's not the one that we know, not yet. The

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real one, the real hockey Pokey that we know was

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generally credited to Charles mccac Taft Baker and Larry Laprize,

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who wrote it in nineteen forty nine to entertain skiers

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at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. They made a

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recording as the Sun Valley Trio. It was a hit

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with guests, so Laprize took it upon himself to copyright

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it without telling the other two, and then when they

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found out, they sue and wound up ultimately sharing a

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piece of the copyright in nineteen fifty. So for a

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little while, Larry Lapriez was the sole owner of the

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entire Hokey Pokey.

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Speaker 4: Oh my.

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Speaker 10: Somehow, just for a little bit, their record flopped and

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it wasn't until you know what I have it. Let's

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just play just a little bit of the first recording

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of the Hope to Poke, not the whole thing.

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Speaker 15: Right, you're right, you're right, and it's all your left.

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Speaker 2: Foot, all right.

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Speaker 10: You get the idea right. So that record flopped maybe

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because it starts with the accordion.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, I can't believe no comment, I can't believe it, right.

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Speaker 1: I like the way he yells out the next body.

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Speaker 10: We're at the on the tipping point of and roll.

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So starting with the accordion may not have been the

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best option at that time. So three years later, nineteen

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fifty three, Ray Anthony's Orchestra recorded it as a double

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a side single with the Bunny Hop on the other

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side another song dance combo there. That one made it

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to number thirteen, and that would be the version that

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we know today. And I know I heard it at

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a bunch of bar misss and stuff growing up. They

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were still playing this recording, So I'll play you just

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a little bit of this What's happen?

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Speaker 4: Did not have a lot else to amuse themselves.

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Speaker 10: That is true. That's true. Plus, you know what, if

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you have a song that gives you the instructions as

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you're going along, everybody can participate. That's the whole idea.

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That's why I was used to entertain people and all that.

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So see if this recording sounds a little bit more familiar.

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Speaker 4: Bud you're right, you're run, Bud, you're right.

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Speaker 11: Jot, same idea.

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Speaker 10: They give you the instructions for what's coming up next,

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which someone like me I would need that because I'm

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not allowed to dance. I'm very bad at it. So Laprize,

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Larry Laprize, the brief sole owner of The Hokey poke

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died in nineteen ninety six, and comedian Craig Robinson, who

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we would know best from the Office, one of the

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guys from the Office, wrote an excellent joke about it

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about having a hard time getting Laprize into the casket.

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You could see where that was leading. Yeah, all right,

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I'm just gonna let that hang.

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Speaker 4: Those poor morticians.

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Speaker 10: They tried to put the left leg in. What happens?

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So there you go. All right, So let's see where

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the show takes us and how much edit we have

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to do at the end. I generally went from head

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to toe except for mine. Then we're going to go

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back to the top. So Neil, you're gonna lead us

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off this week?

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Speaker 8: All right? Well, heads up, everybody, heads up, It's time

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to get ahead. And I don't mean no calm down,

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calm down. This is the Hokey Pokey not the Hanky panky.

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Speaker 10: Or murder in the Hudson Valley.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, because my hockey pokey body part extremity is the head.

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So it's time to get ahead, and I could certainly

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use one. But that's beside the point. Let's talk about

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the song hold Your Head Up by the band Argent.

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So first of all, let's talk about the man who

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started the band and then named it after himself. English

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musician keyboardist Rodney Terrence Argent, but you can call him

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Rod was born in nineteen forty five and his career

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has spanned over fifty years. Rod Argent first rose to

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fame in the mid nineteen sixties as the co founder

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and leader of the rock band The Zombies. Along with

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lead vocalist Colin Blunstone. Rod Argent was one of the

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Zombie's main composers, and he also wrote many of the

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lyrics as well. Now The Zombie signed a record contract

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and recorded their first and only UK Top forty hit,

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She's Not There, in nineteen sixty four. They then released

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a number of popular singles, including Tell Her No, also

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written by rod Argent, in nineteen sixty five, but the

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sales never matched the initial success of she's not there.

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Speaker 10: So.

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Speaker 8: Frustrated by their continuing lack of success and a decline

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in the demand for their live concerts, the Zombies split

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up in nineteen sixty seven, but not before recording their

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final out album called Odyssey and Oracle, that was released

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in the UK in April nineteen sixty eight, several months

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after the band had broken up. Now, of course, the

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irony here is that one of the LP's tracks, Time

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of the Season, also written by Rod Argent, was released

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it as a single and eventually became a huge hit

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here in the US in nineteen sixty nine, and it

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is perhaps their best known song, and it peaked on

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the Billboard Hot one hundred at number three. Now let

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me take a little side note here, because this is

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kind of interesting here in the US. You got a

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top top forty number three single, but no band to

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go out and promote it. Well, what do you do?

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You get together, like four guys from Texas, dress them up,

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and they go out as the Zombies around the United

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States playing there songs. What's wrong with that? Nothing except

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that's not the Zombies And two of the members, drummer

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Frank Beard and bass player Dusty Hill, would go on

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to have a little more success on their own in

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a band called Zizy Top. Now, if you see a

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picture of this Arizette's Zombies, you see two guys wearing

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cowboy hats. That's the giveaway the Zombies. The English Zombies

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would never have been wearing cowboy hats. But hey, the

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gigs the gig, right Anyway. After the Zombies broke up,

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rod Argent went on to form the band Argent in

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nineteen sixty nine. This new band had a much heavier sound,

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but still had traits like using minor keys and using

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complex lyrics that had also been found in The Zombies

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as well, and this is probably due to the fact

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that wrote a lot of their material with former Zombie

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band mate Chris White, so there was some lineage there.

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Guitarist and vocalist Russ Ballard, who will talk about in

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a little bit. Bassist Jim Rodford and drummer Bob Henritt

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completed the lineup, and the vocals were shared between both

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Russ Ballard and Rod Argent. In their initial incarnation, which

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was from between nineteen sixty nine until nineteen seventy six,

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the band Argent had three UK Top forty singles, including

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the one we're about to hear right now, hold your

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head up.

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Speaker 10: And any its b.

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Speaker 3: A you that you contain name and the store and

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see you cry. You can lay your head up up

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before your oh joy, oh ya.

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Speaker 1: And anything stand.

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Speaker 3: Just like bad as all you artifaction don't change than

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you do. O your head, your head oh yoah cook

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com oh yo. Everybody said, just let.

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Speaker 8: Them so you.

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Speaker 3: Shut dot change that you do. Bung your hand off,

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bug your head.

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Speaker 8: And hold your head up. Spent twelve weeks on the

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charts in nineteen seventy two, reaching number five in the US,

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the UK and in Canada, all three of them number five. Now.

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Another Argent song, God Gave Rock and Roll to You

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was another hit that happened the next year, in nineteen

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seventy three. Now. That song was also later covered by

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Kiss in nineteen ninety one. That song was written by

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Russ Ballard, who I mentioned before, who really had a

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post Argent career mainly songwriting for other artists. That's where

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he really made his mark, he wrote. Speaking of Kiss,

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he wrote the song New York Groove that Ace Frehley

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had done in nineteen seventy eight, when all the members

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released solo albums. That was the only that was like

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the only hit out of all four albums. I think

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and you still hear it around today. He wrote, always

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wrote for so many people, I can't even go through

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00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,359
the whole list. The band America he wrote you can

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do Magic and I Think another song for them. So yeah,

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he really he was like a go to guy almost.

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If you needed a hit, you talk to Russ Ballard. Now,

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as far as rod Argent, he went on to write

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music for TV and he worked as a session musician

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and a producer, and as a result, he was inducted

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into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a

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member of the Zombies in twenty nineteen. Now, speaking of

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the Zombies, rod Argent and Colin Blunstone would reunite and

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perform as the Zombies over the years. Now I got

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a chance to actually see them play together as the Zombies.

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This is back in the mid two thousands, sometime down

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in New York City at Irving Plaza, and it was

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part of a tour that was put together by Little

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Stephen van zandt He of course of the underground garage Sopranos,

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East Street Band, you know that guy and the band,

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along with the Argent and blunt Stone, also included former

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Argent bassist Jim Rodford, who had also in the meantime

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spent a lot of time playing for The Kinks, I

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think from the late seventies to the when they split

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up in the early nineties. Now at the show, in

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addition to Zombies hits, they also included two Argent tunes,

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the one we heard hold Your Head Up and God

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Gave Rock and Roll to You. Maybe a contractual obligation,

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I don't know, but it was still pretty cool that

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to hear them play that along with the with the

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Zombies hits. The unusual part of this particular show was

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that the relatively younger and newer members of the band,

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who for some unknown reason insisted on like kind of

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adding a more modern style to the you know, the

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sixties the mid sixties hits of the Zombies and maybe

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the ones you know from Margin too. But by that,

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I mean the guitarist was like kind of using hammer ons,

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you know, that kind of you know, it's a technique

283
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Eddie van Halen type thing, you know, an eighties It

284
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was an eighties sound, and I don't know a lot

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of people in the audience. It didn't go over well

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with them. They were like I could see them all

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looking like shaking their head. No, no, not, there's anything

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wrong with playing like that. It just didn't fit what

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was going on. And for purists like myself included, you know,

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it was kind of you know, he could have done

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without that. But hey, I'm still glad I went. It

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00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:41,839
was still a lot of one. It was still good.

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Speaker 10: Now.

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Speaker 8: Rod Argent about a year ago then he was seventy

295
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nine years old, unfortunately suffered a stroke and he's now

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since retired from touring. He I think he just turned eighty,

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not too long ago. I think Colin Blunstone is still

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out there. Russ Ballad is still out there. Unfortunately, the

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bass player, Jim Rodford, he sadly passed away in twenty eighteen. Finally,

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there is a documentary film chronicling the career of the zombies.

301
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It's called Hung Up on a Dream and it just

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came out last month and it's in theaters here across

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the US, so and catch that. I'm keeping an eye

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out for it. But the thing again about you know,

305
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,200
if there were no zombies, there'd be no Argent. But

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the zombies were kind of a sleeper group. I mean,

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they really didn't have the impact of as a lot

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00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:51,200
of the British invasion until afterwards. I think people started

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discovering their songs, and like I said, the Time of

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00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,119
the Season was a huge hit. And you know, they'd

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already on their separate ways by that point, and enough

312
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so that they ended up in the Rock and Roll

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Hall of Fame. But so, yeah, you never know that's true.

314
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What's gonna happen. So anyway, keep holding your head up

315
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there and put your left foot in and your right

316
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foot out, and put your head wherever it fits.

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Speaker 10: And yeah, one stuck anywhere.

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Speaker 8: Uh huh.

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Speaker 10: Yeah. I can make a few suggestions for some people,

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but we're just gonna do that. I know where mine is,

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all right, Thanks Neil, excellent excellent lead off there. We're

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going to take a quick break and see see what's next.

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I don't know. Stick around, we'll find out. Hudson River Radio,

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Your dog likes us.

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Speaker 9: This concludes the first part of this cassette. Please turn

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the cassette over and begin again.

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Speaker 10: On side to.

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Speaker 1: This is Hudson River Radio dot Com.

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Speaker 3: A y.

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Speaker 8: Man.

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Speaker 10: Welcome back, Gail. What do you have for us?

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Speaker 12: Related I just realized not only does the title of

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the song I chose, which is called Catch These Fists,

334
00:23:25,759 --> 00:23:30,440
fits the topic, but the artist name fits the topic

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also because I chose the song by the band wet Leg.

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Wet Leg or an English indie rock band from the

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Isle of Wight w I g h T founded in

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twenty nineteen by Rihan Teesdale and she's on vocals and

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00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,720
guitar and Hester Chambers, who is on just guitar. Also

340
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in the band are Josh Mabaraki, Ellis Durand and Henry

341
00:24:02,519 --> 00:24:07,839
Holmes on the drums. Now the two co founders, Cheesdale

342
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,799
and Chambers, first met at Platform One College of Music

343
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on the Isle of Wight while studying. After ten years

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of being friends, they formed a band in twenty nineteen

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00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,960
under the name wet Leg and later signed with Domino

346
00:24:23,079 --> 00:24:26,920
Recording Company. Now, how did they come up with the

347
00:24:27,039 --> 00:24:31,599
band name? There are several different theories. In a December

348
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,720
twenty twenty one interview, they said that they chose the

349
00:24:34,839 --> 00:24:40,759
name by picking different emoji combinations okay, and in in

350
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:46,359
April twenty to twenty twenty two YouTube interview, they said

351
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,799
it came from an isle of White slang to describe

352
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,119
non locals on the island. Those who had crossed the

353
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over to the island were said to have had a

354
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wet leg from getting off the boat.

355
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,279
Speaker 9: Wait, it has nothing to do with a dog.

356
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 10: That's interesting. I thought that, or not wanting to give

357
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up your line.

358
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:13,440
Speaker 12: For tickets, oh, or being in Times Square in New

359
00:25:13,519 --> 00:25:14,960
Year's Eye.

360
00:25:16,559 --> 00:25:17,079
Speaker 7: Would do that.

361
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Speaker 9: That's cold wet leg.

362
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:22,319
Speaker 8: Off.

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00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 12: But I don't want to know DM I people. Former

364
00:25:28,279 --> 00:25:32,000
drummer Doug Richards, in a July twenty twenty three interview,

365
00:25:32,839 --> 00:25:36,440
alleged that the name stemmed from a list of stupid

366
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,240
band names that was added to anytime they would think

367
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,720
of a funny combination of words, which is something I

368
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,279
do in my head. I come up with funny band

369
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:52,119
names all the time. He also said that the original

370
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:57,079
stupid band name was wet Book, but was misheard as

371
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:57,920
wet leg.

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00:25:58,279 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 4: How do you mistake leg? Must be yeah, I guess

373
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,000
or something.

374
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:07,119
Speaker 2: Now.

375
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,640
Speaker 12: Their first album came out in twenty twenty one, and

376
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,680
the first time I heard the lead single from that,

377
00:26:14,599 --> 00:26:19,319
it really amused me because it's called Chez Long, and

378
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:24,079
I misunderstood what they were singing. They were singing actually

379
00:26:24,839 --> 00:26:29,319
on a Shaise Long. I thought they were singing I'm

380
00:26:29,839 --> 00:26:35,480
a Chez Long, so that to me sounds even better personally, but.

381
00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 4: That's just me because I'm twisted.

382
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:46,599
Speaker 12: And that came out on their first album, which was

383
00:26:46,799 --> 00:26:51,519
Eponymous and At That album debuted in twenty twenty two

384
00:26:51,559 --> 00:26:55,119
at number one on the UK Album's Chart and on

385
00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:00,400
Australia's Area Albums Chart. The album was shortlisted for the

386
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:05,240
twenty twenty two Mercury Prize. At the sixty fifth Annual

387
00:27:05,319 --> 00:27:10,039
Grammy Awards, wet Leg won Best Alternative Music Album for

388
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:15,079
their debut and Best Alternative Music Performance for Chez Long,

389
00:27:15,839 --> 00:27:19,640
and they were nominated for Best New Artist. They also

390
00:27:20,039 --> 00:27:23,160
won Best New Artist and Best British Group at the

391
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:31,519
twenty twenty three Awards. So the album that Catch These

392
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,759
Fists is from isn't even out yet. I happen to

393
00:27:35,839 --> 00:27:39,599
hear the song on the radio and looked it up

394
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:41,880
because I love their style.

395
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,359
Speaker 4: Their style of music is a lot of fun.

396
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:50,240
Speaker 12: Actually, they remind me a lot of Mercedes' daughter has

397
00:27:51,279 --> 00:27:54,480
a band, and they actually remind me of New Myths

398
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,920
by the Sands, So I think you'll kind of recogn

399
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:05,400
is a similar sound when you hear the song and

400
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,319
it's funny because when they were announcing that they were

401
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,240
going to come back with new music.

402
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,240
Speaker 4: This was in March of twenty twenty five.

403
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:20,599
Speaker 12: This year, they played a secret show under the name

404
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,359
Uma Thurman at the Green Door Store in Brighton in England,

405
00:28:26,279 --> 00:28:31,039
and they performed several of the unreleased songs. The band's

406
00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,079
new single, Catch These Fists, which we Will Hear in

407
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,279
a Moment, was released on the first of April twenty

408
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,680
twenty five, coinciding with the announcement of their second album

409
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:47,039
called Moisturizer and that will come out on the eleventh

410
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:52,680
of July. Alongside the release of Catch These Fists, they

411
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,039
announced a UK tour and a North America tour on

412
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:02,599
their Instagram. The song itself rebukes late night pickup artists.

413
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:06,720
How can you catch a medical medicine ball? Can you

414
00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:10,240
catch yourself when you fall? You should be careful? Do

415
00:29:10,319 --> 00:29:13,559
you catch my drift? Because what I really want to

416
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,680
know is can you catch these fists? I know too

417
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,559
well just what you're like. I don't want your love.

418
00:29:22,039 --> 00:29:23,519
I just want to fight.

419
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:30,519
Speaker 10: And I it seems like the opposite of the hokey pokey.

420
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,599
Speaker 4: Pretty well maybe yeah, but it seems like Doctor Seus's

421
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:40,319
the dark side. Anyway, Let's have a listen, and you guys,

422
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,359
let me know what you think.

423
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:54,559
Speaker 16: Can you catch yourself?

424
00:29:54,839 --> 00:29:55,319
Speaker 7: You fall?

425
00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:57,559
Speaker 1: You should be careful.

426
00:29:57,839 --> 00:30:00,440
Speaker 16: Do you catch my drift? Because what I you want

427
00:30:00,519 --> 00:30:02,640
to know is can you catch things?

428
00:30:02,799 --> 00:30:10,279
Speaker 10: Fist man.

429
00:30:14,519 --> 00:30:29,519
Speaker 3: Can blow up? Show up? I want.

430
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:47,519
Speaker 16: Really to the club. Stupid is stupid? Does lisy? I'm

431
00:30:47,519 --> 00:30:51,599
gonna get some means get up?

432
00:30:52,960 --> 00:31:04,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, ye ye ye kept nd yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah,

433
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:06,519
yeah up.

434
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,200
Speaker 16: He took it seek to do. I saw him sit

435
00:31:29,359 --> 00:31:32,000
in and I through the saw as happens like at night.

436
00:31:32,079 --> 00:31:34,839
Some guy comes up says almost time. I just threw

437
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,160
up in my mouth when I just tried to ask

438
00:31:37,279 --> 00:31:39,839
me how it approads me. I just wanted to tons

439
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:40,720
with my friends.

440
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:46,799
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

441
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:54,079
Speaker 17: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

442
00:31:54,799 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 8: Well I.

443
00:31:58,079 --> 00:32:40,279
Speaker 4: Well, okay, guys, what do you think I like it?

444
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:41,119
Speaker 2: It does?

445
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 9: It is reminiscent of New Myths, isn't it though?

446
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:44,359
Speaker 2: Yeah?

447
00:32:44,519 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 9: Yeah yeah yeah.

448
00:32:46,079 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 8: It sounds like the other song you know that the

449
00:32:50,519 --> 00:32:56,240
long not exactly the same, but the same. It kind

450
00:32:56,279 --> 00:33:04,200
of breaks down and and female kind of like it's

451
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,720
going on here. It's intriguing. I think they're very intriguing.

452
00:33:09,119 --> 00:33:11,960
Speaker 9: Are we saying Shay's lounge ses.

453
00:33:11,759 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 8: Long, isn't it It's spelled like lounge right, No, it's.

454
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 12: Yellow andy ses long mm hmm.

455
00:33:27,079 --> 00:33:28,039
Speaker 8: And that means.

456
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:30,960
Speaker 4: Literally a long chair.

457
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:32,759
Speaker 8: Okay, yeah, that's well like.

458
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,599
Speaker 4: It's that. It's that piece of piece of furniture that

459
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:38,759
Mercedes used to have.

460
00:33:40,079 --> 00:33:45,079
Speaker 11: You don't have it, no, and have it all right,

461
00:33:45,759 --> 00:33:46,359
it exists.

462
00:33:46,359 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 10: At least I took my Christmas card photo.

463
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,559
Speaker 9: It's being held for me. Not to worry.

464
00:33:55,039 --> 00:33:57,319
Speaker 1: It's like the best photo I ever took in my life.

465
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 12: So wet Leg have cited various bands and artists as influences.

466
00:34:05,799 --> 00:34:09,559
Speaker 4: You know, there's some there's one that I haven't heard

467
00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:13,159
of that somebody else in the group will probably have

468
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,480
heard of. Bombay Bicycle Club.

469
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,400
Speaker 9: I've heard of them. Okay, I don't know anything about them,

470
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:22,360
but I knew one of.

471
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,320
Speaker 4: You would have at least heard of them. PJ.

472
00:34:25,559 --> 00:34:28,360
Speaker 12: Harvey, I've heard her. The White Stripes I love them,

473
00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:30,920
the Strokes I love them, and the Kings of Leon

474
00:34:31,079 --> 00:34:34,400
I love them as well. So that's I guess one

475
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,719
of the reasons I like wet Leg.

476
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,760
Speaker 8: That's really intriguing as well as the song is that

477
00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:45,519
their influences are not that at least from my point

478
00:34:45,599 --> 00:34:48,679
of view, are not that long ago. They're like from

479
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,719
the two thousands. Obviously, the two thousands have been around

480
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:56,280
for twenty five years, right, you know, to say somebody

481
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,639
is your influence, you think, well, somebody you know from

482
00:34:59,679 --> 00:35:02,840
fifth years ago, or one of the pioneers of rock

483
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,800
from the nineteen fifties yea, or from the sixties. So

484
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,599
it just kind of blows my mind a little bit that, oh,

485
00:35:09,639 --> 00:35:15,159
we're influenced by the early two thousands. I'm like, I guess,

486
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:16,960
I guess it's possible, but.

487
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,599
Speaker 12: It makes you think we'll considering they started the band

488
00:35:19,639 --> 00:35:23,519
in twenty nineteen, they're young, Neil, Yes.

489
00:35:23,599 --> 00:35:26,519
Speaker 8: Yeah, well that's no. I think I'm old. See that's

490
00:35:27,679 --> 00:35:28,360
that's more than them.

491
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:30,840
Speaker 12: I wasn't going to say that, but your prenching of

492
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,199
the choir Neil literally no.

493
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 8: No, I not know this. I know. I'm laughing at

494
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,480
myself for like going oh wow, And I'm like, of

495
00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:43,199
course it's entirely possible. Yep. Why wouldn't it be so?

496
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,559
Speaker 4: Between the fists and the wet leg those are my

497
00:35:47,679 --> 00:35:48,320
body parts.

498
00:35:48,519 --> 00:35:50,639
Speaker 9: You have a lot of things to put in and out.

499
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,400
Speaker 4: Yeah, and shake all about.

500
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 10: Be careful. Well we're punching you while you're shaking it

501
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:57,880
all about.

502
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:02,760
Speaker 18: I think the wet leg is an after you put Oh, okay,

503
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:06,360
I guess there will be some editing of this.

504
00:36:06,519 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, thank you, Gail and Barbara. We're up to you.

505
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:17,159
Speaker 8: Okay.

506
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,840
Speaker 1: Well, if you ask me, the hokey pokey is his

507
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,079
practice for later on when you want to play twister.

508
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:27,280
So anyway, the song I chose for tonight's topic is

509
00:36:27,559 --> 00:36:31,400
Legs by zz Top that we mentioned before. They formed

510
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,760
in Houston in nineteen sixty nine, as we mentioned before,

511
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,760
by founding members Billy Gibbons on vocals and guitar, drummer

512
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,159
Frank Beard and bass his vocalist Dusty Hill. They formed

513
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:47,559
after Gibbons's previous band, Moving Sidewalks, disbanded that same year.

514
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,760
Gibbons came up with the name zz Top while observing

515
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:57,559
concert posters in his home, and two posters in particular

516
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,559
got his attention, one for BB King and one for

517
00:37:02,039 --> 00:37:05,480
ZZ Hill. He thought of combining the two names to

518
00:37:05,599 --> 00:37:08,599
zz King, but then he was looking at their placement

519
00:37:08,679 --> 00:37:11,719
on the wall and said, well, King is at the top.

520
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:15,559
So he came up with zz Top and there you

521
00:37:15,679 --> 00:37:18,719
go with that. So during the band's early years there

522
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,039
was a marked lack of interest from American record company,

523
00:37:22,159 --> 00:37:25,159
so they signed with London Records, which was a British

524
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:28,719
label that marketed records for Decca Records from nineteen forty

525
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,239
seven to nineteen eighty. They released their first album in

526
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:37,519
nineteen seventy one, entitled Wait for It. Zz Top's first album.

527
00:37:38,559 --> 00:37:44,880
Speaker 12: Nice so meta, very very straightforward, doesn't leave you guessing.

528
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:49,400
Speaker 1: So this was followed by albums tace Ombrace in nineteen

529
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,320
seventy three and fan Nango in nineteen seventy five, and

530
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:58,119
their singles lak Range and Tosh, also a potential hokey

531
00:37:58,159 --> 00:38:05,480
pokey buddy part, gained extensive airplay. Their nineteen seventy six

532
00:38:05,559 --> 00:38:08,840
to seventy seven North American tour was wildly successful and

533
00:38:09,039 --> 00:38:12,840
got the band even more extensive airplay, especially with the

534
00:38:13,119 --> 00:38:17,760
eventual influence of MTV. Their song Legs was released on

535
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,239
the nineteen eighty three album Eliminator. Gibbons was inspired to

536
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,400
write it after he saw a woman on the side

537
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,760
of the road while driving during a downpour and taking

538
00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:30,239
notice of her legs turn the car around to go

539
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,800
back and offer her a ride, but she had somehow vanished,

540
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:35,400
So no, she.

541
00:38:35,519 --> 00:38:37,000
Speaker 10: Ran away because she got creaked out.

542
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,639
Speaker 1: So let's listen to Legs, which we will do with

543
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:45,239
our ears. Maybe not such a popular hope pokey body car,

544
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,719
but great for appreciating rock and roll.

545
00:39:04,119 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 3: She got no, No, she never bed. She knows how to.

546
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:19,800
Speaker 5: Shell.

547
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,480
Speaker 3: They want.

548
00:39:26,679 --> 00:39:27,519
Speaker 19: You the.

549
00:39:30,679 --> 00:39:35,599
Speaker 3: You know the bad. She's not bad.

550
00:39:38,599 --> 00:39:50,599
Speaker 18: She got.

551
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:58,880
Speaker 3: To the bed. She kind of chance.

552
00:39:59,039 --> 00:40:06,199
Speaker 2: And what is it that?

553
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:24,800
Speaker 3: Doverybody want to said? She gave you? She's a she's

554
00:40:24,880 --> 00:41:22,320
a she got she not, she do.

555
00:41:25,599 --> 00:41:25,639
Speaker 17: Not.

556
00:41:29,639 --> 00:41:37,880
Speaker 3: She gotta die on the tidy up.

557
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 2: The wh.

558
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,800
Speaker 3: Shad come.

559
00:41:56,360 --> 00:43:03,480
Speaker 1: She The Legs was released as a single in nineteen

560
00:43:03,559 --> 00:43:07,360
eighty four, a year after the release of the Eliminator album,

561
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:10,159
and reach number eight on the Billboard holl one hundred.

562
00:43:10,679 --> 00:43:13,440
The band is known for Gibbons and Hill's long beards

563
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:17,360
and sunglasses, cowboy hats. The whole thing zz Tops sound

564
00:43:17,519 --> 00:43:20,920
was based on gibbons bluestyle and Beard's rhythm section, and

565
00:43:21,079 --> 00:43:24,840
also for their amusing lyrics, which I find ironic coming

566
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:26,960
from a band who called their first albums zz Tops

567
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:31,119
first album. But since they're way more successful than I'll

568
00:43:31,159 --> 00:43:33,920
ever be. Who am I to judge the.

569
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:37,639
Speaker 10: Spinny guitars, Yeah, there the whole story behind that.

570
00:43:38,039 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 8: Yeah, if I were to pick a band from the

571
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:45,079
seventies the least likely to translate into the eighties like

572
00:43:45,199 --> 00:43:48,559
on MTV, to the MTV generation, I would have said,

573
00:43:49,199 --> 00:43:53,440
zz Top will not be that band. Yeah, But lo

574
00:43:53,599 --> 00:43:59,119
and behold they did it perfectly, Yes, and it was perfect.

575
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,719
Speaker 10: They they did high quality videos. They didn't do the

576
00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,639
typical standing there lip syncing kind of stuff that most

577
00:44:05,679 --> 00:44:07,960
of them were doing. They they took like a film

578
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:09,719
ish kind of approach.

579
00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:13,840
Speaker 8: And yeah in the heyday of new wave, with you know,

580
00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:17,639
all the bright colors and you know, it was like

581
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,280
these older guys with long beards and big cowboy hats,

582
00:44:23,559 --> 00:44:25,840
but they made it. Yeah, with the fuzzy guitars spinning

583
00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:29,119
around and of course that car beat that the car

584
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:29,440
I was.

585
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,159
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was getting to that, but yeah, the car

586
00:44:33,599 --> 00:44:38,679
was probably. I think the Eliminator album actually could have

587
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,239
been known as a concept album, and all the videos

588
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,320
had the car in that for I think there were

589
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,480
like six videos in a row that had that. So sadly,

590
00:44:49,599 --> 00:44:51,679
Dusty Hill passed in twenty twenty one. There have been

591
00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:54,199
a few lineup changes over the years, and I had

592
00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:56,239
the pleasure of attending one of your concerts in twenty

593
00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:59,000
nineteen with some of my fellow Cranbones, and the band

594
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,480
really rocked and we had a great time. Does anybody

595
00:45:02,559 --> 00:45:03,400
want to add anything?

596
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:04,400
Speaker 6: I can't.

597
00:45:05,119 --> 00:45:07,519
Speaker 18: I can't think about them without thinking of the movie

598
00:45:07,639 --> 00:45:11,559
Tough Turf, which was in nineteen eighty five, James Spader

599
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:13,159
Kim Richards movie.

600
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:14,599
Speaker 1: I love James.

601
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,320
Speaker 4: Spater, me too. I like, look that up. I've never

602
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:17,719
seen that.

603
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,639
Speaker 9: Oh my god, it's so bad, it's so good.

604
00:45:20,559 --> 00:45:23,400
Speaker 1: Well, the funny thing is the backdrop during this concert, Yeah,

605
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:25,760
I show us about to say that. Yeah, they have

606
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,519
shown us like little snippets from these B horror movies

607
00:45:29,599 --> 00:45:34,079
and B science fiction movies, and we were hysterical because

608
00:45:34,079 --> 00:45:35,280
we recognized a lot of them.

609
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,599
Speaker 4: Yeah, and we both yelled out Jan and the pan

610
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,119
from the fraying of the wooden tie.

611
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,320
Speaker 1: Like I remember my Facebook post. I took a picture

612
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:45,880
and I just said, we're at the Seasies Hop concert

613
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:48,679
and they're showing us Jan in the pan for some reason.

614
00:45:51,039 --> 00:45:53,239
Speaker 18: Well, you might be disappointed them because this is a

615
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,880
nineteen eighty five, like High School movie where James Spader

616
00:45:57,079 --> 00:46:00,880
is the new kid in school and they it's really.

617
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,920
Speaker 9: You know, take it out on him. Should I say?

618
00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:08,880
Speaker 1: Cool? No, thank you for that, and I appreciate it.

619
00:46:09,559 --> 00:46:11,000
All right, that's all I got.

620
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:12,840
Speaker 4: Very cool good stuff.

621
00:46:13,039 --> 00:46:15,119
Speaker 10: Yeah, it is all right. We're gonna take a second,

622
00:46:15,159 --> 00:46:17,679
real quick break, and we're gonna be back with even more.

623
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:18,719
So stick around.

624
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,119
Speaker 5: Let'son River Radio dot com.

625
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:34,840
Speaker 10: Hudson River Radio dot com. Okay, Mercedes, I am so

626
00:46:35,039 --> 00:46:37,480
ready come up with it. I'm not allowed to call

627
00:46:37,519 --> 00:46:40,039
you Nana. I'm not allowed to call you grandma. Oh no,

628
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:43,079
congratulations again. But we haven't come up with a good

629
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:44,599
We need something.

630
00:46:45,079 --> 00:46:46,480
Speaker 9: Don't call me hokey pokey.

631
00:46:47,039 --> 00:46:47,400
Speaker 10: Okay.

632
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:51,480
Speaker 18: So in the hockey pokey, you put your right foot in,

633
00:46:51,639 --> 00:46:53,480
you put your right foot out, follow it by your

634
00:46:53,559 --> 00:46:54,039
left foot.

635
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:57,199
Speaker 9: But what if your feet are just too damn big.

636
00:46:59,039 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 18: I'm talking about a song made famous by Fats Waller

637
00:47:02,079 --> 00:47:05,840
in nineteen thirty nine, although Leon Redbone, the Ink Spots,

638
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,599
Chubby Chucker, and even the Beatles have recorded their own

639
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:12,559
versions of it. I saw eight misbehaving on Broadway with

640
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:16,639
by the Way, which Nell Carter wanted tony four in

641
00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:20,280
maybe nineteen seventy eight with my mom. We had a

642
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:23,400
tradition of buying each other at theater tickets. And when

643
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:26,840
I heard this song, I'm telling you, I about fell

644
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:27,679
out of my seat.

645
00:47:28,599 --> 00:47:33,039
Speaker 9: I left so hard. I mean, well, you'll see.

646
00:47:33,639 --> 00:47:34,320
Speaker 4: This song was.

647
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:37,719
Speaker 18: Composed in nineteen thirty six by Fred Fisher with lyrics

648
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:43,119
by Ada Benson, but Fats Waller definitely adds his own flair.

649
00:47:43,599 --> 00:47:46,159
Speaker 9: So let's just hear it, and I dare you not

650
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:46,840
to smile?

651
00:47:47,000 --> 00:48:15,480
Speaker 6: Who's not walking around here? Sounds like baby padder? Baby

652
00:48:15,559 --> 00:48:17,280
elephant padder, That's what I calls it.

653
00:48:23,679 --> 00:48:28,760
Speaker 17: Say up and hollow At a table for two, there

654
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:30,199
were four of us me.

655
00:48:30,559 --> 00:48:33,400
Speaker 2: You're big, feeting you from your.

656
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:37,880
Speaker 7: Ankle up, I'll say you show a sleep from that down.

657
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,719
Speaker 17: There's just too much feet. Yes, your feet's too big.

658
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:47,880
Don't want your cause your feets too big. You can't

659
00:48:48,079 --> 00:48:51,760
use your cause your feets too big. I really hit

660
00:48:51,880 --> 00:49:01,519
you cause your peach too big. N come around where

661
00:49:01,840 --> 00:49:05,519
you get them? Ain't hotam yo?

662
00:49:05,639 --> 00:49:05,800
Speaker 7: Girl?

663
00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:06,480
Speaker 10: She likes you.

664
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:08,360
Speaker 7: She thinks your nice.

665
00:49:09,599 --> 00:49:12,000
Speaker 2: God what takes to being paired?

666
00:49:13,039 --> 00:49:13,400
Speaker 10: She said?

667
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,280
Speaker 7: She likes your face, she likes your rig.

668
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,320
Speaker 17: Man, oh man, and things are too big. All your

669
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:26,519
feet stupid. You don't want you cause your feet stupid.

670
00:49:28,119 --> 00:49:30,719
Speaker 7: Mad at you because your feasts too big.

671
00:49:32,559 --> 00:49:34,239
Speaker 6: I hate you because your feet's too bad.

672
00:49:47,400 --> 00:50:10,719
Speaker 17: My goodness, gun the gunboats, ship, ship, shift. All your

673
00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:14,000
pedal extremities of colossal.

674
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:19,360
Speaker 2: To me, you look just by my fossile. You got

675
00:50:19,639 --> 00:50:26,679
me walking, talking, and swalking because your feet to me, yeah,

676
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:33,800
I'm on and walk that thing. Oh I never heard

677
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:34,679
of fox walking.

678
00:50:35,079 --> 00:50:48,159
Speaker 7: Mercy, your your pedal extrematy is really obnoxious. One never knows.

679
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:48,760
Speaker 9: I mean.

680
00:50:54,679 --> 00:50:54,719
Speaker 12: So.

681
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:58,079
Speaker 18: According to the Portland Center Stage website, not only was

682
00:50:58,159 --> 00:51:00,440
Fat swell Er one of the greatest pianists jazz has

683
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:03,280
ever known, he was also one of the most exuberantly

684
00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:07,360
funny entertainers, and, as so often happened, one facet tends

685
00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:11,199
to obscure the other. His extraordinary light and flexible touch

686
00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:15,000
belied his ample physical girth. He could swing as hard

687
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:18,760
as any pianist alive or dead. In his classic James P.

688
00:51:19,039 --> 00:51:22,800
Johnson derived stride manner and Brian, you're going to explain

689
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:32,400
that later with time stride okay, of no of playing

690
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:41,400
piano okay, or maybe you won't with a powerful left hand,

691
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:46,599
delivering the octaves and tents in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream.

692
00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:50,679
While Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ

693
00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:54,159
and Hammond organ and jazz, he called the pipe organ

694
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:58,280
the god box, adapting his irresistible sense of swing to

695
00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:02,480
the pedals and a staccato hand, while making imaginative changes

696
00:52:02,639 --> 00:52:06,400
of the registration. Fats Waller born in nineteen oh four,

697
00:52:06,599 --> 00:52:11,159
birth name Thomas Wright Waller was the seventh of eleven children,

698
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:16,199
five of which survived childhood. He was called Fats because

699
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:19,760
he became a very big man, about three hundred pounds.

700
00:52:21,039 --> 00:52:23,960
His mother was a musician organist at the family church.

701
00:52:24,159 --> 00:52:27,000
His father was a trucker and pastor in New York City.

702
00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:29,639
He started playing the piano when he was six, and

703
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:32,119
began playing the organ at his father's church at the

704
00:52:32,159 --> 00:52:32,760
age of ten.

705
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:34,679
Speaker 9: He was a child prodigy.

706
00:52:35,239 --> 00:52:38,280
Speaker 18: He left school at fifteen for work as an organist

707
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:42,079
at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem. He also studied composition

708
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:49,840
at Juilliard. Waller's first recording first recordings Brian were Muscle

709
00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:55,639
Shoals Blues Excellent and Birmingham Blues, were made in October

710
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:59,840
nineteen twenty two for Okay Records and that's ok e eight.

711
00:53:00,159 --> 00:53:02,800
Speaker 9: So I think I'm okay okay.

712
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:03,480
Speaker 2: Well.

713
00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:08,239
Speaker 18: Weller is believed to have composed many novelty tunes Barbara

714
00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:12,559
in the nineteen twenties and thirties and sold them for

715
00:53:12,719 --> 00:53:16,360
small amounts and attributed them to other composers and lyricists.

716
00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:17,480
Speaker 1: Okay, delca.

717
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:22,280
Speaker 18: So let's jump to al Capone, and yes there is

718
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:27,079
a connection. Just to hear me out well then Alcatroz.

719
00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:28,159
Speaker 9: Nope.

720
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,159
Speaker 18: Al Capone was born in New York City, joined the

721
00:53:31,239 --> 00:53:34,719
Five Points Gang and became a bounder in brothels. Later,

722
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:38,719
he moved to Chicago and became a bodyguard for Johnny Torio,

723
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:43,880
head of a criminal syndicate that illegally supplied alcohol during Prohibition.

724
00:53:44,599 --> 00:53:47,960
Torio went into retirement after being almost killed in an

725
00:53:48,199 --> 00:53:52,199
incident and handed the business over to Capone, who expanded

726
00:53:52,239 --> 00:53:55,400
the business. Capone, who was a fan of jazz, enlisted

727
00:53:55,559 --> 00:53:59,039
the help of black jazz musicians in his clubs. In

728
00:53:59,199 --> 00:54:02,199
around nineteen twenty five, Fat Swaller was making a name

729
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:07,039
for himself. Maurice Waller, Fat's son, tells this story. At

730
00:54:07,239 --> 00:54:10,000
twenty one, fat Swaller left New York for a series

731
00:54:10,039 --> 00:54:12,519
of gigs in the Sherman Hotel in the Windy City.

732
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:15,360
He was a huge hit, and his fame spread quickly.

733
00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:19,639
There After a performance one evening, Fats felt a gun

734
00:54:19,760 --> 00:54:22,719
in his side and a couple of thugs breathing down

735
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:25,760
his neck. They pushed him into a black limousine and

736
00:54:25,880 --> 00:54:29,880
told the driver to head to East Cicero. After they arrived,

737
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:32,880
they prodded him into an exclusive club and demanded that

738
00:54:32,960 --> 00:54:35,840
he play for the party when that was already in

739
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:39,920
full swing. Some accounts say Fat heard him laughing, others

740
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:43,480
say that he saw the infamous scarred face, but either way,

741
00:54:43,639 --> 00:54:47,920
the party was four al Capolm Capone's boys had decided

742
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:51,199
to surprise Al Capone with Fats Waller as a birthday present.

743
00:54:51,639 --> 00:54:53,840
Speaker 9: You know, as you do, I guess.

744
00:54:55,599 --> 00:54:59,920
Speaker 18: According to one account, excuse me that that claims to

745
00:55:00,079 --> 00:55:02,360
be from Fat's son, He was paid one hundred dollars

746
00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:06,719
a song and given limitless expensive champagne and food, and

747
00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:09,079
partied with Capone for three full days.

748
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:09,920
Speaker 14: Oh boy.

749
00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:11,400
Speaker 9: He slept at his.

750
00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:14,960
Speaker 18: Piano between sets. When he was set free and pushed

751
00:55:15,039 --> 00:55:18,320
back into the limo, Fats not only wet, excuse me

752
00:55:18,519 --> 00:55:22,760
went home with his life. He was several thousand dollars richer,

753
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:26,639
and like Compone, Fats was a preacher's son and never

754
00:55:26,719 --> 00:55:29,440
got into trouble with the law himself, although he did

755
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:33,360
like a good gallon of bootleg whiskey, and he once

756
00:55:33,559 --> 00:55:36,800
joked that he wrote the song ain't misbehaving in a

757
00:55:36,920 --> 00:55:39,519
jail cell because he forgot to pay some almony.

758
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:40,159
Speaker 4: Oops.

759
00:55:41,039 --> 00:55:44,360
Speaker 18: Here's a quote from Louis Armstrong. I've seen Fats Waller

760
00:55:44,559 --> 00:55:46,760
enter a place and all the people in the joint

761
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:50,760
would rave, and you could see the gladness in their faces, honest,

762
00:55:51,039 --> 00:55:53,800
and Fats wouldn't be in the place a hot minute

763
00:55:54,119 --> 00:55:56,559
before he would tell them a fine joke and have

764
00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:58,840
everybody holding his side from laughter.

765
00:55:59,559 --> 00:56:01,119
Speaker 9: Hah haha, he kills me.

766
00:56:02,840 --> 00:56:06,039
Speaker 18: Some other songs written by Waller include I'm gonna sit

767
00:56:06,199 --> 00:56:09,400
right down and write myself a letter, this joint is

768
00:56:09,519 --> 00:56:15,400
Jumpin' You're a Viper, that's the reefer song, and Honeysuckle Rose.

769
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,159
Waller's son described his father's life as one big party

770
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:23,440
that could only be interrupted by music. After many years

771
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:25,920
of too much eating and drinking, too many women, too

772
00:56:26,039 --> 00:56:29,199
much work, too much fun, and not enough rest. Willer

773
00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:34,400
contracted pneumonia during a stand in calif California nightclub, shortly

774
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:37,719
after finishing Stormy Weather. It was on the train back

775
00:56:37,760 --> 00:56:40,559
to New York that his condition worsened. The train was

776
00:56:40,639 --> 00:56:44,320
in Kansas City on December fifteenth, nineteen forty three, when

777
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:46,880
Fatz Waller died at the age of thirty nine.

778
00:56:47,679 --> 00:56:48,519
Speaker 4: Oh my God.

779
00:56:48,880 --> 00:56:53,480
Speaker 18: According to the Kennedy Center website, if an exuberant stage

780
00:56:53,559 --> 00:56:58,159
presence was Waller's trademark, musical innovation was his legacy. He

781
00:56:58,360 --> 00:57:01,559
raised the Harlem stride stock Does that mean, I think

782
00:57:01,599 --> 00:57:07,320
to you? He raised the Harlem stride style of piano playing,

783
00:57:07,719 --> 00:57:10,920
characterized by an oompap beat in the left hand and

784
00:57:11,079 --> 00:57:15,400
syncopation in the right to a fine art. Fusing elements

785
00:57:15,440 --> 00:57:21,079
of blues, classical music's music, boogie woogie, and rag time

786
00:57:21,239 --> 00:57:25,199
with stride, Waller fashioned a new sound that was uniquely

787
00:57:25,280 --> 00:57:28,360
his own. So when it comes to the hokey pokey,

788
00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:32,480
you can keep your big feet out because one another

789
00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:33,480
never knows.

790
00:57:33,679 --> 00:57:39,000
Speaker 10: Do what you're gonna trim Somebody next to you that's

791
00:57:39,039 --> 00:57:41,480
had a lot of life in a short amount of time.

792
00:57:42,119 --> 00:57:44,599
Speaker 18: Wow, if you've ever seen any of his YouTube videos.

793
00:57:44,639 --> 00:57:50,480
They are absolutely amazing. Sure, yeah, amazing.

794
00:57:51,639 --> 00:57:55,639
Speaker 9: So I love that song. It's hilarious.

795
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:01,079
Speaker 10: The word extremity in too many popular tunes.

796
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,800
Speaker 9: Your pedal extremities are colossal.

797
00:58:06,199 --> 00:58:10,599
Speaker 10: That's great, excellent. So we went from top to bottom.

798
00:58:10,719 --> 00:58:13,119
We're gonna go back to the top now with a

799
00:58:13,199 --> 00:58:16,159
song by Paul Anka called put Your Head on My Shoulder.

800
00:58:16,559 --> 00:58:19,920
Aw So Paul Anka. I don't know if we ever

801
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,800
talked about him. He was born in Ottawa July thirtieth,

802
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:26,400
nineteen forty one. He's almost eighty four years old. His

803
00:58:26,519 --> 00:58:30,079
father was Syrian, his mother was Lebanese. He wrote his

804
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:34,679
first number one hit when he was fourteen. How are

805
00:58:34,679 --> 00:58:36,679
you guys doing so far? I have not had a

806
00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:40,719
number one yet. I have passed fourteen a long time ago.

807
00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:44,039
It was a song called Diana, about a girl that

808
00:58:44,199 --> 00:58:47,079
he saw in church. That was in nineteen fifty six.

809
00:58:48,039 --> 00:58:51,519
He attended public school in Ottawa. The number of songs

810
00:58:51,599 --> 00:58:54,800
he wrote is just absolutely mind blowing. Way too much

811
00:58:54,840 --> 00:58:57,639
to cover now, but just a few examples. He wrote

812
00:58:57,719 --> 00:59:00,599
the theme to The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson back

813
00:59:00,639 --> 00:59:04,400
when Doc Severnson ran the band. Polanca wrote that he

814
00:59:04,679 --> 00:59:07,760
translated the English lyrics to My Way that Frank Sinatra

815
00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:12,880
made a giant hit. He wrote Lonely Boy, You're having

816
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:16,639
My Baby, which was expertly made fun of on WKRP

817
00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:20,000
in Cincinnati, and then emotionally used the way it was

818
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:22,599
supposed to be on the Big Bank theory. I'm gonna

819
00:59:22,599 --> 00:59:26,199
go with WKRP on that one. He's acted in a

820
00:59:26,239 --> 00:59:29,800
whole bunch of stuff. He was famously recorded having a

821
00:59:30,079 --> 00:59:33,880
meltdown in the nineteen eighties. I'll lah Casey casem if

822
00:59:33,920 --> 00:59:37,920
you remember that way back when. So if you want

823
00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:39,800
a little treat, go ahead and look that one up.

824
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:43,280
You're probably wondering did he make an appearance on The Simpsons,

825
00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:46,599
And yes he did. He was in the Treehouse of

826
00:59:46,679 --> 00:59:51,840
Heart season seven in nineteen eighty five, and he was

827
00:59:51,880 --> 00:59:54,880
writing commercial jingles that was part of the gag I

828
00:59:54,920 --> 00:59:57,239
won't blow It. Even though it's been out for many,

829
00:59:57,320 --> 01:00:01,679
many years. He now has his own podcast titled My Way.

830
01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:05,320
He is still performing at almost eighty four because I

831
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:08,119
guess the eighty four is like the new fifty five,

832
01:00:08,199 --> 01:00:10,800
which is the old seventy six, or I don't know

833
01:00:10,840 --> 01:00:14,280
where that works. I have no idea, but he's still

834
01:00:14,320 --> 01:00:14,920
going strong.

835
01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:15,960
Speaker 2: Yeah.

836
01:00:17,400 --> 01:00:20,480
Speaker 10: A quote from Paul regarding the song, he said, put

837
01:00:20,519 --> 01:00:24,000
your head on my shoulder. That was your objective that weekend,

838
01:00:24,119 --> 01:00:28,159
to get her to get excuse me, to get her

839
01:00:28,480 --> 01:00:31,599
to get the head on the shoulder, maybe get a

840
01:00:31,719 --> 01:00:34,440
kiss and get your hand in her blouse. All that

841
01:00:34,639 --> 01:00:38,079
I understood. So he was nice and sweet up until

842
01:00:38,480 --> 01:00:42,840
one particular part in that stage, at which point, yeah,

843
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:45,119
at which point his feet's too big and he tripped

844
01:00:45,119 --> 01:00:50,639
over himself. He wrote and recorded the song in nineteen

845
01:00:50,760 --> 01:00:54,840
fifty eight at age seventeen, when he was at peak

846
01:00:54,960 --> 01:00:58,920
teen idleness at the time, still going to public high school,

847
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:01,320
so still living kind of a normal life while being

848
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:04,679
this megastar. And how we put it at home at home? Yeah,

849
01:01:05,159 --> 01:01:08,320
somehow he pulled it off. The song was released in

850
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:11,239
August of nineteen fifty nine. It hit number two. It

851
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:13,760
was blocked from the number one spot by Bobby Darren's

852
01:01:13,800 --> 01:01:18,360
Mack the Knife, which we had talked about before. More recently,

853
01:01:18,599 --> 01:01:21,280
clips from the song became popular in a TikTok thing

854
01:01:21,559 --> 01:01:24,360
a couple of years ago, so that may be how

855
01:01:24,400 --> 01:01:28,679
some people recognize the song. And supposedly the inspiration came

856
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:31,800
from going to a school assembly. Like I said, public school,

857
01:01:32,239 --> 01:01:34,800
goes to a school assembly. Kids in front of him,

858
01:01:35,159 --> 01:01:37,519
A girl leans her head on the boy's shoulder next

859
01:01:37,559 --> 01:01:39,519
to her, and he comes up with a song that

860
01:01:39,679 --> 01:01:44,239
has now endured for what sixty five years something like that.

861
01:01:45,440 --> 01:01:47,599
I've seen lots of stuff. I haven't come up with squat.

862
01:01:48,159 --> 01:01:51,559
So this guy goes to an assembly and comes out

863
01:01:51,599 --> 01:01:54,840
with his mega hit. So I don't know else? Can

864
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:56,960
I say, let's check it out. Put your head on

865
01:01:57,000 --> 01:01:58,559
my shoulder, by Paul, Anka.

866
01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:18,320
Speaker 19: Put your head on my should, hold me in your arm, Bay, squeeze.

867
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:21,519
Speaker 17: Me also, Tie, show me.

868
01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:26,480
Speaker 10: That you love me too.

869
01:02:30,440 --> 01:02:33,039
Speaker 19: Put your lips next to my.

870
01:02:37,079 --> 01:02:39,039
Speaker 4: Won't you kiss me once?

871
01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:44,679
Speaker 3: Bay? Just a kiss?

872
01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:45,440
Speaker 13: Good night?

873
01:02:46,960 --> 01:02:52,639
Speaker 11: May you and I will fall in a.

874
01:02:59,119 --> 01:03:02,159
Speaker 4: People say the.

875
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:05,960
Speaker 10: Long again again?

876
01:03:06,920 --> 01:03:21,800
Speaker 5: You just can mes away. I'll find it someday. Rush,

877
01:03:26,039 --> 01:03:34,119
put your head on my should, whisper.

878
01:03:33,599 --> 01:03:34,639
Speaker 10: And my ear.

879
01:03:36,039 --> 01:03:41,000
Speaker 3: Day words I want to hear.

880
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:48,519
Speaker 2: Tell tell me that you love me too.

881
01:03:50,719 --> 01:03:55,480
Speaker 11: Dot Peter, put your head on my shout.

882
01:03:58,920 --> 01:03:59,800
Speaker 4: Whisper and.

883
01:04:05,480 --> 01:04:06,840
Speaker 2: What's I want to.

884
01:04:12,719 --> 01:04:16,800
Speaker 4: Joy shoulder.

885
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:30,280
Speaker 10: I think that still kind of holds up. I think

886
01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:32,679
you could perform that now and it would It will

887
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:33,039
go over.

888
01:04:33,119 --> 01:04:34,360
Speaker 4: Okay, it's pretty.

889
01:04:34,599 --> 01:04:39,920
Speaker 9: It is pretty, right, I'm just so jealous. We can

890
01:04:40,039 --> 01:04:41,159
tell brother, I know.

891
01:04:41,800 --> 01:04:44,440
Speaker 10: Oh, look at it. She put her head on his shoulder.

892
01:04:45,079 --> 01:04:48,360
Speaker 12: Right, it's pretty unless you're a serial killer and you're

893
01:04:48,440 --> 01:04:50,239
talking about like decapitation.

894
01:04:50,719 --> 01:04:52,159
Speaker 10: Yes, but that's.

895
01:04:52,079 --> 01:04:54,159
Speaker 1: Pretty as long as you know the person you're singing

896
01:04:54,239 --> 01:04:54,480
it too.

897
01:04:56,000 --> 01:04:58,880
Speaker 10: That's putting your head on someone else's shoulder, or someone

898
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:03,599
else's head on the third party shoulder. That's more of

899
01:05:03,639 --> 01:05:06,119
a Halloween thing for a while.

900
01:05:06,280 --> 01:05:07,360
Speaker 4: No, I'm just twisted.

901
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:09,440
Speaker 9: Put your head on my machete.

902
01:05:13,079 --> 01:05:13,519
Speaker 4: All right.

903
01:05:13,880 --> 01:05:18,360
Speaker 10: Well, I think we were successful. Yes, I think we

904
01:05:18,440 --> 01:05:22,159
had some good selections there, and and we maintain the

905
01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:24,639
family friendliness that we are so well known for.

906
01:05:25,599 --> 01:05:26,880
Speaker 8: That's what it's all about.

907
01:05:30,559 --> 01:05:33,480
Speaker 10: Couldn't have said it, all right, So let's pull the

908
01:05:33,519 --> 01:05:37,519
plug before we ruin it. Any final thoughts, crambones.

909
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:38,920
Speaker 9: Yeah, I have a question.

910
01:05:39,159 --> 01:05:41,920
Speaker 18: Okay, So if you if you listen to the or

911
01:05:42,039 --> 01:05:43,880
look at the words of the hokey Pokey, what is

912
01:05:44,079 --> 01:05:46,360
actually the hokey pokey?

913
01:05:46,920 --> 01:05:48,719
Speaker 9: So you do the hokey pokey.

914
01:05:50,199 --> 01:05:52,559
Speaker 1: You're poking your body parts.

915
01:05:52,519 --> 01:05:55,239
Speaker 9: In the but that you do all that true song?

916
01:05:55,639 --> 01:05:57,800
Speaker 10: You know what the lyrics are implying that the actual

917
01:05:57,840 --> 01:05:59,719
hokey pokey is another movement.

918
01:05:59,440 --> 01:06:00,519
Speaker 9: That you should be different thing.

919
01:06:01,599 --> 01:06:04,559
Speaker 10: Yeah, you're right, I didn't think of that. You stick

920
01:06:04,639 --> 01:06:06,599
something in and then you got a hokey pokey it.

921
01:06:07,159 --> 01:06:09,960
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, I know.

922
01:06:10,159 --> 01:06:11,719
Speaker 10: Oh my god, we're gonna have to come back and

923
01:06:11,760 --> 01:06:12,400
do a part too.

924
01:06:13,000 --> 01:06:14,360
Speaker 4: I think we're overthinking this.

925
01:06:14,960 --> 01:06:21,480
Speaker 10: I need a shower, that's one, all right, something to contemplate.

926
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:24,280
We're actually taking two weeks off, believe it or not,

927
01:06:24,559 --> 01:06:26,480
something we don't do very often. So that's going to

928
01:06:26,519 --> 01:06:28,199
give us two weeks to come up with an answer

929
01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:32,559
to this, which is now Mercedes problem. So I we

930
01:06:32,599 --> 01:06:35,039
can't look we look forward to hearing your answer.

931
01:06:35,480 --> 01:06:37,679
Speaker 9: I'll be out interviewing people on the street.

932
01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:43,440
Speaker 10: Yeah, I good luck. What else can I say?

933
01:06:45,239 --> 01:06:45,599
Speaker 4: All right?

934
01:06:45,800 --> 01:06:48,039
Speaker 10: With that, I think we really should actually pull the

935
01:06:48,119 --> 01:06:51,199
plug and get out of here and do your own

936
01:06:51,239 --> 01:06:53,039
little dance, and what else can I say?

937
01:06:53,559 --> 01:06:53,920
Speaker 7: All right?

938
01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:55,760
Speaker 10: Thank you crand Bones, Thank you all for joining us

939
01:06:55,760 --> 01:06:57,880
here for the Rock and Roll History Show. Enjoy your

940
01:06:57,920 --> 01:07:00,360
fourth of July weekend. Please be sayd please don't blow

941
01:07:00,440 --> 01:07:02,920
off any body parts that can be stuck in and

942
01:07:03,039 --> 01:07:04,239
stuck out and shaken.

943
01:07:04,039 --> 01:07:04,320
Speaker 8: All of that.

944
01:07:05,960 --> 01:07:07,719
Speaker 10: But if you do, shoot us an email, because we'd

945
01:07:07,719 --> 01:07:09,559
love to hear the story. That's why not.

946
01:07:10,239 --> 01:07:11,960
Speaker 9: You just went over the line, bro, I think I

947
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just went.

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Speaker 8: All right.

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Speaker 10: Goodnight, Crambones, good night. Everybody. Will see you in a

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couple of weeks we'll be back with another brand new episode.

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Until then, peace out, everyone, a.

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Speaker 17: Rock, cop Bottom and cram.

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Speaker 13: Okay, Bye bye.

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Speaker 10: Hudson River Radio dot Com a subsidiary of Glacier Entertainment LLC,

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potentially successful multi hundred dollars corporation