Tonight I had the pleasure of listening to Back Porch Music, the NPR program that plays on 91.5 WUNC on Saturday nights, on my drive to Durham (I drove to Durham this evening). And there were so many throwbacks.
It all started with the Chicken Man
When my brother and I were younger, our parents dragged us to bluegrass concerts all the time. (Can't say that I really enjoyed said concerts when I was six except for being able to dance in the front by the performers.) My parents have a CD from The Band, a soft rock/bluegrass band, that Fouad and I used to listen to all the time. One of our favorite songs on the CD was "Atlantic City." As five and six year olds, Fouad and I thought the Chicken Man was hilarious! I remember laughing at the idea of a Chicken Man, as in a man in a chicken suit.
"Atlantic City" was originally written and performed by, as the internet has recently informed me, Bruce Springsteen. Here are the lyrics we thought were so funny when we were five and six years old:
Well they blew up the chicken man
In Philly last night
Now they blew up his house too
So, in the car tonight, I was blown away when I heard the words "chicken man" on Back Porch Music. I recognized the tune immediately and sang along with the chorus, which I still remembered:
Everything dies, baby that's a fact
Maybe everything that dies someday it comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair real pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Here's a link to the original song if you'd like to hear it: https://youtu.be/9p4VuHTLjg0
Personally, I like The Band's cover of it better, on the Jericho 1993 album: https://youtu.be/I0eZwpHtcK4
Unidentifiable throwback
On the program tonight, Back Porch Music played a song from Chatham County Line (NC local band!) that I think I've heard before, although I can't say from where.
Just looked it up: it's the song "You Are My Light" from their latest album, Autumn. That's probably why I've heard it. Worth a listen.
Throwback to Spencer Hall, Fall 2015
Last fall, when I lived in a residence hall on campus, my RA Emmy had a hall de-stress event were we got together and made collages. My friends and I stuck various bits of postcards, magazines, and calendars onto colored construction paper. One of the very amusing postcards that I happened to glue onto my pink construction paper was from this group called the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Haha. Nut. Zippers. Squirrel. I'm so mature.
Well, I kept this collage on my door all year and one day my good friend Tirthna bursts into my room with a CD. The album is called Perennial Favorites, by none other than the Squirrel Nut Zippers! It turns out that the Squirrel Nut Zippers is also a local swing band that has been around since the 1980s (although Wikipedia says they formed in 1993). Their songs are super catchy. I listen to the CD on repeat in the car when I don't have NPR on.
Listen to "Hell" here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/squirrel-nut-zippers/10096/hell.jhtml
Listen to "Ghost of Stephen Foster" here: https://youtu.be/KJzWGkgFcTU
Tonight, the radio announcer casually mentioned that the Squirrel Nut Zippers are going to be in concert this Friday at the Carolina Theater in Durham, and I was like "Wow! I know them! We should go!" And by "we" I at first I had someone in mind but then realized that they probably wouldn't want to go.
Anyway, bluegrass tonight brought me back to last year and to way way back; thanks to Back Porch Music for making my drive to Durham a blast from the past.
It all started with the Chicken Man
When my brother and I were younger, our parents dragged us to bluegrass concerts all the time. (Can't say that I really enjoyed said concerts when I was six except for being able to dance in the front by the performers.) My parents have a CD from The Band, a soft rock/bluegrass band, that Fouad and I used to listen to all the time. One of our favorite songs on the CD was "Atlantic City." As five and six year olds, Fouad and I thought the Chicken Man was hilarious! I remember laughing at the idea of a Chicken Man, as in a man in a chicken suit.
"Atlantic City" was originally written and performed by, as the internet has recently informed me, Bruce Springsteen. Here are the lyrics we thought were so funny when we were five and six years old:
Well they blew up the chicken man
In Philly last night
Now they blew up his house too
So, in the car tonight, I was blown away when I heard the words "chicken man" on Back Porch Music. I recognized the tune immediately and sang along with the chorus, which I still remembered:
Everything dies, baby that's a fact
Maybe everything that dies someday it comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair real pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Here's a link to the original song if you'd like to hear it: https://youtu.be/9p4VuHTLjg0
Personally, I like The Band's cover of it better, on the Jericho 1993 album: https://youtu.be/I0eZwpHtcK4
Unidentifiable throwback
On the program tonight, Back Porch Music played a song from Chatham County Line (NC local band!) that I think I've heard before, although I can't say from where.
Just looked it up: it's the song "You Are My Light" from their latest album, Autumn. That's probably why I've heard it. Worth a listen.
Throwback to Spencer Hall, Fall 2015
Last fall, when I lived in a residence hall on campus, my RA Emmy had a hall de-stress event were we got together and made collages. My friends and I stuck various bits of postcards, magazines, and calendars onto colored construction paper. One of the very amusing postcards that I happened to glue onto my pink construction paper was from this group called the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Haha. Nut. Zippers. Squirrel. I'm so mature.
Well, I kept this collage on my door all year and one day my good friend Tirthna bursts into my room with a CD. The album is called Perennial Favorites, by none other than the Squirrel Nut Zippers! It turns out that the Squirrel Nut Zippers is also a local swing band that has been around since the 1980s (although Wikipedia says they formed in 1993). Their songs are super catchy. I listen to the CD on repeat in the car when I don't have NPR on.
Listen to "Hell" here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/squirrel-nut-zippers/10096/hell.jhtml
Listen to "Ghost of Stephen Foster" here: https://youtu.be/KJzWGkgFcTU
Tonight, the radio announcer casually mentioned that the Squirrel Nut Zippers are going to be in concert this Friday at the Carolina Theater in Durham, and I was like "Wow! I know them! We should go!" And by "we" I at first I had someone in mind but then realized that they probably wouldn't want to go.
Anyway, bluegrass tonight brought me back to last year and to way way back; thanks to Back Porch Music for making my drive to Durham a blast from the past.
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