Oh, I Wish ...
Posted at 5:15 AM on July 8, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(27 Comments)
Today's major Radio Heartland event is our re-broadcast of Dan Chouinard's "Saturday Night at the Stage Door Piano Bar".
Join Dan and his guests, Jody Briskey, Yolande Bruce, Maria Jette, Katherine Lanpher, John Munson, Prudence Johnson, Vern Sutton and Jordan Sramek for a festival of novelty songs, bawdy ballads and treasures from the Great American Songbook.
Thanks to Tom Campbell of the Fitzgerald Theater for assembling the lovely photo montage, which can serve as your window on the proceedings as you listen at 1pm today.
I'm sad to say a lower profile but deeply felt celebrity death has just been added to this summer's unfortunate string.
Oscar G. Mayer has passed away at the age of 95. He was the third Oscar Mayer in the company's lineage. Is there a fourth? News reports didn't say. But the name Oscar Mayer is embedded in the musical memory of several generations through the infectious subterfuge of one of media history's great advertising jingles.
Feel free to sing along:
You can add this new verse as a farewell, or feel free make up your own:
Is there any jingle that is more of an earworm than this one?
If so, name it!
Comments (27)
fascinating topic, Dale - will be interesting reading today! i think OM did the balogna song also, right? i still listen to it in my head in order to spell "bologna" correctly.
the song that's been infecting me lately is "Yummy, yummy, yummy I've Got Love In My Tummy" from the 70s, i believe. uffda.
and the one that i quickly turn off is the "Hair" song "long, flaxen, .... - oily greasy..." so that it doesn't creep in. oh no! even thinking about it and i have a chiclete de ouvido!
The Meow Mix jingle? That was pretty infectious.
Good morning, all!
There's: Bril Cream, a little dab will do ya, Bril Cream, you'll look so debonair, simply put a little in your hair.
Also the snap,crakle, and pop song for Rice Crispies
There are so many of these, but it is too early in the morning to think of them.
Rice A Roni - the San Francisco treat!
Upon careflu consideration, there is no more insidious jingle. Everyone else--Meow Mix, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," "The Pepsi Generation," "The Heartbeat of America," "When You Say Budweiser,"--are just competing for runner up.
A few years ago I saw the Weinermobile make an appearance at an event. The car and driver were mobbed by adoring fans, and I thought that being the driver would be just an awesome job. You drive all over and make people happy. (But could you stop at a drive-through for a hamburger?)
I was told once that the cure for an earworm is to sing (preferably silently" to yourself "It's a Small Small World." It works every time, but the cure is almost always worse than the disease.
Don in west st. paul...I heard once the perfect cure for an earworm is the theme song from the Andy Griffith show...I've been trying that one...always with the fear that it will become the earworm.
Dale & Mike, thank you for 'Here's to you Rounders" I thought of it when we were thinking of Father's Day songs...not a good father...but a good song.
Good Morning RH,
I get earworms all the time, but didn't know until now that I'm also neurotic and probably chew pencils and tap my fingers, thanks to the link! ( I do admit to chewing my fingers and tapping pencils, but that's different, right?)
There's a song I wish I could get in my head again that Jasper played back in April. It was bluegrassy and very fast tempoed, and WHY didn't I write it down at the time? Hoping I'll hear a repeat of it someday, before I'm gone, but God hasn't answered my prayers yet. Maybe if I quit cussing on the blog.....
A song I haven't heard for awhile that I'd love to, is Beatles', Here, There, & Everywhere. Dale, could you might fit it in?
mr bubble comes to mind it. got me everytime but oscar mayer was my favorite and thanks for the bologna memory.
thanks dale. do you think they will be doing a celebrity nationally televised ceremony for oscar with everyone who had hot dogs as part of their lives coming forward to convey their testamonials?
I agree that the OM is the worst earmworm, but at the other end of the scale there's "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, chesse, pickles, onions on a sesame bun"
I use "two hours of pushing broom buys a two bit room" to clear an earworm pretty effectively. I think pondering the proper size and recalling other lyrics does it!
Jingles from my youth:
Munch, munch, munch a bunch of Fritos, corn chips. It's not polite to smack your lips, but you can't help it with Fritos corn chips. Munch, munch....repeat
From the land of sky blue waters... (that's all I know of that one, but it was a Hamm's beer ad)
2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Thanks for playing the Beatles!
My theory is that if you have one of these for 2 or 3 DAYS, it's your subconscious trying to tell you something. The lyrics from the Patty Duke Show theme song
"Our Patty loves to rock and roll,
A hot dog makes her lose control"
came to me in the middle of a diet once...
Hey, I even stayed with the HOT DOG theme!
But sometimes they don't have words. Dale, could you ask Jasper to not play "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott not quite so often? Seems like once a month would be plenty...
I missed the part about ear worms when I read the blog the first time. I didn't know about the cures for ear worms and I usually don't have a big problem with them, but I do remember a bad infection of It's a Small World.
Mr Mayer seems to be as they say at the State Fair "Dun in his bun." Do you think the funeral will include a weiner whistle band and a 21 bun salute? 95 isn't a bad run for a man who must have consumed a lot of the food police's ost forbidden foods-hot dogs and bologna.
Our cure for earworms...the chorus from Rootin' Tootin Cowboy JOe sung loudly.
I don't think I've ever heard, "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott . Could you play it on soon?
Donna, some more of it: :)
...from the land of pines, lofty balsams,
Hamms the beer refreshing...
you all are so clever! thanks
was the "Bosco" ad? i love bosco - bosco is for me. mama puts it in my milk for...murph, murph, murph. remember Bosco?
and "Double your pleasure, double your fun?"
fun topic, Dale
i just remembered that we would sing "mama puts it in my milk... TO TRY TO POISON ME!"
No jungle comments, just a memory. I lived in Madison, WI until I was about 15 and we had a (the?) Oscar Meyer plant there, not too far from where we lived. My folks loved to take us for a driver before bed on occasion to calm us down-- or just put us to sleep-- and we would often drive by the fountain in by the O.M. plant. It wasn't too elaborate, but it had lights that changed colors and it impressed us greatly as youngsters in the late '60's. And we were convinced that it was the Oscar Meyer wiener washer! I don't know if my big brother or I thought it up or if it was an invention of my folks, but to this day when we talk about landmarks in Madison (I know those better than street names), if we say it's near the "wiener washer", I know where it is!
OOPS! It's MAyer, not Meyer! Sorry! "My bologna has a first name, it's O-s-c-a-r my bologna has a second name it's M-a-y-e-r...."
Ooh, I'm so glad I read Amy's story before we head out today for a trip that includes MADISON! :)
Donna -- made me laugh out loud... (I hope I have the right title on that song, tried to put it together later onfrom the playlist.)
I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the "Sin and Salvation" exhibit, and the artist spent a lot of time in the Middle East and had paintings and textiles from Israel. While I was walking through, an African-American spiritual from this station got stuck in my head, "Run come see Jerusalem." Yes, it's not a jingle, but it's worth sharing. Beautiful show, by the way!
I don't remember if these had tunes or lyrics, but I do remember many Kool-Aid and Nestle's Quick commercials and the animated characters.
A local radio commercial is in my memory forever, both the tune and lyrics:
Frank O'Brien, the Goodyear man, the tire man from Ireland. Nobody treats you better than... the tire man from Ireland!
If you don't recall a certain jingle does it mean you're not as old as some here, or does it mean you're older than most and just in the grasp of dementia? Hmm...
"Kool-Aid's here, wearing a smile, come on kids, smile for awhile..."' can't come up with the rest.
Cool, Dale, thanks for "Keep it Clean" -- it's the same song, little different lyrics, as that R. Crumb one Get a Load of This, except R. Crumb talks about Twinkies. :)
how about the politically incorrect
"Aye-yi-yi-yi, i am the frito bandito!
i love fritos corn chips, i love them, i do--
i want fritos corn chips
i'll get them from you..."
I had no idea that there was a 'spooky' theme this morning. Didn't get plugged in until after 8. Dale, next time, add to the list my favorite really creepy tune, "The Griesly Bride" by Cindy Mangsen.
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