Food

(ewww, we're gonna have fun....OOOO Yes!)
It's night time in the Big City
A woman steps carefully over a broken wine bottle
the television is still on
(it's a cozy table isn't it
I like it too, yes I do like it
mmmmmm....delicious. “Welcome once again to Theme Time Radio Hour, and I hope you brought an appetite. Because tonight we're gonna peruse the musical menu. We got a bill of fare that is truly appetizing. So I hope you're eager to dig in.”

The Singers and Songs

  • Jim Backus and Friends
    Delicious
  • Cab Calloway
    Everybody Eats When They Come To My House
    “A man who can be seen in animated form in a number of Betty Boop Cartoons... During a concert, a band member shot spitballs at Cab's back when he faced the audience. Cab accused Dizzy of being the culprit and upon Dizzy's vehement denial, the two began to fight. Dizzy grabbed a knife and actually cut Cab. Although the two made up after Jonah Jones and Milt Hinton came forward as the perpetrators, Dizzy was fired."
  • Rolling Stones
    Rice Krispies (Wake Up In The Morning)
  • Wendy Rene
    Bar-B-Q
  • Lincoln Chase
    Hot Biscuits and Sweet Marie
    “Tryin' to decide between biscuits and lovin' – wow, that's a hard choice!”
  • Charles Mingus
    Eat That Chicken
    “He led groups noted for their collective improvisations, loose rhythms, and high energy. He was a serious musician with a strong sense of humor.”
  • Johnny Hicks and his Troubadours
    Hamburger Hop
    “A man who sounds like he's got a smile in his voice”
  • The Melodians
    Swing and Dine
    “Down in Jamaica they cook a dish called jerk chicken. It's sweet, it's peppery and it's delicious. I wonder if that's the meal that the Melodians were singing about in this song?”
  • Thurston Harris
    Purple Stew
    “You heard of the Purple Rain and you've heard of the Purple Haze. But have you heard about the purple stew? As the old saying goes, some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. Here's a song about a guy who finds himself about to be served up as the main course.”
  • Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds
    Shortnin' Bread
    “Far as I know, they only made one record – what else did they need to make? America first fell in love with the song Shortnin' Bread when Lawrence Tibbett, who was the principal with the Metropolitan Opera, made a recording of it. Nelson Eddy sang it in the movie Maytime in 1937. But I bet neither of those versions rock as successfully as Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds.”
  • Slim Gaillard
    Matzoh Balls
    “America is certainly the great melting pot. Where else could someone like Slim Gaillard sing a tribute to matzoh balls and gefilte fish? It's the kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American. Sing it, Slim.”
  • Jim Jackson
    I Heard The Voice of a Pork Chop
    “A songster from the medicine shows of Memphis…Jim Jackson's popularity was surprisingly phenomenal. He waxed 50 titles in less than three years.”
  • Dizzy Gillespie
    Hey Pete, Let's Eat More Meat
    “The Beat Poets were all big fans of Bebop, and here's the king of Bebop, the spitball king, playing some of his Chinese music, Dizzy Gillespie, on the Atkins Diet…Crazy daddy-o!”
  • Louis Jordan and his Tympany 5
    Hungry Man
    “The consummate entertainer, not just singing but also playing that wild alto saxophone, and he's got quite an appetite.”
  • The Blue Dots
    Saturday Night Fish Fry
    “Sounds like a wild affair.”
  • Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Ace
    The Hamburger Song
    “A song that sorta sounds like a nursery rhyme.”
  • The Detroit Cobras
    Hot Dog
  • Four Clefs
    I Like Pie, I Like Cake

The Other People and Players

  • Takeru Kobayashi
  • Bobby Troup
  • Julie London
  • King Vidor
  • The Lamplighters
  • Pierre Mancini
  • Burt Reynolds
  • Wimpy
  • Captain James Cook
  • John Montague, the 4th Earle of Sandwich
  • Nelson Eddy
  • Lawrence Tibbett
  • Shirley Ellis
  • LaVerne Baker
  • Milt Hinton
  • Jonah Jones
  • Dizzy Gillespie
    “…was in Cab Calloway's Band. Cab didn't like the early Bebop that Dizzy was developing. He used to call it Chinese music. Dizzy got fired by Cab after an incident in 1941. Cab was singing on stage so of course he had his back to the rest of the band. He was hit by spitballs; he accused Dizzy of being the culprit. Dizzy denied it and the two began to fight. Dizzy grabbed a knife and actually cut Cab. Even after Jonah Jones and Milt Hinton admitted that they were the villains, Dizzy was still fired. He later went on to become one of the founders of Bebop.”
  • Rufus Thomas

The Other Songs and Albums

The Books and Poems

The Movies and TV Shows

The Places

Record Labels

Commercials and Public Service Announcements

  • Alka Seltzer Commercial

Food Featured in Jingles

  • Hard Salami
  • Chicken Parts – Every one of ‘em's good!
  • Stew Meat
  • Pork Chop
  • Chuck Roast
  • Hot Dogs
  • Dill Pickles

Popular Sandwiches

  • Earl of Sandwich
  • Grilled Cheese
  • Cubano
    “That's a Cuban sandwich said with an accent”
  • The French Dip
  • Ham and Cheese
  • Peanut Butter and Jelly
  • Muffuletta
  • Philly Cheese Steak
  • Grinder
  • Hoagie
  • Dagwood
  • Reuben
  • Hamburger

Food Quotes

  • unknown
    The bravest man in the world was the first man who swallowed an oyster.
  • Moliere
    One must eat to live, not live to eat.
  • Orson Wells
    My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless there are three other people there.
  • George Bernard Shaw
    There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
  • Cervantes
    Hunger is the best sauce in the world.

“I'll see ya next week on Theme Time Radio Hour, the home of dreams, schemes and themes, and a hot steaming meal – you don't mind picking up the check do you?”