It’s not the latest, it’s certainly not the greatest, but there may be mashed potatoes.
Not everything is guaranteed on Music Monday, except for music!
And maybe mashed potatoes!
I noticed this was the second time in the last few months that I featured a Troop Beverly Hills scene as the featured image for a Music Monday article.
Fancy that.
This week goes back to the 1960s (for the second time in a month) to listen to a song that talks about a dance named after a food (one of several naming that same food/dance), and even inspiring a lyric in another song released the same year. The year is 1962, the food is mashed potatoes, the dance is called the mashed potato, and the singer is Philadelphia native Dee Dee Sharp.
“Mashed Potato Time” is a 1962 single released on Dee Dee Sharp’s debut album It’s Mashed Potato Time. The dance move, first introduced by James Brown in 1959, was a popular dance during the early 1960s, peaking in popularity in 1962. It vaguely resembles “The Twist” (a movie popularized by Chubby Checker for a song of the same name).
Sixteen-year-old Dee Dee Sharp (born Dione LaRue) started her career as a backing vocalist in 1961, before eventually releasing her first album in 1962. She had a string of successful Billboard Hot 100 hits in 1962, released several albums between 1962 and 1963, but didn’t release another album until 1975.
“Mashed Potato Time” reached #1 on the US R&B chart, #2 on the Pop chart, and was #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1962, and also became a gold record.
Sharp redid the song for Campbell Soup Company for a $30 million ad campaign, and the original version has seen play in the 1989 comedy Troop Beverly Hills (where I first heard it in the late 1990s while watching the movie on The Disney Channel)…
…and the original Just Dance game. Dancers play the part of the apron-wearing housewife, who, at the end, does away with her apron. It is one of the easier dances, but it is really cute.
So come on and feel it in your feet now, and click play!
Here’s that scene from Troop Beverly Hills featuring the song…
And the Just Dance version!
Throwing the apron and refusing to peel any more imaginary potatoes = the true start of female empowerment.
Pretty sure this song has nothing to do with that.
Anyway, there you have it for Music Monday. I didn’t choose this song because people will be peeling potatoes for Thanksgiving to make their mashed potatoes, but I felt like a fun song was a nice touch.
Oh, and remember last week I talked about seeing The Doobie Brothers in concert? Well, I got tickets for April 13, 2019 to see Chicago live (for the second time!) at the same venue (The Borgata Spa Casino and Hotel’s Event Center). But before that, in fact, this coming Friday, I’ll be seeing another concert/my early Christmas present. I’ll keep that as a surprise until then.
You’ll find out about that one next Music Monday!
Until then, have a great Monday, and enjoy the music!
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