Is pop music just fast food? (with Gastropod)

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2024

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Where were you when you learned that the McDonald's jingle "I'm lovin' it" was originally part of a full-fledged pop song by Justin Timberlake and Pharrell that flopped on the charts but found staying power as a slogan? For us, it was recording our live episode about sponsored content in pop back in March 2024, and we have not been the same since. Shaken by this revelation, we found ourselves asking, "What else don't we know about fast food jingles?" Turns out, it's a lot. From Taco Bell to Popeye's to Chili's, the music of fast food represent some of the most familiar melodies in society, across state lines and generations. But the stories behind those songs, and the way that fast food production and pop music production often move in parallel, was something we never saw coming once. Since we are music experts but amateur foodies, we invited the brilliant hosts of Eater's Gastropod podcast, Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, to help serve up the history of fast food and its changing role in culture. Tune in and pig out with us as we listen and debate the artistic and ethical implications of the sounds of fast food. More Check out more episodes of Gastropod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Shout to Asta Pro for sponsoring this episode and providing us with free samples.
0:06.0	It's no secret that allergies suck.
0:08.0	I've struggled with them and if you do too, you might be able to find some relief with Astopro. Astopro delivers full
0:14.5	prescription strength indoor and outdoor allergy relief from nasal congestion,
0:19.3	runny and itchy nose and sneezing and it starts working in just 30 minutes.
0:23.4	Get fast acting nasal allergy symptom relief with Astopro.
0:27.6	Go to Astopro allergy.com for a discount that's
0:30.8	a stepro allergy.com discount that's A-S-T-E-P-R-O-Alurgy.
0:34.3	Come. Use as directed for relief of nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing,
0:39.2	and itchy nose due to allergies. on pop.
0:55.0	Welcome to Switched on pop. I'm musicologist Nate Sloane.
0:59.0	I'm producer Riana Cruz.
1:01.0	All right, Rianna a few months ago we talked about this classic tune on our live episode about
1:08.3	Span Con in music, sponsored content.
1:11.1	Bada baa baa baa. sponsored content. That of course is a few variants of McDonald's iconic jingle. I'm loving it.
1:27.2	This was originally written as a full-on pop song for none other than Justin Timberlake to perform, but the song flopped.
1:37.0	Now while the song itself flopped, the jingle lived on and arguably is one of the most memorable fast food jingles of all time.
1:45.0	And we couldn't get this story out of our heads and we wanted to ask
1:49.0	what makes a jingle work and what makes it not work as a pop song like this is something
1:56.7	we couldn't stop thinking about so Riana we want to talk today about the
2:01.4	jingle as a concept and specifically its relationship to food and who
2:06.0	better to discuss food with on Switched on Pop than the two hosts of Eaters podcast, Gastropod.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.