The Star Spangled Banger!

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Who is the biggest Diva of them all? The U.S. National Anthem, which borrows its melody from a historic British drinking song, has undergone enormous musical change in the hands of pop music vocalists. Famously, José Feliciano, Marvin Gaye and Whitney Houston each changed the meaning of "The Star Spangled Banner" by finding new approaches to the performance. Countless others have followed in their footsteps. Now every major sporting event is an excuse for pop divas to make their own creative interpretation. So who does it best? Or worst? Jan Diehm and Michelle McGhee, data journalists at The Pudding, analyzed the pitch fluctuations of over a hundred famous performances to answer these questions and more. Check out Jan and Michelle's full analysis at pudding.cool Sign up for the Switched On Pop Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Switch for SwitchDonpop comes from Square Space.
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0:39.0	on Pop.
0:42.0	Welcome to Switch to Switch to
0:43.0	Done Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding and I'm musicologist Nate
0:46.2	Sloane.
0:47.0	Nate I want to play for you one of the most iconic vocal performances of all time.
0:51.1	Give it to me check. Does news broader stripes.
0:55.0	And right rows. Any thoughts on this remarkable performance of the Star Spingle Banner by Maya Rudolph?
1:09.4	Iconic, it's virtuosic, it's diva-esque. It, you know, is everything you want to hear from a national anthem performance.
1:16.7	Yeah, we've got Maya Rudolph on SNL. Obviously mocking the way in which many have performed the national anthem which we just
1:24.8	heard this Super Bowl Sunday with a remarkable performance from the great Reba
1:29.1	McIntyre and I thought that this would give us an opportunity to look back at some of the most over-the-top
1:36.1	performances of the National Anthem, which is fun for us because actually, I don't know if you recall,
1:41.9	our seventh episode ever was about the history of the song.
1:46.1	I remember it well Charles we talked about its origins as a British drinking song, the
	...

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