26. Saxophone in Rock Music, It's-It, Triscuits

We add saxophone in rock music, It's-It (the frozen dairy treat) and Triscuits to the List of Every Damn thing.
Phil and Jake add some soulful notes to the List of Every Damn Thing by ranking saxophone in rock music, the Bay Area-based ice cream cookie sandwich It’s-It, and Triscuits (aka "electricity biscuits").

If you have something to add to the List of Every Damn Thing, let us know by sending an email to list@everydamnthing.net (or get at us on Twitter and Instagram).


SHOW NOTES:
  • Kurtwood Smith is an actor from the TV show Patriot. He’s perhaps best known for playing Clarence Boddicker, the villain of Robocop (maybe it’s more appropriate to say he’s the miniboss of Robocop, with capitalism being the villain). On the show he plays a management-type at a pipe company and he delivers this stunning monologue about piping which is just beautiful. Phil does a pretty good rendition of the monologue at the beginning of this episode.
  • "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters is a delightful tune, mainly due to the humorous verses but also because the music is so playful. SongwriterJerry Leiber referred to it as “a white kid’s view of a black person’s conception of white society.” Like many of the songs discussed in this episode, it’s borderline rock ‘n’ roll. Leiber said that The Coasters’ songs were R&B hits that white kids were attracted to, which became rock ‘n’ roll if they sold enough albums.
  • Phil usually has Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer” playing in his head. Wouldn’t it be better if there could be a Public Dancer who gets federal subsidies? Also there’s a cover by Peaches which Phil found while looking for the Tina Turner video. We’d like to see someone do an upbeat or Kidz Bop of it.
  • Tim Capello is the buff guy who played sax for Tina Turner, including on “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”. Phil is right about there being a saxophonist in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, but it’s not Capello. Capello is however in The Lost Boys performing his song “I Still Believe”.
  • The E Street Band performed on most of Bruce Springsteen’s albums in the late 70s and the 80s, though they were never credited as a group. The band split with Springsteen for a decade starting in 1989, so Jake is probably right that Bruce didn’t release many saxy songs after the 80s.
  • “I Want A New Drug” by Huey Lewis & The News doesn’t actually start with sax, but Jake remembers all the lead guitar and / or keyboard parts from that band as sax parts.
  • Jake claims that “Yakety Sax” (by Boots Randolph) was used in the opening sequence of The Benny Hill Show. It actually played over the end credits.
  • We talk about the amusement park that used to be at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, referring to it as "Playland-by-the-Sea". It was actually called Playland-at-the-Beach (or just Playland), but was preceded at its location by a squatter’s settlement called Mooneysville-by-the-Sea. Playland is pictured on the It’s-Its wrapper. It’s also in the final scene of The Lady from Shanghai.
  • According to wikipedia, Jake is right that the It’s-It cappuccino flavor was introduced in the 80s, as were chocolate, mint and strawberry. Strawberry isn’t a permanent thing like others, so it wasn’t around for many years.
  • Phil was 100% wrong about The Fat Boy, he was thinking of the Big Daddy! Hey smart guy, how about you record yourself talking for an hour about ice cream and see how many things you get wrong! They look the same! They’re both “what if an ice cream sandwich but thicc and square?” so he’s not embarrassed one bit.
  • Regional food products that we mention include Nehi soda, Yuengling beer and Faygo soda. The Chicago cake-milkshake that Phil brings up is from Portillo’s. Jake always gets a veggie Chicago dog from America’s Dog when he’s at O’Hare Terminal 1.
  • It’s-It doesn’t make a vegan version of their ice cream sandwich, but you can find similar products.
  • Friend of the show Donovan pointed out that of course there’s a tropical bird who’s a familiar for a wizard: Jaffar's friend Iago from Aladdin. Phil recently saw the Thief of Baghdad, which Aladdin borrows liberally from but in that film Jaffar doesn’t have a bird. Phil is as usual trapped in an Anglo-mindset for fantasy adventures.
  • The Road to Wellville by TC Boyle and the movie based on it are about Battle Creek, Michigan during the first health-food gold-rush in America.
  • Sage Boggs is the writer who researched Triscuits and published his findings here.
  • Here’s the shocking Triscuits ad that Jake talks about.
  • The train movie that Phil & Jake discuss was of course the Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. While it’s an extremely visceral and realistic depiction of a train arriving, a train will not come off your screen when you watch it.
  • Phil’s wife Beth is working to establish an Anti-Racist Library in their home town of Petaluma.

ALSO DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
Clarence Clemons * “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen * “Careless Whisper” by Wham! * “Rio” by Duran Duran * “Who Can It Be Now?” by Men At Work * “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS * Phil Spector * “Walk On the Wild Side” by Lou Reed * onions * harmonica * scatting * “Back That Azz Up” by Juvenile * “Tulsa Time” by Don Williams * “Long As I Can See The Light” by Creedence Clearwater Revival * cubed ice * The Cliff House * Chips-It * Watchmen comic * crows * shredded wheat * Wheat Thins * Crocs * sardines


Below is the List of Every Damn Thing as of this episode (for the most up-to-date list, go here):

  1. Dolly Parton - person
  2. Clement Street in San Francisco - location
  3. Prince - person
  4. It’s-It - food
  5. Cher - person
  6. Donald Duck - fictional character
  7. Hank Williams - person
  8. air - substance
  9. Watchmen - comic book
  10. onions - food
  11. “Midnight Train to Georgia” - music
  12. sex - idea
  13. Boxer (dog breed) - animal
  14. ducks - animal
  15. firefighters - people
  16. Shakira - person
  17. The Three Stooges - comedy act
  18. Christmas trees - seasonal decoration
  19. Trading Places - 1983 film
  20. intro to “Back That Azz Up” - music
  21. The Truman Show - movie
  22. dilapidated shacks - structures
  23. shirtless men wearing elaborate angel wings, gold lamé shorts & furry cha-cha heels - idea
  24. plants - life form
  25. handkerchiefs - accessory
  26. nail clippers - tool
  27. rye bread - food
  28. saxophone in rock - music
  29. cubed ice - substance
  30. Antoni Gaudi - architect
  31. Run the Jewels - music group
  32. Popeye - fictional character
  33. land - substance
  34. Charmander - fictional character
  35. A-shirts (aka “wifebeaters”) - clothing
  36. “Dancing Queen” - music
  37. Watchmen - TV series
  38. Jessica Rabbit - fictional character
  39. Volkswagen “Bug” - vehicle
  40. Cheech and Chong - comedy act
  41. “Tulsa Time” - music
  42. brief - idea
  43. cold brew shandy - beverage
  44. Jersey Shore - location
  45. crows - animal
  46. sea - substance
  47. coffee - beverage
  48. eggs (chicken) - food
  49. Whoppers (candy) - food
  50. national debt - idea
  51. band t-shirts - clothing
  52. Crocs - clothing
  53. Ice Cube - person
  54. wind chimes - decoration / instrument
  55. moist - word
  56. Nerf guns - toy
  57. lightning rounds - idea
  58. zipper jeans - clothing
  59. generation ships - idea
  60. seedless watermelon - food
  61. sardines - animal/food
  62. Triscuits - food
  63. peanut butter ice cream - food
  64. Top Ramen - food
  65. whale tail - animal appendage
  66. Tommy Bahama shirts - clothing
  67. commandos - people
  68. no-show socks - clothing
  69. zipper jeans  worn with no underwear - situation
  70. Barry Bonds - person
  71. man-bun - hairstyle
  72. toe shoes - clothing
  73. “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” - song
  74. Watchmen - movie
  75. blood - substance
  76. Oreos - food
  77. calamari - food
  78. The Last Starfighter - movie
  79. crushed ice - substance
  80. pigeons - animal
  81. Daylight Saving Time - idea
  82. rats - animal 
  83. capitalism - idea
  84. sports team jerseys - clothing
  85. Josta - beverage 
  86. Gambit - fictional character
  87. Surge - beverage
  88. Double Stuf Oreos - food
  89. Jenny McCarthy - person
  90. Hank Williams, Jr - person
  91. McRib - food
  92. cigarettes - drug
  93. QAnon - idea

Theme song by Jade Puget. Audio mastering by Luke Janela. Graphic design by Jason Mann.

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