Remember that rock song at the end of WKRP in Cincinnati? The one that ends with a kitten meowing? Well, today I learned that its lyrics are complete gibberish.

Go ahead, listen to it, I'll wait.

All gibberish!

Here's its story, according to the last.fm wiki:

The closing theme, "WKRP In Cincinnati End Credits", was a hard rock number composed and performed by Jim Ellis, an Atlanta musician who recorded some of the incidental music for the show. According to people who attended the recording sessions, Ellis didn't yet have lyrics for the closing theme, so he sang nonsense words to give an idea of how it would sound. Wilson decided to use the words anyway, since he felt that it would be funny to use lyrics that were deliberately gibberish, as a satire on the incomprehensibility of many rock songs. Also, because CBS always had an announcer talking over the closing credits, Wilson knew that no one would actually hear the closing theme lyrics anyway.

A big thanks to astute reader Mangochin for pointing this bit of trivia out in the comments section for our other recent WKRP in Cincinnati post. Read the rest

Someone watched reruns of WKRP in Cincinnati, tracked all the songs played on the show, and then put them in this spreadsheet.

Dr. Johnny Fever played the first song played on the show, Ted Nugent's "Queen of the Forest," which marked the end to the previous radio station's format (Muzak/Swing) and the beginning of the new WKRP format (Rock, Punk and Top 40).

All right, Cincinnati, it is time for this town to get down! You've got Johnny... Doctor Johnny Fever, and I am burnin' up in here! Whoa! Whoo! We all in critical condition, babies, but you can tell me where it hurts, because I got the healing prescription here from the big 'KRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I am talking about your 50,000 watt intensive care unit, babies! So just sit right down, relax, open your ears real wide and say, "Give it to me straight, Doctor. I can take it!"

Now someone just needs to make this into a Spotify playlist. Who wants to volunteer?

Previously: WKRP in Cincinnati redacted to save on license fees

Thanks, Christopher Bickel! Read the rest

Some of the greatest 25 minutes in television history. Read the rest