Muppet Whistles, Throat Singing & Steely Dan

Mailbag! Episode!

We've got questions about Tuvan throat singing (how does it work??), the Unsolved Mysteries theme (why is it so creepy??), the intro to Don McLean's "American "Pie" (how do they count it??), Steely Dan (why do some people hate them??), Andrew Bird's whistling solo from 2011's The Muppets (how did he do that??), Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (what key is it in??), and more.

REFERENCED/DISCUSSED:

“Unsolved Mysteries Theme” composed by Gary Malkin and Michael Boyd
“Halloween Theme” by John Carpenter
“Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd from Second Helping, 1973
“Yuve Yuve Yu” by The Hu, 2018
“Chylandyk” by Huun-Huur-Tu, 1997
“The One I’m Waiting For” by Relient K from MMHMM, 2004
“The Breton Kingdom / Rouantelezh Vreizh” by Alan Stivell from Before Landing, 1977
“American Pie” by Don Mclean from American Pie, 1971
“The Squeaky Wheel” by The Dear Hunter from Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise, 2015
“Be My Baby” as recorded by The Ronettes, 1963
“Janie Runaway” by Steely Dan from Two Against Nature, 2000
“Lingala” by the SF Jazz Collective from their self-titled 2005 album
“Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” by The New Pornographers from Together, 2010
“The Whistling Caruso” by Andrew Bird from The Muppets, 2011

OUTRO SOLOIST: Luke Price

This episode's outro soloist is the wonderful Portland fiddle player Luke Price. When he's not working as a side man in a variety of killer bands, Luke joins his wife Rachael to form the excellent songwriting duo DEAN!. They've got a new album coming soon and it's gonna be pretty great; in the meantime you can follow them on Instagram and listen to some of their stuff on their website, wearedean.com.

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August 2020 Whole-Note Patrons

Laurie Acreman - Ken Hirsh - Jez Jenness Gardner - Simon Cammell - Guinevere Boostrom - Jill Smith-Moore - Rachel Rakov - Kyle Starr - Narelle Horn - Mickey Clark - Nathaniel Bauernfeind - Simon Cramp - Bill Rosinger - Anne Britt - David Zahm - Erin - Aidan Coughlan - Jeanneret - Manning Family Four - Matt Butler - Doug Paton - Robert Paul - R Watson - Viki Dun - Christer Lindqvist - Sami Samhuri - Craig J. Covell - AccessViolation - Ryan Torvik - Merlin Mann - Glenn - Caleb Rotach - Andre Bremer - Chad Barnard - Mark Schechter - Dave Florey - Dan Apczynski

August 2020 Half-Note Patrons

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💃STRONG SONGS LIVE!🕺
July 11, 2026 | Portland, OR
Buy Tickets Here

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