ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses

I can't believe I never made the connection that these were the Christmas Wrapping people.

Maura Burns

Whoo! Square Pegs reference! Great episode. You rock, Todd.\m/

TODD!!! DANG...thank you. Much appreciated. Of course, a couple of quibbles. "No Guilt" was the B-side of the "Boys Like" 45, not a single in its own right. Yes, it's 1) misogynist, 2) empowering, 3) a feminist party anthem, and/or an InCel rallying cry. All of the above. Plus, it's far more sophisticated musically than one would think on first listen. Also, "Boys Like" stalled at #41 on the Billboard chart...because Polygram decided not to spend the extra $50k to grease it into the Top 20. That's show biz, folks. Todd - you found the Solid Gold lip-sync footage (I think?) that I have been looking for for decades - where Patty is in a blue dress? WHERE IS THIS? Please advise! Best/CB

CHRIS BUTLER

Why didn’t I get a notification?

Dyl

you should check it out and report back :)

Christian Reiswig

I'm glad ZE Records is getting spotlighted. RIP Cristina

DL

"Christmas wrapping" is the best song you have introduced me to, since "Ink and Paper"

The supreme fuck-you energy coming off of “I Know What Boys Like” is unparalleled.

Wyatt

This was one where I was sure I didn’t know the song and then you played the piano intro and I was teleported back in time

Annie Hanlin

I will never be able to listen to this song without thinking about Herbert from Family Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FBoEWtxWxM&ab_channel=superdowl This is one of the only Christmas songs I like, shame so few people know about it:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUSKXa87HU8&ab_channel=220VoltOfficial

RedBedroomRecords

or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra

matt

Thank you so much for giving The Waitresses their due!

I assumed that the outro song would be the Chris Brown/Juelz Santana song "Run It!" that interpolated "I Know What Boys Like." On reflection, though, I can't imagine anyone remembers that song unless they too attended a high school dance in 2005.

Allison Driskill

You know it's a unique OHW when both Lydia Lunch AND Kurtis Blow get a mention.

Joe G

I was going to say the same thing. It annoys me a lot as well.

Jonathan

Two geography notes: 1. Gotta mention Chrissie Hynde when you talk about Akron. 2. Athens >> Chapel Hill. Not that the fact that I grew up in Athens and went to Duke has anything to do with it. And yeah, Ben Folds -- whom, in a sense, I replaced in the Duke Wind Symphony -- gives the Triangle a legit presence.

Beau Dure

When you said Suicide did a Christmas song, I thought you were joking. I didn't think it was a real thing. Good form Todd, good form.

The 4'000th Yamaha DX7 Trent Reznor Broke With His Mic Stand or Foot

A Christmas song that isn't saccharine or torturous? I'll take it.

So, I have favorite Waitresses songs. And one is basically a set of high school physics notes set to music.

Jason Schneiderman

It's a big one for us bass players.

Beau Dure

I know this is nitpicky, but Akron, OH is pronounced ACK-rin, not ack-RON.

pixarfan9510

"You can't build a whole career out of Christmas music." Tell that to Mannheim Steamroller.

Kristopher Bluth

Their other songs sound intriguing, I definitely need to check them out.

Vanessa Picard

there's....there's no way it's been 2 weeks since the last episode, it's impossible....but, thank you

Nowhere Girl

In this case, it is by Shampoo

Todd in the Shadows

I really tried to find a video where he didn't fucking look like that

Todd in the Shadows

The Waitresses remind me a lot of 90's band Luscious Jackson, themselves a one hit wonder. In a lot of ways, The Waitresses lay the ground work for a lot of 90's female lead alternative rock bands.

Juan Nunez

My mother played the living shit out of I Know What Boys Like back when I was like 6. I don’t really like it but that Christmas song is pretty good and I might check out that album

Patrick Lauer

Christmas Wrapping is probably one of my favorite Christmas songs. I feel like most people only know it for the sax part (I remember hearing it in Christmas ads a lot) but don't know the song itself very well.

Brandon H

From just that 2 second clip you played, I am dismayed and appalled to learn that the singer of the insanely hedonistic "Wanderer" wore a freaking three piece suit like some vacuum cleaner salesman.

Rhiannon M

"Hey ladies, hey fellas, and the people who don't give a fuck" - Limp Bizkit

Jasper Phua

This was what I thought we were getting when the I Touch Myself episode came out and I'm SO glad it exists now!

PS any way you can list in the credits or description who is performing the cover versions you play at the end? I'm always curious!

Taylor Abrahamse

Something about Christmas Wrapping just never really worked for me, but I kinda get the appeal now. I'm gonna be hearing this a lot at work in the next month so at least I can look forward to it now, lol.

Julian

It's also amazing how different "I Know What Boys Like" comes across in the Shampoo version played in the credits. That band seems to find joy and excitement in pretty much everything, no matter how awful or draining it is.

Jacqueline Sailer

I'd never heard of I Know What Boys Like before (very familiar with the Christmas song tho), but now I feel like I'm going to be thinking about it for the next like week. Not even like it's gonna be stuck in my head, I just need time to process what feels like Daria Morgendorffer calling me a cuck.

Meluieth Box

Yeah, as far as the Blondie comparisons go, "Christmas Wrapping" sounds extremely similar to "Heart of Glass" in my opinion. HoG is already one of the most unique-sounding pop hits in history, and the Waitresses are the only band I've come across whose sound resembles it. Also, the weird rapping about nothing is just like "Rapture".

Jacqueline Sailer

I heard this first on The Simpsons, a pretty good latter-day episode where Lisa has to pretend to be a boy. 10 years later, I knew exactly how the song went based on the title - that's a hook for ya!

Taylor Abrahamse

Todd knows what patrons like. Patrons like weird New Wave bands with very few hits.

Joe Moyer

I can say with 100% confidence that I have never in my life heard of Christmas Wrapping anywhere. And I'm someone who actually really loves Christmas. Like, put up the tree on November 1st kind of love. But in all the Christmas music I've ever consumed, this or one of the apparently many cover versions that exist has never crossed my path.

I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention that Chris Butler had (has?) the Guinness World Record for the longest pop song, "The Devil Glitch" (almost 69 minutes long!)

David Dixon

Those two songs got played a lot on the flashback lunch hours on KROQ by Richard Blade.

GeddyLeeRoth

Had no idea it was Mars Williams. The style of playing is different from his work with Psychedelic Furs and Catch My Fall by Billy Idol.

GeddyLeeRoth

Great episode about a great band, really enjoyed this one. For some reason I always thought Ralph Carney was the sax player, I guess it was the Akron connection. Speaking of which, Akron is pronounced "AK-rin" rather than "AK-ron"

"so between the two of them that covers the entirety of human desire." feels kind of dismissive of non-binary people. Unfortunately I don't think there's a song about what nb people want to complete the trifecta. If you felt inclined changing it to "so between the two of them that covers almost the entirety of human desire." would sound more inclusive without being a major alteration to the script.

Ixcaliber, Gay Fox 4 Life

My thoughts immediately went to Danny from Game Grumps riffing on this song

I am showing my age here as when I saw the notif I thought: “the song from Teen Beach Movie?”

Erin Healey

Gotta love cuttin it under the wire.

Josh Spicer