Thursday, April 10, 2008

Chicken Dance Meister

I just heard on Wisconsin Public Radio that the popularizer of the "Chicken Dance" in the U.S. has died in Milwaukee. Bob Karnes (born Robert Kujawa) apparently recorded his version of the song the same week he got a copy of it from his producer back in 1982. More details here, including this:
"This stupid little thing, it's infectious," Kames said, speaking in 1995. "It has only two chords, it doesn't even change for the bridge. It implants the melody in people's minds - it just sticks in there. That's gotta be the secret."
The song/dance is a staple in Wisconsin, as described here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about the Chicken Dance Meister's passing. Played that ditty at our wedding.

Mr. Verb said...

Yeah, it's a shame.

Wisconsin Public Radio initially reported that he had written the song, but that was Werner Thomas, of Davos, Switzerland, it looks like.