Do any of you remember this from elementary school physical ed?

[ademas]

I can't believe I still know every damn word...

http://www.daveross.com/songs/robertpreston.mp3

[livingpositively]

Never heard it before in my life.   

Cute little ditty, though.

[Longislander]

I remember the song, not the phys ed....lol

[RapidRod]

The only thing I remember about elelmentary phys ed. Is my teacher was beautiful and had huge boobs. Then I seen her husband and I wanted in HIS class.

[Boo Radley]

When I was in elementary school the 78 rpm phonorecord was the latest thing... I don't remember this ditty, thank god.  Of course, by 7th grade I was excused from PE so I could work in the library, so maybe I missed it.

Boo

[ademas]

It was commissioned by JFK as part of a "President's Council on Youth Fitness" campaign, and released in 1963.  I guess that explains why it's seared in my memory, as I started kindergarten in 1963 in the public school system.

From the Kennedy Library website:

"Possibly the oddest contribution to the effort was the "Chicken Fat Song." Written by Meredith Willson, creator of The Music Man, and sung with slightly demented conviction by Robert Preston, the actor most responsible for that musical's success, the “Chicken Fat Song” was produced in a three-minute, radio-friendly version and a six-minute version to accompany schoolchildren during council-approved workout routines.

The song didn't get much airplay, but for tens of thousands of children chuffing out sit-ups in school gyms around the country, the cajoling chorus of "go, you chicken fat, go!" became ingrained in memory. Today, sites on the World Wide Web still nostalgically recall the song, and a new version, with expanded exercise routines, has recently been released. But apart from the song's infectious quality, it also marked a change in policy by the Council on Youth Fitness. The song was meant to accompany a physical fitness program, which the council was endorsing for the first time."

[randym431]

Oh yea. I sure remember that song in PE class as a widdle kid. I remember the music and the words chicken fat. Even now when I need to push myself biking hard or cutting trees and draging them to the shreader, that song would come to mind.
But I never knew it was part of the JFK PE push. Now it all makes sense.

Thanks for the reminder. 

[CaptCarl]

Fortunately, I never heard this in gym class. If I had, I'd have been too busy laughing my ass of to do any sit-ups or much of anything else for that matter. What I wonder about though, is how many takes did Robert Preston have to do before he could get through this song without cracking up?

[J.R.E.]

Hi There,

I usually don't forget tunes or music, but I will be darned, if I remember this one. However, I just asked Ed, and he remembers it very well. I remember in Kindergarden, as we would leave school for the day, the boys would line up on the left, and the girls on the right. We would hold hands, and as we walked out of the school door, and would sing, " School time is over, now we must run... oh mothers waiting for her little one   That was abiout 49 years ago. Whew.........



Ray

[Life]

"Jock Check"