Hot Rod Race

"Hot Rod Race" is a Western swing song about an automobile race out of San Pedro, California, between a Ford and a Mercury. Released in November 1950, it broke the ground for a series of hot rod songs recorded for the car culture of the 1950s and 60s. With its hard driving boogie woogie beat, it is sometimes named one of the first rock and roll songs.

Written by George Wilson, it became a major hit for Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys (Gilt-Edge 5021), staying on the charts for 7 weeks, peaking at #5 in 1951. Trying to repeat his success, Shibley recorded at least four follow-up songs.

Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan, Tiny Hill, and Red Foley, all released versions in 1951; Hill's version reached #7 on the Country charts and # 29 on the pop charts.

Shibley's record may have climbed higher and outpaced any of the others, but his second verse opened up with:

Eastern radio stations, never a fan of Western swing anyway, refused to play it.

Dolan changed the verse to say "plain folks"; Hill to "rich folks"; and Foley to "poor folks".

Hot rod

Hot rods are typically old, classic American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. A possible origin includes replacement of the camshaft with a new ("hotter") version, sometimes known as a hot stick or hot rod. Roadsters were the cars of choice because they were light, easy to modify, and inexpensive. The term became commonplace in the 1930s or 1940s as the name of a car that had been "hopped up" by modifying the engine for higher performance. A term common in the early days was "gow job". This has fallen into disuse except with historians.

The term has broadened to apply to other items that are modified for a particular purpose, such as "hot-rodded amplifier".

History

Late 1930s–1950s

The term seems first to have appeared in the late 1930s in southern California, where people raced modified cars on dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), among other groups. The activity increased in popularity after World War II, particularly in California, because many returning soldiers received technical training in the service. Many cars were prepared by bootleggers in response to Prohibition to enable them to avoid revenue agents ("Revenooers"); some police vehicles were also modified in response.

Hot Rod (meat snack)

A Hot Rod is a Canadian dry sausage snack food made by Schneider Foods. They are sold in many convenience stores, and concession stands throughout the country. Hot rods have a salty, slightly spicy, beef flavour, and are similar to the American "Slim Jim" brand snack. They are available in Original, Barbecue and Hickory Smoke flavours, in 8 and 19g sizes, and in packs of 20 and 40.

History

Hot Rods were created in 1969 and took a total of 191 hours to develop. They were originally developed as a “different” everyday snack that could also be enjoyed at parties, and were originally sold for 10 cents each. Throughout its history, Schneider’s has experimented with several flavours. In 1970, they created cheese-flavoured Hot Rods, but found their original flavour to be more popular. The snack gained popularity into the 1980s, culminating with the introduction of three new flavours in 1986 – Taco, Pepperoni and Mild. In 2004, Hot Rod Bites were introduced in Chicken, Barbecue and Teriyaki flavours.

Hot Rod (film)

Hot Rod is a 2007 American comedy film co-written, directed, and starring members of The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer). The film stars Samberg as an amateur stuntman whose abusive step-father, Frank (Ian McShane) continuously mocks and disrespects him. When Frank grows ill, Rod raises money for his heart operation by executing his largest stunt yet. In addition to raising money for the operation, he also does so to win Frank's respect. The film also stars Taccone, Sissy Spacek, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, Isla Fisher and Bill Hader. It was directed by Schaffer (in his directorial debut) and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The film was originally drafted by Pam Brady (who retains full writing credit) as a vehicle for Saturday Night Live star Will Ferrell, but the project never commenced. Lorne Michaels convinced Paramount to let The Lonely Island, who were growing famous for their work on SNL, take over the film. The group subsequently re-wrote the film with a heavy emphasis on offbeat surreal humor. The film was shot in Vancouver over the summer of 2006. The film's soundtrack was composed by ex-Yes guitarist, Trevor Rabin, and the film features several songs by the Swedish rock band Europe.