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, 2011OUTRO SOLOIST: Luke PriceThis 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.--------------------August 2020 Whole-Note PatronsLaurie 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 ApczynskiAugust 2020 Half-Note PatronsMichael Casner - Michael York - Derek Bender - Melanie Andrich - Franco Famularo - Don Hutchison - Lowell Meyer - Etele Illes - Jeff Almond - Stephen Tsoneff - Lorenz Schwarz - Becca Sample - Wen - Jack Sjogren - Aparajit Raghavan - Benedict Pennington - Geoff Golden - Adam Conway - Robyn Fraser - Alexander Geddes - Pascal Rueger - Randy Souza - Joe C - Latifah Makuyi - Clare Holberton - Jake Tinsley - Georgia Livesay - David Zucker - Diane Turner - Tom Coleman - Suellen Moore - Brendon Oliver-Ewen - Judy Chapple - Stuart Terry - Mark Perry - Malory - Dhu Wik - Eric Helm - Briony Leo - Bill Fuller - Jonathan Daniels - Sheilah - Steven Maron - MH - Michael Flaherty - Jarrod Schindler - Zoe Little - Gerry Nelson - Dave King - Albukitty - Caro Field - Wayne Marsh - Judith Stansfield - Jenifer Carr - Michael Bochner - Duncan - Brant Brantphillip - Leigh Sales - Markus Koester - Toni Isaacson - Jeremy Dawson - Robbie Ferrero - Gavin Doig - Sam Fenn - Tanner Morton - AJ Schuster - Jennifer Bush - David Stroud - Amanda Furlotti - Andrew Baker - SP - Brooke Wilford - Cyrus N. White - Chris Brown - Mark Haberlen - Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua - Kate Albury - Matt Gaskell - Elliot Jay O’Neill - Jules Bailey - Eero Wahlstedt - Darryl Stewart - Bill Thornton - Brian Amoebas - Brett Douville - Jeffrey Olson - Matt Betzel - Mueller - Nate from Kalamazoo - Melanie Stivers - Richard Toller - Alexander Polson - John and Sharon Stenglein - Tom Lauer - Forrest Chang - Earl Lozada - Jon O’Keefe - Justin McElroy - Arjun Sharma - Shane DeLeon - James Johnson - Andrew Lee - Kevin Morrell - Tom Clewer - Kevin Pennyfeather - Chas Lednicky - Nicholas Schechter - Justin Liew - Emily Williams --------------------💃STRONG SONGS LIVE!🕺July 11, 2026 | Portland, ORBuy Tickets Here (Livestream Tix Now Available!)----LINKS-----💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS!Patreon | One-Time Donation🏠 HOMEPAGE👚 MERCH💬 DISCORD SERVER📬 KIRK'S NEWSLETTER🎸 KIRK'S GEAR & INSTRUMENTS🎶 KIRK'S MUSIC📷 KIRK’S SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram | YouTube | Bluesky🎧 EVERY STRONG SONG:Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music🎨 SHOW ART:Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics