Rubber Biscuit
Encyclopedia
"Rubber Biscuit" is a doo-wop
song by The Chips
, recorded in 1956. It was famously covered by The Blues Brothers
, among many other artists as well as featuring in the 1973 film Mean Streets
. The song was composed by lead singer of The Chips
Charles Johnson and Adam R. Levy.
Few of the lyrics can actually be understood, as they are sung in the scat
manner. Those that can be understood tell the story of the singer eating various kinds of non-existent food, including a "wish sandwich" (where "you wish you had some meat") and a ricochet biscuit (that is supposed to bounce off the wall and into your mouth) and suffixing each story with "bow bow bow."
"Rubber Biscuit" became the theme tune to Jimmy's Food Factory, a programme about supermarket's food tricks on BBC One. It is The Chips
version that is played at the beginning and end of each show.
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
song by The Chips
The Chips
The Chips were a short-lived New York doo-wop vocal group consisting of teenage friends Charles Johnson , Nathaniel Epps , Paul Fulton , Sammy Strain and Shedrick Lincoln ....
, recorded in 1956. It was famously covered by The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live...
, among many other artists as well as featuring in the 1973 film Mean Streets
Mean Streets
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973...
. The song was composed by lead singer of The Chips
The Chips
The Chips were a short-lived New York doo-wop vocal group consisting of teenage friends Charles Johnson , Nathaniel Epps , Paul Fulton , Sammy Strain and Shedrick Lincoln ....
Charles Johnson and Adam R. Levy.
Few of the lyrics can actually be understood, as they are sung in the scat
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
manner. Those that can be understood tell the story of the singer eating various kinds of non-existent food, including a "wish sandwich" (where "you wish you had some meat") and a ricochet biscuit (that is supposed to bounce off the wall and into your mouth) and suffixing each story with "bow bow bow."
"Rubber Biscuit" became the theme tune to Jimmy's Food Factory, a programme about supermarket's food tricks on BBC One. It is The Chips
The Chips
The Chips were a short-lived New York doo-wop vocal group consisting of teenage friends Charles Johnson , Nathaniel Epps , Paul Fulton , Sammy Strain and Shedrick Lincoln ....
version that is played at the beginning and end of each show.