The late composer Meredith Willson wrote "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and all the songs in The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown — tunes like "76 Trombones" and "Til There Was You" and "I Ain't Down Yet." But for some, his most memorable tune was one that was drilled into them in their school gym classes in the early sixties.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy launched something called The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Willson volunteered to compose an exercise-oriented theme song, which was recorded by Music Man star Robert Preston. It was called "Chicken Fat" and it was distributed by the zillions to physical education classes across the country.
I'm not sure if the idea was that it was supposed to motivate you to exercise on your own or if you were supposed to exercise to it. I was nine when it came out and I know it was never played in my school. I don't think it would have inspired me to drop and do push-ups but given the selling skills of Mssrs. Willson and Preston, it might have tricked me into buying band instruments from some guy who couldn't play a note of music.
Here's a music video someone made recently with the longer version. The kids in this video don't look like they need to exercise or want to exercise or even want to be in this video but there's a strange creature walking around who won't let them leave until they do…