There are many common themes that weave their way through an episode of The Preston & Steve Show. Any given day you are guaranteed to hear a clip from some Stallone movie and a brief conversation break to shout “YEAH” in unison after any word that sounds like “mock”. There will always be a reference to Roadhouse or
Preston decided that he wants to go by a new name, so we're taking this for a test drive... pic.twitter.com/FLC7RmYqFE
— The Preston & Steve Show (@PrestonSteve933) June 19, 2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Point Break and at least one Dad Joke. And then there’s chili dogs.Each one of these themes has a back story, today we are breaking down the dog. Where did this obsession start? What is the journey it has taken? After a deep dive, we have learned that the chili dog motif has been around a lot longer than we realized.
Its origin story begins in a very familiar place. A place close to the hearts of some, and enemy territory for others. From there, the chili dog culture has traveled across the country and been captured in the most unique way.
Join us for a deep dive into The Preston & Steve Show chili dog culture:
It All Started in Delco
You may know about Pat’s Dog, but do you know about Pat’s Chili Dogs? If you don’t, then unfortunately you never will. The Delaware County hot dog stand closed both of its locations years ago. But, in 2011, a commercial for the restaurant went viral. The stars of the ad were none other than Delco’s own Cinderella.
Tom Keifer and crew are outside side the joint singing one of the most catchy jingles we’ve ever heard.
When the video surfaced, The Preston & Steve Show played it ad nauseam. It became synonymous with the radio show and their Delco roots.
During a 2014 interview with Blabbermouth, Tom recalls, “we were just kids and the way it came about was Pat’s Chili Dogs advertised on MTV local and they were open 24 hours a day and wanted to get the crowds coming out of the rock clubs. When we were approached to do the commercial, it was, like, ‘Well, we’re kind of on MTV!’.”
XPN tracked down the production team behind the ad. They shared interesting behind the scenes stories like “one of the funnier moments was where we thought it would be cool if each band member bit into a hot dog for some quick cuts. The lead guitarist was a vegetarian, so we removed the dog and he just bit into a bun.”
Warning, earworm ahead:
We Can't Escape The Ad
After years of casually inserting the Cinderella ad into daily conversations, we dug up the next milestone in the chili dog journey.
In 2018, a news story about David Bowie’s property going up for auction made Music News. Steve asked if Bowie recorded a commercial for Pat’s Chili Dogs and it all fell apart from there.
The crew was treated to an off the cuff version of “Space Oddity” with Ground Control connecting directly to Pat’s. That was followed by David Bowie introducing his friend Bing Crosby to chili dogs and singing a Christmas duet about it. Then a bit of breaking news with the introduction of a new character, Ziggy Chili Dog.
David Bowie is enamored by chili dogs too.
Getting Classy
When the 2019 list of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best Restaurants included a spot in Northern Liberties, the gang was all over it. They noticed that all of the restaurants from around the country who were highlighted that year all had one word names. But guess what was missing? PAT’S!
It turns out that Pat’s may or may not have received accolades for having the best chili dog in the country. Of course every 80’s hair metal band went out of their way to seek out the joint when they’re in town.
Suck! Suck! Suck!
Move over Pat, it’s time to jump on the John train. In 2022, a new lyric entered the game.
On July 20th and The Noticer noticed that it was National Hot Dog Day. The gang went into a deep conversation about the meaty treat. They talked about how often they eat hot dogs , the best way to cook a hot dog, great places to buy hot dogs and sucking on hot dogs. Wait, sucking? Why did John Cougar Mellencamp sing about sucking on chili dogs? That feels wrong. But the accompanying t-shirt they found is so right.
This was the day that Tom McGovern’s quarantine comedy video changed everyone’s life. It’s a cover of John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack and Diane’, but all of the lyrics are “suckin’ on a chili dog.” All of them.
We highly recommend watching this conversation to really grasp the evolution of the chili dog into the 2020’s.
Imortalized
Sometimes we don’t know if a joke is only funny to us. But when it becomes a sign, we know that it officially caught on. This group of listeners made a four part series for Camp Out For Hunger.
Credit: Philly Photo & Philm
Credit: Philly Photo & Philm
Grungy Dogs
Little known fact, Nirvana loved a chili dog!?
