My new favorite NPR name

[Shoeless]

We’ve had threads in the past about the odd names of NPR reporters. My new favorite, which I heard on a story this morning on Weekend Edition Saturday, is Kat Chow.

[terentii]

@Shoeless

We’ve had threads in the past about the odd names of NPR reporters. My new favorite, which I heard on a story this morning on Weekend Edition Saturday, is Kat Chow.

Maybe it’s a nom de plume.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Well let me be the first to say: “Howdy and welcome to the Dope, Kat Chow!”

See, I clicked on the link in the OP, and then I clicked on a link on that page, and whattaya know, Kat Chow took up one of our quests!

There’s a tune that you’ve probably heard throughout your life. It’s nine notes long, and it’s almost always used to signal that something vaguely Asian is happening or is about to happen.

You know what I’m talking about. The tune’s most prominent role is probably in that 1974 song “Kung Fu Fighting.” It comes in right as Carl Douglas is singing that anthemic “Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah.”

The tune is ubiquitous. And like many things that are just in the air, few ever ask where it came from. But we did.

And then comes the money part:

We’re not the first to ask the question. Back in February 2005, on the Straight Dope message board, a person with a username “Doctorduck” asked:

"Where does that stereotypical ‘oriental’ song come from? You know, the one that goes dee dee dee dee duh duh dee dee duh. Featured heavily in braindead Hollywood flicks made by clueless directors who want to give a scene an ‘oriental’ feel. Also a variation of it can be heard in David Bowie’s ‘China Girl.’ "

It was a question that confounded many. Trying to pin down this nameless tune and its place in history turned out to be difficult.

Across dozens of comments, people agreed 1) that the canonical example of the melody was in “Kung Fu Fighting,” 2) the melody also appeared in many other places, and 3) it probably pre-dated Douglas’ song. But for weeks, no one could name an incontrovertible pre-1974 example of the tune.

There’s more about the thread we had/have and then she even follows up on our discussion and adds to what we know. [thumbs up!]

So anyway, I feel confident that at some point Miss Chow will see this thread (since she knows of the Dope already) eventually, hence my earlier “hello”.

[WordMan]

I have to wonder how she wraps her brain around the name. There’s a Boy Named Sue component that she could avoid simply by going by Kate.

[Darren_Garrison]

I doubt that her real first name is “Kat.” Probably Cathrine, or some variant thereof, and she wears “Kat Chow” version with impunity. (Sort of like the real Kitty Pryde.)