Song of the Day 1/21: Pigmeat Markham, “Here Come the Judge”
Some say this was the first rap song, which would be quite a distinction for Chitlin’ Circuit vaudevillian Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham, born 1904, whose “here come the judge” routine was adopted by and immortalized on TV’s “Laugh-In.”
I, on the other hand, say this is the perfect theme song for the opening day of this circus of an impeachment trial.
This record was released in 1968, a time when many performers famous to black audiences were still new to white ones — if you had said in 1960 that infamously blue comedian Redd Foxx would have his own TV show, an “Afro-American” wouldn’t have believed you and a white guy would have said, “Who?” They brought their routines — many dating to the early days of vaudeville, which grew out of minstrelry — with them. Those roots are pretty exposed in this routine, but you can’t deny the percolating funk beat.
BTW, the first verse is actually about the Paris peace talks that were going on in 1968 — the ones that Richard Nixon sent an avatar to sabotage to help him win the election.
As an aside, Pontiac released an offshoot of its GTO line in 1969. The model was “The Judge,” which actually took its name from the Sammy Davis, Jr., recurring punch line of “Here comes the judge,” on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In.”
The joke is on us. A The Judge in good condition, with original paint, will sell for a lot of money these days.
One of the print ads for The Judge had the tag line”This Judge Can Be Bought.”
And yes, the word “The” was actually part of the car’s name.
Remember it well. My brother built the model, IIRC. He later bought a ’67 Firebird.