Ten Favorite Cats and Dogs Songs: Hot Dog (#9)

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I hear you screaming, come on, hillbilly, get to rockin'! Yesterday's initial song in the "dogs and cats" theme, looking at songs with "cat" or "dog" in the title, was old country. Then there's all that horrid pop music I'm skewering. Want some rock and roll? Here it is. #9: Hot Dog - Led Zeppelin No, I never really cared for Led Zeppelin. When Dave Rawlings decided to do "Going to California" as the encore because John Paul Jones was playing mandolin with the Dave Rawlings Machine, I was the only one in the venue who didn't know all the words to the song. (The only "going to California" I know all the words to is "Blue Yodel #4 (California Blues)" by Jimmie Rodgers. I know, I'm incorrigible.) I get it that they're one of the most popular bands in the history of rock and roll, but they never appealed to me. But then, consider what I was listening to when their first albums came out. And that's probably why I like this song so much. I had a lieutenant in my squadron in Norfolk who thought this was country music. No, this is a hard rock band trying to impersonate a country band while maintaining their hard rock sound. While most people didn't care for it (or that album: Zep's final album was one of their worst-received albums critically of their career), I enjoyed it. And, in typical Led Zep style, "hot dog" isn't anywhere in the lyrics. Put that in your d'yer mak'er and smoke it. Hot Dog Written by John Paul Jones and Robert Plant Recorded by Led Zeppelin From In Through the Out Door, 1979 I'll never go to Texas anymore: