In Defense of Ska Ep 65: Margaret Cho (Drop Dead Diva, The Flight Attendant, Fire Island)

In the mid-90s, comedian Margaret Cho had a sitcom deal with ABC. She wanted to call it "The Margaret Cho Show" and to have Skankin' Pickle to write its theme song. But, the network wanted it to be called "All-American Girl," and they weren't keen on having a ska-punk band write its theme song. Skankin' Pickle singer/saxophonist Mike Park had already written the delightfully catchy song, "It's Margaret Cho." Since it wouldn't be playing on TV, he included it on Skankin' Pickle's third studio album, Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle.

Margaret was friends with Mike and other members of the band. She showed up at Pickle shows and danced on the side of the stage whenever she could. But her love for ska and punk goes back to the 80s. These shows were a big part of her development as a person. She saw several amazing bands like Operation Ivy and Fishbone, who she says are her all time favorite band. She even wore a Fishbone shirt for the interview!

On this episode, Margaret tells us about her friendship with the Skankin' Pickle. She also discusses the iconic bay area venues that meant a lot to her growing up, like Gilman, The Farm, and Mabuhay Gardens. She even tells us about the wildest show she ever attended. But it turns out, it was a comedy show where a comedian casually drink his own piss and told corny jokes. 

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.