Kansas City Playlist: Locals Embittered Over Automatic Gratuity

Over the course of this week several Kansas City locals have shared receipts, disdain and outrage over local restaurants charging an automatic gratuity. 

To wit . . . 

DESPITE INDUSTRY ADVICE, MANY KANSAS CITY FOODIES FEEL BETRAYED BY AN EPIC SPIKE IN RESTAURANT PRICES!!!

A news overview for context . . .  

"Many Kansas City restaurants have implemented an automatic 18% to 20% gratuity to bills. The Missouri Restaurant Association is advising establishments to take this step during the World Cup to ensure servers are fairly compensated, as many international visitors are unfamiliar with American tipping customs."

Of course there are at leaste two sides to this story . . .

We're certain local restaurants can quickly find some crisis actors to try and negate this trending sentiment and push back against Kansas City patrons. 

But even a cursory glance at so many spyware phone apps will reveal outrage from friends & neighbors who still go out to eat despite the very real threat of post-capitalism. 

Accordingly . . . Tonight our www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist tackles the topic of giving it away . . .

We always try to start our music forays with 90s nostalgia, this time layered upon more nostalgia . . . To wit . . .Hard rock music fans might know that guitarist John Frusciante's squealing outro guitar riff at the end of "Give It Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is actually a direct nod to Black Sabbath's famous song "Sweet Leaf".

Something a bit more recent and a tune we heard blaring at ludicrous volume this evening . . . "Giving Back" by Yo Gotti is obscene, rough around the edges and has very little socially redeeming value EXCEPT that it's one of the best hip-hop tracks produced in the past five years and not something that most middle-class white ladies have appropriated for their wine parties . . . Yet.

It's Saturday night so we don't mind showing our age by admitting our love for this old school track and it's drum break . . . "I Thank You", ZZ Top’s funky 1979 single is a cover of a 1968 Stax Records hit by the soul duo Sam & Dave. It was written by the legendary songwriting team Isaac Hayes and David Porter. It was recorded using the original instrument: While recording at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Billy Gibbons realized that the very same clavinet that Isaac Hayes played on the 1968 Sam & Dave recording was sitting right there in the studio. They decided to use it for their own cover track.

For the bridge . . . We share a more melodic classic rock track . . . Roger Hodgson wrote Supertramp's classic "Give a Little Bit" when he was just 19 years old, inspired by The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". However, he kept it entirely to himself and waited six years to record it.

Finally, we finish with a throwback track that might still resonate . . . Dido’s hit "Thank You" got a massive boost in fame when it was sampled by Eminem for his 2000 megahit "Stan". Surprisingly, Dido originally wrote the song about her then-boyfriend Bob Page to celebrate the grounding comfort of love during a rainy, miserable day . . . Of course, Eminem sampled the melody & chorus to tell the story of an unhinged, obsessed fan whose escalating letters go unanswered, culminating in tragedy. A few Midwest GenZ denizens still use the term "Stan" to describe the strange devotion of superfans.

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.