The Four Preps “Big Man” / “Stop, Baby”

The first thing that occurred to me was that this is a band made up of restaurant workers—all prep cooks—but it would be a big restaurant—or across several restaurants—like the Busboys, or the Soda Jerks. No, wait, that’s the Circle Jerks. Or it could be the Sous-chefs. But unlikely. So, then I thought, oh, hospital workers, prep nurses. Or the four things you do to prepare for something, like clean the area, anesthetize… etc. but no, that’s dumb. Then it occurred to me, Oh, like preppies! But did they have them back then? This 45 is from, like 1958. Did they even have Izod shirts back then? Then I thought I misread the label, and it’s actually that band, The Four Perps—because why do I even have this single? If someone sneaks in your house and leaves records in your collection—that can’t be considered a crime, right? But could you call it gaslighting, right, and isn’t that kind of a crime? But no, it’s The Four Preps—and it’s a perfectly apt name for this kind of late-Fifties pop music who sound exactly like you’d think a group called “The Four Preps” would sound—that is, if you’re not an idiot, and thinking it might be a group made up of restaurant workers.

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