One Direction and KFC
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Today’s fact is finger-lickin’ good.
One Direction’s hit song “Midnight Memories” was originally written as “I love KFC.”
October 16 marked the one-year anniversary of Liam Payne’s death. Liam was one of the members of the wildly successful boy band One Direction. The end of his life story is sad, so we’re going to look at some happier moments.
First, this collab with Paul Rudd—who was in last week’s Fun Fact Friyay!—during the group’s appearance on SNL is a treat. Do I still sing “Oh, oh oh, you don’t know your basic facts” every now and again? You bet I do.
Second, I was delighted to discover the history of the song “Midnight Memories,” which, as the name suggests, is about making late-night memories with someone you like.
Those memories might include going to eat some chicken. And if the band had its way, you’d know “Midnight Memories” better as “I love KFC.”
In multiple interviews, including this one with French radio show C’Cauet sur NRJ where they later ask the boys what words they can say in French, Payne shared that the original inspiration for the song’s catchy chorus was an impromptu “I love KFC” chant in the recording studio.
As Payne has also explained, the group was just mumbling and having a good time, and then decided to launch into the chicken-tastic chorus. You can listen to a bit of that recording session here:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Perhaps not coincidentally, the music video for “Midnight Memories” features the band hanging out with a bunch of fans in a late-night eatery. However, that spot serves kebabs instead of fried chicken. That’s pretty close, so we’ll allow it.
I have my own KFC midnight memory (okay, it’s like a 10 p.m. memory, but still). A couple of years ago, I visited Prague as part of a tour of European Christmas markets. The heart of the city has many stores for shoppin’ and many restaurants for eatin’, but I was most intrigued by a Popeyes and KFC located RIGHT NEXT to each other.
Typically, I want to eat the local cuisine when I’m visiting a foreign city. And I did have plenty of Czech treats while I drank mulled wine and cider and cocoa for warmth.
However, in this case, I figured I should have a non-pastry before getting up at 3 a.m. for my flight home. Some fast food fried chicken was really the only option, with few places actually open.
Or so I thought. I walked up to the Popeye’s and they were closed due to a quick repair. YIKES!
Thankfully, KFC was open and bustling, and I realized it had probably been over a decade since I last visited a KFC. They have fancy kiosks inside now where you can place your order. Colonel Sanders is likely too busy to talk with customers, so he’s getting fancy with the technology!
I ordered a lil’ bucket of chicken and mashed potatoes to take back to my hotel—which was in a literal palace—and it hit the spot.
Did I open up the window and start singing “I love KFC” to the snowy streets below? No, but I certainly should have. I bet someone would have started singing along.
Fun, Joey!