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Coffee Break

9:30 Coffee Break: Unexpected Day Jobs

by Jill Riley and Sean McPherson

August 25, 2015

Punch clock
A punch clock: now largely redundant due to modern digital technologies, these timepieces used to assist in tracking the hours an employee of a company worked.
Tom Blackwell - CC BY-NC 2.0

Being a musician isn't necessarily something a person just falls into. It takes a lot of work to make it in music, and part of that work includes having another line of income to make ends meet. Many very well-known musicians held a variety of jobs until they were able to rely on their work in the music industry to pay the bills. For example, Elvis Costello once worked as a data-entry clerk at the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics company.

So on this workaday Tuesday, let's honor the various jobs held by the musicians we admire.

For today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear by artists who have held surprising or unexpected day jobs? Send us your request, and along with it, the job held by the artists you're requesting.

Songs Played


The Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt.1" (Wayne Coyne worked at Long John Silver's)

Pearl Jam "Just Breathe" (Eddie Vedder was a security guard)

The White Stripes "Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)" (Jack White was an upholsterer)

Blondie "X Offender" (Debbie Harry was a waitress at Max's Kansas City in New York City)

Moby "Honey" (Golf caddy)

Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know" (Library Assistant)

Tom Waits "Jockey Full of Bourbon" (Pizza dude at Napoleone's Pizza in National City, Calif.)

Do you deserve a Coffee Break? We at The Current's Morning Show think you do, and we want to bring treats from Morningstar Coffee and Café Latté to your workplace. Let us know why you'd like a Coffee Break.