On March 3 Dee Dee Sharpe’s “Mashed Potato Time” hit the airways and reached #2 for two weeks on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart.  The way it was explained to me is that you stomp your feet as if you were mashing potatoes..  The first song about the lowly tuber was “(Do the) Mashed Potatoes” by Nat Kendrick and the Swans, which reached #84 on the pop chart in 1960.  This was a two-part instrumental done on the sly from his record company by James Brown (Kendrick was his drummer).  More potato silliness was to follow, including one I can’t think of right now where the guy swoons about how romantic it was to do the mashed potato with you.  Who thinks up these things?  And who does them in a tux?