The magic’s in the music and the music’s in me

I assume, Levi, that you’re only referring to songs with vocal accompaniment being performed or played at the ballpark. Because as I see it, anything is fine if it’s being played live on an organ. Especially “Three Blind Mice.”

Original comments…

Levi: You’re right, Jim, And I have to admit a dirty secret: I have a soft spot for “Jump”, played as the Cubs take the field at home. It sounds great, it somehow hasn’t dated, and its message of the importance of taking a leap of faith seems appropriate.

Oh, and a side note. I’m not entirely certain that there is _any_ song that wouldn’t be improved by being sung by Roy Orbison. Just like I think there might not be any movie that wouldn’t be improved by Peter O’Toole’s presence.

Musical notes

1) Ross and I, to warm me up for my first vocal techniques class at the Old Town School of Folk Music (Really. I’m taking a singing class.) sang a falsetto version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Stacey seemed horrified, but I recommend it. Until you try it, you won’t realize just how high those high notes get. But I recommend you try it in the privacy of your own home, unless you’re Wayne Mesmer, in which case I suggest you try it Tuesday, May 4th, which is the next time I’ll be at Wrigley Field.

2) My newest unrealizable music dream is to hear Roy Orbison sing John Fogerty’s “Centerfield.” I agree with Rob Neyer that the only songs that should be played at a ballpark are “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” “Centerfield,” and, when appropriate, “O, Canada.” “Centerfield” is a great song. It’s a song that perfectly conveys much of what’s wonderful about baseball.

But if Roy Orbison had sung it, it would have been even better. See, I don’t actually believe that Fogerty is suffering because he’s on the bench. Sure, he’s antsy and itching to get into the game. He’s pounding his fist into his glove and imagining crashing into the wall. But he will survive if he stays on the bench and the team wins. Just being around the game will, ultimately, be enough.

Roy Orbison, on the other hand, would quickly make clear that he will die a horrible, protracted, sorrowing death if he doesn’t get into the game. Failure and despair will gnaw away at his insides as the innings roll by. There would be no joy in Mudville, no joy anywhere overlooked by his Ray-Bans.

And you know what? He’d get into the game. Ultimately–think of the end of “Running Scared”–the strings would swell and the coach would give in. Roy would be centerfield. The fans might not be able to see him for their tears, but he’d be out there, ready to do his part.

Original comments…

sandor: I’ll be at Wrigley May 4th as well. My first game of the season. Along with Sarah, Adrienne and Syd, storyteller extraordinnaire. If Wayne doesn’t deliver, I bet Syd will be happy to treat you to his falsetto version. With a little hair dye and a pair of sunglasses, he’d probably even be able to do it as Roy Orbison.

thatbob: “Beer Barrel Polka,” dumbass.

Another baseball song

I’m now 3-for-3 on winning iTunes from 20-ounce Pepsis purchased at 7-Eleven. I’d buy more if it weren’t actually uneconomical (they cost $1.23 including the “CA Cash Refund” value), considering I wouldn’t be buying 20-ounce Pepsis if it weren’t for the fleeting fun of this iTunes contest.

Anyway, the song I purchased this time was Jonathan Richman’s “Walter Johnson,” with typically Jonathan Richman-esque lyrics…

All through baseball
He was loved and respected
Was there bitterness in Walter Johnson?
Well, it was never detected

I have seven more baseball songs I’d like to download from iTunes, but I probably won’t be buying any more Pepsi between now and April 30th, the last day to redeem the codes for free songs (i.e., I won’t be buying any more Pepsi unless they run another contest like this, because I like Coke better). If anyone has any leftover codes and has run out of songs they like, feel free to send them along.

Original comments…

sandor: See, if I had my act together, I’d already have built you the addition to this site that would let thankful readers (like myself) donate funds to your trip in any form they like, but preferrably gasoline credits, Pepsi bottlecaps or iTunes Store gift certificates. I’ll get right on that. In the meanwhile, I’ll send 99 cents your way through the iTMS.

sandor: Well, poop. The iTMS only allows gift certificates in increments of $10. The problem isn’t whether I’m willing to donate 10 songs to the cause, which I of course am, but that those sneaky fuckers at Apple will be pocketing the extra 10 cents. Sniff sniff… is that salami I smell?

Jim: Apple wouldn’t pocket the extra 10 cents…the entire $10 would go into my iTunes account, so I would effectively get 11 songs for a total cost to me of 89 cents. Or a full album plus one extra song for 98 cents.

Radio notes

First radio note from the weekend:

On the way to my parents’ house, on Friday night, we listened to the Cardinals game. We first picked it up just north of Champaign-Urbana on a previously unknown AM station. When that signal faded, Stacey hit the scan button, and the next AM station the radio found had the Cardinals game on. When that signal began to fade, she did it again, and again the next station the radio found was carrying the Cardinals. The fourth time, we got a station carrying some other programming, but the fifth time, we got the Cardinals again. We eventually switched to KMOX, once night had fallen, but later, when we had problems with KMOX, we were able to find an FM station carrying the game. We ended our night with a Cardinals win heard on AM 1460 WROY, Carmi, which only seemed right.

Now that’s broadcasting in the public interest! I don’t understand why the FCC’s so worried about the state of radio.

Second radio note from the weekend:

Stacey and I drove back from a visit to my parents on Sunday. We listened to the end of the Cardinals game on KMOX. My iPod had frozen up strangely earlier in the day, so after the Cardinals lost, we were stuck trolling central Illinois radio, which is a desert that would even the Old Testament God wouldn’t be willing to force on the ancient Israelites. A lot of bad religious programming, even more Nashville crap, and not much else.

Then, as we were sitting in a ten-mile bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go mess of a merge, we hit upon WHOW AM 1520, Clinton, Illinois. And there we stayed, because their programming was like a gauntlet thrown down, a chip being knocked off our shoulders, a triple-dog dare: could we bring ourselves to keep listening until they went out of range?

What, you ask, was their programming? They were playing “The Superbowl Shuffle”. Over and over. Every couple of times through, a recording played of a guy imitating Harry Caray, saying that starting Monday, WHOW would be sports programming. “But now, let’s get back to ‘The Superbowl Shuffle!'”

So we listened to “The Superbowl Shuffle” at least fifteen times. We couldn’t turn the dial. Eventually, we got through the traffic and the signal faded. But Monday as I was bicycling to work, I kept thinking of Walter Payton informing us that “We aren’t doing this because we’re greedy./The Bears are doing it to feed the needy.”

Third radio note from the weekend:

This will be of interest only to those of you who lived in the Communications Residential College at Northwestern University. I saw a bumper sticker for WCRC FM 95.7, Fairfield, Illinois. That reminded me that the dorm’s station changed its name to WXRU a few years ago after getting a complaint from 104.5 FM WXLO, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Original comments…

Steve: How awesome that Bob is the face of CRC even today!

Levi: Yeah, I decided not to point that out just to see who was interested enough to click on the link.

Toby Brown: What Levi didn’t tell you is he used to engineer Cardinal games at WROY as a teen-ager.

Here we go. From WCOL in Columbus, Ohio, circa 1963:

1230’s doubleheader
(15-second instrumental bed)

And a pair of jingles from 1970, from a no-longer-in-existence Washington, D.C., station:

Double play, WEAM

Triple play, WEAM

True, they’re not directly related to baseball, but they are more grist for my upcoming thesis “An All-American Pick Hit: Baseball Imagery in PAMS Radio Jingles, 1958-1975.”

I’ve gone through two of the nine CDs from the grab bag, and already have two baseball-related jingles…

From 1973:

WFIL, the Phillies

And from some indeterminate time in the ’70s:

WBAL, sounds like Baltimore sports
(7-second instrumental bed)
WBAL and the Orioles
(7-second instrumental bed)
WBAL, sounds like Baltimore sports

Unfortunately, neither of these is anywhere near as good as the awesome KDKA “World Champion Pirates” jingle I have, which Levi has already heard. There is, however, a 1974 series of jingles for WMAL in Washington based on the bizarre theme “we’re living in a city of song”; their longtime slogan was “where all is said and done,” so one of these jingles calls them “the saying and doing station.”

(P.S.: In case you’re curious after looking at their web site, yes, WFIL has a slightly different format now than they did back in 1973.)

Black water, keep on rolling

I’m not sure if I’m going to have room on my iPod for any additional Johnny Cash songs beyond the handful I have (“Ring of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and a couple others). This purveyor of radio station jingles has a special this month: a “grab bag” of nine random CDs for $99, which was a deal I couldn’t pass up, since those CDs are normally priced at $39(!). It won’t be such a good deal if I end up with duplicates of CDs of theirs that I already own, but still…

Anyway, the comments should be functioning properly now, thanks to some remote troubleshooting by Sandy. We lost one comment in the process, unfortunately, so perhaps the person who posted said comment would like to repost her words of wisdom.

Original comments…

Dan: If you don’t want Cash overload, yet still want to appease Levi, just bring along the Waco Brothers’ fine cover of Big River — it’s on Cowboy in Flames, which you should own, anyway.

Go Mets!

-Dan

Jim: Yeah, there’s a lot of music I should own but don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to drink that much Pepsi between now and April 30th.

It’s not all Cardinals

Lest anyone think I’ve forgotten that this site isn’t supposed to be solely about the Cardinals, how about them Tigers? Or those first-place Brewers?

Oh, and Jim: I have one more song request. When we enter the Quad Cities, we really need to be playing “Big River.” The lady who loves the big river more than she loves Johnny Cash, you might recall, does some cavortin’ in Davenport.