Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
When I was in Grade 7, CKMP Radio in Midland played a song, ” Daytime, Nighttime ” by Canadian Recording artist Keith Hampshire.
A couple of years later I heard ” The First Cut Is The Deepest “, also by Keith Hampshire, for the first time and was highly impressed that I heard it on 89 WLS out of Chicago with the legendary John Landecker on the mic.
Both of those recordings still get air play on 560 CFOS almost 50 years later.
Yet, the most enduring Keith Hampshire song, in my view, is a jingle.
I spoke to Keith Hampshire recently, his daughter Laura works for Bayshore Broadcasting, and to hear him tell the story, the Toronto Blue Jays were making a video and needed a catchy tune to go with it.
Hampshire auditioned for the lead amongst a group of studio musicians who became the Bat Boys and they produced ” OK, Blue Jays “.
There’s no denying the Blue Jays fortunes were significant factors in the song’s rise in popularity.
Released in 1983, the song’s release coincided with the Jays first real attempt at glory, as they were contending in the American League East in early July.
Toronto would fall off in 1983, but the song captured Blue Jay fan spirit and became a staple of the 7th inning stretch during home games.
Almost 40 years later, baseball fans of a certain vintage know the song well, and like me, probably wonder will the stadium music systems play ” OK, Blue Jays ” during the 7th inning stretch of Blue Jays home games even if the home games are nowhere near Toronto ?
I’m Fred Wallace