In further praise of Chuck Armstrong
I know, I know, right? A couple months ago I was slagging him and Lincoln, predicting they’d hire a friendly lemur with a great resume to run the team, and now I keep writing about how much I appreciated their support of the shuttle buses and now this, courtesy of Shannon Drayer:
I ran into Chuck Armstrong who had a sparkle in his eye as he told me enthusiastically “I am heading to the control room. I don’t want to hear that “Day-Oh!” song anymore. That’s a Yankee Stadium song!”
Yes! YES! YES EXACTLY!!!
For whatever reason, that little thing’s grated on me like nothing else. I don’t mind the most annoying clap-along a tenth as much as I hate that Day-Oh call-response thing. It just drives me crazy. I know this is dumb, given how many games I’ve seen, but every time I heard that in the opening series telecasts the chance of me keeping to my draft schedule of games I want to go to dropped 1%.
If he makes this stick, I’ll be overjoyed.
Also, Shannon Drayer’s great.
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49 Responses to “In further praise of Chuck Armstrong”
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Not to detract from Shannon (who is awesome), but from the same blog post:
We knew it! He’s a machine!
Really? You don’t like the “Day-Oh!” song, DMZ?
I wouldn’t want the crowds in Seattle to be as obnoxious as a Yankee Stadium crowd, but I wish they were as loud as one.
Or better yet, I wish we were as loud as a Fenway crowd. . .
Hooray! Accidental double post!
Yeah, I put that Ichiro quote in the “exclamation point” thread.
And Shannon Drayer is awesome. Seriously, if you don’t read her blog you miss about half of what’s going on with the team — the half that doesn’t show up in the game recap or box scores. Like how Endy is tutoring Betancourt on bunting, or who the funniest guys in the bullpen are, or Ichiro quotes like that.
As for “Day-O” — well, I really don’t give a damn what they play: it all seems equally silly, and that song never bothered me any (even though I’ve seen games at Yankee Stadium, I’ve never thought of that as a peculiarly Yankee song since I’ve heard it elsewhere as well). But I have to say my opinion of Armstrong went up a notch when they hired Zduriencik and mostly got out of his way. The next test is the trade deadline, however that works out (unless he and Lincoln find some way to muck up the draft).
It’s time to bring back that classic rally song “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
The Mariners fans need to develop sometime of rally call. I get so tired of seattle fans only standing up when the ‘big screen’ tells them, or cheering and getting loud when the ‘big screen’ tells them. You are at a game, PLEASE cheer for the team. Not saying your less of a fan or anything like that. I just think we as Mariner fans need just like Tom said to become a loud Stadium. I’m quiet certain this park could become one of the most feared places to play for hitters.
I am 100% behind you, DMZ. The ‘Day-O’ sucks. I think the whole concept of sound bytes isn’t very good at Safeco. Maybe they’re trying to appeal to the broadest audience, but it seems to me that there isn’t much creativity. And maybe wanting to hear the the tag line of Fela Kuti’s ‘Waka waka’ when Wak walks out to the mound is dorky, but it’s better than the canned stuff that never seems to change.
Its called the Banana Boat Song, and I think it’s pretty lame. We need our own PNW born and bred band song. We should have an informal poll on USSM and send the results to Chuck; he seems to have some sort of abiding interest in the matter. My vote is for Soundgarden’s “Ty Cobb”: baseball reference, good beat, and the fans can sing along with the chorus: “I wanna f**k you all, I wanna f**k you all, etc”. Or they could just play it at Yankee games, they’d understand the sentiment.
How about on little league day, right after the Spongebob Squarepants Song? But seriously, I’m all with a NW theme song, but it has to fit right.
for all the complaints we have about the hydros, the groundskeepers, etc., I was interested to hear Mike Salk (former Sawx reporter) say after his first visit to Safeco that it was refreshing to have so little “fan entertainment” in a stadium …
Finally a post that I can ask this question without being off topic!
What’s the name of the song the Mariners use to introduce the players? Same song they play when they win…no lyrics…techno sounding…you know…
I want it as a ring-tone…
Any info out there?
And here’s the great Yankee writer Peter Abraham’s take on fan entertainment:
Meanwhile, it’s Cowbell Day at the Trop. Imagine my delight. There needs to be a Shut The Hell Up And Watch The Game Day at parks.
Chuck seems to be listening, so I agree we should so some type of write-in and then send him the results.
Also, for those not paying attention, the biggest Yankee concern right now is the lack of noise in their new stadium–so i’m not sure now is the time to want to sound like yankee stadium fans… maybe old yankee stadium fans.
Finally a post that I can ask this question without being off topic!
What’s the name of the song the Mariners use to introduce the players? Same song they play when they win…no lyrics…techno sounding…you know…
Is that the same song they play when they start a late rally. It’s ominous and minor sounding, and yeah, pretty techno. I don’t go to enough games to know if it is also the intro/win song, but I’ve always wanted to know the name of the rally one.
My wife and I looked at each other on opening day when they played that and said, in unison, “you’ve got to be kidding.” Glad to see it’s going away.
Maybe he’ll replace it with a highlight reel of all of Bavasi’s stellar signings. It’d be about as long as “Day-Oh”
Thank the Maker Day-0 is finally going away. Every time its been played, the word ‘yankee’ pops into my head.
Shannon Drayer is awesome. I never knew that about the Veteran Bus and the Rookie Bus (Q: which one does Washburn throw Rob Johnson under?). Pretty pathetic, when did that start and who’s idea was it? Hopefully it’s some leftover legacy of the Cater To Veteran’s era.
Haven’t been this year yet, but it used to be Zombie Nation (going back to 2000 or 2001). Not sure if they’re still using it or not, but it fits the description.
WOW – that’s incredible – honestly I was screaming that the entire time during that game.
Hilarious
years and years ago, and with many teams.
The band is Zombie Nation, the song is called “Kernkraft 400”. They use the “soccer remix” (or “sport chant stadium remix”) of the song.
When I hear it, I am reminded of the erstwhile Bon Marche and their Memorial Day sales.
If I could change anything they play at Safeco, Day-Oh would only be my second choice. Zombie Nation wins in a landslide. That is most generic and most annoying stadium song ever IMO.
Speaking of things they do at the stadium, Derek you asked Tony about the possibility of displaying non-traditional stats this year. I haven’t been to a game yet, have they done it?
Yeah, we need some new music. If Armstrong is going to ban certain songs (and I’m all for that) he needs to empower his control room people to go out and get new stuff, too.
You know, getting some sort of original music shouldn’t be hard in this town. The Presidents of the USA did that “Supersonics, Oh Yeah” song a few years back; there has to be some band in town that would like to do something similar… especially if the M’s paid (and it wouldn’t have to be much).
Heh. That probably wouldn’t fly… but suppose somebody did an instrumental version of that, without the “offensive” lyrics? It would be a great inside joke to play it at opportune moments (bad calls, rallies by the other team, any time the Yankees are on the field, etc).
I believe Mix is still around at least part time, and he seems completely happy to pimp out his oeuvre for a few bucks. “I like big bats and I cannot lie…” would make a great rally song. Or maybe he can re-purpose “Put ‘Em on the Glass” to mean HR balls hitting the windows of the Hit It Here Cafe? 😉
But really, there are tons of local bands with a lot of talent, and unlike the grunge years a fair number of them do up-tempo sing-along-anthem sorts of things and so could write something that might work in a stadium setting. (U.S.E., MXPX, etc, I’m sure I’ll think of better examples )
BTW, technically (or techno-ally) I think the band (which is really just one German guy) is called “Zombie Nation” and the song is actually called Kernkraft 400. But since that’s weird and obscure and nobody (except real techno geeks) have heard of anything else by them/him, the song and band are synonymous.
Yes, thank you Derek…that chant is flipping annoying! Although it’s used to be kinda fun to answer back with “Yankees suck and they wanna go home!” whenever the Yanks were in town. 🙂
Ah, actually, no.
Yes, thank you. Unfortunately, that one might make a comeback this summer, since one of the “hot new” club tunes that’s been out lately is actually a remix of that — as if you hadn’t heard it enough already the first time it was out years ago.
What do you think Louie Louie is?
I agree. That “Day-oh” and the stupid clapping thing is all NY stuff. Why are we trying to copy them? It’s a new day, and a new way! Let’s find some new Franklin Gutierrez song/noise that we can play each time he makes an amazing play (so we can hear it about 3 times a game!).
Actually, I kinda like Zombie Nation, because they played the hell out of it in 2001 and it brings back fond memories.
Speaking of old German techno bands, it might be kinda cool to use “We Are The Robots” by Kraftwerk for in-game music. 🙂
If German music must be used, my vote goes for KOMPRESSOR.
KOMPRESSOR is less German than I am.
Shhhhh!
I have something better…
Replace the dancing music after “Take me out to the ballgame” with Caramelldansen ~Speedycake Remix~ by Caramell.
I would LOVE to see an entire stadium do that dance. Heh.
If we’re going for NW born songs you could do a whole lot worse than the Wailers’ “Out of Our Tree.”
Personally I wish they’d pick a better version of “Louie Louie” to play during the 7th inning stretch, but maybe that’s just me.
I’m with Lokiforever:
Day-oh.
One-day sa-a-a-ale.
One day only at de Bon Marche.
How about some Discharge, or Whitehouse, pure electronic noise? Maybe some Throbbbing Gristle? Something to terrify the kiddies and make people feel ill?
What we REALLY need is some singing, English football style. No music, just 50,000 mostly male voices serenading our opponents’ wives’ sexual preferences.
KMFDM! Einstürzende Neubauten!
Now we’re talking “fan friendly!”
I’m a bit on this but I have to completely concur. This “Day Oh” or banana boat song has got to go! When I first heard it on Opening Day, my very words were “That’s that damn Yankee song!” Get rid of it! Thank you, George!
I heard the Mariners are going with the Jack in the Box “Mini Sirloin Burgers” song as the new stadium anthem 😉
Which is also what’s kind of old-school-cool about Australian football…at the end of the game, no “Zombie Nation” or anything equally annoying…just the winning team’s fight song, with tens of thousands of fans joining in.
Only when Silva is pitching, though. 😉
cue the old guy voice…
You kids today are lucky. In my day, we used to have to do the Macarena. Every game!
(now imagine that Mariner commercial where all the young pitchers run screaming from the camp fire)
Funny you mention that- I have been complaining to a friend via IM all day about that horrible jingle being stuck in my head. I read this post and comments, and then told him it had been replaced by the Banana Boat Song. Can’t say that is much of an upgrade. Please, someone mention something catchy and good, stat.
Cotton Eyed Joe comes out of that same sewer. Who knows how to get it flushed?
I’d rather hear Perry Como doing The Bluest Skies You’ll Ever See. Really.
Actually, Scott Miller did a really cool cover of that as well on an old Game Theory album.
As for “Cotton-Eyed Joe”, that was a real mutant. I mean, country-rock or country-crossover are at understandable as musical sub-genres…but country-disco? YEEEESH!
Perfect song for the seventh-inning stretch: Centerfield by John Fogerty.
One of the classic anthems of the game, by far.
If they did a different Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys song every game, that’d be different. But “Cotton-Eyed Joe” gets old. All this stuff sounds like it comes out of MLB’s central marketing department, not the fans, the club, or even Seattle generally.
If the Mariners really want to get the crowd pumped up, they should just hire ‘Techno Viking’ to come out dance between innings. Gar-un-teed crowd pleaser!
Check him out…
You mean the one that goes “they’re the size of schnauzers… but they’re cattle…”? Did you manage to get it out of your head yet?