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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Spike Shannon and the White Rats: "Ol' Abner Doubleday Has Done It Again" (1987)

Dang! Two years ago today I did my first post on CNQ. It's been a fun hobby and I plan to continue to do it, posting at about the rate I have been, i.e., whenever it strikes my fancy to do so.

I mentioned a few posts back my pal Jerry loaned me a box of his 45s, which he hadn't opened in several years. Tonight, in honor of CNQ's two year anniversary, I present a rare gem courtesy Jerry's sweet collection. This, as far as I can tell, has yet to be seen or heard on the Internets. And since showcasing obscurities was my original raison d'être for this blog, I'm stoked to share this one tonight - for historical and educational purposes only, of course. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

Especially if you, like my pal Jerry, are a Saint Louis Cardinals fan. If, however, you are like me, and you know very little about baseball, and even less about the Cards and former player/sportscaster Mike Shannon, then at first listen you may be a bit befuddled by this St. Louis in-joke of a novelty song.

This was produced by Craig Hawksley, Frank Runge, and Bob Gleason, copyright 1987, Imagitrax Recording Co., Funny Bone Productions. Lyrics by Hawksley, Music by Runge, sax by one Ty Perry, and engineered by Gleason. Below the copyright date and above the time (2:40) is the number #7891814. I wonder what that signifies.

Craig Hawksley is a comedian and TV commercial-guy from Saint Louis - he's even got a couple of movies under his belt - here's his IMDB entry.

Mike Shannon was a ballplayer for the Cards in the 60s, and went on to be a sportscaster who seems to be infamous for Yogi Berra type funny quotes. Said quotes seem to be the main focus of what Hawksley is poking fun at here.

So pitiful is my knowledge of baseball, I also had to look up Abner Doubleday. Per Wikipedia, Doubleday was not in fact the inventor of baseball, but he was a president of the Theosophical Society.

The flip side to this is the label printed backward and then the song itself in reverse. Clever stuff.

So, happy birthday to CNQ, and go Cards!