The title “Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel” is a fusion of Jack Brickhouse’s signature line, “Hey, Hey,” and Vince Lloyd’s signature line, “Holy Mackerel!” Vince Lloyd’s radio partner was Lou Boudreau, a former player for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. In the 1960 season, the Cubs were on such a bad losing streak P.K. Wrigley decided to make a drastic change by taking Boudreau out of the radio booth and sending him down to manage the team, while at the same time sending the current team manager Charlie Grimm up to the radio booth. The experiment failed, however, and the next season Lou Boudreau was once again announcing on WGN radio. Released in 1969, “Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel” is a former intro to Cubs games for WGN radio. Jazz great and author of the song, John Frigo, recently passed away, and we hope he would be pleased with this new version of the song. This recording of the classic song was arranged and performed by The John Crawford Jazz Band.
The John Crawford Jazz Band hails from Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is a city located about an hour north of Chicago. In 1980 while in college, John and his wife, Susan, began performing together , primarily in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. They play standard jazz tunes at local night clubs, weddings, and other occasions.
The musicians performing this version of “Hey, Hey Holy Mackerel” are as follows: John Crawford on piano and musical arrangement, Susan Crawford and David Kennedy on vocals, Tim Bell on clarinet, Tom Meredith on trumpet, Mike Gudbaur on bass, and Shane Mooney on drums.
