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Thursday, April 10, 2014

The South Side Anthems: Fight Song Week Day 3

     In 1959, the Chicago White Sox made it back to the World Series for the first time since the infamous 1919 Series.  After Richard J. Daley made everybody think the Soviets were invading, the team got to work getting ready for the World Series.  All that time, they were being spurred on by this little ditty:
     Earlier that year, Al Trace(a former Sox minor leaguer) wrote the lyrics, and was looking for someone to record it.  Enter Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers, a country-comedy duo who were famed for releasing the jingles for the Roto-Rooter and Green Giant.  The song was a hit at the time, but was eventually forgotten until June 2005.  At that point, one of the employees of the Sox dusted off an old record of the song and decided to play it during a game.  The act went over without a hitch, so now the song has made a return to prominence on the South Side.


     Ever since the 1990s, the White Sox have had a distinctive way of welcoming their players into the game:
     Released by the band AC/DC in 1990, Thunderstruck quickly caught on for all kinds of sporting events, as evidenced by the video above, as well as the fact that it was used by numerous other sports teams throughout the country.


     When the White Sox made it back to the World Series in 2005 for the first time since 1959, they did so with yet another song in tow.  However, whereas the last one had been specially composed for the team, their '05 song was one of the most iconic 80s songs ever:
     The whole thing started out when some of the 2005 White Sox heard this song playing in a bar in Baltimore and liked the sound of it.  As the season wound on, the team was looking for a rally song, and this seemed to fit the bill.  After rolling through the playoffs and capturing their first World Series title since 1917, they went so far as to invite Steve Perry to their victory rally, where some of the players sang the song a capella with Perry.

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