Cub anthem a hit again
Goodman's 'Go Cubs Go' strikes emotional chord with fans
Steve Goodman knew the beat of a heartbreak.
He was a Cubs fan.
And now, 23 years after the Chicago folk singer's death, his anthem ''Go Cubs Go'' has become the sound of victory at Wrigley Field. This season, after every Cubs win, ''Go Cubs Go'' has been played as fans exit the ballpark. By July, more than 40,000 fans were singing along to ''Go Cubs Go,'' which Goodman wrote with a frisky Bo Diddley rhythm.
''Go Cubs Go'' has been introduced to a new generation. Even classic rockers like Lou Piniella tear up when hearing fans sing along to the song. Goodman wrote the piece in March 1984. The blue 45-rpm record was a promotional effort from WGN Radio, with proceeds going to the Neediest Kids Fund.
The '84 Cubs went to the National League Championship Series before losing to San Diego. Goodman died of complications from leukemia four days before the Cubs clinched the '84 Eastern Division title. He was 36.
Cubs marketing director Jay Blunk recalled that last season, ''Go Cubs Go'' was played alongside Kool and the Gang's ''Celebration'' a few times, but the Cubs didn't go anywhere last season. He said ''Go Cubs Go'' took off June 29 after Aramis Ramirez's walk-off home run against the Brewers.
''Go Cubs Go'' was recorded in one night on the Near North Side at Chicago Recording Co. Goodman's studio band laid down the initial track, produced by Goodman and Hank Neuberger. The group included keyboardist Pat Leonard, who went on to become Madonna's music director, and electric guitarist John Burns, who also played with John Prine and was the son of Jethro Burns of the 1960s cornball country Homer & Jethro act.
When the Cubs got hot in July 1984, Cubs players Jody Davis, Thad Bosley, Jay Johnstone and Gary Matthews were recruited to overdub another track and the single hit the streets. Davis managed the Class A Daytona (Fla.) Cubs this year.
''We started playing 'Go Cubs Go' as we went on the field this season,'' Davis said. ''They would play it low and we told them to turn it up.''
''It was a gigantic deal for Steve,'' said Burns, who now performs as a solo act in Albuquerque, N.M. ''If you were playing and someone mentioned the Cubs, he would stop the set and talk about the Cubs. When you went to a game with him, he did everything you could do: buy a scorecard and pencil, wear his Cubs hat and jacket. He would go to games with my dad. They'd get as close as they could get and heckle players.''
Goodman assembled the ''Chicago Cubs Chorus,'' a rag-tag collection of a dozen Chicago folk singers, musicians and Cubs fans. Angelo Varias was drummer for Prine and Goodman and part of the chorus.
''Steve said 'This is the most famous thing I'm going to do,''' Varias recalled. ''He passed out Cubs hats for people at the session. He made a crack about having to put WGN in the lyrics, but said, 'Hey, they're paying for it.' It was a big payday for everybody he knew. That's what was so Steve Goodman about it. He got some money from the Cubs and he was going to spread it around. It's funny, now the Cubs are paying [Alfonso] Soriano $136 million. I got paid $200 extra from the Cubs.
''When I hear all these young kids singing the song and chanting, they don't know what a blood-related thing it was for him to do this. I have no idea if there's an afterlife, but to me, this is his way of still being alive. It always makes me feel good.''
Said Blunk, ''You can tell the song was written about somebody who understands. On the last day of the [regular] season, to look at the intensity in which people were singing, it was almost a religious experience. The field was empty. The song had finished and they kept singing. These people were bonded by that song for one moment in time.''