Songs hail Green Bay Packers

The Packers' "official music" CD opens with "G-Force"
as heard at Lambeau Field.

BY STEVE SEYMOUR

The Green Bay Packers' antics on the football field have inspired millions of fans and resulted in a growing number of novelty songs, including one from the Upper Peninsula.

Musical salutes to the three-time Super Bowl champions can be traced back to 1931 when the Packers' fight song emerged.

Milwaukee-based commercial jingle writer Eric Karll composed the song which he titled "Go! You Packers! Go!"

The fight song, the first for an American professional football team, debuted at a Packers game in 1931 with a performance by the marching Lumberjack Band.

A version of the song recorded in 1992 is played at Lambeau Field during the introduction of the team and when the Packers score an extra point.

If don't know the tune, the lyrics refer to the team as "fighting fools" and urge them to "bring the bacon home to old Green Bay."

Formed in 1921, the Lumberjack Band even traveled to away games, notably those against the Chicago Bears.

The group became known as the Green Bay Packer Band during the Vince Lombardi's time as head coach.

During that time the Packers were also saluted in "Skidoo," a 1968 movie directed by Otto Preminger.

The soundtrack included "The Green Bay Packers March," written and performed by Harry Nilsson, who would have his first hit a year later with "Everybody's Talkin'."

Starring Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing, the comedy flopped, so few people heard Nilsson's tune.

Most but not all novelty songs about the Packers have been issued since their last Super Bowl victory.

In 1993, football fan Edward J. Lemberger composed and recorded "I Love My Green Bay Packers! (The Packer Polka)."

The song was issued under Lemberger's stage name, Eddy J. He send the tape to various Wisconsin area radio and television stations.

Then, Lemberger found himself singing the tune at tailgate parties as the Packers began winning games on a regular basis with new quarterback Brett Favre.

That exposure lead to Lemberger joining Packer Fan Tours as an entertainer for a number of years.

Lemberger's song includes the memorable lines: "We take our opposition and crunch 'em like they're crackers. That's why I love my Green Bay Packers."

That song and other novelty songs are included on Lemberger's CD, "Eddy J.'s Greatest Packers Hits, Plus."

Madison-based band the Wizenhiemers, meanwhile, gained notoriety for their "Go You Packers Go." Although carrying the same title as the Packers fight song, this is a different number. The tune became popular in the months prior to the Packers' third Super Bowl win in 1996 and is reminiscent of the hard rock sound of the time.

One of the most prolific Packer-tribute bands was Cheeseheads With Attitude, also known as C W A. This Oshkosh, Wis.-based trio issued three 6-song compact discs in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Emulating rappers of the time, CWA comprised Oshkosh's "St. Evie" and Milwaukee natives "Super J" and "Foolio."

All three discs, "Straight Out of Wisconsin," "Cheeseheads for Life" and "Say Cheese," appeared on the Cheezee Records label.

Their first disc opened with the original "Wedge of Allegiance," but also included their lyrics put to songs by the likes of Tone Loc and the Beastie Boys.

"Cheeseheads for Life," meanwhile featured the group's own tune, "The Tundra Cheer" as well as Packers-inspired adaptations of "YMCA" by the Village People, "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors and "Three Little Pigs" from Green Jello.

Their final disc boasted the original compositions "I Love Eating Cheese" and "Packer Bar Song" and parody lyrics for Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'N Roll."

Even the Packers got into the musical action.

Wide receiver Robert Brooks perfected the Lambeau Leap, and turned it into a song.

The celebratory leap is immortalized in the song "Jump" which Brooks issued on his own label, Shoo In 4 Life Records, Inc.

Released in 1996, the song was written, arranged, produced and performed by the football star.

The song, which mentions then-current Packers LeRoy Butler, Reggie White and Brett Favre, as well as team legends Bart Starr and Don Hudson, explains how the "Lambeau Leap" created a bond between the team and fans.

Today, you can purchase "The Official Music of the Green Bay Packers" compact disc at the team's Pro Shop in Green Bay. The CD comprises "G-Force," "Lambeau's Where the Party's At," "Runnin' With the Big Dogs," "Packers Tailgate," "Get Down," "Packin' the Heat," "G-Force Has the Guts," "Lambeau Leap," "Let's Go Green Bay," "One for the Tundra" and "Bring on the Heroes." The opening track was a hit single, according to a sticker on the album cover.

In 1985, Marquette's Bill Etten and the Heritage Band scored a big regional hit with "We Go Green Bay." The polka's chorus was especially catchy: "We go see Packers; we watch them play. When they score touchdown; we shout hooray."

Clocking in at just under three minutes, the tune was issued as a 7-inch 45 rpm single on Jack Pine Records.

Written by Etten, J. R. Labby and Ed Wales, "We Go Green Bay" was produced by Labby and Michael McKelvy at Studio 8 in Ishpeming.

Etten estimated 20,000 copies were sold in Yooperland and Packerland.

Actually, the Packers have been tied to the U. P. from the beginning.
Not only do thousands of Packers fans live in northern Michigan, but the Green Bay squad played six games against U. P. teams during the 1919 and 1920 seasons. The Packers played Stambaugh three times, Menominee twice and Ishpeming once, grabbing a victory in every contest. During the game at Ishpeming, Packers' players suffered broken bones on their first three running plays. With only 17 players remaining, Curly Lambeau decided to finish the game with only passes and punts, winning 33-0.

Growing up during the 1960s, the Packers were on every Sunday during football season, at home or at camp.

During the Bart Starr era, I was even lucky enough to attend a home game in Green Bay.

Of course the game was exciting, but I've aways loved a good Packer novelty song too.
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U. P. man's songs on 'Gunsmoke'

Manistique resident Fred D. Heltman composed
ragtime sheet music early in his career and had
several of his songs used in the "Gunsmoke" TV
program in 1960.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

When Fred D. Heltman died in Manistique in 1960, his music career had taken him from writing "rags" early in the century to having his compositions included in a hit television western.

"Gunsmoke" was just five years into its two-decade run when Heltman's songs were used on the CBS-network program.

Heltman passed away on Aug. 1, 1960, just a few months after his songs were used as "background music" on the series which starred James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone and Dennis Weaver.

The television exposure brought the 73-year-old composer, who self-published "Carrie Belle Waltzes" as a teenager, into a new medium.

Although he resided at Schoolcraft County's Indian Lake when he died, Heltman was born in Ashland, Ohio on May 3, 1887, according to his obituary.

The young Heltman began taking music lessons at the age of six and had a small orchestra in high school, playing for local dances.

At 16, Heltman composed his first piece of piano music, selling the composition door-to-door in Ashland, before moving to Cleveland a few years later.

He was a student at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music, located near Cleveland.

Gaining early notoriety, he wrote the march "School Ma'am" for a convention of the National Education Association.

In 1908, Heltman wrote "Daisy Rag," "Wedding Ring Waltz" and "Won't You Love Me Honey." Each of these sold in the thousands as sheet music for piano.

He sold "Daisy Rag" to Sam Fox Publishing Co. and used the proceeds to publish additional songs.

One of his biggest successes came with "Chewin' the Rag," published in 1912.

His composition "Just Dreaming of You" is said to have sold nearly half a million copies.

The Edison record label recorded his song "Come to Me," while RCA Victor also recorded his songs.

With his reputation in the music business growing, Heltman was asked by composer Irving Berlin to be a founding member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), but he declined.

During the 1920s, Heltman traveled the continental United States, playing his compositions and distributing his sheet music to department stores in all 48 states.

Heltman married his wife, the former Evelyn Learn, on June 26, 1911 and fathered three children, Fred, Harriet and Mary Jane.

Historians note that the ragtime musical genre was most popular from 1897 to 1918 when jazz captured the public's imagination.

Also known for two-steps and marches, some of Heltman's compositions sold into the millions of copies, according to sheet music aficionados.

The composer was most prolific between 1908 and 1927. He owned and operated Heltman Music Publishing Co. in Cleveland for 31 years.

Besides sheet music, Heltman also received royalties from the manufacture of rolls for player pianos.

The Great Depression proved a difficult period for music publishing. However, one of Heltman's numbers was used in the 1933 hit movie "State Fair," starring Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor.

Heltman exited the music publishing business in the early 1940s and "retired" to his summer home in Schoolcraft County's Hiawatha Township.

From 1940 until 1957, Heltman owned and operated Hovey Resort at Indian Lake.

In 1951, Heltman became executive secretary of the Top O' Lake Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a position he held until his death.

At the time Heltman's songs appeared on "Gunsmoke," the program was 30-minutes long and shot in black & white.

Fifty year later, it's not clear which of Heltman's compositions were used since the program's closing credits didn't include such information.

Viewers heard the Manistique resident's ragtime piano tunes alongside the familiar "Gunsmoke Theme Song."

Also known as "The Old Trail" and "Boot Hill," the musical theme was penned by Rex Koury.

Other composers whose works appeared on "Gunsmoke" include Elmer Bernstein, who scored "The Magnificent Seven" and Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote the music for "100 Rifles."

Growing up, I remember watching "Gunsmoke," just like millions of other western fans.

I was probably too young to have seen the earliest episodes when they first aired, but by the 1960s, "Gunsmoke" was a staple on Saturday nights at our house.

While my parents were out square-dancing, my Grandmother Garrett and I would put my brothers and sisters to bed and settle down in front of our Emerson television set waiting for Marshal Matt Dillion to win the gunfight sequence which opened "Gunsmoke."

I don't know if we ever saw the episode which featured Heltman's songs, but if we did I know my Grandmother would have been proud of the composer, since she was a former Manistique resident herself.

Of course, I never dreamed that "Gunsmoke" could have any connection to the Upper Peninsula.

When Heltman died suddenly in 1960, popular music had evolved from sheet music to enormous exposure thanks to radio, television and motion pictures.

Ragtime music, meanwhile, enjoyed a major revival in 1973 when the genre was used in the soundtrack to the movie "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

The film's soundtrack consisted entirely of early rag time composer Scott Joplin's songs.

Pianist Marvin Hamlisch, also a composer and conductor, recorded a version of Joplin's "The Entertainer."

Originally written in 1902, the song reached the Top Ten in the spring of 1974.

Had he lived, Heltman would certainly have smiled at the success of "The Entertainer," and the return of ragtime music to widespread popularity.
###

Fendermen's hit touched U. P.

Phil Humphrey, center, and Jim Sundquist,
right, added drummer Johnny Hauer to the Fendermen
when they performed with Johnny Horton in Sault Ste.
Marie,Mich. in early May 1960.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

The Fendermen, known for the massively-popular "Mule Skinner Blues," weren't from the Upper Peninsula, but they are closely tied to the area.

Comprised of Phil Humphrey (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Jim Sundquist (lead guitar), the duo's novelty song grabbed the public's attention in 1960.

Sundquist hailed from Niagra, Wis., just across the Michigan border from neighboring Iron Mountain and Kingsford.

Early publicity in the music trade magazine Billboard erroneously stated Sundquist was from Iron Mountain, although some shows may have been booked from that Dickinson County community. Other sources claim Kingsford as Sundquist's birthplace.

In addition to that geographical kinship, the Fendermen played one of their most noteworthy shows in the eastern U. P. city of Sault Ste. Marie.

Coincidentally, both musicians were born on Nov. 26, 1937. As a teenager, Sundquist took up the guitar and played in a local band, graduating from Niagra High School in 1955. Meanwhile, Madison, Wis. native Humphrey started singing at age eight and had his own band by the time he was a junior in high school.

The two met at a party in Milwaukee and later started playing together, calling themselves the Fendermen after the famous brand of guitars they used.

They learned a variety of cover material including "Mule Skinner Blues." Also known as "Blue Yodel #8," the song was written and recorded by country star Jimmie Rodgers in 1930.

The duo played a number of small gigs in the Madison area, where their version of the old number was wildly received by audiences.

Wherever Humphrey sang "Good morning, captain. Good morning to you, son. Do you need another muleskinner on your new mud line," the reaction was the same.

At one performance, the Fendermen were approached by record store owner William Dreger who encouraged them to wax the song for a possible single.

Consequently, the Fendermen taped "Mule Skinner Blues" and the original instrumental "Janice" (a tribute to Sundquist's wife) in Dreger's basement.

Dreger's tape eventually made its way to Jim Kirchstein who recently opened Cuca Studio in Sauk City, Wis. Kirchstein saw promise in the record, which became one of the first releases on the fledgling label.

Despite being a hit in concert, radio stations were slow to add the record to their playlists until Lindy Shannon spun the disc on WKBH in LaCrosse, Wis.

Demand for the record exploded from that humble beginning, but Cuca couldn't get additional copies manufactured quick enough.

With a hot commodity on their hands, an agreement was made to bring the Fendermen to Soma Records in Minneapolis where they re-recorded "Mule Skinner Blues" at Kay Bank Studios. The song was paired with the original instrumental "Torture" as Soma 1137.

Co-founded by Amos and Dan Heilicher in 1957, Soma issued Bobby Vee's first hit, garnering the marketing expertise to push "Mule Skinner Blues" up the charts.

A few weeks after their trip to Minneapolis, the Fendermen had enough notoriety to launch them on a year-long tour.

Their first "big-time" show took place at Sault Ste. Marie in May, 1960.

They weren't headliners, but opened for Johnny Horton, famous for "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck."

The Fendermen added drummer Johnny Hauer to their line-up to fill-out their live sound.

Despite their excitement at sharing the stage with Horton, the Fendermen were in for a bigger thrill when they were named as an "extra added attraction" for a show at the Minneapolis Auditorium on May 15, 1960. On this occasion, Horton was second billed to Johnny Cash, while the city's disc jockeys were giving "Mule Skinner Blues" heavy airplay.

On Saturday, June 11, the Fendermen played their hit on "American Bandstand," Dick Clark's coast-to-coast television program.

Billboard feted them in their "Discourse" column in the June 13 magazine: "The Fendermen are a new duo on the scene making it with a fast climber on Billboard's Hot 100, 'Mule Skinner Blues.' Jim Sundquist, from Iron Mountain, Mich., and Phil Humphrey, from Madison, Wis., make up the Fendermen. With a solid musical background-- Phil had a rock and roll band for three years-- the boys are off to a good record start on Soma Records."

The following week the magazine ran a brief article, "Fendermen Score Via 'Mule Skinner Blues'," complete with a photo of the pair. "The boys are currently making personal appearances around the country," the publication noted.

At mid-summer, "Mule Skinner Blues" charted as high as No. 5.

In August, Soma ran a full-page advertisement promoting the Fendermen's next single, "Don't You Just Know It," backed by an original instrumental titled "Beach Party."

Billboard recognized the disc as "Spotlight Winner of the Week," saying: "The instrumental-vocal combo is just coming off a strong hit in 'Mule Skinner Blues' and this reprise of an earlier Huey Smith smash, which is handled with crazy sound and laughter, can repeat. Watch it."

Soma encouraged disc jockeys to send for free copies and stocked its 37 distributors with the product, including JayKay Distribution of Detroit.

Minneapolis booking agent T. B. Skarning arranged for the group to tour the western United States beginning with Pocatello, Idaho on Aug. 22 and ending Sept. 2 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Fendermen gigged in Los Angles from Aug. 26 to 28, Sundquist remembering playing with the Ventures, who were riding high with "Walk--Don't Run."

Despite the publicity push, the Fendermen's second single only managed to crack the "Bubbling Under" section of the Hot 100 chart.

Billboard reported in Sept. that rocker Gene Vincent ("Be-Bop-A-Lula") was on tour in Alaska, accompanied by the Fendermen.

In the magazine's Mar. 13, 1961 issue, Soma ran just a small display ad to announce the Fendermen's third 45 rpm disc, "Heartbreakin' Special"/ "Can't You Wait." Billboard predicated: "The Fendermen could jump back on the charts with these strong sides. Top side is a driving train song sung with gusto by Phil Humphrey. Flip is pretty ballad." The record garnered few sales and little airplay despite the positive comments.

Weeks later the Fendermen were touring Canada with the Fireballs ("Bulldog") and Buddy Knox ("Party Doll"), Billboard reported.

Although the Fendermen can be classified as one-hit wonders, Soma did follow-up with a 12-track LP in 1962, which came too late to capitalize on the success of "Mule Skinner Blues."

That same year Sundquist and Humphrey amicably dissolved their partnership and Soma Records settled a lawsuit with the tiny Cuca label, ending a dispute regarding payment for leasing the first recording of the hit song two years before.

"Mule Skinner Blues" is still played on radio today, keeping alive a recording which has sold an estimated 4,500,000 copies worldwide. Not bad for a little duo from the upper midwest, eh?
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Heikki Lunta 45 launched legend

The record label for "Heikki Lunta's
Snow Dance Song" revealed few facts,perhaps
adding to the snow god legend which began in
the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

In the Upper Peninsula's Keweenaw Peninsula some residents believe playing a 45 rpm record can bring snow, or stop it.

The belief sprung from a jingle called "Heikki Lunta's Snow Dance Song" written and recorded by radio station employee Dave Riutta in 1970. (For those not familiar with Finnish, the name is pronounced HAY-key LOON-ta.)

"Now I'll sing my song to make the snow come down," Riutta vocalized with a familiar Finnish accent, urging the snow to fall from the sky.

Riutta accompanies himself on guitar on the austere number.

Complete with introduction, the recording lasts a brief 75 seconds.

Riutta's song was played on Hancock-based radio station WMPL-AM 920, then owned by Bob Olsen.

Known locally as Wimple, the station was promoting a snowmobile race threatened by an uncharacteristic lack of snow.

Listeners responded positively to the song and so did the weather. It snowed. A lot. Perhaps too much, some say.

The snowmobile race went on as planned and a legend was born.

Located at 326 Quincy St. in downtown Hancock, WMPL soon discovered the song was immensely popular among its large Finnish-American audience.

Responding to demand, the station pressed up 45 rpm copies of the song for sale to the public.

The 7-inch single features a blue label with silver printing and carries the catalog number 326, the same numerical configuration found in the station's street address.

Riutta's name does not appear on the record, however, which is copyrighted by WMPL.

The label is listed as Heikki Records and Heikki Lunta is credited as both composer and artist.

Perhaps the label's mysterious lack of details helped shape the Heikki Lunta legend.

The Heikki Lunta character was conceived by Riutta. From Finnish, the name translates into "Henry Snow," or informally, "Hank Snow."

You may remember Hank Snow as a popular Canadian country and western performer who scored his first chart-topper in 1950 with "I'm Moving On."

Although many Copper Country residents credited the Heikki Lunta record with bringing the needed snow, not everyone was happy with the increased precipitation.

When Riutta was blamed for the seemingly endless snow apparently brought on by his original song, he wrote "Heikki Lunta, Go Away," utilizing new lyrics but the same instrumental background.

"I'd do a little bragging, if the roof on my shack weren't sagging," he sang about the excessive snow in the follow-up recording.

"Heikki Lunta, Go Away" was paired with "Heikki Lunta's Snow Dance Song" on a second pressing of the 45 rpm record.

I listened to my vinyl copy of the two tunes the other day, imagining the mythical power contained in those grooves.

The single had a dual purpose: it could make snow come, or make it go away.

Both songs were embraced by a Finnish-American community raised on polkas, waltzes and schottisches.

Heikki Lunta had entered local lore as a fresh "snow god," perhaps descended from Choine, the ancient Greek goddess of snow, the daughter of Boreas, also known as the North Wind.

From a humble start, Heikki Lunta has spread to Finnish-American enclaves in the western Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin, northeastern Minnesota and beyond.

According to Copper Country resident Jim Kurtti, Heikki Lunta was mentioned on the Today Show and the Tonight Show, two very popular television programs.

Folks in the central U. P. celebrate the legend at an annual Heikki Lunta Winterfest, next slated to be held on Jan. 15 and 16, 2011 at Teal Lake in Negaunee.

In fact, the Heikki Lunta phenomenon is taken seriously enough that Indiana University-Bloomington graduate student and Copper Country native Hilary Virtanen chose to write her master's degree thesis on the topic a few years ago.

In the four decades since Riutta's songs were first aired, other acts have added their own ditties to the Heikki Lunta canon.

Ishpeming's Da Yoopers and the Marquette-Negaunee area's Conga Se Menne have both taped salutes to Heikki Lunta.

Known as a Finnish reggae band, Conga Se Menne recorded "Guess Who's Coming to Sauna? (Heikki Lunta!)." (The sauna, of course, is a Finnish bath house, pronounced SOW-na).

James A. DeCaire and Rodney E. Potila composed "Heikki Lunta" as recorded by Da Yoopers, a comedy troupe famous for "Second Week of Deer Camp."

Published by Yah Hey Music, Da Yoopers' tribute song debuted on their 1991 album "Yoopy Do Wah."

The disc's liner notes contain a "Yooper dictionary" which defines Heikki Lunta as "the god of snow in Yooperland mythology."

Clocking in at 3:08, the song includes a catchy "Dance, dance, dance, Heikki Lunta, dance" chorus.

The Conga Se Menne song, meanwhile, is said to be inspired by "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (Natty Dreadlocks)," a reggae number by the Jamaican group Black Uhuru.

Conga Se Menne's number received some national attention and is found on their "Finnish Reggae and Other Sauna Beats" compact disc from 1995.

Dave Riutta, the man who conceived Heikki Lunta, still lives in the Copper Country and performs in a band called Wing Nuts.

Radio station WMPL still sells "Heikki Lunta's Snow Dance Song" and "Heikki Lunta, Go Away" on a compact disc for $13.

Whether the CD versions of "Heikki Lunta" retain the power of the original 45 rpm records is an open question. The answer probably doesn't matter.

The "snow god" Heikki Lunta proved his virility in the Keweenaw Peninsula decades ago when a song changed the weather.