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Phils celebrate 40 years since ‘Phillies Fever’
- Updated: April 25, 2016
MILWAUKEE — America partied hard in 1976, and Philadelphia felt like the epicenter of the country’s bicentennial celebrations.
It had fireworks, parties and parades. President Gerald Ford spoke at Independence Hall on July 4. Queen Elizabeth II visited the city. Philly hosted the MLB, NBA and NHL All-Star Games, and the Phillies got the city excited as they marched toward their first postseason since 1950.
Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox and Dave Cash felt so good about themselves that they stepped into Queen Village Studios on the corner of 4th and Catherine Streets in the middle of the summer to record a song for Grand Prix Records called “Phillies Fever.”
The song had a disco beat and — what else? — baseball-themed lyrics.
We’ll all go dancin’, dancin’ in the streets, ‘Cause we’re the Phillies, we know we can’t beat, So come on, baby, won’t you get on down? Veterans Stadium is the hippest place in town.
Nobody got rich from the record and it is not on anybody’s best hits lists, but the 45 rpm played over the radio in Philadelphia as the Phillies cruised to the National League East title.
“Phillies Fever” still pops up every once in a while. A Phillies fan will stumble upon a recording on YouTube. Occasionally, but rarely, the song is played at a ballpark or on Philly radio or TV. The folks at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., played it once between innings during a game this spring.
Watch: Phillies Fever, a 1976 Phillies song sung by Phillies Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, David Cash, Greg Luzinski and Garry Maddox
Because it is the 40th anniversary of the recording, but mostly because it is crazy to think about Schmidt, Bowa, Luzinski, Maddox and Cash cutting a record — imagine Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and Carlos Ruiz recording a hip hop song in 2008 — MLB.com thought it would be fun to find out how this ditty got made.
Who started it?
Nobody really remembers who got the musicians together with the ballplayers, but in the book “Almost A Dynasty” by William C. Kashatus, Cash and Bowa approached the others about recording a song. Cash and Bowa recorded a song the previous summer called “Ting-a-Ling Double Play.”
Local music producer Walt Kahn liked the idea of putting the Phillies’ biggest stars on a record. He thought the novelty act could get some radio play locally, and perhaps become bigger if the Phillies won the World Series. Kahn, who died in 2013, produced songs like Skee-Lo’s “I Wish,” The Movement’s “Jump!” and the Dixie Hummingbirds’ “Loves Me Like a Rock,” a rendition of the Paul Simon song that won the 1974 Grammy for best gospel performance.
Kahn teamed up with his brother, Andy, who arranged the music. Andy Kahn wrote and produced Karen Young’s disco hit “Hot Shot.” Local musicians Lorenzo Wright, who worked with The Delfonics and The Intruders, and Rich Wing wrote the music.
Andy Kahn: “Disco was just starting to happen, you know? Everybody kind of started to jump on the bandwagon. Somehow we managed to get through to somebody who took it to Schmidt, Bowa or Maddox. Then they discussed it with the other ones. And then all of a sudden we had the five of them. They got a big kick out of the idea. They were possibly paid a session fee. My inclination is they were just given an opportunity to hang on the record and get themselves promoted and be all over the place.”
Luzinski: “We got a 45 out of it. You can’t play it anywhere, but we got a 45 out of it.”
Bowa: “Actually, I think the money we made went to the Child Guidance Resource Centers. It’s Garry’s charity.”
Lorenzo Wright: “Me and my partner, Rich Wing, we wrote a song called ‘The Boogie House.’ We wrote the hook, the whole music track. Walt Kahn decided he wanted to put the Phillies on it. He had them come in and …
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