March 2022
[Read the original version published on Storied Stuff]
I didn’t own a stereo until freshman year in college when some of my high school buddies hitchhiked from Chicago to Grinnell to present me with my first stereo. My family had no stereo or record player so growing up, I played no albums or 45s. I spent most of my time when I was in our apartment, watching TV with my parents. Otherwise, I listened to music on AM radio. The stereo gift and the weekend sojourn to Grinnell were surprises rendered insignificant by the happenstance delivery method that accompanied the gift and my friends. The guy who picked up my hitchhiking buddies was Steve Goodman, for us one of the most exhilarating performers we hitched our wagons to. I'm told my buddies got into the car and Goodman asked where they were headed. They said Grinnell and he said what a coincidence, I'm playing at Grinnell tonight.
The gig was in an intimate setting as with most things at Grinnell. At one point Goodman says apparently somebody here has a birthday. Why don't we give that person a chance for a request. I asked for I'm My Own Grandpaw, a goofball song from the’40s that Goodman sings with relish.
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| Album I bought used for $20 that I unearthed from the basement for this story. |
As with most stories worth remembering, this one would resonate throughout my life. One stop off point is when I met Margie who would become my wife. Our first date was to go to Milwaukee Summerfest because they were featuring Steve Goodman. We fell in love that day of course and the rest would be only the beginning of a storied history.
Early the following fall, on Sept. 24, 1984, the Cubs clinched their first post-season opportunity since 1945. Goodman, possibly the Cubs’ most enduring fan, didn’t get a chance to celebrate. Twelve years into his bout with leukemia, he died four days before the Cubs clinched. He had written “The Go Cubs Go” anthem and “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request,” which he'd been singing since 1981.
At the time, I was working at WBBM Newsradio and was responsible a few months later for writing a year-ender about Goodman.
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| Copy of the 1984 year-ender script I wrote about Goodman. I discovered it as I was writing this piece, stashed away in the album jacket in the basement. |
Fast forward to children. We have two. A couple of years ago, Noah the younger and I decided to create a game together. It's evolved into Lines n’Lyrix, an online game that that riffs off of song lines. From the lyrics on the screen, you guess the name of the song, who's known for singing it and who wrote it. The game is now up to 34 editions and more than 900 songs. We release five questions online a day.
If you play, and we hope you will, we’re providing the readers of Storied Stuff an exclusive hint and two teases. You’ll find I'm My Own Grandpaw in the country edition. Check out Q. 5 when you play.
As a bonus, you can find five Goodman tunes buried in various editions. You’ll have to play to unearth them. It’s worth it. Where else would you find, “Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car, penny a point ain't no one keepin' score. Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle, Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.”
Or “And then one thing led to another And soon I discovered alcohol, gambling, dope Football, hockey, lacrosse, tennis. But what do you expect? When you raise up a young boy's hopes And then just crush 'em like so many paper beer cups Year after, year after, year After year, after year, after year, after year, after year 'Till those hopes are just so much popcorn For the pigeons beneath the 'L' tracks to eat.”
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