Irving Burgie ("Day-O" composer)

[Ccook55]

Irving Burgie, calypso songwriter whose 50s hit "Day-O" became a hit again in 1988 through the movie Beetlejuice, was 95. No cause was given.

 

[landtuna]

Used to hear that song almost daily back in my high school days (on a Top-40 station) then nothing for about 3 decades. Then.....

I was astonished to hear the crowd at a Montreal Canadien hockey game sing it. What possible connection does a 50's calypso song have with the mostly French-Canadian hockey crowd?

Still do not understand that connection.

 

[TheBigA]

Still do not understand that connection.

Call & response. Very basic musical technique. They're not responding to the song, but the call & response.

A 90s country star named Neal McCoy used to use the exact same refrain in his show. Any time the audience was starting to get quiet, all he had to do is shout "Day-O," and everyone shouted it right back at him. They have no reason to know the song, but the know how to respond.

 

[CTListener]

Used to hear that song almost daily back in my high school days (on a Top-40 station) then nothing for about 3 decades. Then.....

I was astonished to hear the crowd at a Montreal Canadien hockey game sing it. What possible connection does a 50's calypso song have with the mostly French-Canadian hockey crowd?

Still do not understand that connection.

Not sure if they still do, but I recall Canadiens crowds stomping and clapping to "Hava Nagila" during the dead times between the puck being whistled dead and the ensuing faceoff. It wasn't being played to entertain the team's Jewish fan base, it was being played simply because it was rhythmic and could be stomped and clapped to. The organist would start it out slowly, then increase the tempo, in the way that other all-occasions crowd-pleaser, "Shout," is often played.

As for "Day-O," the minor league baseball team in New Britain, Conn., also used that to wake up the crowd with a little call-and-response. Cab Calloway's "Hi-De-Ho" was used for that purpose as well. And no, that doesn't mean that all the kids and teens in the park who'd join in would want to hear those songs on the radio!

 

[crainbebo]

Day-O!
One Day Sale!
Oh yes, in the Northwest, The Bon Marche used to drive everybody nuts with those commercials in the '90s. Now it's Macy's.
May Mr. Buirgie RIP. The song he composed became a piece of pop culture.

 

[radioman148]

What a giant hit "Day-O" was for Harry Belafonte in 1957. Stations were playing it all the time.