Dolores Claman -- The Hockey Theme

 

Yup, I realize that Toronto, Canada has the MLB Blue Jays, the NBA Raptors, the MLS Toronto FC and the CFL Argonauts. But I think that even at this point in the 21st century, there will always be a special spot here for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. The above video shows the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in early 1967, maybe around when I was 18 months old, so I don't remember anything of that championship. We've been waiting since then for another Cup win, and I'm less than a decade away from retirement age.

Of course, anyone who was born and raised in the Great White North has at least heard of the CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada" on wintry Saturday nights. First started on radio in 1929, the first televised broadcasts of this sports institution began in 1952, and one of my earliest memories as a toddler when my family was living in downtown Toronto's St. James Town was watching Ward Cornell doing one of his interviews during the game. Maybe the above video is that interview, I'm not sure. But I sure remember his talking partner, commentator Bob Goldham who used to be a defenceman for the Leafs, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

What's another legendary sports institution in this nation? The theme song for "Hockey Night in Canada" which I only found out recently was officially titled "The Hockey Theme". I had always just known it as the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme all these decades and the song has been treated like the unofficial Canadian national anthem since its first appearance in 1968, next to the official one of "O Canada".

Composed by Dolores Claman, who specialized in commercial jingles and television theme music, and performed by the Jerry Toth Orchestra, the original version was created by Claman as if ice hockey were all a spectacle with Roman gladiators on skates. Considering that back in those days, bench-clearing melees were fairly frequent, the analogy was apt. But what I also liked was the part of the theme that ended each broadcast of "Hockey Night in Canada" which was done as a cool Mancini-esque swing jazz march.

Of course, changes had come for "Hockey Night in Canada" even before my long stint in Japan. It was no longer just the one game that Saturday night for two to three hours beginning from 8pm. It's now wall-to-wall games starting from 6:30 pm to well past midnight with other channels chiming in. The other major thing was that during my time across the Pacific, "The Hockey Theme", through some failed negotiations on the CBC's part, ended up heading over to its rival network, CTV and its sports channels, in 2008, news which felt like a bittersweet conclusion to the "The Twilight Zone". The song is still being used there but I'm hoping that it will someday return to the program that begat it.

Anyways, another hockey season is about to begin next week. So, which folks were getting the Japan Record Awards in Japan in 1968?

Grand Prize: Jun Mayuzumi -- Tenshi no Yuwaku （天使の誘惑）

Best Performance: Mina Aoe -- Isezakicho Blues （伊勢崎町ブルース）

Best New Artist: Pinky and Killers -- Koi no Kisetsu (恋の季節）