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The Colorado Rockies' Double-A affiliate Hartford Yard Goats debuted a new team jingle on Wednesday, releasing 'Eat It Up' as the club's official theme song, according to a release sent by the team to media members.
The catchy track was produced by L&R Productions in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and it will be used by the team in radio and television spots, as well as during in-game entertainment throughout the season at Dunkin' Donuts Park. You can listen to the 30-second jingle here:
"We wanted to have a music jingle that our fans will instantly recognize and know it is our brand," Yard Goats General Manager Tim Restall said in a statement. "This tune symbolizes the fun that fans will have watching the Yard Goats at Dunkin’ Donuts Park."
The full set of lyrics:
Eat it up, Eat it up
The Hartford Yard Goats, Eat it up, Eat it up
Eat up the good times
Eat up the fun
The Hartford Yard Goats
We’re Number One
Come on out with your family
Come on out with your friends
Yard Goats Baseball, the fun never ends
Eat it up, Eat it up
The Hartford Yard Goats, Eat it up
Eat it up
The theme song is undoubtedly catchy and fun but it's also a nod to the past, and the age when an upbeat jingle really meant something: the television sitcom golden years of the 1980s and 90s.
I spoke to Matt Lewis, a composer and sitcom jingle expert, about the Goats' new musical offering, and he was ecstatic at the depth and nuance within the 30-second production.
"I can't get critical because it's a perfect song," Lewis told me. "The jingle is a modern masterpiece. A few seconds of this aural treasure and your mind starts racing: First: 'I didn’t know the music team behind the Step By Step theme is still working.' Then: 'Huey Lewis is writing jingles now? He needs a better financial advisor.' And finally: 'Did you pick up some Ecto Cooler from the store, Mom? Perfect Strangers is about to start!'"
When I pressed him about comparing the Goats' new hit to jingles and theme songs of the past, Lewis had high praise for Hartford's likely inspiration with this track.
"This kind of instant nostalgia is a rare thing," the composer admitted. "To put it most simply, the Yard Goats' jingle sounds like the J. Geils Band performing a cover of the Good Times theme song while on a tour of the Midwest's malls. You can call off your campaign, Trump, because America is great again."
But what, I pondered, did he make of the quasi-sexual repetition of Eat It Up! throughout the song? For Lewis, that's not a bug — that's a feature.
"Don’t even get me started on the genius of the 'Eat It Up' slogan," he said. "Vaguely sexual yet still relevant to the mascot, it will leave parents unable to explain to their children why it was inappropriate to sing-scream 'Eat It Up' at church school."
So did the Yard Goats do right with their new theme music? At least one composer is firmly in their camp.
"Eat it up, Hartford," Lewis declared. "You’ve earned it."
★ ★ ★
I further pressed Lewis to rank "Eat It Up" among the foremost of jingles all-time, and he politely obliged:
Top Ten 80s & 90s Sitcom Theme Songs
1. Full House
7. Step By Step
8. Blossom
10. Mr. Belvedere (for its pure absurdity)
399. Who's The Boss (Garbage theme song only saved by hilarious visuals.)
Lewis was adamant about including a note, though.
"This only includes theme songs with words," he told me. "Otherwise, you better believe Soap, Benson, and Home Improvement would be up there. Also, I'd include Appalachian State's 'Hot, Hot, Hot' as 1a if it were eligible."
Well played, sir. Well played.
What do you think of the Yard Goats' new jingle?