Song about the umpire

Press, 28 February 1980, Page 2

Song about the umpire

Pat Courtenay, the 3ZB radio announcer, looks destined for stardom. He has written a song about the cricket umpire, Mr Fred Goodall, • which is now on the top playing list of ZB radio stations throughout New Zealand. Mr Courtenay singe the ditty himself, backed by a steel band, to the tune of “Celia” by Simon and Garfunkel.

No complaint has been received so far about the song, which is sung with a Jamaican accent like the gingernut advertisement on television. In fact, radio stations have been plagued with requests for the song. The words of the song, “Goodall’s Revenge,” as sung from a West Indian cricketer’s point of view, go as follows:

Mr Goodall, you’re breakin’ my heart, You’re shakin’ my confidence daily. Mr Goodall I’m down on my knees, Don’t say dem bad things about me. Mr Goodall, you aren’t seein’ straight Our playing is great but we’re losin’. If we go on losin’ this way, We’ll pack up our ball and go home. We came here to win the game, man, And then the press all call us names. They all say we don’t play fair, man, And the umpire he jus’ does not seem to see. All the Kiwis’ think its bad man, When we want to go home mad. But Kerry Packer paid us heaps, If you paid us enough we’d stay here for keeps