Grand Salamimeister Spices Up M's Songs Across The Radio Dial

Dave Niehaus a musical sensation?

Believe it.

Switch on the radio. There's Dave screaming about grand salamis while country singer Tim McGraw drawls his chart-topping tune "I Like It, I Love It" on KMPS 94.1 FM.

Turn the dial. There's Dave, my, oh, my-ing through R & B singer Montel Jordan's dance hit "This Is How We Do It" on KUBE 93 FM.

And wait. Isn't that Dave lending his crackling explosions to Sari's adult-contemporary ballad "Faith" on KLSY 92.5 FM?

Dave! Have you left the land of Edgar and Randy to join Madonna and Michael?

Not to worry, Mariner fans. Niehaus hasn't abandoned the field of miracles. But these days, the voice of the Mariners' play-by-play announcer can be heard up and down the radio dial, thanks to local stations that are writing Mariners-touting versions of hit songs, often with Niehaus' announcements thrown into the mix. It's a town in collective ecstasy, and what better way to express strong emotions than through song?

Winning - it seems like it's a dream.

Can I just say, I love this team . . .

Oh, we've got to have faith,

Faith that you'll hear a `My, oh, my' . . .

Faith that the world will see

A Mariner victory.

Singer Sari recorded the Mariners version of her hit song "Faith" on Monday night, after a disc jockey from local radio station KLSY rewrote the lyrics.

"We were asking a couple of Yankees fans to record the song," said KLSY Music Director Bob Brooks of Sari's New York City-based record-company representatives. "But they agreed to do it."

They recorded late into the night and sent the new version Tuesday morning to KLSY, where the recording studio added Dave Niehaus announcements and excerpts from Monday's rally for the M's at Westlake Mall. The song debuted at 8 a.m. Tuesday, and is currently the station's most-requested tune. The station has not decided whether to release the song for sale.

A few notches up the dial, KING 98.1 FM, a classical station, plays Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" in honor of the Mariners. KBSG 97.3 FM has "Seattle Mariners Are On A Roll" to the tune of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock n' Roll." STAR 101.5 FM features "We Will Cheer For You," sung to the Rembrandts' theme from the TV show "Friends." KISW 99.9 FM has a slew of song parodies. There's "Randy Johnson's Fastball," sung to AC/DC's "Big Balls" and "Pennant Fever," a version of "The Fever" by South Side Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

Bob Rivers, writer of the Mariners-version lyrics and morning host at KISW, has penned at least 12 song parodies about the Mariners in the past six years. Highlights include "Will They Stay Or Will They Go," sung to the Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," during the tenure of former owner Jeff Smulyan; "Lou Pi-niel-la" sung to the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's "Messiah;" and "Bye-bye To Those Mariners Guys," sung to Don McLean's "American Pie," before the recent stadium-funding vote.

"I worked in Baltimore, a town which lost its football team after it was sold and I got a chance to see what a town was like after a team leaves," Rivers said of his motivation. "It wasn't a pretty sight."

KIRO Newsradio is considering producing a Mariner commemorative audio tape after the season is over, said Public Service Director Jean Allenbach. The tape, should it be produced, is likely to include Niehaus-isms galore, but probably not a Niehaus-punctuated "Ode to Joy." ----------------------------------------------------------------- You can hear it

To hear KLSY/Sari's "Faith in the Mariners," call The Seattle Times InfoLine at 464-2000 from a Touch-Tone phone and enter category SONG (7664). This is a free call within the Seattle calling area.