Remembering the time Kelly Jay was a guest on Oldies Without Borders.
He passed in 2019 at the age of 77. In his obit, Canadian music journalist Nicholas Jennings wrote this about Kelly Jay:
“During the early 1970s, no musician wore his Canadian nationality more proudly on his sleeve than Blake Fordham, better known as Kelly Jay, the charismatic man mountain who fronted boogie-rockers Crowbar. At a time when many still shied away from overt flag-waving, Mr. Fordham, the singer and pianist behind the anthemic hit song “Oh What a Feeling,” unabashedly embraced a good-time nationalism in both his lyrics and clothing.”
In this interview, which originally aired on Oldies Without Borders in 2011, “Captain Canada,” Kelly Jay conveys his love of both Canadian and Hamilton music history. He also shares what really happened the night they quit – or were fired – as the backup band for The Hawk.
We also celebrated Oh What a Feeling, which had just been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. You may be surprised at who influenced Kelly as a songwriter.
The interview originally ran on Oldies Without Borders.
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Copyright Peter J. Maurin, The Vinyl Professor. Published under Creative Commons License: Attribution/Non-Commercial Use.
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