It's Mayday. Every year on this day I think about the leader of this band.



Wild Bill Whelan is the cornet player. I knew him from 1958 when I was a senior in high school trying to play Dixieland jazz. Years later I played in many bands with him. I'm the piano player in this video, made in 1975.

Why does today make me think about Wild Bill Whelan? Every year since I knew him until he died in 2003 he'd call me up on May 1st and recite a simple 2-line poem. Then he'd hang up. The poem?

Hooray, hooray for the first of May,
Outdoor fucking starts today.

I sure do miss him. I'll be outdoors a lot today in remembrance.