Daniel Caesar, Begonia, “OK Blue Jays” Lead Release Roundup October 24, 2025
We’re gonna start this week’s new release column by talking about one of the most important Canadian songs ever created — “OK Blue Jays.” Let’s get the tenuous Polaris connections out of the way — a) Barry Keane, the drummer for late Heritage Prize winner Gordon Lightfoot, played on this song, and b) past nominees Zeus have covered it.
Released in 1983, the Toronto Blue Jay’s fight song was written by Jack Lenz and Tony Kosinec and recorded by a nine-piece band including the aforementioned Keane as well as Ralph Fraser, the official Toronto Maple Leafs organist. When the Blue Jays made the American League baseball playoffs for the first time in 1985 the song became a huge hit, selling well over a 100,000 copies. It’s everyone’s patriotic duty to learn the words to this song this week. Or at least the following two lines (bonus points if you know the dance choreography to it):
OK Blue Jays!
Let’s play ball!
There’s a great CBC Music oral history about the song.
P.S. Shohei Ohtani is totally mid.
Also, a bunch of big albums just came out:
* Daniel Caesar (2x Short List, 2x Long List) has released Son of Spergy via Universal Canada.
* Begonia (1x Short List, 1x Long List) has released Fantasy Life via Birthday Cake Records.
* Bahamas (4x Long List) has released My Second Last Album via Brushfire Records.
* Ouri (2022 Short List) has released Daisy Cutter via Born Twice.
* Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2021 Short List) has released Live Like the Sky via You’ve Changed Records.
* The Strumbellas (2x Long List) have released Burning Bridges Into Dust.
* Planet Giza (2023 Long List) have released The Sky Is Recording Me: 100 Years Later, Vol. 3.
But wait there’s more. Patrick Watson & Klô Pelgag’s new video for “Ami imaginaire” is out, #Polaris2025 nominees Bibi Club have a new track called “Amaro, and multi-time nominee has launched a new book called Words of a Goat Princess II: The People’s Purge.
Release Roundup is a weekly feature highlighting new Canadian music from artists recognized by the Polaris Music Prize. With over 760 alumni since 2006, Polaris continues to champion music as art—supporting artists through prizes, performances, and exposure.
