When I was just a kid growing up in Milwaukee, one of the local TV stations frequently ran a "Hello Milwaukee!" commerical, featuring a song which was actually rather good. As a kid, I was deeply moved by music -- yes, even beer and TV station commericals -- and so it kind of burned itself my developing neural pathways.

My family would often take a long summer vacation -- Dad was a public school teacher so we often had the time. One these vacations, I heard the same tune being played in other towns, and was a bit disappointed to realize that it wasn't really just written about my beloved home town. A bit like learning Santa doesn't exist, perhaps.

Guess what? I was wrong, apparently. It was written for Milwaukee, and was simply so massively successful that it was exported to other markets:

[Songwriter Frank] Gari wrote his most successful theme in 1982-the "Hello" campaign for WISN-TV in Milwaukee. According to Dean Maytag, WISN's operations manager, the tune "started as the station's love song to the city of Milwaukee." It starred Gari himself singing the lyric: "There's a feeling in the air that you can't get anywhere except in Milwaukee." The tune ended with an emotion-filled crescendo: "Makes no difference where I go, you're the best hometown I know. Hello Milwaukee, hello Milwaukee. Channel 12 loves you!"

Within a few years, 120 television stations were singing "Hello" to viewers in Nashville, Baltimore, Cincinnati-even Sydney and Paris. The Osmonds sang "Hello Utah," and WXIA's "Hello Atlanta" features the Commodores. Most of the campaigns featured local people laughing and smiling. Every town looked like a postcard.

For the few Milwaukee-loving retro nerds who might find their way to this page, and for old times' sake...

There's a feeling in the air
That you can't get anywhere
Except Milwaukee

I taste a thousand yesterdays
And I love the magic ways
Of Milwaukee

From the shores of Michigan
I can watch you grow again
Add see you touch the stars
(Touch the stars)

From where the river flows
To where the sunset goes
To all good neighbors passing by...

Makes no difference where I go
You're the best hometown I know
Hel-lo Milwaukee,
Hello Milwaukee!
Channel 12 loves you.

For some dopey reason, it still almost brings a tear to my eye.

Anyway, if this kind of archaic Wisconsin-centric sentimentality floats your boat, you might also be interested in checking out Retro Milwaukee and James Lileks' incomparable memorial to The Gobbler, which my family drove past on numerous occasions.