Danny Duffy first heard “Good Song About Danny Duffy, The Good Pitcher!” by the Kansas City Sports Band while appearing on Bob Fescoe’s KCSP radio show. The left-hander, who pitched for the Royals from 2011-21, loved it.
“It was such a trip just to have a song on iTunes about myself that I felt hit the nail on the head with regards to the way I carried myself and my personality,” Duffy told MLB.com via text.
Inspired to look into the artist’s other work, Duffy found dozens of songs about Kansas City sports figures, including many of his own teammates. The 2015 album “Royals Chiefs KC Oh Yeah!” became a clubhouse favorite.
In September 2018, after an impressive stretch by right-hander Jakob Junis, Duffy thought it only fitting the Kansas City Sports Band pay tribute to the man he calls “one of my favorite teammates of all time.” Duffy put the request out on social media, even suggesting a title: “Jakob Junis: A Very Super Talented Baseball Man.”
Two days later, the Kansas City Sports Band had a song out with that name — much to the surprise of Junis, who was “honored and embarrassed at the same time.”
“[Duffy] joked about [requesting the song], but I never thought he was serious until one day he played it in the clubhouse,” Junis said via text, “and I realized he [definitely] was not joking.”
Fortunately, it was yet another hit.
“We listened to it like 20 times on repeat,” said Duffy. “Couldn’t stop laughing.”
What Duffy and Junis didn’t know was that their songs were written by, quite probably, the most prolific recording artist of all time.
Over the past couple of decades, Matt Farley of Danvers, Mass., has written and released, by his own count, more than 26,000 songs — a number that grows every week — under scores of pseudonyms, through his personal label, Motern Media.
The basic idea: Every stream earns Farley about half a cent. His songs receive anywhere from a handful of listens to thousands, sometimes millions, of plays. Over time, that’s added up to substantial enough income that Farley no longer works a day job, supporting himself and his creative pursuits (such as filmmaking, podcasting and books) primarily through streaming revenue.
While he still has more serious, “no jokes” projects, the bulk of Farley’s oeuvre is novelty songs, meant to be humorous, entertaining or perplexing to unsuspecting browsers who come across them. Some are carefully crafted, featuring clever wordplay and rhyming lyrics; a great many more are off-the-cuff. Either way, if it’s a subject people might search for, odds are, there’s a Motern Media song, album or entire persona dedicated to it.
Farley’s top earners are mostly about bathroom-related matters (thanks, in part, to mischievous children with Alexa access). Papa Razzi and the Photogs writes about celebrities. The Singing Animal Lover sings about, well, animals. The Guy Who Sings About Cities & Towns took on a one-album-per-state project and, unlike famed indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, saw it through to completion.
That’s barely scratching the surface of Farley’s opus, the result of years of sustained relentless.
Novelty songwriting has taken Farley to some astonishing heights: A 2016 Tonight Show performance. A profile in the New York Times in ’24. An interview on NPR’s World Cafe earlier this year. A modest-but-dedicated international fanbase.
As it turns out, baseball played a crucial role in the trajectory of one of the most unconventional careers in show business.
A lifelong New Englander, Farley traces his Red Sox fandom back to the 1980s teams of Wade Boggs, Jim Rice and Roger Clemens. As a 26-year-old in 2004 living in Manchester, N.H., Farley experienced the joy and relief that came with the Sox breaking the 86-year Curse of the Bambino.
“That definitely got the gears turning in my head,” said Farley. “People like it when it’s a specific song about a specific event, and they know that it had to be written recently, because it just happened.”
In July 2007, Farley launched his first solo novelty act, the Boston Baseball Band, with the album “Go Red Sox!” The followup, “11 in 10: Celebrating 11 Red Sox Victories in October 2007,” dropped that November.
Farley continued forming novelty bands, including 31 dedicated to sports. Those center on individual media markets, save for the Athletic Sports Band, a catch-all for sports miscellany. Farley has totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 baseball songs, most released between 2007-15, with at least one track for each of MLB’s 30 clubs. His earlier works could skew opinionated, even critical, something Farley says he regrets; he’s since shifted to keeping things positive and celebratory, as on 2024 selections “Shohei Ohtani All-Time Dodger Song,” “Aaron Judge Is Baseball Excellence” and “Bryce Harper Best Baseball Man.”
“You can tell when I’m writing most of the Red Sox songs … that I knew the intricacies, the little details about players,” said Farley. “Whereas, I’ll admit it, when I’m singing about a player who [for example] plays for the Diamondbacks, I might not know all that much about him. So I’m just like, ‘He’s great!’”
Beyond individual players, Farley has tackled specific history (“The Curse of the Billy Goat”; “The Mendoza Line”) and general concepts (“Do The Wave At a Baseball Game”; “Pitchers, Don’t Use Your Throwing Hand When Punching the Wall in Frustration”). Some ditties appear elsewhere in the Motern library (“Cooperstown Is the Baseball Town Place!” by the Guy Who Sings About Cities & Towns; “Field of Dreams [A review of the Kevin Costner film]” by the Singing Film Critic). He’s written tunes about broadcasters (“Bob Uecker”; “John Sterling is a Great Play-By-Play Man!”) and sportswriters/press (“The Tom Verducci Effect”; “Jammin’ With Peter Gammons”), mostly Boston-area media figures.
“It’s not like I’m gonna have a No. 1 hit off of a song about a beat writer, but I still want to do it, just because it’s fun,” said Farley. “… I just think it’s hilarious, too, that a beat writer would have an anthem written about them.”
Just as baseball has impacted Farley’s music, he’s been able to give something back to at least a couple of MLB teams.
“Someone sent me a video once … when Chase Utley played for the Dodgers, someone’s being interviewed in the locker room, and they’re playing my Chase Utley song in the background,” said Farley.
Even a Hall of Famer has gotten in on the fun. George Brett’s son, Jackson, once requested a song about an infamous off-field incident involving his father getting food poisoning, a fitting subject for someone whose most-listened-to act is the Toilet Bowl Cleaners.
It was a “mind-boggling” moment for Farley.
“One of my most prized possessions as a kid was a George Brett rookie card,” said Farley. “Him running out of the dugout for the pine tar thing and whatnot. He’s just a legend. The fact that he had a batting title in three different decades is just super cool. So I’m a big fan, and what a hilarious turn of events.”
Motern Media has had a Minor League presence as well, with instances of Farley’s “name songs” — in which he sings a first name repeatedly — being played to introduce hitters.
Is it just a matter of time before Farley’s music makes its way to the Major League level?
“I would love it if ever a big leaguer went to the plate to the song that I wrote about him,” said Farley. “That would be a major achievement.”
Few artists working today are as accessible as Farley, who has a recurring bit of inserting his personal cellphone number into lyrics. And he’s open to adding to his baseball song tally, especially at a player’s behest — and especially if there’s a chance they could use it as walk-up music.
“Any time a player asks me, I’m up for the challenge,” said Farley. “Put the word out.”
Ballplayers looking to take up the offer, call/text (603) 644-0048.
