Jo Maeder

Now it can be told.

In the early 1980s, when I was hosting “Up and at ‘em with the Madame” on I-95 FM in South Florida, listeners would often ask me to say happy birthday to someone. At the same time, my Aunt Julie in New York lamented that the song “Happy Birthday” sounded more like a dirge than the celebratory, upbeat tune it should be.

Collaborating with my then-partner Bobby Caldwell and our neighbor Nick Michaels, we came up with “It’s Your Birthday, So Be Happy!” in English and Spanish. We had 200 copies of the 45 pressed at Prosound in Hialeah Gardens, Florida. We named the label Slice-O-Melon Records. I played it on my radio show when I shouted out birthdays to listeners. Dr. Demento played it on his syndicated show.

It was 1983 and America was just coming out of a recession. People wanted to party and forget the bad news. MTV was two-years-old. We called ourselves The Vidiots.

Nick was a successful voice talent who lived in our apartment building with his wife and first child. He commuted to New York City every week. He was a riotous force of nature. I have to give a lot of credit to Nick for making sure this song became a reality. He is greatly missed.

Bobby had the hit “What You Won’t Do For Love” in 1979. If you had told us then it would become one of the most-sampled songs of all time, we would have responded, “What’s a sample?” At that time, Bobby was struggling to find his classy niche in an increasingly banal musical landscape. I see IYB as his way of saying, “See? I can make a silly pop song, too.” He also had a wicked sense of humor. With what he went through trying to stay afloat, he needed one.

I always felt, and still do, that Bobby was one of the greatest singers of modern times. He also played multiple instruments and wrote and produced award-winning songs. He managed to survive on his terms in a brutal business. It’s tragic he’s no longer with us, and all because a doctor prescribed the wrong medicine. Google it.

Back in 1984, his cocaine addiction, financial strains, and my desire to work on the radio in New York City tore us apart. I had buried the IYB storage bin in my basement until someone contacted me who was writing a book about Bobby. I found the original tapes, paperwork, sheet music, and some of the records. I reached out to Bobby and Nicks’ widows. We decided to put it out there on streaming platforms as The Miami Vidiots since there was another Vidiots in Los Angeles that pre-dated us we didn’t know about.

Add it to your next TikTok!

Buy it on Amazon Music for $1.29!

It’s all over the place online.

Someone posted it a few years ago on YouTube as Femme Synth Pop. AI calls it Children’s Pop. Sure. Why not? To me, it’s a fun, infectious, danceable song that takes me back to another time yet feels current. In my dreams, someone records it in Japanese. In my wildest dreams, it’s performed by my favorite sumos. In my wildest, wildest dreams I still have these legs.