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local radio legend Jess Cain has passed on. I remember hearing him a few times on WHDH (and awhile back I heard a tape of
him there from ‘67—a more relaxed time, with music and
Cain’s humor—like doing a leprechaun voice, as it was near
St. Patrick’s Day). I also remember him singing “Yaz’s
Day” when Yaz retired.

The Yaz song can be heard in one scene of “Fever Pitch”

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/02/radio_legend_je.html

Jess Cain, the legendary Boston radio personality famous for song parodies such as “Fly Me to Metheun” and “The Yaz Song,” died early this morning at his home in Beacon Hill.

The 81-year-old died at 5 a.m. after a long battle with cancer, said his son, Michael Cain.

Cain held court weekday mornings on the defunct WHDH 850-AM (now WEEI) for 33 years before retiring in 1991. He was “funny but classy,” Michael Cain said. “He didn’t have to stoop to innuendos to make people laugh.

“He was like an uncle to his listeners,” Michael Cain said. “I just loved the look on people’s faces when they said, ‘I used to listen to your father.’”

“The Yaz Song,” an ode to Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, experienced a recent surge in popularity after it was featured in the movie “Fever Pitch.” The song was inspired by the Sox’ 1967 Impossible Dream season. To listen to “The Yaz Song,” click here.

Born and raised in northeast Philadelphia, Cain took to the airwaves at WHDH in 1958, broadcasting from a studio at the top of the Prudential building. He and his longtime engineer, John “Pudge” Flynn, created limericks and sound effects that made for a kind of radio-vaudeville and songs such as “April in Natick.”

For 33 years, Cain awoke at 3 a.m. and had to be alert and funny by 5 a.m. Before his retirement in April 1991, he talked to the Globe about life after radio.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Cain said. “But I fear how I’m going to handle it — I’m a guy who cries at traffic lights.”

He dabbled in acting, a passion he developed in college. Cain performed on Broadway and in plays with the North Shore Theater.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer 13 years ago, but remained in good health until last spring. Cain is survived by his wife, Jean Cain, four children, three grand children, and two sisters.

There will be no wake or funeral, said Michael Cain. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.