Constable: No Limit to mystery of Schaumburg theme song
Unable to find an official theme song for the suburb of Schaumburg, I erroneously concluded in a recent column that there was no such ditty.
But Jane Rozek, the local history librarian for the Schaumburg Township District Library, sent me her blog noting that the song, “Schaumburg, We're Proud to Call You Our Home,” was commissioned by the Schaumburg Sister City Committee in 1983. The library even has a 45 rpm record of it in the reference collection.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” says drummer Michael Battaglia, 58, who teamed with his brother, Mark, and friend Eddie Skade to write the score and perform that song as No Limit, the rock band they started in 1979 as students at Schaumburg High School.
“It was a huge honor to be asked. It's honoring Schaumburg, so why not?” says Mark Battaglia, 55, who plays bass on the Schaumburg song. “I was in metal class, and I made all our own lights out of coffee cans.”
The band wasn't paid, but they got a nice certificate from Mayor Herb Aigner.
“The big draw was free studio time,” says Skade, 54, who plays lead guitar on the song.
Barbara Tracy and Chris Portuese wrote the lyrics, and Tracy sang the melody, which begins, “Rolling hills and flowing meadows where Indians once roamed, is the place that the German settlers came and decided to make their home.”
For No Limit, a band closer to rocking bands such as Def Leppard, Rush and Led Zeppelin, the gentle ballad of Schaumburg was a bit outside their true comfort zone. After all, they were playing local clubs, performing for parties and even selling merchandise with the No Limit logo designed by Skade.
“We had a good following. We sold a lot of jackets and T-shirts,” Michael says.
With that kind of success, some rock bands might have balked at creating a respectful civic anthem.
“My parents brought us up the right way, so we said, ‘Sure,'” Michael Battaglia remembers.
“I was brought up on my parents' music so I definitely had a feel for it,” Skade says.
“And it got us a great spot in headlining Septemberfest, which we loved,” Mark Battaglia says.
“It's a great town. We grew up there. We've been Schaumburgers for a long time,” Mark says, following that up with the most Schaumburgian cred ever. “I was in a Medieval Times commercial. I had a big Afro and I had a crown on top of the Afro.”
Now the No Limit sign sits in front of the stage in the tricked-out basement of Mark's home in Huntley. He's got lights, lasers, amps, a fog machine, a bar and a bathroom with a urinal. He also has a room filled with guitars, a car collection in the garage and a living room filled with pinball machines.
“Can you tell he's not married?” quips Michael, who lives in Geneva and has been married to his wife Gail for 31 years.
After the three band members graduated from Schaumburg High School (Michael in 1979, Mark and Eddie in 1981), their group added a few musicians and singers and changed names to Shy-Boy and later Skindeep. They played with Jim Peterik of the Ides of March and Survivor, Dennis DeYoung of Styx, REO Speedwagon, The Romantics and other bands of that era.
“Big 'Fros, bad mullets,” Mark, who is bald, says of the hair choices he made then.
Michael played in a blues band for a while, but he spent most of his career in the mortgage industry and drives a semitrailer for UPS. His sons, Jonathan and Jordan, are drummers, and Jonathan's band ARS Nova plays in local venues.
Mark played bass and sang backup whenever he could, but eventually started No Limit Arcade with games from the 1980s before moving on to his Scratch Pad business that sold nonadhesive material that keeps belt buckles from damaging the finish on the back of a guitar. He also does high-end electrical work installing chandeliers and exotic lighting.
Eddie, a talented artist and designer, started working for Creative Presentations in Schaumburg, which made robotic figures for amusement parks and theme restaurants. That led to a career in films, where Eddie has worked as a sculptor making cool things for films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Jurassic World,” “Thor,” “Guardians of the Galaxy 2,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and the “Avengers” movies.
“There are a lot of great twists in life,” says Eddie, who has a home in California and spends a lot of time on film locations, but makes time every year to get back to the suburbs and jam with Michael and Mark.
When he comes back in November, the band might just do a more modern version of the Schaumburg song, Mark says.
“Yeah, I'm all for it,” Eddie says.
Michael is on board, too, and notes that the band could play it at Septemberfest for a very modest increase from their original pro bono work.
“They could,” Michael says, “buy us a beer this time.”
Schaumburg theme song from hollow to home
“Schaumburg, We're Proud to Call You Our Home”
Lyrics by Barbara Tracy and Chris Portuese
Rolling hills and flowing meadows where Indians once roamed,
Is the place that the German settlers came and decided to make their home.
They built their farms, worked the land, toiled hard and long,
That's how Schaumburg got its start and we're still going strong.
Schaumburg — from a sleepy little hollow,
Schaumburg — to a city with a dream,
Schaumburg — we're proud to call you our home.
They built the schools, built the churches, became a prosperous town,
Where a tailor, cobbler, wagon maker and blacksmith could be found,
Always there to help each other as they went along,
That's how Schaumburg got its start and we're still going strong.
They called it Schaumburg — from a sleepy little hollow,
Schaumburg — to a city with a dream,
Schaumburg — we're proud to call you our home.
A village built with love and pride and a spirit that lives on and on,
With farms and high-rises side by side, Schaumburg's a special town,
It's a place to raise your family, a place you can belong,
Schaumburg had a humble start and we're still going strong.
Schaumburg — from a sleepy little hollow,
Schaumburg — to a city with a dream,
Schaumburg — we're proud to call you our home.
Courtesy of Jane Rozek, local history librarian at Schaumburg Township District Library