The Powerhouse Trilogy

Song - Powerhouse

Artist(s) - John Bähler, Mary Therese Matthews

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987 (Original Version & Underscore), 1991-96 (ESPN Edit)

Contained on - FirstCom UT101 (The Leader), (ESPN Edit not publicly released)

Featured Highlight - Cowboys @ Cardinals, 1987 (Original); Jets @ Bills, 1987 (Underscore); Oilers @ Cowboys, 1994 (ESPN Edit)


One of my posts last week mentioned that a couple songs used in NFL Primetime's first year (1987) eventually returned.  One of those was Powersurge, which I already profiled, and the other was the similarly titled "Powerhouse."  There's a twist here, though, in that three different versions of Powerhouse were ultimately used on the show.  The original, base version and the underscore (no horn section) accompanied highlights in 1987, but then ESPN brought back the song in a cut-and-paste edited form that increased the excitement and removed the quiet bridge section in 1991.  Powerhouse, though a simple song in many ways, provides more energy than most NFL Primetime music and is particularly suited toward games with frenetic comeback attempts.

Powerhouse was composed by early FirstCom regulars John Bähler & Mary Therese Matthews, who I've mentioned multiple times on this blog already.  This song never officially made it off of vinyl, as far as I know, so it isn't easily accessible.  There is an updated remix, titled "Powerhouse 2K" available on FirstCom's website, but it sounds quite a bit different.  It wasn't written by the above artists, either, and is instead credited to associated (related?) FirstCom composers James Griffith, Mark Matthews, and Kathryn Matthews.  I don't know who was responsible for the custom ESPN edit used in the '90s, but I would guess it was then-ESPN music director John Colby.

In honor of the holidays—or something—this post gets a whopping three(!) highlight videos.  Also, in an unintentional oddity, all three have one of the secondary hosts presenting the game instead of Chris Berman.  The first, which features the original version of Powerhouse, features Gayle Gardner showing the Cowboys visiting Busch Stadium & the Cardinals in the 1987 opener.  The highlights really underplay the craziness of how that game ended; the Cardinals overcame a 13-3 deficit by scoring 3 unanswered touchdowns in the final 2 minutes!  This was also their first home opening win in 12 years in what would also be their final home opener in St. Louis.  The Powerhouse underscore highlight has John Saunders showing the Bills, in their last bad season for a while, losing a close game to the Jets at home.  The final video, profiling the '90s custom edit version of the song, has Robin Roberts accompanying the post-Moon Oilers in their last "Battle of Texas" in Irving against the defending champion Cowboys.

Automotion 3, Part 5 - Mechatronics & the Bay of Pigs

Song - Mechatronics

Artist(s) - Jeff Newmann

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Packers @ Buccaneers, 1989


In the early years of NFL Primetime, the late Pete Axthelm aptly used the phrase "Bay of Pigs" to describe any contest between the then-lousy "Bay" franchises:  Green Bay & Tampa Bay (citation).  The Buccaneers in this period had a habit of starting strong & fading (especially with head coach Ray Perkins and his infamously draining "three-a-day" practices), while the Packers were nearing two full decades of dormancy.  In 1989, though, Lindy Infante and his Green Bay Packers put together one of the most entertaining teams in NFL history.  The "Cardiac Pack"—the second of the three "Cardiac" squads after the 1980 "Cardiac Browns" and before the 1998 "Cardiac Cards"—gutted out a 10-6 record largely thanks to their knack for pulling out crazy, last-second, wins.  Don "The Majik Man" Majkowski, mostly known today for being the guy Brett Favre replaced, stayed healthy and had his most productive season as an NFL quarterback (4318 yards, more than double his next best year) in '89.  Unfortunately, a 10-6 record and a win over the eventual champion 49ers wasn't enough for Green Bay's first non-strike playoff berth since 1972 because they lost the division tiebreaker to the Vikings and both wild cards were 11-5.

The fifth and final NFL Primetime song from Automotion 3 is called "Mechatronics."  It's more subtle and complex than the other songs profiled this week.  Mechatronics may seem overly neutral on the surface, but a few listens will reveal its subtle intensity & building energy.  It's actually become one of my favorite highlight tracks from the show.  The featured highlight below is the second Bay of Pigs contest from Week 13 of 1989 (the same episode as all the highlights I've posted from this album, in fact… it was an unusually entertaining week).  The Bucs did everything they could, but they still couldn't stop the "Majik" in the end.

Automotion 3, Part 4 - Satellitic Venture

Song - Satellitic Venture

Artist(s) - "John Epping" (Gerhard Narholz)

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Bengals @ Browns, 1989


This penultimate post from Automotion 3 features another work by Gerhard Narholz alias John Epping.  "Satellitic Venture" is more subdued and moody than the other Primetime pieces on this album, and seems to work best for cloudy, cold, and dreary games that are often seen late in the NFL season.  What better fit for this theme than a December edition of the "Battle of Ohio?"  Oh, there's one more thing to note…  This song can be heard in the background of at least a couple episodes of the Tim & Eric/John C. Reilly creation, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.  Tim & Eric are known for their arbitrary humor, but hearing the same song on both NFL Primetime & one of their shows is still random even by their standards.

Automotion 3, Part 3 - Xenon

Song - Xenon

Artist(s) - Jeff Newmann

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Oilers @ Steelers, 1989


The third song to be profiled from Automotion 3, "Xenon," does kinda have the sciency & spacey synth sound you'd expect for a piece with that name.  It also has a happy-go-lucky feel that makes it work best for friendlier games (much like Priority).  I don't have much else to say about the music, so let's get to the highlight.  In the late '80s/early '90s (the Glanville & Pardee years), the Houston Oilers had a real reputation for not being able to win outside their comfy Astrodome.  That seemed to be a perfect setup for failure as they headed to Pittsburgh for a December contest in super-Wintry conditions.  The Oilers were nonetheless able to overcome their weaknesses (as well as 7 fumbles) and grit out a 7-point win in Three Rivers Stadium.  The Steelers got their revenge a few weeks later, though, and knocked off Houston on the road in overtime in the Wild Card round.  Fun fact:  Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls in the '70s, but his only Coach of the Year award came after his final playoff appearance in 1989.

Automotion 3, Part 2 - Priority & the Alias Master

Song - Priority

Artist(s) - "John Epping" (Gerhard Narholz)

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Saints @ Lions, 1989


The very first track on Automotion 3, "Priority," has much more of a hard-rock feel than the rest of the album despite its heavy synth instrumentation.  It's not anywhere near my favorite NFL Primetime song, but it works well for games that seem to have more of a friendly or emotionally neutral context.

Something I didn't know when I wrote yesterday's post:  it turns out Gerhard Narholz has a bunch of aliases beyond just Norman Candler.  John Epping is one of those pseudonyms, as is Sammy Burdson (who is credited on several other Primetime tracks that will be added to this blog later).  Other production music names I recognize that are actually the elder Narholz are Jim Harbourg, Mac Prindy, and Otto Sieben.  The entire known list is listed in the Discogs link above.

The featured highlight with Priority is the Lions/Saints game from 1989.  In this contest, New Orleans effectively threw away a shot at the playoffs thanks to a scorching 248 receiving yards from former USFL'er Richard Johnson.  Johnson had over 1800 yards and 14 TDs in his two seasons with the Lions (1989-90), yet only had 1 catch for 5 yards in his NFL career outside of that.  This video really shows how dangerous he was at his peak.

Automotion 3, Part 1 - Mission to Future & the Sonoton Explosion

Song - Mission to Future

Artist(s) - Jeff Newmann

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Colts @ Patriots, 1989


In 1989, the behind-the-scenes staff at ESPN apparently decided to throw out all of the music used during the first two seasons of NFL Primetime and bring in a clean slate (a couple songs from 1987 would eventually return).  The vast majority of these new tracks came from a German production music library called Sonoton, which was founded by Gerhard Narholz (a.k.a. "Norman Candler") and his wife, Rotheide, in 1965.  Their eldest son, Christoph, composed a Primetime song that I haven't yet displayed while the middle child, Gregor, is also a prominent composer.  Anyway, Sonoton started putting their stuff on CDs in 1988 and ESPN took full advantage a year later.  The Sonoton-heavy period on NFL Primetime only lasted 2-3 years, but it was a wonderful era of the show if you love synth.

As I mentioned last week, one of these albums—Automotion 3—actually contains a full five tracks that were used on NFL Primetime.  "Mission to Future," by Jeff Newmann, is the first of these tracks to be featured here, and it's a nice & energetic-yet-laid-back composition that fits football well.  You'll also notice a rather "Final Countdown"-ish segment in the middle of the song.  Accompanying Mission to Future is a quirky highlight featuring two 1989 also-rans.  It's also the second highlight I've posted on this blog to show Doug Flutie.  Have fun, and there's still a lot more to come this week.

Stay Tuned…

No update for this week, but—starting Monday—I'm going to do something special.  There's one album that has 5 NFL Primetime tracks on it and I will post one song per day, Monday through Friday!  So stay tuned for that…

Appropriate Titling

Song - Action Scene

Artist(s) - Mary Therese Matthews, Sally Anne Griffith, John Bähler, Matthew Muhoberac

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987

Contained on - FirstCom A2 (Intense), FirstCom UT105 (New Beginning)

Featured Highlight - Rams @ Oilers, 1987


Sometimes a song title fits the music perfectly.  "Action Scene," though it doesn't have the most original name, is a track that instantly brings to mind imagery of a hard-hitting & breakneck nature.  It fits so well with sports highlights, in fact, that it's really a shame NFL Primetime only used this in its initial year.  Action Scene was composed by the same quartet that brought us Strategy, and is the third & final NFL Primetime song from FC-A2 to be profiled here.

In the opening week of 1987, the L.A. Rams (still with Eric Dickerson for a few more games) went to Houston as a solid favorite to start 1-0.  Instead, the Oilers came back from a 16-3 deficit to pull the upset and begin their first decent season since Bud Adams stupidly fired Bum Phillips several years earlier.  Gayle Gardner, who left ESPN partway through the 1987 season, presents the highlights here: