The Original Buffalo Bills Song

Song - Nucleonics

Artist(s) - "Jean-Claude Madonne" (John Fiddy) & "Sammy Burdson" (Gerhard Narholz)

Released - 1989

Primetime Usage - 1990

Contained on - SON 314 (Frameworks, Vol. 1), Sonoton SCD 26 (Frameworks 1 & 2)

Featured Highlight - Cardinals @ Bills, 1990


Nucleonics, by aliased Sonoton regulars John Fiddy & Gerhard Narholz, is one of the more unusual music offerings from NFL Primetime.  It doesn't sound anything like a football song at first, but it grows on the listener and makes itself fit in subtle ways.  The track slowly rises in tension and works best for games where two teams spend much of the contest feeling each other out.  Nucleonics was also used a disproportionate amount of time for the Buffalo Bills during their initial Super Bowl run in 1990 (a minimum of 6 games, perhaps more).  It didn't get a long-term exclusive "contract" with the Bills like Powersurge, though, as Nucleonics was never used again after the 1990 season.

Like many of Buffalo's 1990 games, this track's featured highlight wasn't real down to the wire.  A weak Cardinals team in Joe Bugel's first season came to Rich Stadium and got whipped.  Still, there were some interesting plays and even more interesting punts.

Lots of Prospects

Song - New Prospect

Artist(s) - Zack Laurence

Released - 1984

Primetime Usage - 1987-88

Contained on - Bruton BRN 13 (New Prospects), Bruton BVA005 (The Zack Laurence Anthology)

Featured Highlight - Chiefs @ Oilers, 1988


If you like heavy brass with a driving bass line, then this track is for you.  Zack Laurence's "New Prospect" is straightforward, loud, in your face, and it gets the job done.  As a result, it's not surprising ESPN featured it prominently during the first two years of NFL Primetime.  New Prospect is one of many songs with the word "Prospect" in the title from Laurence's appropriately titled, variations-on-a-theme album New Prospects.  This LP was never officially converted to digital as far as I know (though amateur uploads are easy to find through the magic of Google & YouTube), but about half of it is contained on Bruton's The Zack Laurence Anthology linked above.  I haven't discovered a whole lot of info about Laurence, but I've found him to be one of the more prolific & talented production music composers of the 1970s & '80s.

Week 6 of 1988 was not kind to quarterbacks.  A disproportionate number of signal callers suffered injuries during that week, and the Houston Oilers were not immune.  With Warren Moon not even dressed, backup "Commander" Cody Carlson dislocated his thumb early in their game against Kansas City.  Former replacement QB (and ex-Montana QB) Brent Pease then came in and "led" his team to a 7-6 victory despite terrible numbers.  Here's the highlight: