Friday, September 29, 2017

Unknown Song #5 - The Heat (Birdland?)

Song - The Heat
Artist(s) - Richard Myhill
Released - 1985
Primetime Usage - 1988
Contained on - KPMLP 1339 (Out Front)
Featured Highlight - Seahawks @ Broncos, 1988


 *SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/2/17

At this point, the 1988 NFL Primetime season has easily the highest number of unidentified songs.  Unfortunately, I only have one clip of many of these songs.  As a result, combined with the fact the highlights are relatively old, the audio/visual quality of these clips will tend to suffer.  I apologize in advance.

The most notable thing about Unknown Song #5 is that it sounds like an intentional knockoff of "Birdland," the 1977 jazz-fusion hit by Weather Report.  It's a bit more synthy, as one would expect from a 1980s production song, but the similarities are still obvious.  Accompanying this track is a season-opening matchup between the Seahawks & Broncos that was played in the middle of a ticker-tape parade for some reason.



Friday, September 22, 2017

Unknown Songs #2 & #3 Identified

Thanks to the magic of overzealous youtube copyright claims, I have now identified the unknown songs I posted last week & the week before.  I'd actually expected this to happen at some point for an unidentified track, but I didn't think it would happen this fast.  More surprising was who the songwriter turned out to be, however…

The copyright claim info for Unknown Song #2 listed an album code of "VT013" and "The Far Turn."  It took me a while to find the source because the real album code was actually "STVT013."  Anyway, that code was for the portion of the Valentino library that's contained on Universal's website and the "1980s Vol. 2" album.  After scrolling down to find the right song, it turned out the artist was none other than John Colby!  So Colby did in fact produce more NFL Primetime songs than just those listed on his website.  Searching Colby's credits led me to Unknown Song #3 ("Fast Man"), as well.  It was not on the same album as I figured it would be, but it was on the related "1980s Vol. 1" disc.  Unfortunately, the entire Universal website only contains about 20 songs credited to Colby.  I also suspect the "1980s" albums are compilations and not the original sources of Colby's tracks because they both have release dates in 2014.  I don't know the identity of the original source library, though I do suspect it's related to Valentino (I suspect it's Major Records, just because some random library-music forum has a list crediting albums on there to Colby).  I wouldn't be surprised if there's more John Colby NFL Primetime stuff out there yet to be found.


Revised Links

The Far Turn
Fast Man

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Unknown Song #4 - Showcase

Song - Showcase
Artist(s) - William Soden
Released - 1985
Primetime Usage - 1987-88
Contained on - NFL 128 (LP) (Major Force)
Featured Highlight - Oilers @ Colts, 1988


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/7/17

Unknown Song #4, the last song from NFL Primetime's first year (AFAIK) that I haven't posted, is a mixed bag.  It has good energy, but some of the high-pitched instrument choices really don't fit football highlights.  It's still a decent track, though, and I hope to find a good-quality cut of it at some point.

Unfortunately, the highlight choices I had all were from episodes that were uploaded with all the sound coming through only the left audio channel.  I converted it to mono, but that means the volume isn't too high.  The sound & video on this particular clip are also out of synch, but it's only noticeable on the part where you can see Chris Berman talking.  Anyway, I think you'll still find this video enjoyable.



Friday, September 15, 2017

Unknown Song #3 - Fast Man

Song - Fast Man
Artist(s) - John Colby
Released - 1987
Primetime Usage - 1987-88
Contained on - Valentino 6162 (Sports Themes), V-CD 13 (Sports Themes), Valentino STVT012 (1980s Vol. 1 - Rock & Pop Vol. 1)
Featured Highlight - Browns @ Saints, 1987


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/17

Unknown Song #3 sounds very similar to Unknown Song #2.  It's so similar, in fact, that I bet it's on the same album.  I have no idea which album that is or what production-music label would house it, but I'd be surprised if they weren't close together.  Accompanying US#3 is yet another (should be the last) highlight from NFL Primetime's first episode.  The once-and-future AFC-champion Browns get a surprisingly tough test from a New Orleans squad seeking their first-ever winning season…



Friday, September 8, 2017

Driving Force, Unknown Songs (The Far Turn), & Primetime's 30th. Anniversary

Song 1 - The Far Turn (+ Underscore/Rhythm Only)
Artist(s) - John Colby
Released - 1987
Primetime Usage - 1987-88
Contained on - Valentino 6162 (Sports Themes), V-CD 13 (Sports Themes), Valentino STVT013 (1980s Vol. 2 - Rock & Pop Vol. 2)
Featured Highlight - Regular version:  Dolphins @ Patriots, 1987 (first part); Underscore/Rhythm Only:  Seahawks @ Broncos, 1987

Song 2 - Driving Force (+ underscore)
Artist(s) - Hal Brown, Donald Bradley Kelley (Brad Kelley)
Released - 1985
Primetime Usage - 1987
Contained on - FirstCom UT102 (Wheels of Commerce)
Featured Highlight - Regular Version:  Dolphins @ Patriots, 1987 (latter part); Underscore:  Falcons @ Buccaneers, 1987


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/17

Welcome to the 2017 NFL season!  This post will be more convoluted than most on here, so bear with me.

As I mentioned on the previous post, the last song I've fully identified shares a highlight with a song I haven't identified.  The first track on this clip (the Dolphins/Patriots one) is the unknown song.  It's good for accompaniment, but it could've used another instrument or two.  I refer to it as "Unknown Song #2" because US#1—identified a couple months ago as Powergate—was posted in January '16. The other piece is one I found a while ago.  "Driving Force," by Hal Brown & Brad Kelley—the artists behind Drive Away and (probably) Marathon—is a sleepy song by NFL Primetime standards, but I suppose it's great if you like simple solo trumpet.  The underscore doesn't have the trumpet, however, so that version is just repetitive.

There are three highlight videos posted below, tying the primetimemusic.net record along with the Powerhouse writeup.  NFL Primetime debuted 30 years ago next Wednesday (9/13), so the fact that all three of these clips happen to come from the very first episode makes the timing of this blog entry perfect.  The regular versions of Unknown Song #2 and Driving Force share the Dolphins/Patriots highlight, the very first highlight in NFL Primetime history.  It's also one of the oddest highlights in the show's history because of both the weather and Miami backup quarterback Don Strock having to fill in at both QB & punter!  He did a pretty damn good job, too.  The other two highlights feature the respective underscores.  The video for the US#2 underscore shows the Broncos blowing out the Seahawks, while the Driving Force underscore clip displays the Bucs & Falcons debuting new head coaches that wouldn't accomplish much.  Enjoy these, and make sure to comment here or on youtube if you can identify any of the Unknown Songs I post.