Saturday, December 30, 2017

Unknown Song #18 - Team Purpose

Song - Team Purpose
Artist(s) - John Fiddy & "Sammy Burdson" (Gerhard Narholz)
Released - 1986
Primetime Usage - 1989
Contained on - SON 246 (Industrial Themes & Underscores, Vol. 5), Sonoton SCD 42 (Corporate Classics) 
Featured Highlight - Bengals @ Bears, 1989


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/21

OK, I am finally through 1988 on this unknown-song run.  That means I can actually post some highlights with decent video & audio quality.  Unknown Song #18 is a piece that may have only been used once on NFL Primetime.  The only highlight I have with it is from Week 1 of 1989, and Week 1s seem to be popular receptacles for single-use Primetime tracks.  It's a pretty good song, too, assuming you're looking for accompaniment that is laid back and not real dramatic.  Tagging along with US #18 is a comeback win for Chicago in a battle between the previous season's #1-seeds.  This high-profile result wouldn't amount to much, however, as both the Bengals & Bears would miss the playoffs in '89.



Sunday, December 24, 2017

Unknown Song #17 - Power Play

Song - Power Play
Artist(s) - (unknown - probably William Soden)
Released - No later than 1988
Primetime Usage - 1988
Contained on - Musikos MS1 (Sports 1)
Featured Highlight - Week 12 Sum-Up, 1988



*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/3/23

It's a little repetitive, but this song has the perfect energy for sports.  To make sure you could hear it, I had to go with an end-of-episode sum-up instead of a regular game highlight because the one game highlight I have is even worse in terms of sound quality.  Chris, Tom, and Pete are entertaining, though, so I'm confident you won't feel too jipped.

There's a track called "Pedal to the Metal (a)" on Dave Volsky's youtube account that sounds like the exact same song, but with different instrumentation.  I'm guessing the NFL Primetime version is either b or c, but I haven't been able to confirm that because—again—NFL Music Library LPs don't appear to be streamable or downloadable anywhere.  According to discogs, Pedal to the Metal is on NFL 122.

*Update* - Dave Volsky sent me (b) & (c) and they are actually just 60-second & 30-second cuts of (a).  I guess somebody could have ripped off William Soden, or he could have another, similar track that sounds similar.



Friday, December 15, 2017

Unknown Song #16 - Grid Iron Great

Song - Grid Iron Great
Artist(s) - (unknown)
Released - No later than 1988
Primetime Usage - 1988
Contained on - Musikos MS2 (Sports 2)
Featured Highlight - Chargers @ Rams, 1988



*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/1/23

If you like a healthy, even mix of synth, brass, & hard rock, then this track's for you.  I don't have much else to say about the song, but the highlight is kinda fun to watch.  Well, it's not so fun if you're a Rams fan.  The Rams were a pretty good team overall in 1988 and the Chargers weren't (Al Saunders would be fired at the end of the season), but San Diego caught L.A. here in the middle of a 4-game losing streak.  Charger QB Mark "The Pickle" Vlasic got hurt part way through and Mark Malone—of all people—came in and shredded the defense while Ram defenders couldn't stop running into each other.



Saturday, December 9, 2017

Unknown Song #15 Identified

Finally, an Unknown Song has been fully identified for the first time since early October.  US #15 is "Wheels in Motion" by David Chesky.  Special thanks to "Noah S" on youtube for showing me Dave Volsky's post of this song.  The only album I can find with this song is Victory Fever:  Fanfares for Sports and Sporting Event, which seems to be a recent compilation of Chesky's sports stuff along with some songs by other artists.  All of Chesky's tracks from this album are included in the youtube channel/account that's linked above (they are not all together, annoyingly).  I have no idea what production music label originally housed them.  My guess is that it's either the NFL Music Library LPs or perhaps Manhattan Music since Chesky is credited on a couple of their albums on Discogs.


Revised Link

Friday, December 8, 2017

Unknown Song #15 - Wheels in Motion

Song - Wheels in Motion
Artist(s) - David Chesky
Released - 1987
Primetime Usage - 1988
Featured Highlight - Patriots @ Packers, 1988


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 12/9/17

Here's another classical-ish piece from 1988.  Unknown Song #15 isn't as punchy as US #14, but instead opts for a quasi-comedy motif.  This track would probably fit best with bloopers, but—to be honest—it's just a mediocre fit for everything.  As a result, it ironically fits this particular highlight clip well because late-'80s New England & Green Bay weren't the franchises they are now.



Friday, December 1, 2017

Unknown Song #14 - Going for the Gold

Song - Going for the Gold
Artist(s) - (unknown)
Released - No later than 1988
Primetime Usage - 1988
Contained on - Musikos MS1 (Sports 1)
Featured Highlight - Colts @ Vikings, 1988



*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/3/23

This isn't the best NFL Primetime track, but I do know the show used at it least twice.  It's a classical-rock fusion piece—a popular genre in late-'80s/early-'90s production music—but it's too awkwardly repetitive to work well with football highlights.  Oh well, at least the song wasn't as awkward as the Colts offense was in this highlight.