Purgatory Primetime - Pure Glam

Song - Pure Glam
Artist(s) - Eric Cunningham, Chris Lang
Released - 1999
Primetime Usage - 2006
Contained on - Chronic Trax CM014 (Chronic Rocks, Vol. 1)
Featured Highlight - AFC Divisional Round Preview (from Wild Card Sunday Episode), 2006

After ESPN traded Sunday Night Football for Monday Night Football following the 2005 season, they lost the exclusive long-form highlight rights to the Sunday NFL day games that led to the launch of the show in the first place.  What followed (until ESPN+ New Primetime began in 2019) was what I like to call the "Purgatory Primetime" era.  During this era (2006-18), almost all of the real NFL Primetime broadcasts aired during the postseason.  There was still a show called "NFL Primetime," but it was a bastardized version that aired Monday afternoons without Chris Berman or Tom Jackson.  The closest thing left for NFL Primetime junkies was The Blitz, a Primetime-like segment hosted by Berman & TJ (& others like Trent Dilfer) during Sunday evening SportsCenter that featured shorter highlights and longer talking segments.  The Blitz was passable—and both it and the Monday NFL Primetime used the classic music everyone reading this blog is more than familiar with—but things still weren't the same compared to the pre-2006 NFL world.

The 2006 postseason marked the first real return of NFL Primetime since the end of ESPN's Sunday Night Football.  Aside from ditching the 2005 title song and returning to the 1998-04 piece, the episodes looked and felt just like the ones from the previous year's playoffs.  One quirk, however, was the addition of several new non-highlight tracks.  The first, the most interesting, and the only one that's been identified as of this post, is "Pure Glam" by Chronic Trax co-founder Eric Cunningham and "Blow the Stack" co-composer Chris Lang (assuming it's the same Chris Lang).  It was used one time for each Wild Card episode and also once in the Conference Championship show.  Below is Pure Glam's accompaniment of the AFC Divisional Round preview late in the Sunday Wild Card episode.  Special thanks to Godzfire for identifying this song.

Sam Spence Duo

Song 1 - Up She Rises (a.k.a. "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again")

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Released - No later than 1971

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)

Featured Highlight - Raiders @ Steelers, 2000

Song 2 - The Raiders

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Released - 1974

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)
Featured Highlight - (same as above)

For the December 2000 matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium (the penultimate game at TRS), NFL Primetime decided to give it the 1970s NFL Films throwback treatment.  One feature was Chris Berman constantly referring to then-current players as 1970s stars (e.g., referring to Rich Gannon as Ken Stabler).  The more memorable feature, however, was the back-and-forth use of two classic NFL Films songs by Sam Spence.  The first, mostly used when Pittsburgh had the ball, is "Up She Rises."  This song is also referred to as "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again."  The second, mostly used when Oakland is doing stuff, is appropriately titled "The Raiders."  The Raiders debuted on NFL Films in 1974 to accompany the poem, "The Autumn Wind."  I don't know exactly when Spence wrote Up She Rises, but it's used on the 1970 Colts highlight video so it couldn't be any later than the first half of 1971.

Special thanks to Godzfire for pointing this highlight out to me, and to SW561 for putting the original clip on YouTube.

Unknown Song #49 - Pro

Song - Pro

Artist(s) - Joel Beckerman & Lloyd Landesman

Released - N.A. (recorded in 2001)

Primetime Usage - 2001-05

Contained on - N.A. (ESPN internal)  

Featured Highlight - Cardinals @ Lions, 2003

 
*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/21

Among the three mid-2001 additions, Unknown Song #49 is probably the weakest.  It's still better than most of the tracks that didn't last, though.  It also—unlike US #48 or the one I'll be posting next during Super Bowl week—doesn't appear to have been used in 2002 for some reason.  Anyway…  accompanying US #49 is the Cardinals/Lions season opener from 2003 where Anquan Boldin set the rookie debut receiving record.  Enjoy!

Oh, as an aside, it sounds like Chris Berman & Tom Jackson will be returning to host NFL Primetime for the conference-title games this weekend.  That's pretty cool…

*EDIT* - This song was used a couple times in 2002 (thanks to Robert Enriquez on youtube for the info).

Unknown Song #35 (Oddball Week, Part 5) - Mega Scape

Song - Mega Scape

Artist(s) - John Andrew Hancock
Released - No later than 1997

Primetime Usage - 1997

Contained on - Moments Music MML014 (Ultimate Dance Moments)
Featured Highlight - Jets @ Seahawks, 1997

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 2/3/22

One of the youtube commenters on my last post opined that this track—Unknown Song #35—is even more unmemorable than US #34.  I wouldn't go that far, since—if nothing else—US #35 is a bit louder than US #34, but it's still quite clear why this tune didn't last on NFL Primetime.  Anyway, here's Bill Parcells's first game as head coach of the Jets.  They immediately turned around an awful 1-15 year by humiliating the Seahawks in the Kingdome.  You may not like the accompanying song, but you should at least enjoy Chris, Tom, and Stu's constant reference to Keyshawn Johnson's 1997 book, Just Give Me the Damn Ball.

Unknown Song #23 (POINTS WAR!!!!) - Theighs Mon

Song - Theighs Mon

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1991-05
Contained on - N.A.

Featured Highlight - Points War, 1999 (Cardinals @ Packers/Saints @ Panthers)


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 6/12/20

So it's come to this:  the holy grail of NFL Primetime music.  International Statement is the most famous Primetime track, but it was identified long ago (well before I started this project).  Unknown Song #23 is, instead, the piece I've received by far the most requests to ID.  I'm also pretty sure it's Primetime's most often used song that hasn't been identified—it was used quite regularly for the last 15 years of the show.  I wouldn't say it's my favorite Primetime piece, but its strong hard-rock edge makes its appeal obvious for football highlights.

I don't have much idea where to look for US #23.  The only clue was when some follower on youtube sent me a message that he had contacted John Colby and that Colby replied that he thinks he did it but he's not sure and doesn't know the name.  Maybe it's in that mythical place that also contains the full-length versions of Gothic, Terminator, and Gelman.  Regardless, it's not on Colby's website.

Accompanying this holy grail of NFL Primetime music is what may be the most well-known highlight in the history of the show.  In 1999, a murky tiebreaker scenario emerged during the final week of the season involving 4 teams fighting for one 8-8 playoff spot (the Lions also finished 8-8, but had already clinched a berth).  The Cowboys just needed to beat the Giants, the Giants were basically screwed (barring, like, a 100-point win or something), and the Panthers & Packers had to win the scoring-margin tiebreaker in order to break a 3-way tie with the Giants should the Giants beat Dallas.  This points war didn't ultimately matter since the Cowboys won, but it was still—as Chris Berman says—"unbelievable football."

Since the NFL season is about to end, my updates will be less frequent for a while.  I plan on being a little more active than the last couple offseasons, though—probably 2 posts a month.  There are still quite a few unidentified tracks left to post.  Thanks for reading/watching!

Unknown Song #17 - Power Play

Song - Power Play

Artist(s) - William Soden (likely)

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.

Higher and Higher

Song - Higher and Higher

Artist(s) - Orange Power

Released - 1987

Primetime Usage - 1990

Contained on - SON 273 (Sound Giants - Industrial Prestige & Scenic Magnificence, Vol. 2), Sonoton SCD 6 (Sound Giants 1&2)

Featured Highlight - Oilers @ Chiefs, 1990

It's Pro Bowl week!  Are you all excited!?  No?  Well, anyway…  here's the other NFL Primetime track composed by Orange Power.  It's moodier than Future Champs, but has almost identical instrumentation.  I guess me choosing a song called "Higher and Higher" is ironic for the week of the Pro Bowl.  You could maybe think of it as, "you have to be high on drugs to enjoy the Pro Bowl."  That makes it fit.  Right?

Higher and Higher's clip features something a bit more exciting than the Pro Bowl.  In the video, Warren Moon put on a show by throwing for 527 yards in Arrowhead Stadium.  There's also a little bit of Mechatronics thrown in when Chris Berman discusses a replay review after the main highlight reel is done.  Enjoy!

The John Colby Trilogy - Part I

Song - Gladiator

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1991-00

Contained on - N.A. (Sound Clip)

Featured Highlight - Broncos @ Giants, 1998


From 1984-92, John Colby was the music director for ESPN.  He's probably best known for composing the most famous theme song for Sportscenter, but he also wrote some sports-highlight tracks as well.  Six of those (that I know of) were used on NFL Primetime.  These six songs are divided into two "trilogies":  one consists of three pieces only used for a few years, and the other contains three tracks that lasted a long time and that any fan of Primetime will immediately recognize.  Colby is also well known for his Grammy-winning work (both pre & post-ESPN) on the productions of documentary master Ken Burns.  Check out his website (linked above) or this article if you want to learn more.

The first of these well-known John Colby highlight tracks, "Gladiator," is one that even people who didn't really watch NFL Primetime may recognize.  In addition to its frequent use on the show for a decade, it was also the background song for Chris Berman's "Fastest 3 Minutes" halftime segments on Monday Night Football.  Gladiator kept being used for that purpose well after it was phased out on Primetime, in fact.  My featured highlight choice for Gladiator is a long one.  In 1998, the Denver Broncos started 13-0 and everyone was focusing on their Week-16 matchup with the last franchise to run the table:  the Miami Dolphins.  Their Week-15 contest with the Giants in The Meadowlands then became the ultimate example of a "trap game."  A 3-7 start meant New York had no hope of defending their 1997 division-title run, but they were playing well down the stretch and this upset punctuated a 5-1 finish to the season.  Have fun watching!

Reverse Serendipity

Song - Drive Away

Artist(s) - Hal Brown, Donald Bradley Kelley (Brad Kelley)

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987-88

Contained on - FirstCom UT102 (Wheels of Commerce)

Featured Highlight - Jets @ Bengals, 1988


Most of the songs I've identified from NFL Primetime were discovered the expected way:  I was already aware of the song from Primetime episodes, then I stumbled upon the track while scouring production music sites or whatever.  There are few I've found the other way around, though, like "Drive Away."  Drive Away is a song that I was already aware of because it was contained on FirstCom UT102 (another Primetime track I ID'd earlier but haven't yet posted is also on there), but I didn't know until recently that it was used on the show.  Special thanks to Andy Provin for posting Week 11 of 1987 and Week 6 of 1988 with the last several months, both of which used Drive Away as a highlight track.

Drive Away is an unusually short song for NFL Primetime.  It's only about a minute, which actually makes me wonder if FC-UT102 only included a :60 commercial cut of it rather than the whole thing.  I haven't found any evidence of this song's existence elsewhere, however, so probably not.  Drive away was composed by Hal Brown & Donald Bradley Kelley, also known as Brad Kelley.  Kelley's website, which has some nice info, is linked above.  I couldn't find anything on Brown, but a lot of his stuff still exists on the FirstCom website (same for Kelley).

This post's highlight features the then-undefeated 1988 Bengals, arguably the best team in franchise history, facing off against the 3-1-1 Jets.  Cincinnati would pull away late for a comfortable win and then eventually end up in the Super Bowl while the Jets would mark the beginning of the end of the Joe Walton era with a disappointing non-playoff finish.  I also included the postgame analysis from Berman, Jackson, and Pete Axthelm as a bonus.  Have fun!

The Greatest Show on Turf

Song - The Event

Artist(s) - Robin Gurin (composer credit only), Georgia Shapiro, Alec Williams (performer credit only)

Released - 1994

Primetime Usage - 1994-05

Contained on - FirstCom A29 (Power Net)

Featured Highlight - Ravens @ Rams, 1999


Late in the 1999 preseason, total unknown Kurt Warner replaced the injured Trent Green as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams.  What happened was one of the most remarkable stories in NFL history.  Warner not only led the Rams to their first Super Bowl title, but—partially thanks to weapons like Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Az-Zahir Hakim—also had one of the league's all-time best passing seasons.  During this run, Chris Berman coined the phrase "The Greatest Show on Turf" to describe St. Louis's "circus-like" offense that lasted through the 2001 season.

"The Event," in addition to being a Primetime song, is also a good descriptor of watching the Warner-led Rams.  Composed by Robin Gurin & Georgia Shapiro, and performed by Shapiro & Alec Williams, the song provides a nice mix of laid-back tempo and energetic entertainment.  I couldn't really find any info on the three, though, other than noticing that Shapiro & Williams are credited as writers on "Anxiety" by The Black Eyed Peas.

Going back to the first paragraph, this post's featured highlight is Kurt Warner's first ever start against the Ravens in what was then called the Trans World Dome.  His stats weren't as spectacular as what was to come, but he was playing a good defense and it was just the beginning of his run of success.  Enjoy!

Bad Company

Song - Bad Company

Artist(s) - Robert J. Walsh

Released - no later than 1999

Primetime Usage - 1999-05

Contained on - Hollywood Film Music HFML 15.10, Hollywood Music HM-007 (Renegade)

Featured Highlight - Chiefs @ Bears, 1999


NFL Primetime almost always had a go-to song for defensive, tough, and often ugly games.  In the last several years of the program (in its original form), that track was "Bad Company."  It's a more orchestral song, rather than synth or rock, and it definitely works as a mood piece for football grittiness.  In addition to defense in general, Bad Company was also associated on the show with the Oakland Raiders and the "Black Hole" motif of Raider Nation.  It was composed by prolific movie/TV/production composer Robert J. Walsh, who—in addition to his composing work for the company—was briefly a FirstCom executive in the mid '90s.  Walsh also founded the Hollywood Film Music library in 1987, which is not to be confused with the Hollywood Music label linked above.

This track is streamable on FirstCom's website.  One thing I don't like about their organization is that, although you can sort albums by release date, there's no way I can find where you can actually see the release date listed.  If anyone has figured it out, please let me know.

Below is, to my knowledge, NFL Primetime's first use of Bad Company.  The Chicago Bears, behind "The Shane Matthews Band," (one of Chris Berman's best nicknames) edge out the Kansas City Chiefs at home to open up the 1999 season.

No-One Circles the Wagons Like Ken Nelson & Jim Long

Song - Powersurge

Artist(s) - Ken Nelson, Jim Long

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1998-05

Contained on - FirstCom UT104 (Powersurge), FirstCom A1 (Sports)

Featured Highlight - Bills @ Colts, 1998

On NFL Primetime, Chris Berman's Buffalo Bills fandom was not exactly a well-kept secret.  His love for those Niagara NFLers was best displayed in the coining of his famous line, "No-One Circles the Wagons Like the Buffalo Bills!," in the 1990s.  This catchprase became nearly as synonymous with Berman as his prodigious use of player nicknames throughout highlights and he still uses it often on ESPN to this day.  Another theme that became synonymous with Buffalo Bills highlights was the background song, "Powersurge."  Powersurge, composed by FirstCom founder (and then owner) Jim Long and current FirstCom executive Ken Nelson, provides an entertaining balance of '80s guitar rock and tight brass that works perfectly for football highlights.  Beginning early in Buffalo's Doug Flutie love-affair era in the late-'90s/early-2000s, virtually every highlight involving the Bills on NFL Primetime utilized this track.  In fact, aside from maybe "San Diego Super Chargers," I'm not sure there's another song that is more identified with an NFL team than this one.

One other unique note about Powersurge:  it's the only music track in the history of NFL Primetime that was used in both its first season (1987), and its last (regular) season (2005).

I don't know of a completely legal source to cleanly stream this song on the web at present.  If you're still interested in obtaining it, however, there's a decent chance you can find one of the above albums on eBay (that's how I got FC-A1 Sports).  I believe FC-UT104 is an LP and not a CD, though, so keep that in mind.  There also exists a remix of this song, entitled "Halftime Highlights Remix," that is streamable on FirstCom here.

The NFL Primetime highlight featured below was one of Doug Flutie's first starts for the Bills in 1998.  This was also Flutie's first year back in the U.S. after a moderate stint in the CFL.  Here he's up against a long-forgotten rookie by the name of Peyton Manning…

NFL Primetime Music - Introduction

NFL Primetime, which aired in its weekly, classic form on ESPN from 1987-2005, put a unique imprint on the memories of NFL fans.  Chris Berman's wit and eventual use of corny nicknames cemented him as one of the stars of the network, while Tom Jackson's concise, accurate, & often blunt analysis made him the most refreshing football commentator on TV.  The first 11 years of NFL Primetime also featured an all-star team of co-hosts including John Saunders, Robin Roberts, Bill Pidto, & the late Stuart Scott.  Even legendary sports wordsmith Pete Axthelm, who died in early 1991, provided entertaining editorials and betting analysis in the show's early years.  All of these factors helped make NFL Primetime one of the best highlight shows ever made and vastly superior to anything that's come since the 2006 change to the NFL TV arrangement, but—come on—the #1 reason people loved the show was its awesome soundtrack.

NFL Primetime music has been highly sought on the internet for more than a decade now.  I'm sure, if you found this blog anyway, that you've seen a set of 16+ NFL Primetime songs either posted on youtube or for download elsewhere.  I don't quite know how all of these songs were obtained, though I believe some were ripped from the now forgotten NFL Primetime PS2 game that came out in 2002, but I have found actual documentation on some of them.  Also—in providing a more unique flavor to this blog—I have found a lot of songs not contained in this set, including most of the tracks utilized in the early days of the show.  The vast majority of what I've discovered can be located on the various production music label networks that populate the web.  Well known figures in the production music world created some of these compositions, such as Trevor Bastow, Zack Laurence, John Devereaux, & Alan Hawkshaw, and their quality stands far above the average you'd expect for library stuff.  I've still got a long way to go to find everything, though, given the mind-numbing amount of production music that's available to stream online.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will post information about the NFL Primetime music I have definitively identified.  After that, I will start detailing the songs that are less than fleshed out.  This will start with songs I've discovered without credits and then finish with the tracks I have yet to find at all.  Hopefully this blog will be popular enough by that point that you readers can then help me out with this process.  No song will be available for download on this blog.  However, links to production libraries where these songs can be legally streamed/obtained will be provided whenever possible.  I will also include one game highlight from NFL Primetime as an example of each song's use on the show.  I hope that, one day, this site can put together a complete list of every song used for highlights over the entire run of the show.  Enjoy, and thanks for reading!