Unknown Song #55 is one of those songs that has a solid, punchy core, but comes off incomplete. In other words, it feels like the composer could have done more with the track than they did. I suppose it could be an underscore. NFL Primetime did previously choose the underscore instead of the base track at least a couple other times (Race to Midnight, Take Care), so that wouldn't be surprising. Anyway, the ESPN sound people put this song on one 2019 highlight (that I know of), and split it between highlights & non-highlight stuff in 2020. It was used exclusively as a non-highlight track last year. As an example of US #55's use on NFL Primetime, here's a video of the Denver Broncos inflicting a lot of pain on Tua Tagovailoa.
The Oddball Week finale is thankfully here. Unknown Song #37 is a song I swear I've heard before when browsing production-music albums a few years ago. When I went back through some stuff after first seeing this NFL Primetime episode, however, I couldn't find it. Hopefully one of you readers (or youtube viewers) will recognize it and can identify it. Anyway… US #37's accompanying clip has the Chiefs heading to Marty Schottenheimer's "House of Horrors," Mile High Stadium. Kansas City would lose this one, but they would at least get the second laugh by winning the division anyway. Denver, of course, would get the third & final laugh by upsetting KC in the Divisionals and winning their first Super Bowl title a few weeks later.
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.
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.
For the handful of you watching something other than college basketball right now, here's some NFL Primetime music! "New Day" isn't the best or most memorable track from the show, but it was used quite frequently in 1989. This high volume is especially odd because the song's awkward & relatively unusual structure just doesn't work for highlight clips or accompaniment in general. It fits much better as a stand-alone piece. Two of New Day's composers, Geoff Levin & Chris Many, showed up a lot on early FirstCom stuff. They also wrote a lot of other compositions (e.g., "Big Gains," "Reel Action") that I've seen listed on the web alongside actual Primetime tracks, but were not used on the show themselves (they might've been used on other ESPN shows, I suppose). Levin is probably the most well known of the three, having been a member of '60s one-hit-wonder group People!, but Many and Ian Seeberg are quite accomplished as well. Seeberg also appears to be quite multitalented, as he's seen a bit of success in many other entertainment fields beyond music.
The highlight this time features two good teams playing a good, entertaining game in what appears to be the aftermath of a massive ticker-tape parade. Enjoy!
The final John Colby NFL Primetime contribution is my personal favorite of the six. "Gothic" is relatively short, much like Drive Away, but it has perfect energy for football and anything else with hard-hitting entertainment. Also, if you're an RPG fan like myself, you might notice it has a similar sound to some of the stuff from Lufia & the Fortress of Doom. Anyway… the included highlight features the Houston Oilers dominating at home in the "House of Pain," a perfect venue for Gothic. This also shows how awesome the early-'90s Oilers could be when they were on their game.
The second entry in the obscure John Colby trilogy, "Gelman," is the most somber & tragic sounding of his NFL Primetime contributions. I also think it's the weakest of the six, though it still sounds pretty good. As for the name… I have absolutely no idea what "Gelman" means. I mean, I really have no clue. I don't know of any sports figure or even any famous figure in any vocation with that name.
Gelman's included highlight involves the long-standing rivalry between the Broncos & Raiders. The game itself wasn't notable, but it does exemplify something else of interest. 1994 was the NFL's 75th. anniversary year, and most every team in the league wore some sort of (often bastardized) throwback uniform at some point during the season. This began the throwback-jersey obsession that has exploded over the last decade. On that note, pay particular attention to the comically childish logo on Denver's helmets.
*EDIT* - It was used at least once in 1995 (Week 2 - NO/STL; first Rams game in St. Louis)
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!
