Unknown Song #47 is the last of the moody & ambient NFL Primetime songs. It was also the only new track from the beginning of 2001 to last beyond September of that year. US #47 certainly isn't a memorable piece, but it at least accomplishes its goal of being, well, moody & ambient. The accompanying highlight is probably the most famous game to use this song. The Minnesota Vikings, in the midst of a freefall after starting 6-0, completed their collapse with a bizarrely improbable loss in the desert.
Unknown Song #45 isn't real memorable, but it's a good mood piece for certain games. Not that we got to truly find out, of course, since the upcoming clip was US #45's only use on NFL Primetime (AFAIK). This clip was the second post-9/11 highlight (immediately following the one from last week's post) and fit pretty well with the Vikings that year. Not only was 2001 a tumultuous year for the U.S and the world, it was a tumultuous year for the Minnesota Vikings. Pro Bowl offensive lineman Korey Stringer died of heat stroke during training camp, the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 6 years & suffered double-digit losses for the first time in 11 years, 10-year head-coach Dennis Green was fired just before the end of the season, Cris Carter left following the season, and—as you'll see in the video—players & coaches were often seen bickering with each other on the sidelines.
Unknown Song #39 was one of a handful of songs NFL Primetime debuted in 1997 that lasted until the end of the show. It wasn't used all that often, especially after 2001, and it didn't tend to accompany games of real import. Still, US #39's dark-yet-ambivalent tone is quite appropriate for teams going through adversity. It also seemed to get disproportionately used for Jacksonville Jaguars' highlights in the early-2000s, which was fitting. This particular highlight doesn't showcase the Jags, though. It instead features two QBs from the class of 1999 squaring off in The Metrodome.
*EDIT* - Robert Enriquez confirmed on youtube that this song was used a couple times in 2004, and it was never used in 1999.
*EDIT* - This song was actually used once in 1996. Thanks to Robert Enriquez on youtube for confirming this.
I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that Unknown Song #30 is one of the most recognizable tunes from NFL Primetime. If you watched the show with any regularity in the '90s or 2000s (aside from 1996, where it was either not used or maybe used rarely), you surely heard this piece numerous times. It's a pretty good song, even if it does sound a bit like Eric D.—I often get the two confused in my head. This track has been roaming around the net (in the Polinsky set, among others) for a while, and it's called "The Big Game" on Dave Volsky's channel on youtube. I have yet to see an artist or album/library credit attached to it, however. It's similarity to Eric D. suggests John Colby could've composed it, but who knows? If any of you readers has an idea, don't hesitate to comment or contact me.
Given the huge volume of Primetime highlights that feature US #30, I had a tough decision for this blog entry's video. One of the top contenders was the Jets/Patriots game from 2001 where Drew Bledsoe got hurt, paving the way for Tom Brady—forgotten is that the game was probably best known at the time for its pregame honoring of Joe Andruzzi's firefighting family members that were involved with rescues on 9/11 (that game was from the first week after 9/11). I ultimately rejected this highlight, though, because the game itself wasn't that interesting (Brady didn't get a chance to do much) and because the Bledsoe injury is likely a prime target for the NFL's copyright bots. Instead, you get to see a veritable highlight reel for a different NFL great as his team came back from a 20-3 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Vikings.
Unknown Song #22 is a nice, energetic, rock/orchestral fusion track that I've been asked to identify a few times since I started this blog. I obviously can't identify it as of now, but I would very much like to. One irony is that US#22 isn't primarily remembered as a regular NFL Primetime highlight track. It was used on the show for 7 years, but its use was pretty infrequent. Instead, it's best remembered as being the accompanying song for Chris Berman's Sunday Night Football halftime highlights (not to be confused with Gladiator, the accompanying song for Monday Night Football's "Fastest 3 Minutes" segment). It was used for this purpose well after its end on NFL Primetime.
This week's clip is a particularly humiliating one for both Chicago QB Jim Harbaugh & Chicago head coach Mike Ditka. The Bears led Minnesota 20-0 in the Metrodome, but Harbaugh infamously audibled into a pass play that resulted in a pick-six for the Vikings. Minnesota came back to win 21-20, scoring all their points in the 4th. quarter. I've seen this game referred to as "The Audible" at least once online. This game could also be seen as the beginning of the end for Ditka's stint in Chicago. They did win 2 straight following the loss, but lost 8 of their last 9 to finish 5-11. Ditka was subsequently fired.
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.
Artist(s) - Mary Therese Matthews, Sally Anne Griffith, John Bähler, Matthew Muhoberac
Released - 1985
Primetime Usage - 1987
Contained on - FirstCom UT105 (New Beginning)
Featured Highlight - Lions @ Vikings, 1987
It doesn't get much more obscure than this. "Strategy," composed by same three artists as "Fast Drive" plus Matthew Muhoberac, was used on the very last highlight of the very first episode of NFL Primetime and I haven't seen any other clips use it. The availability of 1987 Primetimes is rather limited, however, so it definitely could've been used more than that. Still… it's probably one of the least remembered songs used on the show. That doesn't mean it's bad, though. Strategy's combination of '70s style and '80s instrumentation is unique, and it's relatively large amount of starts & stops—though not ideal for sports highlights—makes it an interesting song to listen to.
Finding the hard copy of FirstCom UT105 is the only way to get this track legally, I'm pretty sure. Good luck with that…
As indicated above, Strategy's only known highlight usage was the Lions/Vikings game that ended the first-ever NFL Primetime. Minnesota pulls out a somewhat comfortable, albeit sloppy, win that kicked off one of the most schizophrenic seasons for a team in NFL history.
