New Primetime - Classic Battle (Sam Spence)

Song - Classic Battle

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Debut - No later than 1996

Primetime Usage - 2021, 2023-24

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as some other NFL Films albums like Autumn Thunder Vol. 6)
Featured Highlight - Packers @ Cowboys, 2023 Wild Card

Sam Spence gets his third-straight post on this blog.  "Classic Battle" is another NFL Films classic that most any football fan will recognize.  As with "March to the Trenches," Classic Battle was only used for the intro of the attached game highlight.  That highlight is the Packers/Cowboys Wild Card game from a couple years ago where Dallas decided to play flag football on defense.  Classic Battle accompanies Chris Berman's recaps of the Ice Bowl and the 1995 NFC Championship Game.  Also, as with "The Equalizer," I don't know exactly when Spence composed this piece or when it debuted on NFL Films.  It's not on any of the old NFL Music LPs, and the earliest album with it I know of is NFL CD 005 Magnificent Eleven from 1996.

 

 

New Primetime - March to the Trenches

Song - March to the Trenches

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Debut - 1970 (according to Spotify)

Primetime Usage - 2020

Contained on - NFL music compilations like Autumn Thunder (Soundcloud song link)
Featured Highlight - Steelers @ Cowboys, 2020 (Intro)

Another Sam Spence classic.  Unfortunately, "March to the Trenches" was only used once on NFL Primetime as far as I know, and it was only used for a highlight intro.  The 7-0 Steelers visited a Dallas Cowboys team that was having to play their 29th. string quarterback.  March to the Trenches accompanied Chris Berman's remembrance of the two franchises' glory years in the 1970s, while the rest of the clip uses Arnold.  The Cowboys actually gave Pittsburgh a good game despite being a clear underdog, but they couldn't hold the lead.

March to the Trenches oddly doesn't appear to be on the official NFL music website.  I'm pretty sure it isn't on any of the old NFL LPs, either.  It is on most of the NFL Films music compilations, though, and it's very easy to find just by searching Google or whatever.

 

 

New Primetime - The Equalizer (Sam Spence)

Song - The Equalizer

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Debut - No later than 1996

Primetime Usage - 2021, 2023-24

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as some other NFL Films albums like The Power and the Glory)
Featured Highlight - Packers @ 49ers, 2021 (SNF)

One of the songs most synonymous with famed NFL Films composer Sam Spence nowadays is "The Equalizer."  When getting ready to make this post, I started to wonder "Why is it so comparatively popular?"  It has nothing to do with the quality of the song.  It's a good song, though I wouldn't say it's my favorite Spence composition or anything.  It's more because I can't figure out when The Equalizer originated or what video it was first used with.  It's not on Autumn Thunder, and it doesn't seem to be on any of the 1970's-'80s NFL Music Library LPs either.  The earliest album I could find with The Equalizer was NFL CD 004 (On to Victory) from 1996, and I have no idea when it debuted on NFL Films' stuff.  Could its modern popularity come from gamers remembering it from Madden '06?  I don't know…

Anyway, the accompanying highlight is the Packers/49ers Sunday Night Football game from Week 3 of 2021.  Green Bay blew a 17-0 lead only to pull out a 2-point win with a last-second field goal.  This would be a Pyrrhic victory for the Packers, however, as we all remember what happened between these two teams in the Divisional Round later that season.

I linked an official source for the song above (the current NFL Music site), but they only allow 30 second previews if you're not signed up or whatever.  If you want to hear the full version, though, it's easy to find by searching Google or YouTube or whatever.

 

 

Non-Highlight Track (New Primetime) - Tracking Heat

Song - Tracking Heat
Artist(s) - Daniel Holter, Rex Carroll
Released - 2001
Primetime Usage - 2021
Contained on - Velocity VL017Q (Metal v2)
Featured Highlight - "Largest Conf Champ Comeback Wins" Segment, 2021

Here, as promised last week, is the last unique non-highlight track from the 2021 Conference Championship episode of NFL Primetime.  It accompanies a graphic showing the largest deficits overcome in conference-championship history (the 2021 Bengals tied the 18-point record set by the 2006 Colts), as well as a couple clips from the Cincinnati bar celebrations that occurred when the AFC Championship ended.  The song is "Tracking Heat," by Daniel Holter & Rex Carroll.  Holter is a producer who has composed/co-composed many songs that have shown up on TV, while Carroll is a songwriter who got his start as the lead guitar player & co-founder of the Christian metal group Whitecross in the 1980s.  Tracking Heat is found on the Velocity production-music album Metal v2.

Again, special thanks to Godzfire for ID'ing this one.

Non-Highlight Track (New Primetime) - Hardline

Song - Hardline
Artist(s) - Scott Patrick Anderson
Released - 2013
Primetime Usage - 2021
Contained on - NFL Music Library NFL-0061 (Driving Force 5)
Featured Highlight - Anthony "Booger" McFarland NFC Championship Analysis, 2021

 

A couple weeks ago, I noted that Unknown Song #58 (Here We Go) had been identified.  That song was used during Keyshawn Johnson's analysis segment of the 2021 NFC Championship.  Shortly after that, Booger McFarland did his own analysis piece for the same game.  The accompanying clip for that section used a track called "Hardline," composed by Scott Patrick Anderson and contained on the 61st. release (not counting the old NFL LPs) of the NFL Films library.  Hardline was actually identified by Godzfire (using the RecognizeSong bot on reddit) about 6 months ago, but—due to busyness and whatnot—I never got around to posting about it until now.  Godzfire also ID'd another non-highlight track from the same NFL Primetime episode that I'll write about next week.

Unknown Song #58 Identified

Jwasc92Wrestling comes through again by identifying yet another New Primetime song.  Unknown Song #58, one of the non-highlight pieces from the 2021 conference-championship episode, is "Here We Go" from the West One Music label.  It's contained on WOM 059, and it was composed by Jeff Coates & Billy Handsome.  Aside from West One Music stuff, I couldn't find anything about Coates or Billy Handsome (no idea if that's his real name).

LINK

Unknown Song #58 (New Primetime) - Here We Go

Song - Here We Go
Artist(s) - Jeff Coates, Billy Handsome
Released - 2005
Primetime Usage - 2021
Contained on - West One Music WOM 059 (Free-Running)
Featured Highlight - Keyshawn Johnson NFC Championship Analysis, 2021

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 11/10/23

Unknown Song #58 is a one-off piece used for a highlight clip that accompanied Keyshawn Johnson's analysis of the Rams/49ers NFC Championship game from 2021.  It sounds like a generic & repetitive grunge-guitar track, so it's probably no loss that the highlight clip is only 20 seconds long.  Anyway, this is the last Unknown Song post I can make at the moment.  The only unknown stuff that I haven't posted are non-highlight songs from 2022, but nobody (to my knowledge) has posted 2022 episodes of NFL Primetime online anywhere so I can't cut any videos from them.  There are at least a few more known songs that I haven't posted yet, however, so stay tuned for those.

Unknown Song #57 Identified

Jwasc92Wrestling is now 7/7 on identifying New Primetime tracks.  US #57 is "Combat," by Devin Bronson.  Bronson is a guitar player who toured with acts like Kelly Osbourne and The Goo Goo Dolls a while back.  His website doesn't look like it's been updated in several years, though.  Combat is found on the album Throttled from the Slam! label.  I couldn't find info on the Slam! label, unfortunately.  Universal's website houses it, but it's not listed on Discogs as far as I can find.  Again, thanks to Jwasc92Wrestling for ID'ing this one.

LINK

Unknown Song #57 (New Primetime) - Combat

Song - Combat
Artist(s) - Devin Bronson
Released - 2013
Primetime Usage - 2020 (non-highlight)
Contained on - SLAM077 (Throttled)
Featured Highlight - "Pressuring Mahomes" Segment, Super Bowl LV

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 2/26/23

Now we're into the weeds of obscurity.  Unknown Song #57 was only used for one non-highlight piece during the Super Bowl LV broadcast of NFL Primetime.  During this segment, Steve Young & Anthony "Booger" McFarland (the COVID-era replacement for Tom Jackson) discuss how Tampa Bay's defensive front dominated Kansas City's offensive line and made life miserable for Patrick Mahomes.  The included game clips are accompanied by US #57, a loud, industrial track that sounds like it should be in a factory-shootout scene from a modern action movie.  The song isn't especially pleasant or melodic, but it actually works well for this segment.  It's also easy to hear, which is unfortunately not the case for some of the non-highlight tracks from the last couple seasons of Primetime.  If you can identify US #57, don't hesitate to comment here or on YouTube.

Unknown Song #51 Identified

Jwasc92Wrestling has now finished off all the New Primetime songs (the ones I've posted so far, anyway).  Unknown Song #51 is "Amped," by David Robidoux.  Robidoux, like Tom Hedden, is a well-known NFL Films composer, and many of his compositions appear on the later discs of the NFL's famous Autumn Thunder compilation.  Amped appears on the NFL Music Library album NFL-0049.

Again, special thanks to Jwasc92Wrestling on YouTube for ID'ing US #51 as well as US #'s 52-56.

LINK

Unknown Songs #52, #53, and #54 Identified

As covered in my previous post earlier today, I saw last night that Jwasc92Wrestling had identified US #55 and US #56 on YouTube.  What I didn't know until just after making that post was that Jwasc92Wrestling had also made YouTube comments identifying US #52, US #53, and US #54.  Those comments didn't show up in my YouTube notifications for some reason.  Anyway, here they are:

Unknown Song #52 is "A Date with Destiny."  As initially suspected, this piece is by the same composers (Ron Klein, Udi Harpaz) and is on the same album (EVO062) as US #56/Field of Courage.

Unknown Song #53 is "Blow the Stack," by Tom Caffey, Eric Cunningham, and Chris Lang.  It's contained on the Killer Edge album EDGE80.  Caffey is a prolific sports/pro-wrestling composer, while Cunningham is the founder of Chronic Tracks.  "Chris Lang" is a pretty generic name, so I wasn't able to nail down exactly which Chris Lang he is.

Unknown Song #54 is "Fire Zone," by Tom Hedden.  It's an official NFL song contained on NFL-0056 (CD).  Tom Hedden used to be the NFL music director.

Again, special thanks to Jwasc92Wrestling for pointing out all of these New Primetime tracks.

LINK - A Date with Destiny
LINK - Blow the Stack
LINK - Fire Zone

Unknown Songs #55 and #56 Identified

For the first time, New Primetime music exclusives have been identified.  A helpful YouTuber who posts a lot of production music used in pro wrestling, Jwasc92Wrestling, has identified both Unknown Song #55 and Unknown Song #56.  US #55 is "Superior Strength," by Kavin Hoo.  Hoo is a Malaysian composer described on Discogs as a "new age pianist and composer" and is also the founder of Earthtones Studio.  US #56 is "Field of Courage," by Ron Klein & Udi Harpaz.  I couldn't find much info on Klein, but Harpaz is a longtime composer with his own website.  Harpaz also did the music for seasons 2 & 3 of Airwolf back in the '80s.  Both songs are contained on albums from the EVO production-music label.  Superior Strength is on EVO209, while Field of Courage is on EVO062.

LINK - Superior Strength
LINK - Field of Courage

Unknown Song #56 (New Primetime) - Field of Courage

Song - Field of Courage
Artist(s) - Ron Klein, Udi Harpaz
Released - 2006
Primetime Usage - 2020-21 (non-highlight)
Contained on - EVO062 (Gridiron Glory)
Featured Highlight - Game Balls: Week 13, 2020

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/10/22

This is technically a post for Unknown Song #56, but you could probably think of it as "Unknown Song #52-B."  It's marcato orchestral style is similar to US #52, and its tempo is only a little slower.  US #56 doesn't sound quite as "piratey" as US #52, but they are still difficult to tell apart.  The fact they were both used for NFL Primetime's Game Balls segment in 2021 doesn't help distinguish them, either.  At any rate, I wouldn't be surprised if US #52 and US #56 were on the same album… assuming either one of them is even on an album.

As an example, here is US #56's lone Game Balls use for 2020:

Unknown Song #55 (New Primetime) - Superior Strength

Song - Superior Strength

Artist(s) - Kavin Hoo
Released - 2014

Primetime Usage - 2019-20 (highlights); 2020-21 (non-highlight)

Contained on - EVO209 (Big Sports Machine 2)

Featured Highlight - Dolphins @ Broncos, 2020

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/10/22

 

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.

Unknown Song #54 (New Primetime) - Fire Zone

Song - Fire Zone

Artist(s) - Tom Hedden
Released - 2012

Primetime Usage - 2019

Contained on - NFL-0056 (Driving Force 4)

Featured Highlight - Texans @ Chargers, 2019

 

 

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/10/22

 

Unknown Song #54 was the last new song to debut in Week 3 of 2019 and will hopefully be the last to require an audio-only post.  It's a generic '90s-or-later rock-guitar track with a laid-back tempo.  It doesn't sound like a piece that was intended to stand out; it's just there to accompany and not to offend.  In that vain, I suppose it's basically a simpler & quieter version of Grid Lock.  This is the only use of US #54 I'm aware of, but I haven't seen most of New Primetime's 2019 episodes so I don't for sure that it's the only one.  It was not used in 2020 or 2021.

Unknown Song #53 (New Primetime) - Blow the Stack

Song - Blow the Stack

Artist(s) - Tom Caffey, Eric Cunningham, Chris Lang
Released - 2005

Primetime Usage - 2019-20

Contained on - Killer Edge EDGE80 (Sports: Dramatic 2)

Featured Highlight - Bears @ Packers, 2020 (SNF)

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/10/22

 

There's not much to say about Unknown Song #53.  It's an orchestral song that conveys intensity with its high-pitched strings and loud long notes.  It conveys this intensity in basic, rudimentary fashion, however—there's no subtlety here.  To put it another way, US #53 is a forgettable equivalent to International Statement.

I had two available highlights to choose from here.  The Steelers/49ers game from the same NFL Primetime episode as US #51 and US #52, and the Bears/Packers Sunday Night Football game from 2020.  The first surely would've required another audio-only post, so I tried the second.  Fortunately, the Bears/Packers clip was only flagged by the NFL and not blocked, so my channel now has New Primetime video content for the first time.

Unknown Song #52 (New Primetime) - A Date with Destiny

Song - A Date with Destiny

Artist(s) - Ron Klein, Udi Harpaz
Released - 2006

Primetime Usage - 2019 (highlights), 2020-present (non-highlight only)

Contained on - EVO062 (Gridiron Glory)

Featured Highlight - Dolphins @ Cowboys, 2019

 

 

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/10/22

 

Back to new songs from New Primetime.  Unknown Song #52, which I guess could be called the "Pirate Song," was the second piece to debut on the Week 3, 2019, episode.  Unlike US #51, however, US #52 would still be used into the current decade…  at least as a non-highlight track.  It was used as a rare auxiliary track in 2020, and it was the primary Game Balls theme for 2021.  US #52 sounds like it could be a Sam Spence composition, but I don't believe it is—it might be a deliberate knock-off.

As with US #51, I had to post the accompanying clip as audio-only because of a Disney/ESPN copyright block.  I don't know if this will happen with episodes from 2020 or 2021, but this was the only highlight clip of US #52 I currently possess.  Anyway… if you happen to know this song's identity and/or where to find it, don't hesitate to comment here or on YouTube or wherever to let me know.  Thanks!

Unknown Song #51 (New Primetime) - Amped

Song - Amped

Artist(s) - David Robidoux
Released - 2011

Primetime Usage - 2019
Contained on - NFL-0049 (Rush 3)

Featured Highlight - Giants @ Buccaneers, 2019

 

 

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/13/22

 

As promised (a long time ago, admittedly), here's the first Unknown Song from the new, ESPN+ version of NFL Primetime.  This version of the show debuted in Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season, but that particular week only used classic Primetime tracks from the last several years of the original show (the same ones they used for pretty much every week in 2020).  Week 3 of 2019 added four new songs, however, and US #51 was the first of those.  It's kind-of an electronic-grunge sounding piece—very mid-to-late-'90s in its instrumentation.  I'm not sure US #51 was used more than once, but I wasn't subscribed to ESPN+ in 2019 so I didn't see a lot of the highlights from that season.

The featured clip for this track (the only clip I know of) is Daniel Jones's debut for the Giants in Tampa in 2019.  Unfortunately, my original post of the video was copyright blocked by Disney.  So, instead, I cut an audio-only version of the highlight.  It's not as interesting this way, of course, but it looks like this is what I'll have to do for anything I post from New Primetime.