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.
Primetime Usage - 1994-96 Contained on - pyr 702 (Sports/Action)
Featured Highlight - Patriots @ Jets, 1996
*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 10/3/19
There isn't much complexity to Unknown Song #28, but it's still a better highlight track than the last couple songs I've posted. US #28 does the basics well, as some hard edge and a driving rock beat are enough to make any NFL Primetime track at least passable. It's lack of direction & melody means it doesn't really do anything beyond that, though. Still, the track is a good accent for any high-energy football game.
I listed US #28 as being used from 1994-96, but I've only seen one instance of it being used outside of 1996 (Week 11, 1994). That also means I'm not certain it was actually used in 1995 (*EDIT* - a comment by Kyle Caughlin on youtube indicates it was used at least a couple times in '95). At any rate, here's a 1996 highlight of Rich Kotite's hard-luck Jets getting robbed late against Drew Bledsoe & the Patriots.
*EDIT* - The BMG website isn't hosting the Pyramid music label anymore, so I
replaced that link with Craig-UK's youtube post of this song. Special thanks to him for specifically putting that song up for this purpose.
*LATER EDIT* - the YouTube post is gone now (10/2024).
By request, I'm identifying this moody gem from NFL Primetime's Sonoton era. "Top Decision Maker," by Gerhard Narholz under an oft-used pseudonym, is a perfect example of the style & instrumentation used by NFL Primetime from 1989-90. The heavy synth, though not football-like on the surface, works well with games with less-than-sunny skies… or less-than-sunny play on the field. I guess it's kinda like Neck & Neck in that regard, though Neck & Neck hits that tone a bit harder than Top Decision Maker.
In light of recent tragic events at ESPN, I thought it appropriate to post a highlight that featured John Saunders doing the commentary. Here's him presenting the Jets and their shootout victory over an uncharacteristically mediocre edition of Shula's Dolphins.
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!
One of the staples of late '90s/early '00s NFL Primetimes, "Grid Lock" most often associated itself with the less prominent games on the schedule. It makes sense on two levels. The name of the song implies stagnancy & frustration, something that fits well with teams that aren't doing too well. Also, the music—though good—sounds rather neutral emotionally and therefore works best for highlights that are more about the individual plays & accomplishments than about who wins. Grid Lock was written by prominent guitarist, session musician, and production music composer Ray Russell. Fortunately, this isn't Russell's only Primetime track, as he has one other (much more obscure) song that I have yet to cover on this site.
You likely won't be able to find the original CD cut of this track. FC-A33 is one of many early albums in the FirstCom Action series that are no longer available on the FirstCom website. I've never seen it show up on eBay or anything like that, either. On the plus side, however, Grid Lock is easy to find online if you don't care about obtaining it or listening to it in a fully 100% legal way. A google search for "Grid Lock" with either "Ray Russell" or "NFL Primetime" should suffice.
This post's highlight choice is ironic given Grid Lock's tendency to accompany undercard games. The Jets & 49ers, who both were coming off winning seasons & would both win double-digit games in 1998, played each other in a high-octane season opener in what was then known as 3Com Park. Glenn Foley, who would soon be replaced by Vinny Testaverde, threw for a career-high 415 yards for New York. This game is mostly remembered for one other reason, though: Garrison Hearst's 96-yard touchdown run on San Francisco's first offensive play of overtime.
One of my posts last week mentioned that a couple songs used in NFL Primetime's first year (1987) eventually returned. One of those was Powersurge, which I already profiled, and the other was the similarly titled "Powerhouse." There's a twist here, though, in that three different versions of Powerhouse were ultimately used on the show. The original, base version and the underscore (no horn section) accompanied highlights in 1987, but then ESPN brought back the song in a cut-and-paste edited form that increased the excitement and removed the quiet bridge section in 1991. Powerhouse, though a simple song in many ways, provides more energy than most NFL Primetime music and is particularly suited toward games with frenetic comeback attempts.
Powerhouse was composed by early FirstCom regulars John Bähler & Mary Therese Matthews, who I've mentioned multiple times on this blog already. This song never officially made it off of vinyl, as far as I know, so it isn't easily accessible. There is an updated remix, titled "Powerhouse 2K" available on FirstCom's website, but it sounds quite a bit different. It wasn't written by the above artists, either, and is instead credited to associated (related?) FirstCom composers James Griffith, Mark Matthews, and Kathryn Matthews. I don't know who was responsible for the custom ESPN edit used in the '90s, but I would guess it was then-ESPN music director John Colby.
In honor of the holidays—or something—this post gets a whopping three(!) highlight videos. Also, in an unintentional oddity, all three have one of the secondary hosts presenting the game instead of Chris Berman. The first, which features the original version of Powerhouse, features Gayle Gardner showing the Cowboys visiting Busch Stadium & the Cardinals in the 1987 opener. The highlights really underplay the craziness of how that game ended; the Cardinals overcame a 13-3 deficit by scoring 3 unanswered touchdowns in the final 2 minutes! This was also their first home opening win in 12 years in what would also be their final home opener in St. Louis. The Powerhouse underscore highlight has John Saunders showing the Bills, in their last bad season for a while, losing a close game to the Jets at home. The final video, profiling the '90s custom edit version of the song, has Robin Roberts accompanying the post-Moon Oilers in their last "Battle of Texas" in Irving against the defending champion Cowboys.
