William Tell Overture

Song - William Tell Overture (Finale)

Artist(s) - Gioachino Rossini

Released - 1995 (HFML version), 1829 (original)

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Hollywood Film Music HFML 8.4 (Classical, Vol. 1)
Featured Highlight - Chargers @ Rams, 2000

Occasionally, NFL Primetime would—as a novelty—use familiar songs one time only because they were  appropriate for a particular game.  One such instance was the previously posted use of two classic Sam Spence tracks for the 2000 matchup between the Raiders & Steelers.  Another example was the show's use of the recognizable final movement of Rossini's William Tell Overture, also known as the theme of The Lone Ranger, for the St. Louis Rams' beatdown of the San Diego Chargers earlier the same year.  The 2000 Rams had a noticeably worse defense than their championship team from the year before, but their offense was arguably even better (this was also the year the Rams changed their secondary color from yellow to gold).  As a result, allowing 31 points to a San Diego team that would finish 1-15 was completely overshadowed by an unstoppable offensive explosion led by Chris Berman's personal "Lone Ranger," Kurt Warner.

Special thanks to SW561 for posting the original version of this highlight clip, and to Godzfire for identifying the specific album this version of the William Tell Overture was on.  For some reason, the NFL copyright bots really liked this clip, so I had to edit two 10 second portions into audio-only segments.  One of those was oddly the first no-music segment when the Chargers fumbled a snap.  I don't really know why the NFL was focused so hard on that moment, but whatever…

 

Unknown Song #42 - Liberation Day

Song - Liberation Day

Artist(s) - Paul Foss

Released - 1998

Primetime Usage - 2000-01
Contained on - ATMOS 111 (Impact)

Featured Highlight - Rams @ Eagles, 2001


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/6/19

OK, back to the Unknown Songs.  Unknown Song #42 is similar to Bad Company & Showdown, but was used less often on the show.  It has the same gritty, hard-hitting, rock/orchestral fusion style as those other two tracks, though.  Before I introduce the highlight clip, I should apologize for the low video quality.  I recall hearing US #42 multiple times way back when these Primetime episodes were current, but this is the only clip I could find online of it (that's also why I'm unsure of the exact years it was used).  In this video, the St. Louis Rams began their final Super Bowl run of the Kurt Warner era by edging out a good Eagles team in accursed Veterans Stadium.  The audio quality is fine, so you don't have to worry about hearing the song.

**EDIT** - It was apparently used a handful of times in 2000 & 2001.  Thanks to Robert Enriquez on youtube for this information.

Unknown Song #40 - Surf Your Own Wave

Song - Surf Your Own Wave

Artist(s) - Rick DiFonzo

Released - No later than 1997

Primetime Usage - 1997-99
Contained on - BRg Extreme Cuts BRg3004 (Alternative Energy)

Featured Highlight - Eagles @ Falcons, 1997


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 7/23/20

Unknown Song #40 is probably my favorite song yet to be identified on Primetime.  It's energetic, edgy, and fun, and works well with sports highlights.  It's likely not a well remembered track, however, since it was used sparingly during its mere 3 years of service.  US #40's most memorable use was probably its last:  the 1999 NFC Championship game where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly upset the St. Louis Rams 6-5 before giving up a late TD catch to Ricky Proehl.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find that NFL Primetime highlight anywhere, so here's a different one from US #40's first season of use.

Total News

Song - Total News

Artist(s) - Tom Blades

Released - 1996

Primetime Usage - 1997-05

Contained on - ATMOS 81 (Current Affairs)

Featured Highlight - Rams @ Eagles, 2002


I finally found one of the missing staples from the later years of NFL Primetime.  "Total News" created a good balance of laid-back fun & energetic tension that saved a lot of otherwise unimpressive game highlights—it's no wonder they used it a lot over the final 9 seasons of the show.  Following Leading Edge, Total News is both the second Primetime track discovered in the Atmosphere library and the second one composed by Tom Blades.  I am currently searching this library to hear if there's more.

Oh, and special thanks to Josh Ochs on youtube.  There's a 1998 Washington Capitals broadcast video posted by Dan Conroy that periodically uses this song.  I asked if anyone knew the song in the comments, and Josh Ochs ID'd it for me.

As for Total News's highlight, here's one of the worst played games of all time…

*SIDE NOTE* - Universal Production Music revamped their whole website a few days ago and all of the album URLs have changed.  It's now universalproductionmusic.com instead of unippm.com and I have fixed all the links on this website to reflect the change.  The "UNIPPM" blog label has also been replaced by "Universal."

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!