The Big Replay Reversal

Song - The Big Push (1)

Artist(s) - John Fiddy & "Sammy Burdson" (Gerhard Narholz)

Released - 1984

Primetime Usage - 1989

Contained on - Sonoton SON 213 (Success Story), Sonoton SCD 019 (Corporate Fanfares/Success Story)
Featured Highlight - Bears @ Packers, 1989

 

It turns out we weren't done with the Sonoton era, after all.  "The Big Push," by the familiar pair of the late John Fiddy (he died in 2017) and Sonoton founder Gerhard Narholz under one of his common aliases, was used twice during the 1989 season of NFL Primetime.  Like a lot of infrequent Primetime songs I've mentioned recently, it's a piece that doesn't quite fit sports highlights.  It sounds more like something scored to fit the shot-by-shot particulars of a war-movie battle sequence or a corporate promo video than something that would work here.  John Colby mitigated this problem somewhat by axing the slow, quiet intro, but it's still apparent why this track wasn't used much.

The Big Push may have only been attached to a grand total of two NFL Primetime highlights, but it did get one of the most memorable games of the 1989 season.  The Green Bay Packers, who had lost 8 straight to Chicago coming in (Chicago's longest winning streak in the history of the rivalry), edged out the Bears at Lambeau after a controversial replay reversal that wiped out an illegal-forward-pass penalty on Packers' QB Don "The Majik Man" Majkowski.  This result, along with several others, led to Green Bay earning the "Cardiac Pack" nickname that would define their 1989 season.

Special thanks to GodzFire for identifying The Big Push.  Also, the video posted below is a whopping 6 minutes and 14 seconds, the third longest I've posted only behind the infamous Points War (Theighs Mon) video and New Order (the actual highlight is longer for The Big Push than New Order, though).  So… enjoy!

Theighs Mon Now on YouTube

I still don't know when John Colby will post Theighs Mon on his site, but here's the youtube link:

*EDIT* - Link taken down.  Others have posted it on youtube, though, so all you have to do is search it.

BREAKING: Unknown Song #23 (the Points War one) Finally Identified!!!

Thanks to Josh Ochs and his communications with John Colby & ESPN, US #23 has finally been identified as "Theighs Mon."  John Colby found the track and told Josh he's going to put it on his website sometime soon, so look out for that.  I literally have no idea what the song title means.

The Primetime Holy Grail has been found, but there's still plenty of other stuff yet to identify…


LINK

Unknown Song #23 (POINTS WAR!!!!) - Theighs Mon

Song - Theighs Mon

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1991-05
Contained on - N.A.

Featured Highlight - Points War, 1999 (Cardinals @ Packers/Saints @ Panthers)


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 6/12/20

So it's come to this:  the holy grail of NFL Primetime music.  International Statement is the most famous Primetime track, but it was identified long ago (well before I started this project).  Unknown Song #23 is, instead, the piece I've received by far the most requests to ID.  I'm also pretty sure it's Primetime's most often used song that hasn't been identified—it was used quite regularly for the last 15 years of the show.  I wouldn't say it's my favorite Primetime piece, but its strong hard-rock edge makes its appeal obvious for football highlights.

I don't have much idea where to look for US #23.  The only clue was when some follower on youtube sent me a message that he had contacted John Colby and that Colby replied that he thinks he did it but he's not sure and doesn't know the name.  Maybe it's in that mythical place that also contains the full-length versions of Gothic, Terminator, and Gelman.  Regardless, it's not on Colby's website.

Accompanying this holy grail of NFL Primetime music is what may be the most well-known highlight in the history of the show.  In 1999, a murky tiebreaker scenario emerged during the final week of the season involving 4 teams fighting for one 8-8 playoff spot (the Lions also finished 8-8, but had already clinched a berth).  The Cowboys just needed to beat the Giants, the Giants were basically screwed (barring, like, a 100-point win or something), and the Panthers & Packers had to win the scoring-margin tiebreaker in order to break a 3-way tie with the Giants should the Giants beat Dallas.  This points war didn't ultimately matter since the Cowboys won, but it was still—as Chris Berman says—"unbelievable football."

Since the NFL season is about to end, my updates will be less frequent for a while.  I plan on being a little more active than the last couple offseasons, though—probably 2 posts a month.  There are still quite a few unidentified tracks left to post.  Thanks for reading/watching!