Unknown Song #21 - Overdrive

Song - Overdrive

Artist(s) - Howard Jones & Tim Shaxson

Released - 1989

Primetime Usage - 1990-92
Contained on -  Amphonic AVF 75CD (Power U.S.A.), (alt. link)

Featured Highlight - Eagles @ Packers, 1991


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 7/24/20

Unknown Song #21 has more of a hard-rock style than most every other NFL Primetime song from this era.  I guess the producers realized the track's uniqueness in this regard because its use was quite ubiquitous during its 3-year run on the show.  US #21 was even used for two separate highlights for one week in 1992, which is—to my knowledge—the only time that ever happened (not counting the full version vs. underscore splits in 1987).  The Green Bay Packers seemed to be disproportionately featured with this song.

Speaking of the Packers, they're featured in this highlight too.  OK, the clip is really about the Eagles and Green Bay is just their hapless opponent, but still…  At least one statistical analysis claims the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles had the greatest defense in the history of the NFL.  There isn't anything in  this video would cause anyone to disagree, either.  Their offense wasn't too good, however, largely thanks to a season-ending injury to Randall Cunningham that occurred in this game.  Philly still did manage a 10-6 record, but that wasn't enough to make the playoffs in a logjammed NFC (the 49ers missed the playoffs with the same record).

Unknown Song #20 - Forcefields

Song - Forcefields

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

Released - 1986 (2015 for Remix)

Primetime Usage - 1989

Contained on - SON 246 (Industrial Themes & Underscores, Vol. 5), Remix:  Sonoton Vanguards SCDV 510 (Documentary Enterprise)  

Featured Highlight - Cowboys @ Saints, 1989

 *SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/21

Barring something unexpected, this will be the last highlight I post from the 1980s (there's actually another Unknown Song from 1988 I tried to post, but the video got copyright blocked by the NFL and I have no other clips with that song).  Unknown Song #20 is the only unidentified track from 1989 that I can confirm was used more than once.  It's also one of a very few 1989 music debuts that wasn't either from Sonoton or David Reilly's Success album (UPDATE:  it turns out it was from Sonoton, but from an LP that wasn't ported to a CD initially).  I would really like to find this one, since I think it's one of the best NFL Primetime pieces I haven't identified.

US #20's accompanying highlight wasn't an interesting game on its own merits, but it was an important milestone.  In this game in the Superdome, Jimmy Johnson learned very quickly that he had a total tear-down/rebuild on his hands with the Cowboys.  It was also the first regular-season game in franchise history not coached by Tom Landry.  The Saints, meanwhile, would miss the playoffs with a winning record for the second-straight season (they would ironically go 8-8 and make the playoffs in 1990).

Unknown Song #19 - Constructions

Song - Constructions

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

Released - 1986

Primetime Usage - 1989

Contained on - SON 246 (Industrial Themes & Underscores, Vol. 5), Sonoton SCD 42 (Corporate Classics)  

Featured Highlight - Browns @ Steelers, 1989

 *SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/21

Here's the other unidentified one-off song from Week 1 of '89.  It's a classical-rock fusion piece, much like Unknown Song #18, but leans a little more toward the edgy rock side.  To accompany Unknown Song #19, I'm posting another Cleveland beatdown of the Steelers.  It's really remarkable the Steelers ended up making the playoffs after this humiliation.  Chuck Noll definitely earned his Coach of the Year award with this team.

As always:  if you can ID this song (or any other Unknown Songs on this blog), don't hesitate to contact me.

Unknown Song #18 - Team Purpose

Song - Team Purpose

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

Released - 1986

Primetime Usage - 1989

Contained on - SON 246 (Industrial Themes & Underscores, Vol. 5), Sonoton SCD 42 (Corporate Classics) 

Featured Highlight - Bengals @ Bears, 1989

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 9/22/21

OK, I am finally through 1988 on this unknown-song run.  That means I can actually post some highlights with decent video & audio quality.  Unknown Song #18 is a piece that may have only been used once on NFL Primetime.  The only highlight I have with it is from Week 1 of 1989, and Week 1s seem to be popular receptacles for single-use Primetime tracks.  It's a pretty good song, too, assuming you're looking for accompaniment that is laid back and not real dramatic.  Tagging along with US #18 is a comeback win for Chicago in a battle between the previous season's #1-seeds.  This high-profile result wouldn't amount to much, however, as both the Bengals & Bears would miss the playoffs in '89.

Unknown Song #17 - Power Play

Song - Power Play

Artist(s) - William Soden (likely)

Released - No later than 1988

Primetime Usage - 1988

Contained on - Musikos MS1 (Sports 1)
Featured Highlight - Week 12 Sum-Up, 1988

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/3/23

It's a little repetitive, but this song has the perfect energy for sports.  To make sure you could hear it, I had to go with an end-of-episode sum-up instead of a regular game highlight because the one game highlight I have is even worse in terms of sound quality.  Chris, Tom, and Pete are entertaining, though, so I'm confident you won't feel too jipped.

There's a track called "Pedal to the Metal (a)" on Dave Volsky's youtube account that sounds like the exact same song, but with different instrumentation.  I'm guessing the NFL Primetime version is either b or c, but I haven't been able to confirm that because—again—NFL Music Library LPs don't appear to be streamable or downloadable anywhere.  According to discogs, Pedal to the Metal is on NFL 122.

*Update* - Dave Volsky sent me (b) & (c) and they are actually just 60-second & 30-second cuts of (a).  I guess somebody could have ripped off William Soden, or he could have another, similar track that sounds similar.

Unknown Song #16 - Grid Iron Great

Song - Grid Iron Great

Artist(s) - William Soden (likely)

Released - No later than 1988

Primetime Usage - 1988

Contained on - Musikos MS2 (Sports 2)
Featured Highlight - Chargers @ Rams, 1988

*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 5/1/23

If you like a healthy, even mix of synth, brass, & hard rock, then this track's for you.  I don't have much else to say about the song, but the highlight is kinda fun to watch.  Well, it's not so fun if you're a Rams fan.  The Rams were a pretty good team overall in 1988 and the Chargers weren't (Al Saunders would be fired at the end of the season), but San Diego caught L.A. here in the middle of a 4-game losing streak.  Charger QB Mark "The Pickle" Vlasic got hurt part way through and Mark Malone—of all people—came in and shredded the defense while Ram defenders couldn't stop running into each other.

Unknown Song #15 Identified

Finally, an Unknown Song has been fully identified for the first time since early October.  US #15 is "Wheels in Motion" by David Chesky.  Special thanks to "Noah S" on youtube for showing me Dave Volsky's post of this song.  The only album I can find with this song is Victory Fever:  Fanfares for Sports and Sporting Event, which seems to be a recent compilation of Chesky's sports stuff along with some songs by other artists.  All of Chesky's tracks from this album are included in the youtube channel/account that's linked above (they are not all together, annoyingly).  I have no idea what production music label originally housed them.  My guess is that it's either the NFL Music Library LPs or perhaps Manhattan Music since Chesky is credited on a couple of their albums on Discogs.


Revised Link