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!

Sam Spence Duo

Song 1 - Up She Rises (a.k.a. "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again")

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Released - No later than 1971

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)

Featured Highlight - Raiders @ Steelers, 2000

Song 2 - The Raiders

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Released - 1974

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)
Featured Highlight - (same as above)

For the December 2000 matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium (the penultimate game at TRS), NFL Primetime decided to give it the 1970s NFL Films throwback treatment.  One feature was Chris Berman constantly referring to then-current players as 1970s stars (e.g., referring to Rich Gannon as Ken Stabler).  The more memorable feature, however, was the back-and-forth use of two classic NFL Films songs by Sam Spence.  The first, mostly used when Pittsburgh had the ball, is "Up She Rises."  This song is also referred to as "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again."  The second, mostly used when Oakland is doing stuff, is appropriately titled "The Raiders."  The Raiders debuted on NFL Films in 1974 to accompany the poem, "The Autumn Wind."  I don't know exactly when Spence wrote Up She Rises, but it's used on the 1970 Colts highlight video so it couldn't be any later than the first half of 1971.

Special thanks to Godzfire for pointing this highlight out to me, and to SW561 for putting the original clip on YouTube.

Non-Highlight Tracks - The News Triplets

Song 1 - Action News

Artist(s) - Jean-Yves Rigo

Released - 1998

Primetime Usage - 1999-2000

Contained on - Kosinus KOS 47 (Very News)

Featured Highlight - Wild Card Preview:  Week 17, 1999

Song 2 - Very News

Artist(s) - Jean-Yves Rigo

Released - 1998

Primetime Usage - 1999-04

Contained on - Kosinus KOS 47 (Very News)
Featured Highlight - Sunday Wild Card Preview:  Wild Card Saturday, 1999

Song 3 - Network News

Artist(s) - Christian Poulet

Released - 1998

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Kosinus KOS 47 (Very News - original album release only)

Featured Highlight - Inside the Numbers:  Wild Card Saturday, 2000

In addition to Industrial News, there were three other "News" tracks from the same Kosinus album to get non-highlight duty on NFL Primetime.  "Action News" & "Very News," both by Jean-Yves Rigo, were disproportionately used in playoff episodes and, more specifically, for playoff matchup/game-time previews.  "Network News," on the other hand, was only used one time that I'm aware of:  the secondary Inside the Numbers segment that followed the Saints/Rams Wild Card Game in 2000 (NO's first-ever playoff win).  It's a weaker song than the other "News" tracks, though, so that was no big loss.

With four songs used on the show, that puts the album Very News in a tie for second for most Primetime tracks along with David Reilly's Success album from Bruton (Sonoton's Automotion 3 has five).  Action News & Very News are currently available on APM's streaming service (linked above).  Unfortunately, Network News is by Christian Poulet and has therefore been purged from streaming for whatever reason (just as with Industrial News).

Special thanks to Dopethrone for pointing Action News out to me, and to Tom Bombadil for posting the playoff episodes on YouTube that contain the Very News & Network News clips.

Good Morning America! Now Streamable Redux

The old Bruton album Good Morning America!, which wasn't streamable at all until 2020, is now available at two locations.  Universal's website has been digitizing a lot of the old Bruton LPs through their Usample service, so you can now find it there.  It's still hosted on archive.org, too.  The N.Y. Giants & Spearhead posts have been updated to add the new source.  Special thanks to Godzfire for noticing this.

LINK

Unknown Song #24 Identified

Unknown Song #24, one of the few remaining unknown songs not from 1988, has now been identified.  It's the underscore version of the song "Take Care," by Rolf Wehmeier.  It was originally released on the Happy Records LP "Multimedia 2002" (HR2257) in 1987, then later added to the CD "Multi Media" (HR2264-3) in 1988.  The latter album is contained on Ring Musik's website.  Wehmeier did a decent amount of production music work, most of it for Happy Records & Golden Ring Records (both controlled by Ring Musik) according to Discogs.  Special thanks to Godzfire, Craig-UK, and mitin for getting this one ID'd.

As an aside, I'm not really sure why John Colby (he was still the ESPN music director in 1991) went with the underscore here.  The main track for Take Care has a nice guitar part, and the underscore feels aimless at times without it.  This isn't like Race to Midnight where the underscore was the superior version (RtM's synth trumpet is cheesy & low quality).

LINK

Unknown Song #35 Identified

Unknown Song #35, another Oddball Week entry, is now ID'd as "Mega Scape," by John Andrew Hancock.  I couldn't find any information at all about Hancock, but the song is contained within the Moments Music library housed on the Spirit Production Music site.  Special thanks to Godzfire for cleaning up the Primetime clip audio and triggering YouTube's copyright sensors.

Only one of the seven Oddball Week tracks remains unidentified…

LINK