Reverse Serendipity

Song - Drive Away

Artist(s) - Hal Brown, Donald Bradley Kelley (Brad Kelley)

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987-88

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!

Epic, Part III

Song - Olympic Action

Artist(s) - David Reilly

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - Bruton BR 67/BRN 19 (Success)

Featured Highlight - Bills @ Oilers, 1989


My final post of the 2015 NFL Season features the earliest of NFL Primetime's "epic" themes.  "Olympic Action," much like its successors Crush & International Statement, typically accompanied the best and/or most important games during its two-year run on the show.  It's also my personal favorite of the three since it has higher quality instrumentation than the former and is a little more subtle than the latter (it would be hard to be less subtle than International Statement).  Olympic Action is the second of four Primetime tracks from David Reilly's Success album (in an earlier post, I erroneously indicated there were three) that contains most of the new 1989-90 additions that were not attached to the Sonoton label.  The same two links for the album are listed above.

Featuring Olympic Action is an unusually long & entertaining NFL Primetime clip.  The 1988 Buffalo Bills that began Marv Levy's run of success were a defense-first team, but the following year they gained the K-Gun-offense identity that best defines their subsequent Super Bowl years.  Their biggest shootout of 1989 came in the Astrodome against an Oilers squad that oddly hadn't played in their own building for 9 consecutive games including the preseason (I guess their home preseason game against the Dolphins wasn't in the Astrodome).  Lots of big, crazy plays in this one…

Getting Nowhere Fast

Song - Grid Lock

Artist(s) - Ray Russell

Released - 1994

Primetime Usage - 1996-05

Contained on - FirstCom A33 (Big Scores)

Featured Highlight - Jets @ 49ers, 1998


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.

Unknown Song #1 - Powergate

Song - Powergate

Artist(s) - Steve Martin

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1991-95

Contained on - MAT 112 (Prestige & Power)

Featured Highlight - Chiefs @ Chargers, 1995


*SONG IDENTIFIED* - 7/3/17

I was originally going to wait & do all the NFL Primetime songs I haven't identified after I'd posted everything I do know, but I'm going to make an exception here because somebody on my youtube page specifically requested this game highlight.  I'm still not planning on making this a regular thing right now, though, so don't expect any more unknown tracks for a while.  This composition was used pretty frequently for most of the early-to-mid-'90s.  It's kind of dour & depressing on the surface, but the synth bass line gives it enough energy to make it serviceable.  I don't think it's a Sonoton track, but it does sound somewhat similar to some of the Sonoton stuff used on Primetime from 1989-90 (especially the songs added in 1990).

The aforementioned highlight shows the post-Montana Chiefs smothering the Chargers in San Diego and, thanks to the 49ers upset of the Cowboys the same day, gaining sole possession of the best record in the NFL.  If any of you readers know what this song is, don't hesitate to comment either here or on youtube.  Thanks!

"Young" Triumphs & Mistakes

Song - Race to the Death

Artist(s) - George Young, Bryan "Chuck" New

Released - 2000

Primetime Usage - 2000

Contained on - Chappell AV 154 (Guitar Drama)

Featured Highlight - Steelers @ Jaguars, 2000


One of the most obscure songs from the later heyday of NFL Primetime, "Race to the Death" seemed to be an attempt to replace the melancholy struggle motif previously occupied by Neck and Neck.  It's an OK song in small doses, though, and "small doses" were definitely what we got—it was just used a handful of times during only the 2000 NFL season.  The artists behind Race to the Death were, ironically, not so obscure…  well one of them at least.  I don't know a whole lot about Bryan "Chuck" New, but he does have a massive number of credits listed on Discogs.  George Young is a bit more famous, though.  In addition to being the older brother of Malcolm & Angus Young of AC/DC (and an AC/DC producer), he was also the co-writer & co-producer of top-10 disco hit "Love is in the Air" by John Paul Young (no relation).  Additionally, George Young was one of the inaugural inductees in the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1988.

I apologize for the quality of the included highlight video, but this was the only Primetime clip I've been able to find with Race to the Death.  This game was a fitting example of the decline of the Tom Coughlin Jaguars, but it's mostly memorable for one reason.  Steelers rookie Plaxico Burress, after getting a long reception over the middle, decided to do a celebratory spike even though he hadn't actually been touched.  It didn't ultimately affect the contest's outcome, but this play often shows up on "top sports blunders" lists.

Empire Building

Song - Empire Building

Artist(s) - Mary Therese Matthews, Sally Anne Griffith, John Bähler, Matthew Muhoberac

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987-96 (infrequent)

Contained on - FirstCom UT104 (Powersurge)

Featured Highlight - Bengals @ Colts, 1987


The next two weeks will feature a couple songs that were requested on my youtube discussion page.  The first, "Empire Building," has a relatively strange usage history.  The song played on NFL Primetime highlights during the first 10 years of the show's run, but it was quite rare to hear it.  I've viewed quite a few episodes from that decade-long run, but Empire Building only shows up on three of them:  one highlight in 1987 (the one below), one in 1992, and one in 1996 (EDIT - I've found it was used during at least a few episodes in 1991, too).  Unlike sports cards, however, rarity doesn't make this track a gem.  It's far too neutral and sleepy to be good football accompaniment.  Empire Building is also the third and final (that I know of) track composed by the Matthews/Griffith/Bähler/Muhoberac quartet.

ESPN edited this song a little in the '90s by removing the bridge section and adding in some "creative" looping.  I'm not gonna post a second video for the edit because the edit isn't that meaningful & the song isn't that great, but it's a worthwhile footnote at least.  If you really want to hear it, try to find the Bills/Rams game from week 1 of 1992 or the Vikings/Lions game from week 1 of 1996 (special thanks to Kyle Caughlin on youtube for catching this difference).

The featured game highlight isn't real memorable, but it has a few nice plays.  The Bengals went into the Hoosier Dome and topped the Colts in the 1987 season opener.  It was an ironic result in retrospect since Indianapolis actually ended up winning the AFC East (their only playoff appearance in a 17-year span) while Cincy went 4-11.

The Powerhouse Trilogy

Song - Powerhouse

Artist(s) - John Bähler, Mary Therese Matthews

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987 (Original Version & Underscore), 1991-96 (ESPN Edit)

Contained on - FirstCom UT101 (The Leader), (ESPN Edit not publicly released)

Featured Highlight - Cowboys @ Cardinals, 1987 (Original); Jets @ Bills, 1987 (Underscore); Oilers @ Cowboys, 1994 (ESPN Edit)


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.