The Lesser-Known John Colby Trilogy - Part I

Song - Terminator

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1992-93

Contained on - N.A. (Sound Clip)

Featured Highlight - Bills @ 49ers, 1992


As I hinted in the previous post, the first of the forgotten John Colby Primetime songs may have a thematic connection to Arnold.  "Terminator" has the most heavily electronic sound of the set.  This may also explain why it was phased out pretty quickly, an idea I touched on in my Leading from the Front post.  It's also oddly upbeat for it's name, especially when compared to the dark, brooding, and heavy synth associated with the first Terminator movie.  Unlike the better-known Colby songs, these ones are only available in partial form on John Colby's website (AFAIK).  I've never encountered full-length cuts anywhere on the net.

Terminator's featured highlight is the Super Bowl we all thought would happen but never did.  In 1992, Buffalo visited Candlestick Park and knocked off the 49ers in a game that had over 1000 yards and zero punts.  This result also personified the early-'90s Bills' tendency to always beat NFC teams in the regular season, but never beat them in the postseason.

The John Colby Trilogy - Part III

Song - Arnold

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1992-05

Contained on - N.A. (Sound Clip)

Featured Highlight - *EDIT* - 49ers @ Panthers, 1996



Arguably the most intense selection in the well-known Colby trilogy, "Arnold" works well for tough games, shootouts, big comebacks, and pretty much any other kind of football game you can imagine.  It was one of NFL Primetime's regular stalwarts from 1992 on, and with good reason.  I believe the track's name is a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger (another of Colby's songs is named "Terminator"), but I can't be certain.  It seems a little easier to decipher than "Eric D.," anyway.  As with Eric D. and Gladiator: you can either get a high-quality short clip of Arnold on John Colby's website (above), or you can find a full-length—but lower quality—version on those aforementioned bootleg NFL Primetime collections that are easily found on the web (or other youtube postings).

After Joe Montana left the San Francisco 49ers in 1993, he faced his old team exactly one time.  It was a tight contest, but Montana's Chiefs ultimately prevailed over the squad that would eventually win that year's Super Bowl.  All the talk before, during, and after the contest revolved around Joe Montana vs. Steve Young, but—as you'll see in the highlight—the real focus should've been on Derrick Thomas.
*EDIT* - This video was copyright blocked, too.  Here's a different 49ers loss, this time to Carolina in 1996.  It was basically the first big win in Carolina Panthers' history, and would springboard them to an NFC Championship appearance in just their second year of existence.

The John Colby Trilogy - Part II

Song - Eric D.

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1991-05

Contained on - N.A. (Sound Clip)

Featured Highlight - Cowboys @ Eagles, 1999


The second well-known John Colby track has an odd name.  I have no idea who "Eric D." is or what significance that name has to sports or anything else, but the song nonetheless ended up as one of the top-5 most often used pieces on NFL Primetime.  I've also seen the track labeled under the name "Breakdown" on some of those bootleg Primetime music collections floating around the net, and maybe that name would've made more sense.  Speaking of those bootlegs, that's the only known way of acquiring the full-length versions of this particular Colby trilogy's songs.  The media player on John Colby's website (linked above) has higher-quality audio, but the tracks are incomplete and/or fade out prematurely.

As for the highlight:  1999 saw the start of Philadelphia's rise and the beginning of Dallas's fall.  One key moment to this was in Week 5 when Michael Irvin suffered a career-ending neck injury on the turf of always dangerous Veterans Stadium.  To add further insult to the Cowboys, they lost on a late TD pass by—of all people—Doug Pederson.  This was the first of what would a be a whopping 3 career wins as a starting QB for Pederson, a total he's already exceeded halfway through his first year as an NFL head coach.  Enjoy!

The John Colby Trilogy - Part I

Song - Gladiator

Artist(s) - John Colby

Released - N.A.

Primetime Usage - 1991-00

Contained on - N.A. (Sound Clip)

Featured Highlight - Broncos @ Giants, 1998


From 1984-92, John Colby was the music director for ESPN.  He's probably best known for composing the most famous theme song for Sportscenter, but he also wrote some sports-highlight tracks as well.  Six of those (that I know of) were used on NFL Primetime.  These six songs are divided into two "trilogies":  one consists of three pieces only used for a few years, and the other contains three tracks that lasted a long time and that any fan of Primetime will immediately recognize.  Colby is also well known for his Grammy-winning work (both pre & post-ESPN) on the productions of documentary master Ken Burns.  Check out his website (linked above) or this article if you want to learn more.

The first of these well-known John Colby highlight tracks, "Gladiator," is one that even people who didn't really watch NFL Primetime may recognize.  In addition to its frequent use on the show for a decade, it was also the background song for Chris Berman's "Fastest 3 Minutes" halftime segments on Monday Night Football.  Gladiator kept being used for that purpose well after it was phased out on Primetime, in fact.  My featured highlight choice for Gladiator is a long one.  In 1998, the Denver Broncos started 13-0 and everyone was focusing on their Week-16 matchup with the last franchise to run the table:  the Miami Dolphins.  Their Week-15 contest with the Giants in The Meadowlands then became the ultimate example of a "trap game."  A 3-7 start meant New York had no hope of defending their 1997 division-title run, but they were playing well down the stretch and this upset punctuated a 5-1 finish to the season.  Have fun watching!

Future Champs

Song - Future Champs

Artist(s) - Orange Power

Released - 1987

Primetime Usage - 1990

Contained on - SON 273 (Sound Giants - Industrial Prestige & Scenic Magnificence, Vol. 2), Sonoton SCD 6 (Sound Giants 1&2)

Featured Highlight - Seahawks @ Dolphins, 1990


If you liked the ridiculously bright synth from last week's post, Overall Winner, then you'll love this one.  "Future Champs," by longtime library synth group Orange Power, sounds like the kinda song you'd expect to accompany a team's coronation—perhaps an easy win that clinches a division title or something.  That's not what you're going to see with this highlight, unfortunately, but it still has some entertainment value.  The Seahawks, who had managed to reach a winning record despite an 0-3 start, went down to what was then known as Joe Robbie Stadium to face a 10-3 Dolphins squad.  Miami, though they didn't play real well, took advantage of constant errors by Seattle to register a close victory.

Oh, and stay tuned…  Starting next week, I'm going to post a series of songs composed by then-ESPN-music-director John Colby.  At least a few should be quite familiar to fans of NFL Primetime.

Overall Winner

Song - Overall Winner

Artist(s) - "John Epping" (Gerhard Narholz)

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989

Contained on - SON 290 (Leaders Vol. 1), Sonoton SCD 14 (Leaders 1&2)

Featured Highlight - *EDIT* - Bills @ Dolphins, 1989


The 1989 San Francisco 49ers were arguably the greatest NFL team of the modern era.  They went 14-2, 10 of their 14 wins were by double digits, and they won their three playoff games by an average score of 42-9.  For a team that dominant, a song with the title "Overall Winner" is appropriate.  Gerhard Narholz's synth-filled fanfare is bright & loud and perfectly fits a champion from the 1980s.  It's also easily accessible to those that want to listen thanks to Sonoton's online service (linked above).  Overall Winner wasn't played that much on NFL Primetime—2 highlights that I know of early in the '89 season—but the games that used it were pretty big ones.  One was a Bills/Dolphins showdown from Week 1, while the other—shown below—featured the aforementioned 49ers travelling to Veterans Stadium to take on an Eagles team that was considered one of their chief NFC-title threats.  What followed was perhaps the finest game of Joe Montana's (or anyone else's) career:  428 yards and 5 TD passes on just 34 attempts despite being sacked 8 times and being hit several more.  Grab a snack or something, because this entertaining highlight is lengthy even for the 28-team era.

*EDIT* - The NFL copyright blocked the 49ers/Eagles video because of a 13-second play match (Rice's last touchdown, specifically).  This is the first time this sort of thing has happened to one of my videos in ≈40 posts, so hopefully it won't happen again.  Here's the aforementioned Buffalo/Miami matchup from Week 1 as a replacement.

Epic, Part Zero

Song - Performance

Artist(s) - John Devereaux

Released - 1987

Primetime Usage - 1990

Contained on - KPMLP 1376 (Performance), KPM 14 (Performance)

Featured Highlight - Saints @ Rams, 1990


"The 'epic track that wasn't," is probably what you could call "Performance."  It definitely does have the feel of the other epic-type songs on NFL Primetime (International Statement, Olympic Action, Crush), but it was only used briefly (perhaps just once) and not for a game that anyone would've considered crucial or memorable.  It is a little more boring & repetitive than those other tracks, so maybe that was a factor.  Or it could just be that Performance got lost in the shuffle.  Whatever the reason, I don't think it's a big deal that the song didn't last.  It was written by prolific KPM composer John Devereaux.  There's surprisingly little info about Devereaux online, but he has a lot of good stuff on KPM.  He also composed the song, "The Nightmare Begins," which was apparently used multiple times on Spongebob Squarepants.

Speaking of being lost in the shuffle, there were the 1990s Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams.  We all recall the cinderella Kurt Warner 1999 season, but what many don't remember is that the Rams had the worst record of any NFL franchise over the first 9 years of the decade (the Bengals ended up winning that honor).  They also tried to fix languish fan interest by moving the team to Missouri, a move that fits the definition of "mixed results" given that the Rams are now back in L.A. just 21 years later.  Anyway…  this decline started in 1990, when a team that had gone to the NFC Championship the year before went an unceremonious 5-11.  The only clip I have with "Performance" features them blowing a lead at home against a middling Saints team.