Select Football Soundtrack Reviews

by Christopher Coleman

No other sport in America has a following like it.  Be it High School football in Texas, college football in Florida or the Mid-West, or the National Football League, no other sport garners the attention and passions of its fans like the game of football.  Perhaps its because there are so few games per season.  Perhaps its because the levels of strategy and nuance go unapproached by any other mainstream sport.  Perhaps it's because the teams are often likened to armies and its players like warriors.  Then out of climactic clashes on the field rise mythic heroes who capture the imagination.  Perhaps these are some of the reasons why football in America has gone from competition to institution.  As someone once said, "Baseball might be America's past-time, but football is America's passion."

Because sports is drama, it is natural that adding compelling music behind opening ceremonies, highlights, or tributes is so effective.   Because sports is entertainment, it is also natural that feature films, television specials and documentaries should be made about football in such great abundance.  Today, the link between sports and music is cemented.

Over the last 50 years, as television has grown exponentially, many sporting events and programs have become identified by the music written for or employed by them.  The Olympics, Wimbeldon, ABC's Wide World of Sports, ESPN Sportcenter, and Monday Night Football are just a handful of iconic sports institutions that many can immediately identify just by hearing their respective musical themes.

From the jittery newsreels of the 1930s to SportsCenter - music has been an integral part of making sports highlights much more than "news stories."  That music has helped to elevate mere highlights and final scores into an elaborate tapestry of modern-day-myths.

While sports in the new millennium is almost a completely different thing than it was 80 years ago, at its core remains the desire to compete, the will to overcome, the hunger to be called a "winner." 

THE MUSIC OF THE NFL

Over the course of some fifty years, NFL FILMS has released countless video productions.  For those who know and love the game, the work of Steve Sabol and the talented and creative staff of NFL FILMS have become classic pieces of Americana.  The imaginative visuals, the voice-talent of John Facenda and the music of composer Sam Spence were melded together by Sabol in such a way that the sports documentary was changed forever.  While the elegantly gruff voice of John Facenda and the melodic pen of Sam Spence have "jogged off the field" for the last time, the tradition of NFL FILMS continues.  Still under the eye of Steve Sabol, the musical tradition is now carried by two composers:  TOM HEDDEN and DAVID ROBIDOUX.  While the legacy of SAM SPENCE is forever archived in the release of AUTUMN THUNDER:  40 YEARS OF NFL FILM MUSIC both HEDDEN and ROBIDOUX's talent are but introduced.

Since the release of AUTUMN THUNDER back in 2004, the two have gone to deliver many scores and memorable themes for NFL FILMS productions.  Their works have aired on most of the major networks and now on their own, the NFL NETWORK.  The official music for the game seems to be in very good hands.

THE FILM MUSIC OF FOOTBALL FILMS

Hollywood has had a love-affair with the NFL for decades and can be traced even further back to the 1920s to movies about the college game like:  ONE YARD TO GO, 70,000 WITNESSES or the Marx Brothers' HORSE FEATHERS.  Through the decades audiences have been moved and inspired by football-films like BRIAN'S SONG, RUDY, REMEMBER THE TITANS, THE GRIDIRON GANG. INVINCIBLE and WE ARE MARSHALL.  Their have been films that have given glimpses into the locker-room and into the lives of the men who play the game such as: PAPER LION, NORTH DALLAS FORTY, ALL THE RIGHT MOVES, THE PROGRAM, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, VARSITY BLUES and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

The game of American football has provided Hollywood with ample material from which to build both inspiring and sobering tales.  And perhaps even more than any other sports-film-genre, the scores for football films are the most memorable.

THE THEMES OF FALL

As the sounds of leather, grass, and dirt mix together,  as modern-day synthetic-compounds clash among the commanding shouts of coaches, quarterbacks, and linebackers...as unified cheers of thousands rise high above the walls of stadiums across the land, the themes of Fall will be played by marching bands, over P.A. systems, and broadcasted to millions worldwide. In honor of that tradition, this Tracksounds' features an growing index of reviews of the music that underscore the vast pantheon of football tales that have come straight from the field and from the pen of the Hollywood screenwriter. Also featured are composer interviews and a collection of football sound-clips.

* Special thanks to NFL Films and David Robidoux for their time and resources.

Autumn Thunder:  40 Years of NFL Films Music