If there is one thing that I Hatemay know more about than football, it is music. I have a song for every occasion, study session, I even have different Guns N Roses Albums to get me ready for different sports games. I'm not the guy who says, "yeah. thats a good song" when a good song comes on the radio. I'm the guy who says, "Their early work was a little too 'new wave' for my taste. But when 'Sports' came out in 83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In 87 Huey released this, 'Fore' their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is 'Hip To Be Square' a song so catchy most people probably don't listen to the lyrics, but they should. Because its not just about the pleasure of conformity and the importance of trends, its also a personal statement about the band itself." Props to anyone who can get my reference. Anyways, I like music, know alot about it, and don't mind telling you about it if you ask, and even if you don't.
One problem I have with going to sporting events of any kind is a moment(s) in a game when we can't take the noise level or environment to 11 (Another movie reference). Because why go to 10, when we can go to 11? However, more often than not, the music guy is playing "Take On Me," "Call Me Maybe," or something worse. We will highlight some songs that aren't played enough that can help take things to 11, and also discuss which ones need to go.
Garbage
Yes, they were a great band, but the songs we don't need are anything that is played on current pop radio, especially the song referred to as "Gagnum Style." (sp?) More like, Gag Me Style. We don't need a pop beat song with very little lyrics whose claim to fame is a stupid hand gesture.... If that is the case, why not play the Shake Weight Commercials and a backing track of something by D.J Tiesto....? At least the Shake Weight commercial would draw hilarious laughs from the audience when the girl with a Shake Weight in both hands is working the weight....
The Chicken Dance. Yes, that is actually played in multiple stadiums across the nation. Whenever I hear that song in anything other than an elementary school P.E. or Music class I want to commit unspeakable acts. I don't care how much alcohol an arena of fans have consumed , it is not cool, and never has been.
The Hoakie Pokie. Yep, I know one school in particular that does this every home game. They outta be ashamed.
Cotton Eye Joe. Yes. Nothing says take me back to an LDS dance when I was 14 like Cotton Eye Joe, which is why I think that song is such a big hit at BYU. For all of the LDS Nugies on the sight you know exactly what I'm referring to. Many of you know my despise for BYU, and a good part of it is the music they play at home games.... They mirror that of the church dances of yesteryear. Although, my brother said that way back when, a church dance was so off the hook, the D.J. played "Last Dance With Mary Jane," boy, that musta been wild.
Fair To Midland
These next few are iffy for me... the crowd can take these and really run with them, but I've never been a fan of them in the stadium setting. "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Yeah, it's a great song, but so great that I think it's been in the stadiums a little bit longer. Maybe I am biased because I hear that song on the radio at least twice a day, and that consists of me driving to and from work for 20 minutes round trip a day.... Escape was a monster album for Journey, but lets maybe shelve this one for a bit.
"Living On a Prayer." Yeah, another tough call. I favor this one a little bit more than the previous song. Great verses, great build up to the chorus, and friendly for fans of all ages. But I think its a bit overdone.
"Sweet Caroline." Ever since Sandusky got convicted of sexual abuse, this song has really lost its steam. So much so, that Penn State cut it from its music list. They said it had nothing to do with Sandusky... come on. Who are they trying to kid? We may have been born at night, but not last night. I like the song, but like most popular songs, 5% of people know the first verse, and it gets awkward leading up to the chorus. Everyone is waiting for the chorus because the verses are slow.
Big Audio Dynamite
These are the songs we need more of. 3rd and 8, we are on defense, and are looking to go to 11, we need more of the bells from "Hells Bells." Back a few years during the Ian Johnson years, it seemed like every third down we had the Hammer come on our "Jumbotron" and a loud bell sound. I am not sure if it is the same bell, or the bell from "For Whom The Bell Tolls," but we need more of it.
"Seek and Destroy." Not much more than the trademark riff, and a little bit of chorus while we are on defense. What more does our defense want to do than Seek and Destroy the opposing offense? Pretty good, eh?
"Crazytrain." I think is a bit underused at Bronco Stadium....Enough said.
"Enter Sandman." The coolest experience was at FedEx Field for the Virginia Tech game, and that song was the entrance song for VT. All fans, Blue or Maroon were jumping up and down and making noise. It was awesome. I know our "BOISE" "STATE" cheer is something we do before the team comes out, but most of our home games our team runs out and its pretty dang quite. We need an anthem like that to get our crowd into it early.
"Shipping Up To Boston" by Dropkick Murphys. This was on the pregame list for a while at BSU and is a good anthem to hurt some people.
They Might Be Giants
I'm not a huge fan of techno, but it can be used to get a crowd amped. "Zombie Nation" by Kernkraft 400 is the song made famous by the Seattle Mariners. Back when the Mariners would win games, when they would bring in Kazuhiro Sasaki to close out the game they would pump this song. The song has gotten attention in stadiums across the country. It has now been played before kickoff in a lot of places... I like this song and think that it gets the crowd into it. Another techno favorite of mine is "Sandstorm" by Darude. I'm not sure why, but this one is pretty cool too.
No Doubt
That it is a fine line of what is okay to play at games. We can't put on vintage Too Short to hear about his freaky tales, and I know that we can't put on "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies, even though we know that guys on defense like DeMarcus Lawrence, Blake Renaud, Darian Thompson and others will be asking themselves the rhetorical question about the defense "DO YOU WANNA DIE"? I am not against the audio manager who played "Take The Money and Run" and "Son of a Preacher Man" when Auburn and Cam Newton came to town a few years ago. Our audio needs to have some fun, get the crowd into the game, and turn things up to 11. Leave your thoughts about what songs you would like to hear at home games in the comments below.