This is my debut post for @ablaze 's Three Tune Tuesday and so I thought I'd take my first tentative steps into the world of music blogging by relating it to my more regular fare of sports content.
If you haven't heard of Three Tune Tuesday then I'd suggest checking out the latest blog here but in essence it's a chance to share your favourite tracks and learn about some new music from fellow Hivians.
Rather than pick a single band or artist as is often the case, I've chosen to share my favourite 3 tracks that have been used on sports TV shows.
Let me know what you think in the comments below and if there are any others that you can think of that might have been contenders for this list.
Fire - Kasabian
Kasabian could easily be called the kings of music that went on to feature in football shows with their track Club Foot being used for several years by Sky Sports as the introduction to their live matches.
However, I've decided to go with the equally excellent Fire which was the track that they used to use on the official Premier League live stream when I was living in China. I've got a feeling that it may well have been used elsewhere as well as I'm sure the stream was sold to viewers across the world.
The stream itself was just the commentary (in English) with no pre, post or half-time chat by pundits so instead they used to just show highlights of recent matches with Fire playing in the background. It may sound a bit weird but when you compare it to having to sit through 15 mins of listening to Jamie Redknapp spouting shit during a Premier League half-time show on Sky Sports then it's not actually so bad!
In fact, in my house, we listened to this track so many times courtesy of the Premier League that my wife who is neither a sports fan or a music lover now just refers to this track as "the football song" so it absolutely had to feature in this list!
Let's also not forget that the band hails from Leicester and are known to be big fans of the Foxes so perhaps their surprise Premier League title in 2016 was in some way influenced by Kasabian's music being pumped out all around the world pre, post and during matches! Or maybe it's just a coincidence...
Soul Limbo - Booker T. & the MG's
To me this track which has long been used by the BBC as the intro and exit music to Test Match Special is the sound of the summer. Even now sitting in the damp dark existence that is the UK in January, by playing this track I can transport myself to a warm, bright summers day with a cool breeze and the smell of freshly cut grass on the cricket pitch.
It's difficult to explain to people who don't know or don't like cricket why anyone would be so enthralled with a sport that can take 5 days to complete, move at a snails pace and still end up as a draw! Honestly there are lots of reasons why and these are probably better saved for another blog on another day but one of the main reasons that fans continue to form such strong bonds to the sport is Test Match Special.
You see TMS is more than just a sports show and in many ways Test Match cricket is more than just a sport. Instead it's a journey and TMS are the ultimate storytellers along that journey. As such, TMS attracts more than just cricket lovers because there's something so familiar and comforting to the way the commentators call the game and interact that people just leave it on in the background for company almost like it's an additional member of the family.
Going back to the track itself, in some ways it's a strange choice for a cricket show considering that Booker T. & the MG's hail from Tennessee, a part of the world where I'm pretty sure there's not much cricket! It does have a kind of calypso Caribbean vibe to it which probably helps it resinate with cricket fans and one of the things to do on my sporting bucket list is to go on a cricket tour of the West Indies taking in the games, beaches and rum in equal quantities!
Honourable mention for a song for cricket also has to go to Lou Bega and his song Mambo Number 5 which formed the theme for Channel 4's brief stint as live cricket broadcaster that ended with the 2005 Ashes, one of the greatest series ever played.
The Stone Roses - Love Spreads
Love spreads is from the Stone Roses' 2nd album the appropriately named Second Coming.
Having burst onto the "Madchester" music scence in the late 1980s the bands debut album won 4 NME readers' awards including Best Band and Best Album. However, a contract dispute with a former record label as well as plenty of off stage problems for various band members meant their fans would have to wait another 5 years before the group released their second album.
It was always likely to be difficult to top the debut album and waiting 5 years not only built up the expectation levels but also meant the band had somewhat missed its moment, with the musical landscape having moved on and other acts now more relevant meaning that Second Coming was released to mixed reviews.
Personally, I quite like the album which I received as a Christmas present at sometime in the late 90s. Yes, it's different from their early stuff and probably takes a little bit more time to get into (the 3 mins of jungle drums on the opening track might mean that some people gave up before things really got going!) but there are some decent tracks and lyrics throughout.
Second Coming even gets a mention in Shaun of the Dead. He likes it too!
By far the most successful single released from it was Love Spreads which reached number 2 in the charts and as I recall was used on BBC Radio 5 Live's midweek football show.
As a teenager, I used to have a evening paper round and to keep myself sane while trudging the streets of suburban Berkshire I often used to listen to football on the radio.
The initial base line and guitar on Love Spreads is perfect for the intro of sports shows, building the anticipation before the big kick-off and any time I hear this track it still transports me back to those cold evenings of my youth trying to earn a bit of money probably to buy my next CD!