Bad-ass music for a sporting event.

March 9, 2006 7:49 PM

Help me pick music to play over the PA system at a sporting event.

I'm in charge of picking the music to play over the loudspeakers at an NCAA D-I lacrosse game. This means songs to play before the game, during timeouts, and during halftime. I also need a good, get people pumped up, ominous song to have playing in the background during the home team's starting lineup (takes about 1:30 to go through the lineup, so preferably something that builds slowly and doesn't have words). I've checked out some past threads, but would appreciate any other suggestions you guys have.

Some songs I've used in the past: Welcome to the Jungle, Hell's Bells, Who Are You, Name of the Game, Sirius, Ride of the Valkyries. Genre is irrelevant as long as it gets the crowd hyped up. Any suggestions?

posted by TunnelArmr to media & arts (20 comments total)

It's been done but Queen?

We will rock you, another one bites the dust, we are the champions.
posted by kechi at 7:53 PM on March 9, 2006

Carl Orff -- O Fortuna! from Carmina Burana

Eric Coates -- the Dambusters March
posted by unSane at 8:12 PM on March 9, 2006

Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries?
posted by logicpunk at 8:25 PM on March 9, 2006

Back in Black or Thunderstruck by AC/DC.
posted by Pontius Pilate at 8:27 PM on March 9, 2006

Wake Up by Arcade Fire, of course. The intro is at least as pump-upping as Thunderstruck.
posted by pmbuko at 8:47 PM on March 9, 2006

Aluminum - White Stripes
posted by brundlefly at 8:52 PM on March 9, 2006

Check out the track lists of the various CD's in the "Jock Jams" collection.
posted by smackfu at 8:58 PM on March 9, 2006

Let's see, "pumped up" songs:
(Let Me Stand Next to Your) Fire by Jimi Hendrix
Break On Through by The Doors
Princes of the Universe by Queen

Riders on the Storm by The Doors is pretty ominous, but not all that pumped
The Prophet's Song by Queen has ominous parts, and pumped parts.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 9:09 PM on March 9, 2006

Are there often fights at lacrosse games?

If so, you might want to have the Star Trek fighting music on hand.

Or the Imperial March from tESB.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:26 PM on March 9, 2006

"Fire On High" by ELO - Has both the peppy guitar chorus and the ominous choir and scary sounding bells. The backward masked voices are just a bonus... The music is reversible, but time is not, turrrrn back, turn back!
posted by OneOliveShort at 9:55 PM on March 9, 2006

"Mortal Kombat", Utah Saints
posted by nicwolff at 10:00 PM on March 9, 2006

Cretin Hop, Ramones (Not PC? OK)
Eruption, Van Halen
You Really Got Me, Kinks (actually Van Halen's version might work better...I can't believe I just wrote that)
Repeater, Fugazi (good luck getting those rights...)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:13 PM on March 9, 2006

Blitzkrieg Bop, Ramones (hey ho, let's go)
posted by CrunchyFrog at 10:52 PM on March 9, 2006

Note that it's a breach of copyright to play commercial music at such an event, unless you contact the copyright holders and ask for permission. It will normally be denied, but you may have the option to pay for a license.

No one does this for a small sporting event, but they should.

As such, I recommend downloading some stuff from http://www.legaltorrents.com/ and seeing if you can use anything from there.
posted by krisjohn at 11:38 PM on March 9, 2006

Prodigy - 'Firestarter'?
posted by samstarling at 1:21 AM on March 10, 2006

Led Zeppelin's "The Wanton Song"
posted by saladin at 4:54 AM on March 10, 2006

Oh, and Heart's "Barracuda"
Alice in Chains's "Them Bones"
Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"
Piebald's "American Hearts"
posted by saladin at 5:00 AM on March 10, 2006

Not that I really care for it, but it would probably work for lacrosse - P.O.D.'s "Boom". You'll see it in countless football videos (LSU used to have it in their pre-game video).
posted by kuperman at 5:57 AM on March 10, 2006

If you're really concerned about the legality, see if your venue already has a compulsory license. I assume this isn't being broadcast, so you don't need to worry about mechanicals, and most stadiums already have a deal with ASCAP or BMI for what they play.
That said, are you going to be playing snippets or whole songs (an aesthetic distinction, not a legal one)?
Snippets are good for Rock and Roll pt. 2 by Gary Glitter; Girl, You Really Got Me by The Kinks; Welcome to the Terrordome by Public Enemy, etc. Usually, you'd want a couple of them already cued up, to be played based on what happened. For example, the first lick of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones not only gets the crowd pumped, but will make some of them chuckle if it's played after a missed goal (especially the "Can't Get No!" part).

Other certified jock jams—
Fight For Your Right- Beastie Boys
Fight the Power- Public Enemy
Murder Rap- Above The Law
Seven Nation Army- White Stripes (now the Italian soccer team anthem)
Iron Man- Black Sabbath
Give It Up or Turn It Loose- Funkadelic
Gigantic- The Pixies
Slider- T. Rex
Cannonball- The Breeders
Pump It Up- Elvis Costello (though a quick snippet of 'Welcome to the Working Week' could be used to great effect).
Takin' Care of Business- BTO
Feel Like Makin' Love- Badfinger
My Kind of Soldier- Guided By Voices
Search and Destroy- The Stooges
Hey- Faux Jean
Oh Superman- Laurie Anderson (quick snippet only)
USA Capable- Menthol
That's When I Reach for My Revolver- Mission of Burma
I Say Yeah- Motor City Mutants
Jet Boy, Jet Girl- Eton Morello (you can replace for Ça Plan Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand- they're the same song, and the riff is killer)
949- Quintron
I Wanna Destroy You- The Soft Boys
Ghostrider- Suicide
Be Aggressive- Faith No More
Suprise, You're Dead- Faith No More
White Light, White Heat- Velvet Underground
Startin' Something- Michael Jackson
Bad to the Bone- George Thoroughgood (or Z-Rock Hawaii, if you're feeling saucy)
Under Pressure- Bowie/Mercury
Beat The Clock- The Sparks
I Need a Beat- LL Cool J
Godzilla- Blue Öyster Cult
Planet Rock- Africa Baambataa
Fistfight- Danse Asshole (this would be great, actually)
Inertia Creeps- Massive Attack (play during slow period)
Kick to Kill- PWEI
Straight Outta Compton- NWA
2 Minutes to Midnight- Judas Priest
Encore- Jay Z and Dangermouse
Bring Da Ruckus- Wu-Tang Clan
Lose Control- Missy E
Louder than a Bomb- Tiga
Supernaut- 1000 Homo DJs
Rabies- Six Finger Satellite
Die, My Darling- The Misfits
Magnificent Seven- The Clash
I Fought The Law- The Clash
Let's Go Crazy- Prince
Don'tcha- Tori Alamaze
007- Desmond Dekker
Boom Boom- The Animals
You Talk Sunshine, I Breathe Fire- The Amboy Dukes
C30 C60 C90 Go!- Bow Wow Wow (alternately, I Want Candy)
God Save The Queen- Sex Pistols
Surrender- Cheap Trick
Lose That Smile- Cherry Valence (seriously, the best jock jam you haven't heard yet)
Suffragette City- David Bowie
This Town- The Go Gos
White Lines- Grandmaster Flash (to be played on out of bounds calls)
Ace of Spades- Motorhead
Cherry Bomb- Joan Jett
Dirty Lovin- Map of Africa
Murder City Nights- Radio Birdman
Nemesis- Shriekback
Prayer To God- Shellac (watch out for non-FCC chorus)
Strychnine- Sonics
Die Bold- Stylex
Rock and Roll Submarine- The Submarines
In League with Satan- Venom
Baba O'Reily- The Who
Danger High Voltage- Electric 6
Walk on By- Isaac Hayes
Connection- Elastica (or you can play the Wire song that it rips off, but most people will like the Elastica version more)
Been Caught Stealin'- Jane's Addiction
Finders Keepers- Chaimen of the Board
18- Alice Cooper
Jocko Homo- Devo (no, just kidding. Whip It will work.)
Biology- Girls Aloud
Rock and Roll Music- The Frost
Born to Lose- Johnny Thunders
Smoke on the Water- Deep Purple

Most of these tracks, you shouldn't play the whole thing, but only about 30 seconds worth to pump the crowd up or make a comment on the action on the field.
posted by klangklangston at 8:06 AM on March 10, 2006

Just to nitpick with klangklangston's excellent list, "Feel Like Makin' Love" is by Bad Company, not Badfinger, and "2 Minutes to Midnight" is by Iron Maiden, not Judas Priest.
posted by saladin at 8:25 AM on March 10, 2006