Roundball Rock
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Roundball Rock was NBC's theme music for their NBA telecasts. The theme was composed by New Age musician and former television host, John Tesh. The song, which NBC used for every telecast in the league's twelve-year history with the NBA, is today often used by NBA TV for their live game coverage. After briefly considering using the theme for its NBA coverage, ABC decided against it, and has used five theme songs in its first four years of covering the NBA.
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[edit] Origins
At the conclusion of the 1990 NBA Finals, CBS, who had televised National Basketball Association games since 1973, would lose the rights to NBC. John Tesh was in his hotel room at 3 o'clock in the morning in the city of Pau, while covering the Tour de France. Tesh already had received an Emmy for his music for the Pan American Games in 1983 and composed other sports television music prior to Roundball Rock, including the theme song played during CBS' Tour de France coverage in the late 1980s.
| “ | It just came into my head. So I called my message machine and sang the chorus. Then I called back 30 minutes later and sang the verse. - John Tesh | ” |
When Tesh got home, he played the song that would soon become known as Roundball Rock on the piano. He also watched a NBA game and played the music to the approximate speed of a fast break (122 beats per minute). After paying $15,000 to have a Los Angeles orchestra record the song, he sent a tape to NBC and the rest is history.
[edit] Trivia
- Tesh initially didn't want NBC to know that he wrote Roundball Rock. The tape that he sent to NBC was listed under the name Jay Franklin (Frank being Tesh's middle name).
- John Tesh said he has made 'in the six figures' in royalties each year off his theme song. Since he owns both the copyright and the publishing rights, he has the right to shop it around.
- During the 12 season run of The NBA on NBC (1990-2002) NBC played Roundball Rock about 12,000 times, or about 20 times per game when going to commercial or during halftime.
- After NBC's TV contract with the NBA expired, Tesh's song went with it. In a humorous memorium or tribute, Late Night With Conan O'Brien featured the song in famous movie clips, such as the water rescue scene in It's a Wonderful Life.
- Today the songs lives on in many North American morning radio shows, often use Roundball Rock when talking about basketball news, or sometimes when talking about anything in general. It is also now frequently found on NBA TV telecasts.
- It was sampled by Nelly for "Heart of a Champion", which appears on his 2004 album Sweatsuit.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- nba-low.mov QuickTime MOV video: voice-over Mitch Phillips on commercial spots for The NBA on NBC.
- NBA on NBC - Short cut.
- TV Theme - NBC, NBA 02.wav
- TV Theme - NBC, NBA.wav
- Official True Tones, John Tesh Ringtones, Roundball Rock (NBA Theme)
