Music At Speedway

[Trevor]

Yesterday at the NSS, they played 'Pirates of the Caribbean' when Poole rode around at the start of the meeting, and when they won a heat. This set me thinking in other sports there are tunes which are closely associated with teams or individuals, such as walk on music in darts ( e.g Phil Talyor 'I've got the Power'), or when the team come out in football (e.g Everton -Z Cars, Newcastle-Local Hero). I haven't been to many other tracks in recent years, but do many Speedway teams have a club piece of music? There are some obvious choices, e.g Lakeside - 'Hammer time'. It would be interesting to hear.

[JCookie]

Sorry to hijack your thread a little bit but I can't believe the majority of tracks don't get crowds involved with music. Even silly stuff like 'The heat is on' before a last heat decider or 'Under Pressure' etc if the hone side is losing. It's a little thing but it helps interaction.

[Little Thumper]

At Buxton, they seem to play a mixture of Mantovani and the Bachelors.

As the PA system doesn't work a lot of the time, the guy has to stand on top of the shipping container and shout out the results.

Fortunately, he has not felt the urge to burst into song yet but I have heard it rumoured that he is planning to do a duet with Jason Pipe at the last meeting of the season in December.

[tyretrax]

At Buxton, they seem to play a mixture of Mantovani and the Bachelors.

As the PA system doesn't work a lot of the time, the guy has to stand on top of the shipping container and shout out the results.

Fortunately, he has not felt the urge to burst into song yet but I have heard it rumoured that he is planning to do a duet with Jason Pipe at the last meeting of the season in December.

Unlike the announcer at Glasgow.

[Tsunami]

Newcastle Speedway have always played "Diamonds" by Jet Harris and Tony Meahan(ex Shadows), since we brought it back in 1997. Probably the best and most appropriate, than at any other tracks music.

[bruno]

we used to play wipe out quite a lot , only tends to happen in heats 13 and 15 this season

[Tsunami]

we used to play wipe out quite a lot , only tends to happen in heats 13 and 15 this season

Good tune. One used at many Ice Hockey matches.

[Little Thumper]

I always find it hugely cringe-worthy when they play a special tune for the first aid bods to march (usually totally out of step) on to the centre green.

 

I seem to remember in my Hyde Road days that they used to play "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap quite a lot.

Times have changed just a little since then what with Jimmy Saville and his chums.

Probably not on the play list at the new home of the Aces.

Piccadilly Palare

[foamfence]

At Buxton, they seem to play a mixture of Mantovani and the Bachelors.

As the PA system doesn't work a lot of the time, the guy has to stand on top of the shipping container and shout out the results.

Fortunately, he has not felt the urge to burst into song yet but I have heard it rumoured that he is planning to do a duet with Jason Pipe at the last meeting of the season in December.

Pipe does a pretty fair Alan Sugar impression after most meetings (you're fired!)

[nw42]

Like the other guy, apologies for hijacking but it's sort of related. Heard this song a couple of times on radio and looked it up on youtube, anyway I'm sure some of you will recognise the location, great old place..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsvijIPoPF4 enjoy, it's a good song too imo..

[John Leslie]

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsvijIPoPF4 enjoy, it's a good song too imo..

 

Good god, is he/she a tranny?

 

If you're going to do a pop video at Plough Lane I prefer Queen.

[nw42]

 

Good god, is he/she a tranny?

 

If you're going to do a pop video at Plough Lane I prefer Queen.

 

 

I thought she seemed a bit affected, certainly not a natural performer. Sounds similar to Cher but would slot in well on the Catherine Tate show.

 

Was it Fat Bottomed Girls that Queen did @ Plough Lane?

[John Leslie]

Was it Fat Bottomed Girls that Queen did @ Plough Lane?

Bicycle Race... with the naked women cyclists if I remember rightly

[Gresham]

Like the other guy, apologies for hijacking but it's sort of related. Heard this song a couple of times on radio and looked it up on youtube, anyway I'm sure some of you will recognise the location, great old place..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsvijIPoPF4 enjoy, it's a good song too imo..

Voice like a mixture of Cher and Kosheen imo.

[RobMcCaffery]

One I thought of using if anyone ever let me back on the mic (unlikely) would be this OTT gem - written and part-performed by Meat Loaf's writer Jim Steinman, "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young" by Fire Inc. has the motorcycle roar and excitement that matches a great speedway race and the title itself sums the sport up.

 

The only problem is that it takes 1 min 17 to get into its stride so would need editing to lose the drawn-out intro but if we're in the business of building atmosphere I think this might have done the trick:

 

https://vimeo.com/37336849

The problem with music at speedway is not the age but the style. Too often we end up with any old selection from the presenter's youth played without thought of relevance or blindly just playing the current chart.

 

You play chart and you alienate the majority, you play oldies and you alienate the young.

 

It needs a mixture - more than one radio station has worked on the basis of "If you don't like this one then you'll love the next".

 

We get a lot of complaints on here about tired old music being played. The trick is to play music that isn't tired or over-used. In the past 60 years a massive amount of music has been published and there are always new gems to be found, from any era. What we need to do at speedway is to build the mood. No, I'm not talking about head-banging hard rock but music that may not be familiar or may be forgotten but which builds atmosphere in an open air sports stadium which is a heck of a hard job to do, compared to an indoor venue.

 

Ballads and other slow tunes are just not right, neither is Adele-style r'n'b. That has its place, but not at a sports event. There is so much that could be played but isn't, mainly due to a lack of imagination or people just lazily playing the latest music that they know. More ambition is needed and quite frankly more knowledge but as long as we expect amateurs to present for free we're very unlikely to get better.

 

Sadly the sport probably can't afford the presentation that it needs. Instead it has to hope that a willing amateur might do the job.

 

Of course, ideally you don't want to use music. With the right mix of talk (not chat or idiotic banter) from the box, working with a roving interviewer who knows what they're doing you could eliminate most music, or just use it correctly to build on what the racing and presenters are already providing.

 

I know from personal experience (and pain) how antiquated p.a. systems often are at speedway though and I know how hard it is to get the right people to make the meeting come alive and it's one of the tragedies of modern speedway that the elements that could really make it work have to be sacrificed to fit tiny budgets.

 

Another asp[ect of presentation that needs to be borne in mind is the spectre of heavy fines for 'inappropriate comment' hanging over licensed announcers - no wonder guys these days play safe! No. we don't want anarchy and blatantly unjust comment but right now the whole show is too sanitised. We need the fun of the odd row, team managers taking on the ref on the phone in public view and on the mic. Kept in reason it could bring some of the fun back.

 

As ever, so much that could be done but it won't. Promoters won't and can't afford to take risks. One prominent presentation team that tried to do something different and creative appear to have been hounded out of the sport, sadly.

 

We expect everything to be done on the cheap, and to be honest most of the time you get what you pay for.

 

Hmmm - I was just supposed to be commenting on music. Apologies but these things frustrate me every time I go to a poorly-presented meeting.

 

Just one final point re 'themes' - they cvan work but it's vital not to overdo them so they irritate. I remember years back they used to play 'Jimmy Mack' by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas every time Jim McMillan won a race at Monmore. After a few weeks you used to pray that someone beat him...

 

A good idea, if repeated too often becomes a cliche - it's true of music just as it is with words.

[Crump99]

Sadly the sport probably can't afford the presentation that it needs. Instead it has to hope that a willing amateur might do the job.

 

I know from personal experience (and pain) how antiquated p.a. systems often are at speedway though and I know how hard it is to get the right people to make the meeting come alive and it's one of the tragedies of modern speedway that the elements that could really make it work have to be sacrificed to fit tiny budgets.

 

 

Readypower Panthers had top notch Darren Fletcher (now of BT sport fame) :doesn't get much more expensive than that I guess. That never saved them.

 

Good point about the PA. That's one thing Frost's promotion never seemed to address whereas the Rathbone/Swales combo seemed to have managed to get a great sound system installed. I used to moan like hell under the Frost promotion mainly because of the awful inconsistent sound system. These days though you can her everthing clearly and even the interviews are not irritating: less is good though.

 

The music was well acceptable on Monday, as it tends to be most times at the EoES these days, apart from when Cook wins a race!

Edited August 31, 2016 by Crump99

[Arson fire]

They usually play this early September up at Berwick

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=15JssBJf1xo

[RobMcCaffery]

 

Readypower Panthers had top notct Darren Fletcher (now of BT sport fame) :doesn't get much more expensive than that I guess. That never saved them.

 

 

No matter how good the presentation you still need a sound base product to work with.

 

Regarding p.a, systems, as some will know I worked as Rye House announcer from 1989 to 1993. Their system was an ancient, fragile set-up owned by the greyhound racing landlords. It may have been suitable for that work but not for speedway. Getting sound levels right was a nightmare. You'd turn then up so people could hear on the terraces then a few minutes later you'd have someone from the landlords storming into the box and screaming at you yo turn the levels down because they were too high in the bar. Very civilised.

 

You couldn't turn it too far up or it would trip out anyway.

 

One day we had a testimonial and the rider concerned decided to have another team of presenters in - very kind of him. So they turned up with their fancy equipment, brushed aside my comments about the weakness of the p.a., plugged in the gear and blew the system completely. The senior character who now bores the pants off people at Coventry and who I previously had respect for then stomped about like a spoilt child accusing us of being "Fred Karno's Circus" because we didn't have a blackboard to carry round the track to put the race winning times on.

 

The rider subsequently apologised to me. Frankly I couldn't give a damn by then.

 

People wonder why I'm glad I'm out.......

Edited August 31, 2016 by rmc

[arnieg]

I just wish the choices were a bit more imaginative. There is nothing more clichéd than listening to 'The Final Countdown' as the riders go to the tapes or hearing another burst of Billy Ocean's 'Red Light Spells Danger'

[Crump99]

No matter how good the presentation you still need a sound base product to work with.

 

 

That's the part Panthers Readypower management team forgot and seems to be a similar issue under the current management team!