Automotion 3, Part 1 - Mission to Future & the Sonoton Explosion

Song - Mission to Future

Artist(s) - Jeff Newmann

Released - 1988

Primetime Usage - 1989-90

Contained on - SON 292 (Automotion 3), Sonoton SCD 16 (Automotion 3)

Featured Highlight - Colts @ Patriots, 1989


In 1989, the behind-the-scenes staff at ESPN apparently decided to throw out all of the music used during the first two seasons of NFL Primetime and bring in a clean slate (a couple songs from 1987 would eventually return).  The vast majority of these new tracks came from a German production music library called Sonoton, which was founded by Gerhard Narholz (a.k.a. "Norman Candler") and his wife, Rotheide, in 1965.  Their eldest son, Christoph, composed a Primetime song that I haven't yet displayed while the middle child, Gregor, is also a prominent composer.  Anyway, Sonoton started putting their stuff on CDs in 1988 and ESPN took full advantage a year later.  The Sonoton-heavy period on NFL Primetime only lasted 2-3 years, but it was a wonderful era of the show if you love synth.

As I mentioned last week, one of these albums—Automotion 3—actually contains a full five tracks that were used on NFL Primetime.  "Mission to Future," by Jeff Newmann, is the first of these tracks to be featured here, and it's a nice & energetic-yet-laid-back composition that fits football well.  You'll also notice a rather "Final Countdown"-ish segment in the middle of the song.  Accompanying Mission to Future is a quirky highlight featuring two 1989 also-rans.  It's also the second highlight I've posted on this blog to show Doug Flutie.  Have fun, and there's still a lot more to come this week.