Welcome to the Ballpark, Axl Rose

By Dave DeLand

I've always assumed that even when Axl Rose is a bald, toothless old man (which may be a few years) and has faded into complete professional obscurity (which has already happened), he'll still be raking in the royalties because of how often the introductory riff of "Welcome To The Jungle" gets played at professional sporting events.

I've also assumed that the Guns N' Roses rock anthem that Rose's band recorded 22 years ago must be just about the most frequently played song (or at least the most frequently played opening 15 seconds) in sports history.

It has blared out of the Metrodome's speakers about a dozen times at every Minnesota Vikings home game for the past two decades, and it seemingly gets more exposure at sports venues than any other song.

But as it turns out, it's not even in the Top 10.

That's according to the folks at Broadcast Music, Inc., the organization that licenses much of the music played in the United States and keeps track of such things — meticulously.

"That's how we pay the songwriters. In fact, when songwriters get their royalty statement, it tells them which team plays their song," said BMI publicist Jerry Bailey.

BMI annually releases its Top 10 list of music most frequently played at National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games. But it charts everything that gets played.

"We paid on 13,476 titles during that distribution period (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009)," Bailey said. "Some of those titles, if they're very heavily played by a certain team, that can move it up."

One word of caution before we get into the details of the list: If you're a Baby Boomer like myself, this list might make you feel sort of old (I was completely unfamiliar with Nos. 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10).

So here, without further delay, is the Top 10 (and the performing artists) for the 2008-09 cycle:

No. 1 — "We Will Rock You" (Queen). This 32-year-old favorite has always been popular at sporting events because of its "stomp stomp clap" element, and nobody knows that better than Minnesotans — the two teams that played it the most were the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Cowboys. (Funny: You'd think the Cowboys would trend toward "Jailhouse Rock").

"Did you watch much of the World Series? You could hear the 'stomp stomp clap' in every game," Bailey said. "Crowds just love to do that 'stomp stomp clap'."

No. 2 — "Pump It" (Black Eyed Peas). It was No. 1 in the previous year, although even after listening to it on YouTube it didn't ring a bell for me.

(Apparently, 53-year-olds aren't the Peas' target pod).

No. 3 — "Twilight Zone" (2 Unlimited). At first I thought this was the 1982 song by Golden Earring, but as it turns out it's a techno number by another Dutch band. It's often used when starting lineups are introduced.

"Teams are trying to cover all demographics," Bailey said. "Some songs just become ingrained in the minds of sports fans. It's a similar phenomenon to Christmas music in a way."

No. 4 — "Song 2" (Blur). Thanks to the ultra-thick English accent of the lead singer, this song's only recognizable lyrics are "Whee Hoo." But that works at the arena, obviously.

No. 5 — "Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2" (Gary Glitter). Another song with minimal lyrics (the only discernable word is "Hey"), this has been a sporting venue staple since 1972.

No. 6 — "Black Betty" (Ram Jam). I hated this version when it came out in 1977, and it hasn't gotten any better since then.

No. 7 — "Cowboys from Hell" (Pantera). Pantera isn't exactly easy listening, and you probably wouldn't play this for your grandmother (unless Granny is really into heavy metal). This would sound more at home at OzzFest than at a baseball game.

"What you're looking at on that Top 10 list is a mash between baseball, hockey and football," Bailey said. "Teams in different leagues play very different music. Hockey teams have a long season, and they play more music than football teams."

No. 8 — "Stronger" (Kanye West). I'm not familiar with this one, or the following two: A little bit of techno rap goes a long way with me.

"Generally, the music is selected to rally the fans," Bailey said. "Most of this music is music that really makes you want to dance or clap."

No. 9 — "Let It Rock" (Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne). Sorry, don't know it. I listened to 30 seconds of it on YouTube: That's enough.

No. 10 — "Put On" (Young Jeezy featuring Lil Wayne). Ditto. Lil Wayne gets around, huh?

I don't have strong opinions about a lot of the songs in this year's Top 10, although I'm sure I could get sick of them all fairly easily.

Some others that aren't in this year's Top 10 — many of them Baby Boomer mainstays — have already fallen onto my "never need to hear this again" list, largely because of overplaying at sports arenas:

"Old Time Rock N' Roll" (Bob Seger). Seger is kind of hit-or-miss, and when he hits he can knock it out of the park. This, however, isn't one of them, and the Twins played this song to death in the '80s and '90s.

"Start Me Up" (Rolling Stones). Again, I know this is targeted at Boomers like me, but these guys should have retired 30 years ago.

"Glory Days" (Bruce Springsteen). I love The Boss, but this has gotten so overplayed that it's just a cliche.

"Bittersweet Symphony" (The Verve). This is actually the official team song of the Seattle Seahawks. But it's a little too symphonic to be good sports arena music, and I have issues with anybody who calls themselves "The Verve."

"Welcome To The Jungle" (Guns N' Roses). Enough, already. I like ice cream, but after 20 gallons or so I tend to get sick of it. I also own this CD, but I'll probably never play it again because I've heard that opening riff 847,000,000 times.

But Axl probably doesn't mind — as long as the royalty checks keep coming.

sctimes.com