Get Ready to Rock Out With Your...Toques On

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I got a tip the other day to check out the CBC's Hockey Anthem Challenge and so I did.

Specifically, it was a tip to give a listen to this one:



And I dig it! But mostly I dig it after listening to some of the other pieces that were even more generic. Which in a contest like this is kind of a must. It has to appeal to a big chunk of differing demographics, I guess, so you can't get too crazy with it if you want to win. This piece is pretty good, though, all limitations considering.

Here's what Steve Dodd out of (spits!) Calgary has to say about his own work:

I think this theme has it all - a nod to the past with a main melody using a horn section, a rockin' band, memorable, and it can be broken down to usable parts for voice over, commercial breaks, etc. At 1:15 the main theme is revisited in a dramatic minor key which will also work very well for the show. I wrote it, and played everything. Can't you hear Ron and Grapes introing a game while you listen? Thanks CBC for the opportunity. Play hard!

Play hard indeed.

But any way you slice it, CBC lost out huge with the Original Theme.



How can you top that, really in today's work-a-day world where everyone is all about "layering sound" and creating "sonic walls" and our musicians are all too cool to rock out a huge, snappy, sing a long anthem that everyone can relate to and belt out when they're drunk on winning and sweet booze.

Anyway, if you have a small amount of musical creativity, write something up. You never know who'll win. Maybe some hard rocking Canadiana sounds, maybe a Middle Eastern Zethyr beat. Native American drumming?

The Hockey world's your oyster but something tells me horns and guitar are the order of the day. Every day. In Canada. At Night. Hockey Night.

Also, Oilers did stuff with trades and signings.

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