Sirius (instrumental)

"Sirius" is an instrumental by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project, recorded for their sixth studio album, Eye in the Sky (1982). Nearly two minutes long, it segues into "Eye in the Sky" on the original recording. From the 1990s onward, "Sirius" has become a staple of many college and professional sporting arenas throughout North America.

"Sirius"
Single by the Alan Parsons Project
from the album Eye in the Sky
A-side
B-side"Mammagamma"
ReleasedAugust 1982
Recorded1981–1982
StudioAbbey Road, London
Genre
Length1:48
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
"Snake Eyes"
(1981)		 "Sirius" / "Eye in the Sky" / "Mammagamma"
(1982)		 "Psychobabble"
(1982)

Overview

On the album, "Sirius" segues into "Eye in the Sky". The former is usually followed by the latter on airplay, though not always in live performances — at the World Liberty Concert Sirius was played as the introduction to "Breakaway" (from the Alan Parsons solo album Try Anything Once), with Candy Dulfer on saxophone.

Background

The genesis of "Sirius" began when Alan Parsons wanted the first song on the album to be "Eye in the Sky", but felt there needed to be an introduction leading up to it. As he was working on ideas at home on his Fairlight CMI, he wrote a riff that he liked, which ultimately became "Sirius".[1] This riff was played using a clavinet sample with added delay.[2] Originally, "Sirius" was not written in the same key as "Eye in the Sky", but was re-recorded in the studio once the band realized it would lead into "Eye in the Sky" well.[1]

Usage in media

Sports

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat used an abbreviated version of "Sirius" as his entrance music during his 1980s tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). To avoid paying royalties, however, the organisation edited out Steamboat's entrances with the track or overdubbed them with a homegrown theme from his 1991 run (a common practice by WWE to avoid royalties, including editing out certain ring announcers' voices).

"Sirius" is best known in the U.S. as the instrumental song that was used to introduce the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls for home games at both Chicago Stadium and the United Center during their run of six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998, and still currently serves as their introduction theme. The song was chosen by public address announcer Tommy Edwards in the early 1980s, although Parsons's version was last used in 2004 (the Bulls have used cover versions from local musicians since the 2004-05 season when it was designed as a segue from a pre-game video).[3] "Sirius" was the opening number of the 2000 documentary Michael Jordan to the Max.[3] The piece has also been used by the NBA teams the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks to introduce their starting lineup during home games. Since the 1994 season, "Sirius" has played before the Nebraska Cornhuskers' home football games as part of the pre-game tunnel walk.[4][5] The Kansas City Chiefs used the song during kickoffs during the Coach Marty Schottenheimer era (which lasted from 1989 to 1998). It was used by the New Orleans Saints in 2009 as their entrance music for Super Bowl XLIV. It is also used by the World of Outlaws before the cars do the four-wide salute during parade laps before the A Main feature.

In Italy, Serie A team Sassuolo use the song when the team enters the pitch at the home games. In Israel, IBPL team Maccabi Tel Aviv uses it to introduce the home team starting lineup before EuroLeague games. In Australia the piece is used by the Melbourne Rebels rugby team when introducing their starting lineup, as well as the Perth Wildcats basketball team. The song was played leading up to matches at UEFA Euro 2012, and France's tennis team used the song as their entrance theme for the 2014 Davis Cup final against Switzerland. The song was used during finals at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. It was played while the gymnasts were introduced to the crowd at the beginning of the finals.

Film, television, and video games

"Sirius" is played during the climactic scene of the 1988 Godfrey Ho film American Commando 3: Savage Temptation. It’s also played in John Hamburg’s 1998 debut movie Safe Men, as a stolen Stanley Cup rises out of the dance floor at Bernie (Little Big Fat) Gale's Bar Mitzvah. "Sirius" is used as incidental music in the 1990 Mexican telenovela Cuando llega el amor. "Sirius" is played in the 8th-season episode of Frasier, "Hooping Cranes," during a sequence where Niles Crane shoots and scores from half-court at KeyArena. The music makes a brief appearance in the 2015 Simpsons episode "Friend With Benefit".

In recent years, the song has been used in the trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, in the film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and was played in a Nissan Altima TV advertisement. It is featured on the soundtracks to NBA 2K11, which is used in the Michael Jordan intro, and a remixed version of the song is used in NBA 2K18. A sound a like version was used in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius episode "Vanishing Act." It appears in 2017 TV commercials for Best Buy.[6] The 2018 movie Blockers also plays the song. The track appears in series one of the 2018 YouTube Red production Cobra Kai when Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) tells Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) "I'm gonna be your sensei." It was also played at the end of the first episode of The Last Dance, a ten-part documentary miniseries by ESPN and Netflix centering around the Chicago Bulls 1997-1998 season, when they won their sixth NBA Championship.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Sirius" (instrumental)1:48
2."Eye in the Sky"4:33
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Mammagamma" (instrumental)3:34

Covers
  • "Sirius" is sampled in "The Saga Continues (Intro)", the opening track of P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family's 2001 album The Saga Continues. The song is also sampled in "B.O.M.B.S." by Fabolous and "Miami Shit" by Pitbull.[7]
  • The song was released by the artist Nektar, on the album A Spoonful of Time - Deluxe Edition, Released in 2012
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References
  1. Cohen, Jonathan (2020-04-24). "Alan Parsons, Writer of Chicago Bulls' Theme Song and Former Beatles Engineer, Talks 'Sirius' and 'Let It Be'". Variety. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  2. Mikula, Jeremy (2020-04-29). "'Aaaaaaaand now ...' Everything you need to know about the Chicago Bulls' intro song, Ray Clay vs. Tommy Edwards and why Alan Parsons isn't collecting many royalties". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  3. Cohen, Ben. "The One Record the Warriors Can’t Take From the Bulls: Even as Golden State closes on a historic 73rd win, Chicago’s pre-game music still sets the standard," Wall Street Journal (April 12, 2016).
  4. "Tunnel Walk Tradition". Huskers.com. NU Media Relations. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  5. "Nebraska Tunnel Walk". YouTube. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  6. "Best Buy TV Commercial, 'Sprint Savings' Song By The Alan Parsons Project". ispot.tv. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  7. Pitbull (December 31, 2014). "Miami S***". YouTube. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
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