Five years, two brands, no strangers: An ATB/P&R swan song

Under different circumstances, our own Al Daniel would be filling this space and time of week with the latest Wallaby Wednesday Rocko’s Modern Life column. But given the reality, we shall instead channel Filburt in his eulogy for his beloved bird.

Along the Boards/Pucks and Recreation franchise, bless you. Like the turtle said about Turdy, “even though you were with us for a brief time, you still had plenty of time to spread happiness.”

Yes, it is time to suspend operations on this hockey-turned-hockey-and-culture publication. And granted, Pucks and Rec is not entering its deep freeze in the sexiest of shapes. With that said, we still have the people, the prose and the memories they generated under both of this franchise’s banners since Jesse Connolly assembled the first ATB staff in the spring of 2014.

While we cannot sustain our original WordPress platform, this site will continue to function as an ATB/P&R vault. We will archive the text and images from selected articles from our first full season of hockey reportage to our most recent projects. With an emphasis on human-interest features centering on hockey players and coaches, we remember what worked best for the brand in both eras.

Whether any of their work is currently on display here (more could still be to come), and regardless of whether they have stuck in the business, our storytelling highlights came from a solid gathering of more-than-recreational hobbyists and up-and-coming aspirants. More than a handful have represented this franchise’s alumni with established sports media outlets or in other communications sectors.

Maple Leafs and IIHF guru Tyler Woudstra overlapped his ATB tenure with a transition to TSN. (And shortly after our relaunch, we connected with Canada’s oldest national sports network again, with the inimitable Bob McKenzie as one of our Meet the Press subjects.)

Mary Clarke, an ATB Metro Division editor and Flyers correspondent, went on to SB Nation and The Athletic Philadelphia. Alexander Appleyard joined Clarke in that revolutionary publication’s Flyers pages shortly after helping us break in our new brand with his Across the Pond reports.

Cat Silverman, one of our NHL Central Division editors at ATB, has been with InGoal Magazine since December 2015. She has also sent her ink to The Athletic, primarily as a Coyotes correspondent.

Minnesota’s Ryan Lund and Boston’s Arielle Aronson, who covered their respective regions in ATB’s college section, have each graced Fox Sports with their byline. Lund, who came here by way of the San Francisco Chronicle and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, is still with the network’s Minnesota and Wisconsin affiliates.

Aronson had also seen action in the Boston Globe and the New York Times before lending her knowhow to ATB. She has long since started channeling her talents in other departments, as have others during and after their tenures with this franchise.

When we broke away from the sports media pack and aimed to make “hockey and pop culture collide” in 2016, we were partly victims of our own success. Some of our best talent in writing, photography and editing alike went to the next level faster than we could replace it.

While a quorum remained to keep our content stream flowing consistently, we had fun with group projects like the 25 Duck Days series in the fall of 2017. That certainly lived up to our social media cover photo and epitomized the tagline and mission of our 2016 relaunch. It allowed us to seize some fun Mighty Ducks-related stories from athletes, entertainers and sportscasters alike. We even caught the attention of bilingual audiences.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the creative thinking and evolving visions of our founder, Connolly. Special thanks to him for giving Along the Boards and Pucks and Recreation life, leadership and direction.

Thank you to all those who loaned us their talent for anywhere from 500 words to five years. We wish everyone continued and amplified success, regardless of where you go and what you do with your skills.

Thank you to the athletes, celebrities, coaches, broadcasters, executives and celebrities who loaned us a little of their time for our on-site game coverage as ATB and for our feature projects in both eras. Thank you to all of their respective publicists/SIDs/media-relations coordinators for granting us access.

And thank you, most of all, to our readers for your support. Whether you are strictly a hockey enthusiast, have a penchant for pop culture or a mix of both and beyond, we hope you will continue to follow our alumni as they take their bylines elsewhere.

No matter where they go, what they write about or who they write for, they shall forever represent their roots in ATB/P&R.

Jock Jams, Volume 5: How does the Jock series hold up today?

Three years after it started going national with standalone networks in every major market, Fox Sports all but consummated its rise to challenge ESPN by taking over Jock Jams.

Then-Fox Sports Net anchor Van Earl Wright virtually emceed Jock Jams, Volume 5, the last installment of an eight-album series in the 1990s. Much like household names from SportsCenter on some prior installments, he kicked it off with one of his catchphrases, then returned for a midway interstitial and the closing track.

But after he said “Let’s hit the showers,” no one representing the Jock series would return to don the uniform again. That is unless you count 2001’s All Star Jock Jams, which was tantamount to an alumni scrimmage with its overload of repeat tracks.

Naturally, the Fox Sports brand has sustained stability and respectability in terms of sports coverage. Some of its regional affiliates have kept the FSN acronym, which has also inflated to a national network (FS1) covering Major League Baseball, college football and college basketball.

But in terms of athletic music compilations, the new brand on the block had the dubious honor of taking the table scraps. Together with the ’90s, the act of capitalizing on the canned-music crazed was fizzling.

Sure, the practice was permanent in professional, collegiate and some high-end amateur venues. But it was ceasing to be a commercial boon. Afterward, most songs heard at games could just as easily be found on mainstream CDs.

To that point, several of the selections for Jock Jams, Volume 5 stayed obscure even among sports-music junkies. Six of the 15 musical tracks were energized remixes of Billboard fodder, yet most of them still did not make the collective cut in athletic arenas.

Released three months and a week ahead of Y2K, JJV5 awkwardly ushered out an era, with only a few songs leaping into the new century. And even those have proved polarizing among unintended listeners. Others, including the first on the track listing, simply dropped and disappeared in an unprecedented crowd of rallying beats.

“Reach Up”

Lyrically speaking, there is not much to this song, which makes it a prototypical kind of Jock Jam. Other than the Perfecto All-Stars repeating the title and Wright cutting back in with “Can you feel it?” it cedes everything to a rhythm that flows naturally with a game-starting vibe.

 

Whether the song’s placement on the album clouded the public’s perception of its innate specialty is unclear. But besides introductions or opening plays, this also provided a quick in-game pick-me-up in many venues in the early 2000s.

 

And with the sparing, straightforward vocals, it nearly rivaled the chorus of Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” during that era. Although the latter would come to overshadow it, as would Danzel’s “Put Your Hands Up in the Air!” mid-decade.

 

“We Like to Party”

“Six Flags! More flags, more fun!”

That mind-searing ad campaign came five years after JJV5. More than a decade later, the Colorado Rockies were keeping “We Like to Party” afloat as their run-scoring song. Meanwhile, the Tri-City American major-junior hockey team has used it as their goal song.

Elsewhere, the full song, complete with Vengaboys vocals, can still be heard after a victory or as a re-energizer prior to the next period, quarter, inning or half. But that practice is relatively sparse across the sports universe.

“Ray of Light”

Within the 18 months between this song’s release on an eponymous Madonna album and its inclusion on Jock Jams, the New Jersey Devils were playing it during stoppages of play. There is proof of that in the first five seconds of this highlight reel from the 1999 playoffs.

But overall, this did not have the same broad outreach or long-term adhesive as its preceding track.

“Miami”

The multi-talented Will Smith came back one volume after “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” appeared on ESPN’s last Jock Jams album. But apart from fan-produced YouTube music videos on a given team with the Miami dateline, this is short on a sports-related legacy.

Perhaps that owes to Smith’s association with his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. He may declare the Florida metropolis “my second home” in the song, but no one has given much call for the homage at games.

“Turn It Up/Fire It Up”

The first remix on this compilation has surprisingly failed to gain playlist prominence at any point. One would think the call-and-response chorus would make it coveted crowd-participation fodder.

All it would take is to play Busta Rhymes’ request, “Let me hear you say fire it up!” then let the audience oblige. If necessary, one could flash the three-word phrase on the videoboard. For a half-minute stoppage of play, a subsequent loop of Rhymes commanding, “Say fire it up!” followed by a pause for the crowd would match quantity with quality.

If at least one or two relatively high-profile teams had taken that up, it could have established itself as one of their everlasting in-game customs. It could have been another “Jump Around.” But for whatever reason, it is not.

“I’m Gonna Get You”

Of its 10 selections for the best Jock Jams songs, Complex chose two samples from Volume 5. The publication described the 1992 title track from a Bizarre Inc. album as “a perfect fit for this series.”

The same publication’s assessment, however, concedes that the tune “might be a bit too vocal-drenched for some of you.” It is hard to say whether that kept it from seeing as much sound-system action as the best-played of its peers. The opening portion was at least groovy and instrumental enough to fill short breaks in the action.

“Nice and Slow”

This remix of an Usher song hardly lives up to its title. That is good for sporting-event purposes, but it would not make the rapper a can’t-miss presence on the PA system. For that milestone, he would have to wait another five years, when “Yeah!” was an instant all-round hit.

“Woof Woof”

When breaking down every Jock Jams track, Aaron Gordon of Vice Sports had an interesting take. “This is either a poor man’s ‘Whoomp! There It Is’ or a rich man’s ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’” he wrote.

As it happened, “Woof Woof” marked a belated return by 69 Boyz, who previously sent “Tootsee Roll” to Volume 1. That came two slots after “Whoomp! There It Is” on the compilation’s track order.

Meanwhile, the comparison to the Baha Men’s breakout tune surely stems from the dog references and sounds. Perhaps the fact that JJV5 came one year before “Who Let the Dogs Out” dooms “Woof Woof”’s hopes of becoming a sound-system staple. It was overshadowed by a polarizing mainstream pop hit that spent much of 2000-01 in prominence before crashing the All Star Jock Jams.

“Nobody’s Supposed to be Here”

Deborah Cox leads off Side 2 of this compilation’s cassette with the revamped mix of her September 1998 single. But beyond that inclusion and her later live performance of “O Canada” at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, the Toronto native has not been quite synonymous with sports.

 

“Feel It”

In advertising and short-order canned-music play alike, the bell-ringing hook is the crux of this dance jam. As such, it is no surprise that sportsannouncing.com endorses it for general rally or pump-up songs.

In other momentary flares, this Tamperer/Maya tune rang its familiar bell after a few goals at the 2001 NHL All-Star Game. Other than that, it has not been at the forefront of any stadium playlists, but the collaborating artists still felt compelled to reunite and redo it in 2009.

“Too Close”

Even as a remix, this version of “Too Close” was too slow to sound right in a sports setting. Much like with “Set It Off” or “No Diggity” on some of the ESPN Jock Jams albums, coming across this track while playing this album makes an in-game music junkie want to shout “Next!” but not as an enthusiastic acknowledgment of the group behind the tune.

“Suavemente”

At least one college baseball player has used one of the many versions of this song as his walk-up theme. That is especially appropriate considering artist Elvis Crespo once harbored high-end hardball aspirations himself.

Elsewhere, Crespo’s music has made its way into Hispanophone soccer culture. But despite the energetic opening riff to the remix on Jock Jams, “Suavemente” did not catch on among major North American arena DJs.

It could have been a gimme at major- and minor-league ballparks alike, and would have even sounded right during a random stoppage of play at a hockey game. Unfortunately, that potential has not materialized.

“Burnin’ Up”

How do untrained ears listen to this and not immediately think of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? Just like “Good Vibration” earlier in the decade, this song samples the “Sweet sensations!” cry by the late Loleatta Holloway.

Somehow or other, “Good Vibration” never made the Jock series, even though it would have been a perfect fit. Nonetheless, much like “Woof Woof” soon had with “Who Let the Dogs Out,” “Burnin’ Up” was implicitly overshadowed by a similar sounding mainstream tune.

As such, it could not catch on at the arena. It did, however, land on the aforementioned Complex’s top 10 in 2013. Although the site supposes the song also suffered one of the same detriments as numerous later Jock Jams contemporaries, reflecting, “it was primed for the pre-millenium house party that was imminent before the Y2K bug destroyed everything.”

“All I Have To Give”

Granted, the last of the Jock Jams remixes did lend a little oomph into this Backstreet Boys song. By all accounts, however, that was not nearly enough.

Through its inclusion, the boy band was the last of the repeat artists in the series. And as is common among that group, their later contributions garnered less traction in the stadium DJs’ cues.

“Got to Be Real”

At 21 years of age when it hit this compilation, this was Volume 5’s only non-’90s song. To this day, it injects Cheryl Lynn’s voice into the occasional sampling track, movie or TV episode.

But the return to token disco-era tunes in the Jock Jams series did not prompt much PA-system play. This author recalls exactly one instance of “Got to Be Real” at a sporting event — between innings at an MLB game late in the 2001 season.

Wallaby Wednesday: The wisdom and potential of Mr. Onion Head

Carlos Alazraqui has at least twice — in separate years and on separate coasts — affirmed his fondness for his breakout character’s statement, “I love you, Mr. Onion Head.”

 

He said as much in 2015 during a Rocko’s Modern Life panel at Florida Supercon. Two summers later, he restated it as “my favorite line” in an interview with AfterBuzz TV’s Keetin Marchi at the San Diego Supercon, where the trailer for the long-time-coming Static Cling premiered.

While Alazraqui did not elaborate on why that quote stands out, Mr. Onion Head is inarguably one of the more memorable bada-bing-bada-boom Rocko characters. From his startling emergence out of nowhere to his unfortunate demise via Heffer’s jaw, his lone appearance lasts 67 seconds. Yet he is integral to the prolonged drama in “Junk Junkies” and speaks sagaciously and substantively on sentimental value.

Himself an Alazraqui character — the actor said at Florida Supercon he perfomed him as a Nick Nolte impression — Mr. Onion Head packs ample resonance in a constrained container. Some of the flashbacks he evokes have regained their relevance in the countdown to Static Cling’s release this August.

As the Netflix teaser lets on, Rocko “just wanted my show back!” upon belatedly entering 21st-century O-Town. The unspecified ’90s series reportedly takes a broader effect when Rocko merely sought a piece of a purer, simpler era.

In that sense, it plays the role his pogo stick had 25 years earlier. Despite what the dealer he sells it to in “Junk Junkies” says, the object and the memories matter. This becomes clear when Mr. Onion Head steps in to tell a slew of those memories in more detail.

As the speech and the clips demonstrate, Rocko and the pogo stick “were pretty much inseparable” during his Australian upbringing. When he was still in his not-a-care-in-the-world years, it helps him maximize his energy expenditure and miles in the spacious Outback. It later helps him elude danger, then smoothly introduces him to puberty and his “first girl.”

Given that Rocko’s first crush is a fellow wallaby with a pogo stick of her own, that last point suggests the value of such sticks to the species. Being smaller than lookalike kangaroos, they cover less ground when they leap.

Being even smaller than their parents, wallaby children feel more empowered with a toy conducive to higher, longer jumping. You might say it is to them what Reebok would say its Trackstar was for human kids.

All of this comes back to Rocko with Mr. Onion Head’s help after his pogo stick gets him to his garage-sale goal. In this sense, it gets him out of trouble one more time.

Previously, while still hesitant, he admits “I guess I could” sell it while glancing at threatening reminders of his pizza debt. Once that is ostensibly out of the way, however, his conscience is clearer. Considering Onion Head’s lack of sentience in Heffer’s presence, his crucial cameo brings a Calvin and Hobbes dynamic to Rocko.

Only the toy’s owner can see him move or hear him talk, and can only do so when they are alone. Moreover, the toy is there to make its owner reconsider an ill-advised decision. Countless readers of Bill Watterson’s magnum opus hold that the stuffed tiger stands for the boy’s conscience. Being Rocko’s favorite indoor toy from childhood, Mr. Onion Head is perfect for the same role.

How perfect? He inspires Rocko to re-purchase his pogo stick before Heffer’s disfigured G.I. Jimbo sells for the squandered $500. He is a key cog on a team of toys practically looking out for each other, their owners and their owners’ friends.

But while his speech brings a slice of childhood innocence back home, he himself is prone to real-world influence.

Remarkably, at least in terms of release dates, the Rocko masterminds beat Pixar to the screen with selectively anthropomorphic toys. Mr. Onion Head’s real-life inspiration, Mr. Potato Head, debuted in the movies almost two years later via Toy Story. And that was the mere beginning of his fame beyond public shelves and private playrooms.

Odds are Rocko’s Mr. Onion Head is one of millions of copies worldwide. If the Nolte-esque speaker epitomizes the character, then he has “Chokey/Chewy Chicken onion ring spokesman” written all over him. It would be no different than the way Mr. Potato Head started hawking Burger King French fries circa 1997-98. (That gig virtually led to a Lay’s potato chip endorsements.)

Too bad Heffer could not distinguish edible onions from toys. Now all Rocko has of his Mr. Onion Head are the memories. Even if, say, one of Filburt’s children or the boy who got Rocko’s foul ball volunteered to replace him with a Chokey/Chewy Chicken kids meal prize, it would not be the same, especially due to postmodern corporate tie-ins.

But as long as Rocko hangs on to his pogo stick, Mr. Onion Head’s sacrifice will not be for naught any more than G.I. Jimbo’s.

Jock Rock 2000: How does the Jock series hold up today?

Jock Rock 2000 was Jock Rock in name only. Its track listing hardly resembled those of its predecessors from five and four years prior.

It also was not quite Jock Jams. If anything, it furthered the ESPN Jock series’ transition into more mainstream pop content. Instead of manufacturing the bulk of its songs’ popularity, it would relax and run household-name tunes that, in the ears of the powers-that-be, suited a sports setting.

To that point, by the time it hit the shelves in June 1999, two of Jock Rock 2000’s tracks had already appeared on the first installment of Now That’s What I Call Music! the previous fall. Six months later, a third one appeared on Now 3. The not-so-niche Barenaked Ladies and Puff Daddy and the seemingly ageless Elvis Costello are there as well.

With that said, in terms of lasting resonance in the public-address pipeline, Jock Rock 2000 is hit-and-miss. Some of its 15 songs have fostered a legacy of obscurity from the start. But five of them are on a list of 100-plus in-game staples collected by Game Ops Commander based on input from “industry professionals from the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and major colleges all across North America.”

Two of those Game Ops selections bookend the compilation’s lineup of full-length musical tracks, which we now review as follows.

“Firestarter”

Prodigy, whose lead singer Keith Flint died far too soon in March, firmly wedged its work into the sporting conscience with this turn-of-the-century tune-up tune. Together with the album’s “Let’s Get It On” directive by boxing referee Mills Lane, it is like a latter-day Michael Buffer/2 Unlimited collaboration. Not a bad touch for ESPN to open its fifth and final modern-heavy Jock album.

For what it’s worth, sportsannouncing.com also recommends this, along with one other Jock Rock 2000 tune, for the start of a power play or for when a rally is in order.

Peak of the pregame or otherwise, “Firestarter” still logs respectable action across the continent’s playlists. In many cases, though, it is strictly an instrumental edit.

“It’s All About the Benjamins”

The title expression comes up in sports-business chat, but the song itself has never been widespread at the games. One’s best bet of hearing Puff Daddy and the late Notorious B.I.G. over a PA system is via Jock Jams, Volume 4’s “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

“Flagpole Sitta”

Harvey Danger famously had misgivings about letting its work appear on a prominent compilation. The Ringer touched on this as it related to Now That’s What I Call Music last fall during the album’s 20th anniversary.

“Flagpole Sitta” found its way there anyway, and whether the group had the same qualms about Jock Rock 2000, it got there too. Today it resonates as a well-liked ’90s song in general, but not so much in sports settings. It comes up now and then, like at Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings games, but only sporadically.

 

“Semi-Charmed Life”

A full decade and more after Third-Eye Blind peaked with this song, it was still playing in its entirety during intermissions at amateur hockey games. So there’s that.

“One Week”

The Barenaked Ladies in general have established themselves as contributors to athletic playlists. With its last of hesitation to dive into the fast-paced lyrics, “One Week” has proved especially hard to shake off. It can and will still hit without warning at abrupt, random stoppages of play.

Not a bad way for a 20-year-old former Billboard chart-topper to keep a measure of mojo after all this time.

“Ready to Go (Rock Version)”

The main instruments, the rhythm and the omission of the second bridge are the two chief distinctions between this spin on the Republica song and the original from Jock Jams, Volume 3.

Either one fulfills its purpose as one of the pre-game show’s finishing touches. That was true in the last quarter of the ’90s, and it is still the case today.

“Machinehead”

Evergreen and versatile are the two operative terms here. When Billboard featured this among its top 100 sports songs in 2017, it got Minnesota Twins and Timberwolves vice president of marketing and events Tim Miller to vouch for it.

Miller told the magazine, “If we only have 30 seconds to play something, we put LEDs on the board and then I play 'Machinehead' by Bush. It’s a driving song that says ‘Everybody make some noise,’ and everybody freaks out for 15 seconds, and then the batter walks into the box. We try to time it out where we can get enough people engaged, so a song like that is a classic.”

It certainly works for those brief stoppages. As Billboard’s own staff assesses, it is also common “Before the puck drops on the third period.” But in many places, it has also run in its entirety during pre-game warmups deep into this decade.

 

“The Rockafeller Skank”

Perhaps its presence on Now! 3 contributed to this song’s feel of a set-in-time 1998-99 hit. It had bountiful steam for those years and the first few that followed, only to seem dated afterward.

But while it may not be fodder for sports video-game soundtracks like it once was, it still surfaces at real games. It is also one of Jock Rock 2000’s five songs on the aforementioned Game Ops Commander list, even if it does not match the present-day force of the others.

“Oh Yeah, All Right”

Local H had already been together for a decade when it came out with this hit. Fresh off their 1998 studio album, Pack Up the Cats, it jumped to the Jock series, but did not make many ripples.

It is neither the most popular Local H song nor a well-remembered, let alone still well-played track on the public-address circuit. One exception is the Pittsburgh Pirates, who list it among their 28 run-scoring songs.

Then again, that means there are 27 other songs reserved for that situation. Do the math.

“Peppyrock”

The New York Rangers, whose home arena was the epicenter of the Jock series, still occasionally crank out this otherwise obscure BTK tune. Other than that, your best bet to hear it is likely through a re-screening of 1998’s Never Been Kissed.

 

“Block Rockin Beats”

The L.A. Kings cued up this Chemical Brothers tune on January 10 and March 7 of last season. Meanwhile, sportsannouncing.com expressly suggests it for punctuating a block in a volleyball game.

“Zoot Suit Riot”

Like Harvey Danger, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies earned a spot on the first U.S. Now album with this song. Yet that mainstream boost, combined with its Jock Rock 2000 invitation, could not give it a prominent position on playlists at professional games.

“Walk This Way”

The original version of this Aerosmith song was a contemporary of Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” and Low Rider’s “War,” two of Jock Rock, Volume 2’s “younger” tracks. Somehow or other, Aerosmith missed out on the series’ classic-rock/oldies-heavy phase.

But more than a decade after the original, the band enlisted Run-D.M.C. to collaborate on a cover. Another 13 years passed, and the new “Walk This Way” found its way to the contemporized Jock Rock.

And yet, to induce deeper head-scratching, the original Aerosmith-only cut of this song seems to have garnered more sound-system action. From elite scholastics to the higher-end pros, it typically pipes out while fans are still filing in and players have yet to emerge for warm-ups.

“Can’t Wait One Minute More”

It is the penultimate track of the entire Jock series, and a loop of its chorus would be perfect for the final minute of action. Specifically, when the home team is harboring a lead and play stops after the PA announcer makes the customary courtesy call.

Whether the lead is substantial or small, logically safe or brittle, the home crowd is at a point where they cannot wait to celebrate. Why this CIV song has never gained traction, let alone through this perfect designation, is impossible to justify.

“Pump It Up”

If you regularly watched Hockey Night In Canada in the wake of this compilation, you likely heard it in the background during telecasts from Toronto. The Air Canada Centre made it a staple in its rotation of random stoppage-of-play songs through at least the final year before the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

That should come as little surprise considering “Pump It Up”’ was on the 1997 Canadian compilation Contact 3! The Third Period. What is more impressive, though, is how the song was nearly two decades old by then, is more than twice as old now and still going strong compared to most of its Jock peers.

Unlike the Run D.M.C. partial cover of “Walk This Way,” “Pump It Up” is a genuine token throwback tune on Jock Rock 2000. Yet for those who did not know better, it was as timeless as the career of its artist, Elvis Costello.

More importantly, it had (and still has) the right rhythm and oomph for the canned-music pipeline. And it still makes it way to the occasional NHL playlist.

The last track overall after this song has Lane telling an imaginary prizefight loser, “Son, there’ll be other days.” Sounds like there have been plenty of those for “Pump It Up” on the PA system.

Wallaby Wednesday: The imperative Rocko-SpongeBob connection

You cannot do the history of SpongeBob SquarePants justice without acknowledging Rocko’s Modern Life. The former would never have happened without the latter, and the key personnel overlap embodies the kinship of the two Nicktoons.

There is also barely a crossover between ’90s kids who grew up on Rocko and the Generation Zers who have enjoyed SpongeBob’s cultural rise to Rugrats proportions and beyond. For roughly a year, when the late Steve Hillenburg’s creation was finding its groove, it shared the airwaves with his first animation endeavor on their parent network.

Rocko’s removal from the rerun mill in the summer of 2000 was as good as the official death of the 1990s. But by that point, SpongeBob was raring for its encore campaign. While it premiered in the final year of the old decade, it would inevitably have to be a “show of the future” if it yearned for long-term traction.

Naturally, it would need to be its own series, especially in order to become an adhesive piece of the new millennium. But those who watched both show knew Rocko-influenced elements would help Hillenburg’s creation gain that traction.

That realization started dawning immediately in the summer of 1999, as SpongeBob’s run began in earnest 20 years ago today. After premiering its pilot as a Kids’ Choice Awards leadout 11 weeks prior, it became a Saturday staple in July.

This meant more than the start of the next level in Tom Kenny’s (Heffer) profile as he voiced the starring role. The first episode beyond the pilot also brought Mr. Lawrence (Filburt) and Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko) onto SpongeBob’s all-time roster.

The Internet Movie Database credits Lawrence as a customer in the “Bubblestand” half of the July 17, 1999 episode. In the second segment, he announces the surfing contest and voices the annoyed ice-cream salesman who fields multiple pants-splitting jokes from SpongeBob.

Meanwhile, IMDB bills Alazraqui as two types of fish and a “Loser” in the “Ripped Pants” segment. As a tweet from Alazraqui on May 1 of this year indicates, that segment is where one fish he voices first encourages SpongeBob’s antics.

Up to that point in the burgeoning SpongeBob chronicles, Kenny’s star character had been unequivocally exuberant, but only in front of two or three people at a time. His onscreen audience is larger when he accidentally tears his trunks and leaves the beach embarrassed before a bystander notes his comedic potential. For the rest of that segment and many more to come, SpongeBob is more outgoing and eager to amuse himself and others.

Intentionally or not, the setting-off sequence mirrors Alazraqui pitching Kenny for a Rocko audition. The fish later identified as Scooter catches SpongeBob’s knack for silliness the way Alazraqui unlocked Kenny’s pathway to enlivening Heffer. In both cases, the speakers reverse the recipients’ initial dearth of self-confidence.

As Kenny told Parade’s Michele Wojciechowski in 2015, he was a “shy show-off” growing up. “I was always funny to a select group of friends, but I wasn’t like the class clown with the lampshade on my head.”

Landing his first IMDB credit 10 years prior to SpongeBob, Kenny subsisted largely on stand-up for the first quarter of the ’90s. But while that earned him moments in the late-night sun on a laundry list of talk shows, he finally stuck somewhere via Heffer on Rocko.

As he told Wojciechowski, and has said elsewhere before and since, his connection with Alazraqui on the Bay Area stand-up circuit bridged him there. At every public opportunity, such as the 2012 cast reunion for a “Wacky Delly” live reading, Alazraqui jokes that Kenny owes him a sliver of his earnings.

But perhaps Kenny and Hillenburg continuing their business relations with him is sufficient. Apart from Winslow on CatDog (1998-2005) and Mr. Crocker on The Fairly OddParents (2001-2017), SpongeBob has generated Alazraqui’s greatest volume of post-Rocko credits on Nickelodeon.

The only way to perfect the reciprocation would have been to have Alazraqui voicing SpongeBob’s best friend. That was not to be, but the two other since-ended Nicktoons allowed him to establish his range.

Kenny has done the same beyond Nickelodeon, particularly through a slew of Cartoon Network programs. But with assists from Alazraqui, followed by Hillenburg, he got what the former had first; namely the titular voice on a resonant Nicktoon.

Tangled up in yellow

Kenny, who Hillenburg had in mind for the role of SpongeBob when the series was still a sketched-out concept, is the first to acknowledge the common threads between his topmost Nickelodeon characters. Along with Dog on CatDog, Heffer and SpongeBob are endearingly energetic, marble-missing, yellow-tinged man-children.

Last Wednesday, Vanity Fair ran a video interview on its YouTube channel, capturing Kenny’s reaction to fan impressions of his characters. Going deep into his analysis, he singled out the latter two on their generally limitless optimism.

“There’s never any negatives with Heffer,” he told the magazine, “and SpongeBob’s kind of like that too.”

As it happened, Kenny’s colleagues on SpongeBob gave him ample material early on to establish that continuity from Rocko’s deuteragonist to the new show’s protagonist. While young viewers want to root for SpongeBob, much of the comedy stems from his obliviousness to downsides, danger, rules or regulations.

On August 21, 1999, the segment “Hall Monitor” had the title character taking the honorary position too far beyond proper boundaries. His behavior in the uniform outside of school ultimately lands him in trouble with the town police.

How could any Rocko fan with analytical inclinations have not thought back to “Uniform Behavior” after seeing “Hall Monitor” unfold? Before SpongeBob does so at the expense of Bikini Bottom’s public safety, Heffer, in Filburt’s words, lets the badge go to his head, to the detriment of Conglom-O’s security.

Through hallucinations in the form of the Seven Udders of Justice, Heffer’s disoriented conscience gives him a pep talk on the eve of his first and only night on duty. SpongeBob, after a long wait for his turn as hall monitor, delivers a protracted and passionate speech on the honor. Both subsequently see crimes that are not there, then crack under undue, self-imposed pressure when their environment gets dark.

Of course, between those two storylines, only Heffer ends up in prison, on one count of indecent exposure. SpongeBob will not streak until much later in Season 1, as he learns a hard safety lesson in “Hooky.”

Delayed gratification

Other hard-earned lessons come to each character when they realize their limits. With Rocko’s “Mama’s Boy” and SpongeBob’s “Jellyfish Jam”, Heffer and SpongeBob’s respective party guests become pests. They would rather carry on the loud music and dancing to no end while the host wants to retire for the night.

Individually and with the company, respectively, Heffer and SpongeBob take things outside and come away slightly more responsible than before. For the sake of continued comedy, though, they only learn so much from that for so long in the saga.

But on more decidedly uplifting notes, each yellow fireball also rides his optimism to succeed in apparent fool’s errands. From the first season of SpongeBob, “Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy” comes to mind. The series star and his starfish friend Patrick may not get their favorite superheroes back in their original form. But they do shake them out of retirement and get them back on TV.

Previously, Heffer had defied Rocko’s qualms about racing to Flem Rock before its bulldozing demise. Despite various speed bumps, detours, vehicular breakdowns and one bout of road rage, “Road Rash” culminates in the travel partners getting an exclusive view of the national park’s final eruption.

They get there with the help of Rocko acquiring some of Heffer’s infectious determination after the latter’s uncharacteristically runs low. While the sight they reach is smaller than advertised and quickly gives way to a fast-food restaurant, Heffer admits that “It’s more glorious than I ever imagined.”

Some may say the same about the project that came to define Hillenburg and Kenny in the 21st century. Or, if it is not glorious, it is objectively far more successful than most insiders or critics imagined. Multiple theatrical films, theme park rides, Macy’s parade balloons and a Broadway musical speak to the franchise’s mainstream power.

With the character being an extension of the artist via his voice, SpongeBob has practically given Kenny the equivalent of what Rocko promised the American Balding Eagle could achieve by ditching wigs. He has made Kenny what Wedgie Boy made Rocko for one segment of his own show.

So far there are no signs of an Alazraqui character supplanting SpongeBob on the billboards and posters. But a project catalyzed by Alazraqui in the recording booth should keep collecting an intangible debt.

Jock Jams, Volume 4: How does the Jock series hold up today?

At its release, Jock Jams, Volume 4 was the most contemporized of all installments in the Jock series. Its oldest track was originally released in 1987, its second-oldest in 1992 and its third-oldest in 1996.

The rest came on their respective artists’ albums in 1997 or 1998, the year ESPN came out with the compilation on August 25.

Yet in a strange, uncharacteristic twist, the two elders have aged the best on sports sound systems. One was heard in a high-end baseball venue deep into this century. The other frequents football and hockey games of all levels to this day.

The artists behind those songs had not previously appeared in the Jock series. Those behind four other Volume 4 tracks had. Two others had established mainstream recognition going in, and would return for the Fox Sports-issued Jock Jams, Volume 5.

For those returning contributors, a preceding Jock Jam had immensely better play on public-address systems, if any worth writing home about at all. The best years were likely behind the series, which was getting more outside company on high-level arena DJs’ cues.

As one testament to that notion, ESPN’s last Jock Jams go-round had 2 Unlimited hitting for the cycle. But for its fourth leadoff hit in as many compilations, the dance duo arguably bunted. On that note, it leads off our review of every Volume 4 track’s short- and long-term sound-system steam.

 

“Unlimited Megajam”

This mash-up was implicitly inspired by the preceding “Jock Jam Megamix” on Volume 3. With the two hodgepodges, “Get Ready for This” and “Twilight Zone” each completed a hat trick of appearances in the series.

“Unlimited Megajam” also bears bits of “Tribal Dance” and “No Limit” from the third and second volume, respectively. Its first-time snippets with the Jock Jams circles include “Let the Beat Control Your Body” and “Workaholic.”

Interspersed with Austin Powers exclamations, this offered another option for player introductions. In addition, the opening “Ding-dong-ding-dong” sample or a variation on it has been used to signal a power play in hockey, among other in-game developments. In the wake of JJV4, Powers’ subsequent “Yeah baby!” giving way to the “Twilight Zone” riff had some moments on the loudspeakers as well.

But for pregame pump-up purposes, most DJs stuck with Volume 1’s tried-and-true Michael Buffer/2 Unlimited collaboration. That and the duo’s other contributions to the Jock series worked better as standalone sound-system staples.

“Mo Money Mo Problems”

This was a posthumous release by Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy, Mase and Kelly Price. But it started with a sampled Diana Ross, which made the bulk of what most fans heard whenever this was played. Unless a DJ timed it for certain occasions or lucked out with a protracted stoppage, they would not get around to much else.

Before long, arena sound crews were not getting around to any of it at all. One notable exception is the Los Angeles Kings crew, which played this a dozen times in the 2018-19 regular season.

“Can You Feel It”

At this point in the Jock series and the evolution of in-game presentations in general, this song may have been victimized by simple ill timing. The comparatively obscure 3rd Party produced something that would be a decent half-minute stoppage filler. Or it could have been one of those warm-up songs that comes before the music heats up and the players re-emerge for introductions.

But the key turn of phrase there is “one of those.” The selection pool was too deep for this to swim far in 1998, let alone the next century. This author, for one, cannot remember hearing it in any public setting these past two decades. Not even in the background during a game’s telecast, radio broadcast or webcast.

 

“Space Jam”

Might the namesake movie’s long-awaited sequel give this song a second wind? Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves already got that going at the NBA’s 2015 All-Star festivities.

For understandable reasons, this Quad City DJ’s tune is largely considered a hoops-only track. It was not unheard of to hear it at other sporting events for a while, but those moments were few and far between. Generally, one can make its case for an alternative to “Sirius” as a timeless basketball intro track.

“Raise the Roof”

Released as a single on March 10, 1998, “Raise the Roof” was all of five and a half months old when it made the JJV4 cut. With most of the track consisting of Luke issuing the title directive, it suited almost any general mid-game stoppage in any sport. It still does for those who are in the mood for a throwback.

“Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”

Yet another same-year song, this more or less marked ESPN’s renewed commitment to featuring mainstream pop artists. In this case, Will Smith delivers his eventual Grammy winner for best rap solo.

As far as association with sports goes, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” mustered plenty of steam. Its general recognition doubtlessly helped it as a sound-system selection in its formative years. But even as its overall peak wore off, it persisted between plays.

As a couple of bonuses, it had some cultural resurgences at its five- and 10-year mark. During the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks made it a de facto theme for goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere (aka Jiggy). In 2008, the song appeared in the video game Backyard Football.

“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”

Lewis Black once sarcastically said, “when I think of football, I think ’N Sync!” when another boy band performed at the Super Bowl. Logic suggests the same sentiment held sway in this scenario, as Jock Jams took this off the Backstreet Boys’ year-old debut album.

Yet to the astonishment of more than a few, some sound crews actually made “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” a regular for a handful of years afterward. Smith is one thing when it comes to catching casual fans’ ears with mainstream music. But this?

“Going Out of My Head”

In general and in sports settings, this never reached “Rockafeller Skank” proportions. Although in 2013, Complex included it among a selection of the top 10 Jock Jams series songs.

Within the window of Jock Jams trendiness, you could hear this Fatboy Slim jam in some venues. Sometimes it merely rolled right after the album’s preceding spoken interstitial by J.K. Simmons, “No one pushes us around.”

Later in said window, it may or may not have been hurt by its presence on the Like Mike soundtrack. But perhaps the greatest mystery is why, with its steady and zesty instrumental refrain, “Going Out of My Head” never caught on as a scoring-play song anywhere.

“Mueve La Cadera (Move Your Body)”

Like other repeat artists in the Jock series, the bilingual Reel 2 Real had a hard time besting itself.

There has never been anything that would make “Mueve La Cadera” sound out of place at a sporting event. It just never staked a regular seat in the cue the way “I Like to Move It” of Volume 2 did.

“Push It”

It makes sense that this song precedes the album’s first of two interstitials by the late Yankee Stadium public-address announcer Bob Sheppard. Before switching to “Hip Hop Hooray” of Volume 1 fame, the Pinstripes frequently cued this old-school Salt-n-Pepa beat’s instrumental hook after a home run.

 

“Jump Around”

When Billboard included “Jump Around” among its picks for the 100 greatest sports anthems, it quoted three big-league music specialists on the song’s resonance.

One of them, Laura Johnson of the San Francisco 49ers, told the publication, “This collegiate and professional sports staple not only whips the crowd into a frenzy, but it also gets the players pumped.” Meanwhile, Cleveland’s Josh Sabo noted, “You can play this at almost anytime of a game and get people jumping around and going nuts.”

House of Pain’s magnum opus is by far Volume 4’s most lasting Jock Jam. For starters, it was the only non-Volume 1 song of its kind to return for 2001’s All Star Jock Jams.

Its unmistakable, inimitable rhythm is so good that several prominent college athletic programs cue it up to give the pep band a breather. Although the band is usually only inclined to give its instruments a rest, as no one can help but follow the song’s directive.

“Jump Around” is so timeless that, in 2016, the NHL’s San Jose Sharks considered it for their new goal song. In addition, a quarter-century after its release and nearly two decades after Jock Jams, Volume 4, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights gave it a regular spot on their home-game playlist.

“One More Night”

Amber’s de facto Jock Jams follow-up on Volume 2’s “This Is Your Night” could not gain the same traction. It did not so much as appear in any cult classics along the lines of A Night at the Roxbury. It does not even have its own Wikipedia page.

As it happened, both songs appeared on her 1996 debut album, so “One More Night” may have suffered as a Jock Jam by not hopping on quickly enough. Or it might not have waited long enough for conditions conducive to a second win. Or it might have been a combination of both. Just look at all of Volume 4’s other 1996 and 1997 tracks.

“Beautiful Day”

Game-goers and music fans alike are more likely to think of U2 than Hypertrophy when this song title is mentioned.

The former group, which released a wholly different song of the same name, has been mainstream worldwide since the 1980s. Going back to the lack of Wikipedia pages, the latter is in small company with 3rd Party as JJV4’s only contributing artists with that dishonor.

Surely this “Beautiful Day” was played at some arena or stadium at least once before U2’s “Beautiful Day” burst out in 2000. But even without that, Hypertrophy never got a real chance to hype sports audiences.

“Get Ready to Bounce”

Between its titular hook and general rhythm, this song was perfectly suited for warm-ups or other portions of the pre-game phase. It is more energizing than Jock Rock’s “Get Ready” but not up to the full-fledged flare of “Get Ready for This.”

Brooklyn Bounce would see its share of action in that context in the first handful of years after this album. But like so many fellow Jock Jams, this song could not last in the canned-music canopy.

“Tubthumping”

Barely a year old as a single when it latched onto this compilation, “Tubthumping” was an equally instant fixture at games. This author remembers hearing it in its entirety during Zamboni shifts at minor-league hockey arenas in the winter of 1999.

Before long, it had established itself (for obvious reasons) as a rally cry when the home team suffers a setback. If the situation is not terribly serious, it can also work when injured or shaken-up players skate or walk off under their own power.

Because of that niche, Chumbawamba defiantly lingers at the games. Whether ticketholders like it or not, no one is ever going to keep this song down. Even if it is not as prominent or widespread, it still has its place in the crowd.

“Son of a Jock Jam (Mega Mix)”

The sequel to Volume 3’s closing mash-up, this delivers a little symmetry by incorporating “Tribal Dance.” A slew of other songs from the first three volumes, most of which did not make the first Mega Mix, function chiefly as a celebration of the series’ continued success.

Or, at least, a celebration of the series’ continuation, period.

Like its predecessor, it got little, if any game-presentation action outside of low-budget scholastic or junior venues. Even in a gym barely cracking a three-digit capacity, it is hard to imagine this song playing today.

Ultimately, it was a harmless, what-the-heck capper for ESPN, which would relinquish the last Jock Jams album to Fox Sports.