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.