"Sports fans everywhere know Gary Glitter's bumbling guitar riff from "Rock and Roll Part 2," culminating in a "Hey Go [insert team name] Go." And when 2 Unlimited asks, "y'all ready for this?" in their hip-hop/jazzercise classic "Get Ready for This," sports stadiums erupt in affirmation. Maybe you heard those tracks for the first time sitting courtside, at a Belgian techno party, or via an electrifying mashup of five-second snippets during TV commercials, which did numbers in an era of actual album sales."
"Even with those signposts of yore marking the path, it feels a little shocking to realize Jock Jams Vol. 1-released in July 1995-has turned 30, flirty, and certifiably vintage. The compilation arose at a particular point in American media, born from a collaboration between ESPN and independent hip-hop record label Tommy Boy Records. While the songs now seem ubiquitously tied to the institution of American sports, this was a unique and novel effort in the '90s."
"In ESPN's oral history of the birth of Jock Jams, 69 Boyz producer Jay "Ski" McGowan offered the network a way to deal with any fallout from the raunchier tracks on the album. "Hey, if anyone from ESPN asks about 69 Boyz, just say the guys were all born in 1969, and " Tootsee Roll" is a candy and a fun dance and just leave it at that," McGowan said."
Jock Jams Vol. 1 was released in July 1995 as a collaboration between ESPN and Tommy Boy Records, blending hip-hop and dance tracks into sports-ready anthems. The compilation collected stadium staples such as Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2," 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This," and contributions from Naughty by Nature, K7, Black Box and 69 Boyz. Some selections contained risqué innuendo that posed reputational risk for ESPN at the time, prompting advice from producer Jay "Ski" McGowan to frame certain songs as nostalgic or playful. The album helped codify a playlist for American sports arenas.
Read at Portland Mercury
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