Sports and music have always had a great friendship, as long as you don’t bring up that whole “Disco Demolition Night” on the South Side back in 1979.
The St. Louis Blues are the latest team to adopt a somewhat obscure song, “Gloria,” in hopes of playing it on a loop until the championship parade is over.
The Blues decision to go with Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit sounds eerily similar to how the White Sox landed on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” back in 2005. A handful of players go to a bar, a song from three decades earlier plays with nearly everyone in the establishment singing a long and – bingo - you have your team anthem.
It got me thinking about how the Blackhawks landed on "Chelsea Dagger" and the soundtrack for three Stanley Cup championships?
This relationship did not start in a bar. It actually began at Madison Square Garden, where the Blackhawks opened the 2008-09 season.
John McDonough and Jay Blunk listened to the Rangers “goal song” four times that night and asked team employees if the Blackhawks needed a signature song, too.
The overwhelming response was “yes” and the task to find the Blackhawks jam was on.
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The Blackhawks version of American Idol judges were team employees Pete Hassen, Ben Broder and intern Matt Benjamin. No fancy studio for this trio. They were driving in Hassen’s car when Benjamin alerted the group to the Fratelli’s song, Chelsea Dagger.
It was met with mixed reviews in the car, but it made the final three tunes they considered, along with a song from Gwen Stefani and Fall Out Boy.
The Blackhawks had been using Joe Satriani’s, “Crowd Chant” as their main goal song, with some specialty tunes for Jonathan Toews ("Johnny B. Goode"), Patrick Kane ("Rock You Like a Hurricane") and Patrick Sharp ("Sharp Dressed Man").
Game operations began working “Chelsea Dagger” into their goal song playlist. The reaction from the United Center faithful was extremely positive. Fans were dancing in the aisles and singing along with the “do, do, do-do…do, do-do” chorus.
By the start of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chelsea Dagger was the only goal song for the Blackhawks. The tune has harmonized perfectly the past decade with hundreds of thrilling goals and championship runs. All thanks to a former team intern’s, one-hit wonder.
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