Sport & Music - an Olympic union!
By John Cushing, May 2024
We’ve told this story many times that LA and Sarajevo 1984 started our passions for the Olympics growing up. For me football and Norwich City in particular also played a big part - as did singing hymns at church on a Sunday, playing the drums and listening to music, ultimately it’s why I wanted to work in radio, and fortunately for 25 years, did! The Sunday night Radio One Top 40 chart show while washing up (before dishwashers!), followed by Annie Nightingale at 7pm. Human League were a particular early favourite of mine, as well as hearing all my parents’ classics from the Beatles, Cliff Richard and Neil Diamond.
What I’m saying is that sport and music are intrinsically linked in my life, and until recently it never really occurred to me that it was the same for the Olympics! Sport and music you have to be skilful and creative for both, you need to practice and practice to be the best at both (or even just fair to middlin’) but the joy sport and music can bring with just one performance, to so many people watching or listening! It’s incredible and I can now understand why the Olympics is dubbed the greatest show on earth.
To celebrate this dawning realisation (aged 47 and three quarters!), Michael and I have come up with an Olympics Music playlist on Spotify to reflect not only our passion for the Olympics but love of music too!
As with a lot of things our age (!) the 80s tends to dominate - there’s some belters in there from Whitney’s ‘One Moment in Time’ from the 1988 NBC coverage to Erasure’s ‘Little Respect’ “Seoul I hear you calling….oh baby please…”. It just takes me back to Redgrave and Holmes victorious on the rowing lake! But nothing prepares you for the thumping, echoing and electronic wall of sound, than the theme tune to “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis. I remember working as the Olympics correspondent for LBC radio in 2012 and the brilliant Breakfast show presenter Nick Ferrari, would always use that music as an introduction to the topic before tearing apart the Olympic Lanes or the latest controversy that dominated the build up to the Games. I thought it was a bit cliched then, but 12 years on it has to be THE music for this summer’s Paris Olympics - 100 years on from the Games in 1924 in the French capital that the famous Oscar winning 80s film was based on. I’ll be saying that to talkSPORT this week, who have the Olympic broadcast rights for the very first time, and Michael and I may have mentioned we’ll be working with them on it too!
With one note from Vangelis, you can picture Nigel Havers and the like, running down a windswept British beach and the same can be said when I hear Freddie Mercury’s “Barcelona”. My mind goes back to the Spanish Olympics of 1992 and the outside pool and diving board, Chris Boardman on his Lotus bike and Linford and Sally “going for gold and getting the gold” on the athletics track. That was the Olympic grandstand tune and after Nessun Dorma from 1990 World Cup, BBC TV with Des Lynam in charge were on top of their game! Great times.
Elbow’s “One Day Like This” and Heather Small’s “Proud” take me back to London and winning the bid, Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy being outstanding in Beijing, and then right into 2012. I can recall being at the media conference in the Olympic Park for the unveiling of Muse’s ‘Survival’ the official theme song for the Games - and hearing that throughout the summer in competition venues and celebrations. It was a huge moment for the organisers who were also trying to keep Danny Boyle’s Opening Ceremony plans a secret. The screaming “and I’m gonna win” remains stirring stuff!
So as we found with London 2012, there’s such an enormous build up to an Olympic Games, but before you know it, it's over quick as a flash. Savour every moment this summer, of sporting success, of hardship or heartache, of joy and delight. But keep an ear out for the music too, something that will transport you back in years to come. Sport and music have a habit of doing that!
