Sam Spence facts for kids

Samuel Lloyd Spence (March 29, 1927 – February 6, 2016) was an American soundtrack composer best known for his work with NFL Films. His music has also been in the EA Sports Madden NFL football video games and many football-related commercials.

Biography

Spence was born in San Francisco and attended the University of Southern California. In 1966, while working as a music instructor in Munich, he was hired to score the mini-documentaries that conveyed National Football League highlights and personalities to fans in the network-television era. His music cues, combined with the voices of announcers Pat Summerall, Tom Brookshier, Charlie Jones, John Facenda, and Harry Kalas created the trademark style of the NFL's sports highlights films.

Initially, Mahlon Merrick was asked to provide scores for NFL Films. Merrick asked his friend, Spence, to help in the recording sessions. Spence said: "Mahlon had written marches. Toward the end of that recording session, I stuck in a couple of different pieces — my own orchestral compositions with strings and woodwinds, more like a Hollywood film score. It turned out they were Ed Sabol's favorites and he offered me a three-year contract to write, conduct, and produce NFL Films' music."

In Germany, Spence wrote several TV soundtracks with Hani Chamseddine, e.g., for the Francis Durbridge thriller Wie ein Blitz [de]. After his retirement in 1990, he returned to Munich. He achieved unexpected fame in 1998 with the success of a CD compilation entitled The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices Of NFL Films. Spence died at a Lewisville, Texas nursing center on February 6, 2016, at the age of 88.

Discography

• 1970: "Wie ein Blitz" – Main theme for the Durbridge series on German network TV (Single, Kuckuck Schallplatten)
• 1971: The Art of the Synthesizer – Interesting, Unusual and Melodic Moog Sounds (LP, Kuckuck Schallplatten)
• 1972: Fantastic Sounds: TV Themes and Pop Covers (LP, Kuckuck Schallplatten)
• 1998: The Power And The Glory: The Original Music & Voices of NFL Films
• 2007: Sam Spence: Our Man in Munich (Allscore – Indigo)
• 2009: Autumn Thunder: 40 Years of NFL Films Music

Remake

In 2005, Spence's music was remade by the hip hop music group Da Riffs, which can be heard on several NFL Network shows and found in the soundtrack of the game Madden NFL 06. Along with the urban remakes, the original songs still play in the game's soundtrack. His music was also included in Madden NFL 07, Madden NFL 08, and Madden NFL 09, being remixed again by Da Riffs.

Later appearances

Spence's music has been performed live several times, with the composer conducting guest residencies with regional orchestras. On June 14, 2008, he guest conducted a medley of his NFL Films hits with the Golden State Pops Orchestra in San Pedro, California, as part of the orchestra's "Pops for Pops" concert. In November 2010, a concert devoted almost entirely to his football scores was staged in Green Bay, Wisconsin. An audience of nearly 1,000 turned out at the historic Meyer Theater downtown for a program that featured three local ensembles—The Civic Symphony of Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Wind Ensemble, and a big band jazz ensemble—performing a wide range of Spence's football scores, from symphonic to jazz to pop.

Criticism

One of the hallmarks of Spence's music is its intangible familiarity. Two film score enthusiasts have pointed out the similarity of his more popular themes to several contemporary film scores; one has criticized them of "get[ting] too close to their obvious film inspiration". They have lauded some of his compositions as "cool homage[s]", while describing others as "barely disguised" "knock-offs".

NFL music

Over his three-decade career, Spence composed hundreds of short sound-track scores for NFL Films. Some of his more recognizable songs are: